Scottish Rite Masons established an Endowed Chair
at The Children’s Hospital in Denver on February 7, 2003.

In 2000, a campaign raised funds for the $2.0 million endowment. This is the seventh chair to be established at The Children’s Hospital and is the chair with the highest monetary value. In addition to this gift, the Scottish Rite Foundation of Colorado and The Children’s Hospital have a unique partnership built over the past half century. The Foundation is the largest single contributor to Children’s in its near 100 years of service to Denver and the Rocky Mountain Region.

The endowed chair is known as the Kelley Family/Schlessman Family Scottish Rite Masons Chair in Childhood Language Disorders. The two families being honored are significant contributors to the chair. In addition, Scottish Rite Masons in both families have served the Scottish Rite Foundation in important capacities. These men are Gerald Schlessman, Lee Schlessman, and Rollie Kelley. While Gerald and Rollie have passed on, their memory is forever enshrined in the hearts and deeds of Colorado’s Scottish Rite Masons.

The chair’s first occupant is Deborah Hayes, Ph.D., director of the Audiology, Speech Pathology, and Learning Services Department at The Children’s Hospital. Dr. Hayes is also on the faculty of the University of Colorado School of Medicine. A nationally and internationally renowned audiologist, Dr. Hayes has directed Children’s childhood language disorders program since 1983. In this capacity she has worked closely with the Foundation Board of Trustees over the past 21 years and has been instrumental in expanding the program to the statewide level of service we enjoy today.

The endowed chair positions the Scottish Rite to ensure well into the future continued clinical leadership in our statewide Foundation programs. At the same time, the chair allows the Foundation to operate with minimum administrative expense thus preserving its income for direct services to children.