Betty Montgomery, J.D., Ohio’s first female auditor of state, pays a visit to OU-COM today. Montgomery, who has served as auditor since 2003, is visiting the college for the first time.

Montgomery will be taken on a tour of the college by John Schriner, director of admissions, and George Dunigan, director of governmental relations.

“We invited Montgomery to our campus for an educational visit,” says Dunigan. “We’re looking forward to sharing the college with her and information about the valuable health-care services we provide in Southeastern Ohio and through out the state. We also will share with her the economic impact the college has on the area and state.”

Montgomery will hold a press conference for local media in Grosvenor West at 10:15 a.m., after which her tour will begin. During a lunch break she will meet with Dean Jack Brose, D.O. Brose will make a presentation on the history of the college and its accomplishments, particularly how OU-COM continues to meet and exceed the legislative mandate accompanying its founding in 1975: to train primary care physicians to serve the underserved of Ohio and discuss with Montgomery issues of concern to the college.

Also among the issues discussed with Montgomery will be the tightening state budget and the professional liability insurance crisis.

After lunch Montgomery will tour Edison Biotechnology Center with David Wight, Ph.D., director of Edison, and meet with John Kopchick, Ph.D., OU-COM professor of biomedical sciences and Goll-Ohio Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology. Kopchick also is a principal investigator at Edison.

Edison, along with the Appalachian Rural Health Institute’s Diabetes/Endocrine Center, is a major player in diabetes research — research that will likely play a crucial role in fighting diabetes and improving the treatment options for the region’s diabetic population. Appalachian Ohio has a rate of diabetes more than twice the national average. Edison research spin-offs also have been key to helping establish the growing local biotech industry located in the Athens area.

“It’s important to keep our elected officials apprised of the cutting-edge medical education we provide as well as the health-care services we render. It is our intention to be a resource of health-care information for these elected officials,” says Dunigan.

Before becoming auditor, Montgomery was Ohio’s first female attorney general. During her tenure as attorney general, Montgomery’s office received many national and state awards for outstanding service, including the 2002 American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award, the only governmental agency in the country receiving the award.