FOUNDERS' BIOS
STAFF

DIANE MAGERS
Administrator
magersd@umkc.edu
816.235.8857
Diane has worked at Diastole Scholars’ Center since April 2007. She holds a B.S. in Accounting, from the University of Kansas and a M.A. in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Missouri - Kansas City. Prior to working at Diastole, Diane worked as an accountant for several international companies. In addition to managing all aspects of a non-profit, from financial management to property management, while being a conscientious steward of the gift of E. Grey and Mary Clark Dimond, she promotes the donors' intent of people "coming together, thinking, talking, reasoning, planning".
2021-2022
Resident Staffers
LESLIE ESSEL
Leslie is from the West African country Ghana, where he earned his Bachelor of Pharmacy and a Master of Philosophy degree in Pharmacology from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. In the spring of 2018, he enrolled in the Pharmacology PhD program in the UMKC, and serves as a graduate teaching assistant in the School of Pharmacy. His research involves using mice behavioral and disease models to understand the mechanisms of human behavioral and cognitive disorders. Leslie wants to be a career researcher and college professor. He loves to read novels, listens to good music when working and is also eager to meet new people and share each other’s culture and values.

EDEN FITZGIBBONS
Eden is entering her second year at UMKC Dental School after graduating from Rockhurst University in 2019 with a Bachelors's degree in molecular biology and a minor in physics of medicine. Eden did three years of undergraduate research studying dyne expression of the fungus Neurospora crassa! Eden is a Kansas City native who loves to catch a Sporting KC match as well as be out in nature. Whether it be hiking, kayaking, or running, she's always ready to get some fresh air.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHRISTOPHER ANDERSON

ROSE BRYANT

KAREN CANON
Chairman

CURT CRESPINO




MARK THORNHILL
Vice-Chairman
AL MAURO
JUDGE ANN MESLE
Treasurer
MARY ANNE JACKSON, M.D.
Dean
UMKC School of Medicine


LARRY L. McMULLEN, ESQ.
Advisor
DIANE MAGERS
Secretary
PARTNERS
Diastole Scholars' Center is grateful to be included in the new UMKC Health Sciences District, a cutting-edge partnership between several of the medical facilities on Hospital Hill, including the UMKC School of Medicine, Children's Mercy Hospital, and Truman Medical Center.