Jeffrey William "Jeff" Colyer (born June 3, 1960) is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a member of the Kansas Senate (2009-2011) and of the Kansas House of Representatives (2007-2009). He is also a physician, specializing in plastic surgery.
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Early life and education
A fifth-generation Kansan, Jeff Colyer was raised in Hays, where his father worked as a dentist. He graduated from Thomas More Prep High School before enrolling at Georgetown University, where he earned undergraduate degrees in economics and pre-med in 1981. After receiving a Master's degree in International Relations from Clare Hall, Cambridge in 1982, he obtained his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Kansas in 1986.
Colyer had residency training in general surgery at the Washington Hospital Center (1986-1988, 1989-1991); in plastic surgery at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (1991-1993); and in craniofacial/pediatric plastic surgery at the International Craniofacial Institute in Dallas, Texas (1993-1994). In 1988, during his residency at the Washington Hospital Center, he was named a White House Fellow and served in the Executive Office of the President and Agency for International Development under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush. He is one of only three Kansans to be named a White House Fellow since the program was started by President Lyndon Johnson; another was Sam Brownback, under whom Colyer currently serves as lieutenant governor.
Medical career
In 1994, Colyer opened his own plastic/craniofacial surgery practice in Overland Park, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. He also volunteers with the International Medical Corps, providing medical care in such areas as Iraq, Rwanda, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan.
Here is an excert from an Associated Press article written in December 2017 describing his work.
"He's performed trauma and reconstructive surgery and trained local doctors in countries including Afghanistan, South Sudan, Rwanda and Iraq.
Colyer gained a reputation with the relief group for being adept at handling high-pressure, life-and-death situations. Following the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, he worked in a hospital that still came under sniper fire, said Rabih Torby, the team leader there and a former IMC vice president. And in war-torn South Sudan in 2014, Colyer drove between hospitals for oxygen to save a pregnant woman, getting past hostile forces' checkpoints with a calm demeanor, Torbay said.
'He's a very pragmatic person, very logical,' Torbay said. 'He knows how to negotiate.' "
His work with IMC earned him recognition on 60 Minutes, PBS, and People magazine.
Political career
In the 2002 U.S. House of Representatives elections, Colyer was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination in Kansas's 3rd congressional district; he was defeated by Adam Taff, who lost the general election to incumbent Democrat Dennis Moore.
In 2006, Colyer was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives from the 48th district, receiving 62% in a three-way race. As a freshman legislator, he was selected to serve as chairman of the 2007 Legislative Health Reform Task Force. In 2008, he was elected to the Kansas Senate to represent the 37th district, receiving 63% in another three-way race.
Committee assignments
Colyer served on these legislative committees:
- Assessment and Taxation
- Financial Institutions and Insurance
- Joint Committee on Health Policy Oversight
- Public Health and Welfare
Source of funds
According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics:, Colyer financed $25,000 of his own campaign.
Gubernatorial campaign
On June 1, 2010, U.S. Senator Sam Brownback announced that Jeff Colyer would be his running mate. Brownback and Colyer were elected on November 2, 2010, and assumed office in January 2011. Colyer resigned his state Senate seat on January 10, 2011, prior to taking the oath of office as lieutenant governor.
Electoral history
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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