2026 TCOM Founders Award and Mary E. Luibel Service Award winners chosen
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A physician with a lifetime of service to rural osteopathic medicine and a husband
and wife dedicated to supporting students at UNT Health Fort Worth's Texas College
of Osteopathic Medicine have been selected as the recipients of the TCOM Founders
Award and the Mary E. Luibel Service Award. John Bowling, DO, is the 2026 TCOM Founders
Award recipient, and Jay and Mimi Bonds have been chosen as the Mary E. Luibel Service
Award winners. The trio will be honored at TCOM’s Founder’s Day celebration on Friday,
Oct. 2.
In 1988, Bowling accepted an academic appointment in TCOM’s Department of Family Medicine.
In 1996, he oversaw the creation of a 4-year rural track in Family Medicine. In 2006,
He was asked by the dean, Marc Hahn, to develop a “parallel curriculum in Rural Medicine."
This Rural Scholars Program, an innovative four-year curriculum designed to better
prepare students for rural practice, became known as Rural Osteopathic Medical Education.
During his 28 years at TCOM, Dr. Bowling transformed how TCOM trained students are
prepared to deliver health care in rural and underserved populations. People in rural
communities across Texas live healthier, fuller lives under the care of talented TCOM
rural medicine graduates.
Dr. Bowling retired in 2016 as professor, Department of Family Medicine, and Assistant
Dean of Rural Medical Education at The University of North Texas Health Science Center-Texas
College of Osteopathic Medicine.
He is past president of the Texas Chapter of the ACOFP and is the recipient of their
Meritorious Service Award in 2006. Dr. Bowling has received the Distinguished Service
Award from the national ACOFP in 2006, the President’s Award from the Texas Rural
Health Association, and has been named to the AOA Mentor Hall of Fame. In 2015, he
received the ACOFP Educator of the Year Award. He has been recognized by Marquis Who’s
Who as a recipient of the “Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.” In 2020,
he was honored as one of 50 Heroes of UNT Health.
Jay and Mimi Bonds have been generous supporters of TCOM by starting The Addiction
Studies Endowment in 2015. The endowment funds selected students with a week-long
opportunity to learn at one of the nation’s most prestigious addiction centers, the
Hazelden Betty Ford Center Summer Institute for Medical Students. The couple has been
supporting 15 students from TCOM with a one-week opportunity to study at the program,
which provides future osteopathic physicians a chance to learn how addicts recover
from a state of unthinkable demoralization.
The couple became aware of the program through their own history with addiction to
alcohol. Jay entered Alcoholics Anonymous in 1992 and today has over 34 years of sobriety.
Mimi joined Al-Anon nearly 40 years ago.
The participants of the program are totally immersed in the recovery process. It is
not an observation experience but a participation experience for the medical students.
Since its inception, along with other generous parties, the Bonds have sponsored more
than 200 TCOM students with the opportunity to participate in this immersive program.
Today, because of the support of Jay and Mimi Bonds, these students and future physicians
are better prepared to treat alcoholism and drug abuse.
The TCOM Founders Award, previously known as the Beyer, Everett and Luibel Memorial
Medal, is awarded each year by TCOM to an individual who has advanced the tenets of
the osteopathic profession and has demonstrated exceptional commitment to TCOM through
achievements in teaching, research or service.
Mary Luibel was the first recipient of the award, and in 1993, the award was renamed in her honor to the Mary E. Luibel Service Award. This award is bestowed upon those who have exceptional personal commitment and long-standing dedication to the advancement of the osteopathic profession. The recipient of this award is of the highest character and integrity, and a caring individual who lives by the belief that service to others is life’s highest calling.