Forging a connection: Father, daughter unite to support students

Julie Barnett, D.P.T., M.T.C., PT, and her father, Duane Barnett, M.D., have established the Barnett Endowed Scholarship in the School of Health Professions.

Julie Barnett, D.P.T., M.T.C., PT, respected the work of her father, a general surgeon, so much that she decided to follow his path to medicine. It seemed natural for the two of them to create another connection years later.

Dr. Barnett and her father, Duane Barnett, M.D., now retired, have established the Barnett Endowed Scholarship in the School of Health Professions. The $10,000 gift will create an annual scholarship of $500, awarded in perpetuity to first- or second-year physical therapy students.

“He came up with the idea, and I had always wanted to do something like that,” said Dr. Barnett, a clinical assistant professor of physical therapy at the Health Science Center. “He loves building up students, always has. And he always is thinking the best of people and being a teacher and an educator. That’s been my whole outlook, too. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Creating the endowment was the right thing to do, Dr. Barnett said, to celebrate their shared passion for medicine and education.

“It feels like such a healthy emotional yet financially tangible way to have the heritage go on,” she said. “That’s what it’s about. This combination for the two of us, it feels like one of those father-daughter things that I’m really proud of.”