Chiropractic + Naturopathic Doctor

Life West president steps down after 30 years

Maria DiDanieli   

News

Oct. 22, Hayward, CA – The first and only president of Life Chiropractic College West,
Gerard W. Clum, D.C., announced today that, after thirty years as president of
the College, he will be stepping down to pursue other areas of interest and
need in the chiropractic profession.

“It has
been a wonderful journey,” remarked Dr. Clum in making this announcement to alumni,
faculty, staff, students and friends gathered for the College’s annual
homecoming events. “I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to participate
in the chiropractic profession at this level over these past three decades”

Advertisement

Clum
noted, “The growth, maturation and impact of the profession and the College
during this time have been remarkable”.

During
his tenure as president of Life Chiropractic College West, the institution,
which enjoys an enrollment from 32 states and 22 countries, grew from being
housed in a facility leased from the San Lorenzo Unified School District to its
present $30 million state-of-the-art location on 11.5 acres with 210,000 square
feet of classroom, laboratory, office, library, administrative and clinical
facilities on Industrial Boulevard near Highway 92 in Hayward.

In
addition to being the president of the College, Dr. Clum has been active
throughout the state, across the country and around the world in the
chiropractic profession as follows:

  • During
    the time of his presidency, he served as a founding member serving in all the
    chairs of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges (ACC), a representative body
    of the educational community of the profession.
  • A founding board member who served in all the chairs of the World Federation of
    Chiropractic (WFC), a confederation of 92 national chiropractic associations
    from around the world representing the profession in such areas as the World
    Health Organization (WHO).
  • A board
    member and officer for almost twenty years of the International Chiropractors
    Association (ICA), a trade association for chiropractors in the United States.
  • A member
    of the board of directors of the Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE), the
    U.S. Secretary of Education recognized specialized accrediting agency for the
    chiropractic profession.
  • Presently,
    he serves as a member of the Executive Committee and as a board member of the
    Foundation for Chiropractic Progress, the board of the World Federation of
    Chiropractic and the Association of Chiropractic Colleges.

Clum
began his academic life on the faculty of Palmer College of Chiropractic, Davenport, Iowa
in the early 1970s. In 1975, he was a founding faculty member of Life Chiropractic
College, Marietta,
Georgia, now Life University.
This institution went on to become the largest chiropractic educational program
in the world. In 1981, he accepted the presidency of Pacific
States Chiropractic
College which had been founded several
years earlier by long-time Hayward
chiropractor Dr. George E. Anderson. Later in 1981, under Clum’s leadership the
institution transitioned from Pacific States to Life West. Now thirty years
later, with over 4,000 alumni practicing throughout the world from the city of Alameda to the nation of Zimbabwe, Life Chiropractic College
West is a well-respected institution in the profession and Clum has moved on to
be one of the senior statesmen of his field.

“I am
looking forward to changing my involvement in the chiropractic profession. This
transition will allow me the opportunity to offer greater attention to a range
of activities that I never could address while serving as president of Life
West,” Clum commented. “Retirement from the presidency of the College is not
the same as retirement from the chiropractic profession. That has been and will
continue to be the work of my adult life”.

In Hayward, the College and
Clum have supported programs such as the Family Emergency Shelter Coalition
(FESCO). The College was one of the first organizations beyond the founding
faith-based community of FESCO to see the need for the organization and to lend
its resources in time, talent and funding in response to family homelessness in
the Hayward
community. For most of the twenty-five year history of FESCO, Dr. Clum has
served a member of the agency’s board of directors. He has also been a member
of the Hayward Rotary club. In October 2000, he was named the Volunteer
Business Leader of the Year in Hayward
and, in 2001, he was recognized as the Hayward Chamber of Commerce,
Businessperson of the Year for 2000.

Dr. Clum
and his wife of 36 years, Cathy, live in San
Leandro where they raised their three children. In
1998, their daughter Cassie began working at the College; in 2000, their son
Don received his D.C. degree; and, in 2005, their daughter Lauren also received
her D.C. degree. Chiropractic has always been a family affair for the Clum
family!

Dr.
Clum’s tenure as president will conclude on January 28, 2011. Following Clum’s
public announcement of his retirement, Dr. Carl Dieter, chair of the College’s
Board of Regents announced the appointment of Brian Kelly, D.C. of Auckland, New
Zealand as the second president in the
College’s history.


Print this page

Advertisement

Stories continue below