Bob Fleming to receive University of Minnesota Outstanding Achievement Award
MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL ( 6/9/2008 ) -- The University of Minnesota will present alumnus, retired Mayo Clinic chief administrative officer and hockey leader Robert Fleming with an Outstanding Achievement Award on Tuesday, June 10, at Eastcliff, 176 North Mississipi River Blvd., St. Paul. The Outstanding Achievement Award is conferred upon graduates or former students of the U of M who have attained unusual distinction in their profession or in public service and who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and leadership.
Fleming earned a bachelor’s degree in business in 1949 from the University of Minnesota, where he was also a star wing on the U’s hockey team. A Canadian native who was raised on the rinks, he played for the minor league Rochester (Minn) Mustangs after graduation. He joined Mayo Clinic in 1950, working his way up from a trainee to department head and to chief administrative officer in 1982, the highest non-medical position at the clinic. He held this position until his retirement in 1993. He also served for 19 years as a member of the Board of Trustees of Mayo Foundation. During his tenure, he helped integrate Saint Marys Hospital and Rochester Methodist Hospital with the Mayo Clinic, expand the Mayo Clinic to its Florida and Arizona campuses, create Mayo Medical Ventures to manage the Clinic’s public education and technology transfer programs, establish Mayo Health System and influence hospital service coverage in Medicare legislation.
Fleming ended his hockey career on the rink in 1957, but his greatest impact on the sport came through leadership in strengthening the sport’s popularity and prestige nationwide and abroad. He served as chairman of the United States Olympic Hockey Committee from 1969 to 1981 and 1990 to 1994, and helped build medal-contending teams for five Olympic games, playing an instrumental role behind the scenes of the “1980 Miracle on Ice” Team USA victory over the Soviets. He is also director emeritus of the USA Hockey (formerly the Amateur Hockey Association) and a former president of the Minnesota Amateur Hockey Association and the Rochester Youth Hockey Association. In 1995 Fleming received the Lester Patrick Award from the National Hockey League and USA Hockey in recognition of his contributions to the sport, and in 2003 he was inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.
In addition to promoting hockey and expanding Mayo Clinic’s renowned patient care across the country, Fleming has contributed to numerous community organizations. He served as a member of the board of directors of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce for many years and was president of the national Medical Group Management Association, 1985-86. He has served on the boards of the Charter House, a retirement community in Rochester; InterStudy, a health policy think-tank in Minneapolis; and St. Luke’s Health System in Jacksonville, Florida. In 1990 he received the Harry J. Harwick Award for Lifetime Achievement in Medical Practice Leadership from the American College of Medical Practice Executives, and in 1991 the American Group Practice Association’s Outstanding Administrator Award.
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