“I’ve worked since I was 9 years old, and now I’m an octogenarian,” says James Raisbeck, founder and chairman of Raisbeck Engineering. Over the last 35 years, James and his wife, Sherry, pictured, have worked hard to ensure the success of their business, and now they want to give back to the community in a meaningful way.
With this goal in mind, they have committed to creating the Raisbeck Endowed Chair in Diabetes Research at UW Medicine, which will help recruit and retain expert faculty and provide support for the UW Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition as well as the UW Medicine Diabetes Institute. James cares deeply about diabetes research, having been diagnosed with late-onset type 1 diabetes when he was 75 years old. Since then, he has received all of his diabetes care at UW Medicine. “The UW Medicine team works so well together,” says James. “And I appreciate the learning environment as opposed to an environment motivated by profit. That’s a hallmark for UW Medicine.”
The creation of the Raisbeck Chair will help the process of care to come full circle. “The community relies on UW Medicine to take care of it,” says James, the first member of UW Medicine’s Diabetes Campaign Council. “It’s nice to know we’re helping to train the people we rely on for high-quality healthcare.”