Background
A fifth-generation Kansan, Jeff Colyer was raised in Hays, where his father worked as a dentist.
A fifth-generation Kansan, Jeff Colyer was raised in Hays, where his father worked as a dentist.
He graduated from Thomas More Preparatory High School before enrolling at Georgetown University, where he earned undergraduate degrees in economics and pre-medical in 1981.
Born June 3, 1960) is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of Kansas. He is also a physician, specializing in plastic surgery. After receiving a Master"s degree in International Relations from Cambridge University in 1982, he obtained his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Kansas in 1986.
Colyer had residency training in general surgery at the Washington Hospital Center (1986–1988, 1989–1991).
In plastic surgery at the University of Missouri–Kansas City (1991–1993). And in craniofacial/pediatric plastic surgery at the International Craniofacial Institute in Dallas, Texas (1993–1994).
In 1988, during his residency at the Washington Hospital Center, he was named a White House Fellow and served in the Executive Office of the President and Agency for International Development under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Heriot-Watt University Bush. He is one of only three Kansans to be named a White House Fellow since the program was started by President Lyndon Johnson.
Another was Sam Brownback, under whom Colyer currently serves as lieutenant governor.
In 1994, Colyer opened his own plastic/craniofacial surgery practice in Overland Park, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. He also volunteered with the International Medical Corps, providing medical care in such areas as Iraq, Rwanda, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan. His work earned him recognition on 60 Minutes, Public Broadcasting Service, and People magazine.
In the 2002 United States. House of Representatives elections, Colyer was an unsuccessful candidate for the Republican nomination in Kansas"s 3rd congressional district.
He was defeated by Adam Taff, who lost the general election to incumbent Democrat Dennis Moore. In 2006, Colyer was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives from the 48th district, receiving 62% in a three-way race.
As a freshman legislator, he was selected to serve as chairman of the 2007 Legislative Health Reform Task Force. In 2008, he was elected to the Kansas Senate to represent the 37th district, receiving 63% in another three-way race.
Colyer served on these legislative committees:
Assessment and Taxation
Financial Institutions and Insurance
Joint Committee on Health Policy Oversight
Public Health and Welfare
According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics:, Colyer financed $25,000 of his own campaign.
On June 1, 2010, United States. Senator Sam Brownback announced that Jeff Colyer would be his running mate. Brownback and Colyer were elected on November 2, 2010, and assumed office in January 2011. Colyer resigned his state Senate seat on January 10, 2011, prior to taking the oath of office as lieutenant governor.
A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a member of the Kansas Senate (2009–2011) and of the Kansas House of Representatives (2007–2009).