Marion and Frederick Fuerste Jr. generously donated a portion of their estate to the University of Iowa College of Medicine and the Department of Ophthalmology, in part, to establish the Marion and Frederick Fuerste, M.D. Professorship in Ophthalmology. The gift was given in appreciation of the University of Iowa's excellent academic research and education, as well as the clinical support and friendship provided through the Department of Ophthalmology.
Marion Fuerste was a registered nurse, having graduated from Augustana School of Nursing in Chicago, Illinois. Frederick Fuerste, Jr. M.D. received undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Iowa before interning at The Cook County Hospital and Jail in Chicago, Illinois. The couple met at the Veteran’s Hospital in Cheyenne, Wyoming where Marion was an operating room nurse and Frederick was a Naval physician. They married in 1948.
After Frederick's completion of an Ophthalmology residency at Milwaukee County and a fellowship at Washington University, St. Louis, the Fuerstes settled in Dubuque, Iowa. Frederick assumed his ailing father’s Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat practice, and Marion continued to assist him in the operating room.
The couple attended the monthly clinical conference meetings held in the UI Department of Ophthalmology where Frederick frequently presented interesting and challenging cases. Frederick and Marion developed close friendships with many of the departmental staff.
There are now four generations of University of Iowa graduates in the Fuerste family. Frederick Fuerste, Sr. received his medical degree, and his wife June Brown Fuerste received her nursing degree from the State University of Iowa in 1921. Frederick Jr. graduated in 1945. Four of Frederick and Marion’s six children graduated from the University of Iowa, and two grandchildren are presently University of Iowa students.
The first Marion and Frederick Fuerste, M.D. Professor was Jeffrey A. Nerad, M.D. (December 19, 2008 - June 30, 2009)
H. Culver Boldt, M.D. is the second and current Marion and Frederick Fuerste, M.D. Professor (April 2, 2010)