WHO: State Sen. Jeff Colyer, R-Overland Park, member of the Public Health and Welfare Committee and former chairman of the House GOP task force on health.
BIO: Colyer is a 5th generation Kansan born June 3, 1960. He was raised in Hays where his father was a dentist. He attended Thomas More Prep school where his high school debate partner was Mark Tallman, now a lobbyist with the Kansas Association of School Boards. Colyer attended Georgetown University where he earned bachelor degrees in economics and pre-med in 1981.
He went to Cambridge University in England where he received a masters degree in international relations in 1982. He then worked as a defense analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, a think tank that bills itself as the “world’s leading authority on political-military conflict.”
Colyer received his medical degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in 1986. He did his surgery residency in Washington D.C. at Washington Hospital Center and in 1988 was named a White House Fellow. He was the second Kansan to be named a White House fellow since the program was started by President Lyndon Johnson. The first was Deanell Tacha, now a judge on the federal 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. The third was Sam Brownback, now a U.S. senator for Kansas and a Republican presidential aspirant.
Also in the 1980s Colyer became involved with the non-profit International Medical Corps, which does volunteer work in countries suffering humanitarian or political crises. He continues to work with the organization. The corps said he was the first U.S. civilian doctor to enter southern Iraq after the Iraq War began.
“Jeff has been a critical part of International Medical Corps’ frontline response to wars and disasters worldwide, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Rwanda, the Balkans, Honduras, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Iraq. He is one of IMC’s shining lights,” said Margaret Aguirre, a spokeswoman for the corps.
He did relief work in Rwanda during the genocide.
“It was the most horrific of experiences,” Colyer said. “It changes your life forever.”
Colyer has a plastic surgery practice in Johnson County. His wife is Ruth. They have three daughters ages 7, 9 and 11. He ran for Congress in 2002, but lost in the GOP primary to Adam Taff who in turn lost to incumbent U.S. Rep. Dennis Moore. In 2006, Colyer was elected to represent the 48th House District formerly held by Eric Carter, a Republican who unsuccessfully challenged incumbent Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger. He was appointed to chair the House GOP’s health care task force by Majority Leader Ray Merrick, R-Stillwell. In 2008, he was elected to the Senate and represents District 37.
CONTACT:
Telephone:785-296-7383
Email: Jeff.Colyer@senate.ks.us
Address: Statehouse, Rm. 547-N