Faculty member pledges $1 million on One Day One KU to KU School of Medicine-Wichita

Donna Sweet, M.D., A.A.H.I.V.S., M.A.C.P., understands the importance of a University of Kansas School of Medicine education. Sweet, a School of Medicine-Wichita alumna and longtime faculty member, has pledged a $1 million estate gift in support of the Donna Sweet, M.D., Internal Medicine Program Fund.

Sweet’s gift will ensure the continued support of the fund, which was established in 2019 with a gift of $25,000. The fund supports the internal medicine department at KU School of Medicine-Wichita, with a focus on HIV, infectious disease and primary care education.

“A good medical school requires time and attention,” Sweet said. “You need good faculty. You need good support for faculty, and that’s why my gift is to the Department of Internal Medicine, which has allowed me to become a faculty member that’s qualified and able to help students along.”

Sweet is a professor in internal medicine and has been part of the faculty at KU School of Medicine-Wichita for almost 45 years. She is also the director of the KU Wichita Internal Medicine Midtown Clinic. A new medical academic society at the School of Medicine-Wichita also was recently named in her honor; the Sweet Society will begin inducting members in 2027 with the addition of the new Wichita Biomedical Campus.

Her work does not stop with KU: Sweet also directs an HIV program, supported by funds from the federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, through which she cares for about 1,500 patients with HIV. She has traveled throughout the U.S. and internationally to educate physicians about HIV care and treatment.

Giving to support scholarships and faculty retention is vital to making medical school affordable and keeping excellent teachers who train tomorrow’s doctors, Sweet said.

“That takes philanthropy and giving for people to have that available,” she said.

For Sweet, her gift is a way to give back. As a medical student at KU, she had scholarships and support, and they were instrumental in her academic success.

“The only way scholarships happen is people supporting institutions doing the right thing,” she said. “KU does the right thing. We try to produce compassionate, well-trained, innovative, qualified young people and help them go to med school and survive overwhelming debt.”

Sweet is also a generous supporter of One Day One KU, an annual day of giving that helps support students, faculty and research at the University of Kansas and The University of Kansas Health System. Sweet has supported One Day One KU since 2019, making gifts and contributions to matches and challenges to encourage others to give.

Sweet says the giving day serves as a reminder of the importance of philanthropy.

“I’m hoping to leave a legacy,” she said, “so that people continue to support the internal medicine department and KU, whether it’s one day or whether it’s all 365 days of the year — which it should be.”