MR. LyNCh joined the Advisory Board

in 1995 at the urging of friend and colleague

Jim hayes, a board member and dedicated

supporter of the Cancer Center. “Knowing

the fine person Jim was, I was honored to be

involved with any cause that he supported,”

Mr. Lynch recalls. “I said, ‘Jim, if you’re on

board, it’s good enough for me.’”

The Cancer Center also holds a personal

importance to Mr. Lynch—his father was

diagnosed with prostate cancer in the early

1990s. “Most of my family had heart prob-

lems, so my father’s cancer was a first for

us,” he says.

Thanks to a PSA (prostate-specific anti-

gen) test, Mr. Lynch’s father’s cancer was

caught early, though ongoing treatment—

which he received at the Cancer Center—was

necessary. The elder Lynch’s cancer diagnosis

was an eye-opener for his son. “If my father

had waited, he wouldn’t be here today,” he

says. “I can’t stress enough the importance

of men having annual screenings for prostate

cancer. Screening saved my father’s life.”

Mr. Lynch was able to see firsthand the

compassionate care that the Cancer Center

provides—and he continues to see it today.

“I still take my father to see Graeme Bolger,

M.D., for periodic checkups,” Mr. Lynch

says. “Dr. Bolger is very compassionate, as is

all the staff in his clinic.”

In his 15 years on the Advisory Board,

Mr. Lynch has served two terms as presi-

dent and has served on all of the board’s

committees. A finance graduate of Auburn

University, Mr. Lynch actually attended

UAB during his freshman year. “When I

was at UAB, undergraduate enrollment was

about 4,000 students. The growth and con-

tribution to medicine and other fields has

been phenomenal since I was a student 35

years ago,” he says. “We are extremely fortu-

nate to have a nationally recognized cancer

center in Birmingham and our state.”

Mr. Lynch is retired from First

Commercial Bank, where he was one of the

bank’s founding officers in 1985. he and his

wife of 28 years, Mary Joyce—who was his

next-door neighbor during his childhood—

have two children, Morgan Rogers and

Frank Lynch III, and two grandchildren

who “are the joys of our lives,” Mr. Lynch

says. “We have two grandchildren now with

two more on the way.”

In his spare time, Mr. Lynch enjoys fish-

ing and hunting. he also spends time gar-

dening, something that both of his grand-

fathers enjoyed. Away from the outdoors,

he has been involved for several years with

Internet/mail sales and marketing.

Though his term as Advisory Board

president ended a few years ago, Mr. Lynch

remains an active member of the board

and is committed to the group’s mission.

“I’ve developed a real love for the board

and the Cancer Center,” he says. “It’s such

an impressive and wonderful organiza-

tion. I want people to know about the UAB

Comprehensive Cancer Center.”

2 2 C r o S S r o A D S

giving back aDvisORy bOaRD PROFiLE

FRaNK LyNCH liKe MaNy people, fraNK lyNch’s faMily has beeN toucheD by caNcer. aND liKe MaNy people, it iNspireD

hiM to get iNvolveD—aN iNspiratioN that woulD eveNtually leaD hiM to the aDvisory boarD of

the uab coMpreheNsive caNcer ceNter.

“I’VE DEVELOpED A REAL LOVE fOR thE

BOARD AND thE CANCER CENtER.” – Frank Lynch

22 u A b C o m P r e H e N S I V e C A N C e r C e N T e r u A b C o m P r e H e N S I V e C A N C e r C e N T e r 23