P H I L A N THROPY
HEART TO HEART
Cardiologist Wally Radtke explains why he and his spouse established a scholarship endowment in honor of another pair of cardiologists. “I was fortunate to be involved in their recruitment,” recalled
“It really impressed us as North Dakota natives how valuable
Wallace “Wally” Radtke, referencing UND School of Medicine
[Wynne and Farkas] have been to our medical school and our state
& Health Sciences Dean and recent UND Interim President, Dr.
and that’s why we created the endowment,” continued Wally. “It
Joshua Wynne and his spouse, Dr. Susan Farkas.
was an idea that came to us jointly as we contemplated a gift to the
Over 15 years ago, Wally and his wife JoAnne played a role in convincing the latter pair of cardiologists to move from Detroit,
Such a move by the Radtkes—establishing a major scholarship
Mich., to the Red River Valley. “What impressed us both, as we
endowment in someone else’s (not even family) name—is classic
got to know them and became colleagues and friends, was that
North Dakota.
although they came from big cities—New York, Budapest—and they didn’t know much about North Dakota, they adopted the state as their own and began contributing to the state in so many different ways.” A cardiologist himself, who retired in 2013 after 37 years of cardiology practice in Fargo, Wally recognized Wynne’s and Farkas’s sincerity and willingness to work hard immediately. “They became great colleagues, and Josh, supported by Susan, committed to make the North Dakota medical school one of the finest in the nation,” Wally added. “In addition, he was instrumental in the creation of the beautiful new med school building, supported the development of a new curriculum, and increased class sizes to better serve North Dakota.”
Wally is a Hurdsfield, N.D., native and JoAnne is from Zahl (north of Williston, N.D.). They met at the former Minot State College where Wally graduated with B.S. in Education and JoAnne graduated from the Trinity School of Nursing. For a few years after graduation, Wally taught mathematics and German at Williston High School and JoAnne was a registered nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital in Williston. “At that time, I was looking to advance my education and I explored a number of options, which included the possibility of medical school,” Wally explained. “I interviewed with the then-Assistant Dean of the Medical School, Dean Arneson. He had previously had a part of his larynx removed and held a microphone to his throat to speak. He was very encouraging and helped me set up three
As a commendation of sorts for this success, Wally and JoAnne
semesters of premed courses at UND which were required before
last year established the Drs. Susan Farkas and Joshua Wynne
I could apply to med school. I did get it all done and was accepted
Scholarship Endowment, which provides scholarships to medical
into med school.”
students from North Dakota who are interested in practicing in North Dakota.
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medical school.”
North Dakota Medicine Summer 2020
After graduating with a BS Med degree in 1968, Wally transferred to the University of Nebraska where he earned his M.D. and did an
