Jeff Colyer facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jeff Colyer
47th Governor of Kansas
In office January 31, 2018 – January 14, 2019
Lieutenant	Tracey Mann
Preceded by	Sam Brownback
Succeeded by	Laura Kelly
49th Lieutenant Governor of Kansas
In office January 10, 2011 – January 31, 2018
Governor	Sam Brownback
Preceded by	Troy Findley
Succeeded by	Tracey Mann
Member of the Kansas Senate from the 37th district
In office January 12, 2009 – January 10, 2011
Preceded by	Dennis Wilson
Succeeded by	Raymond Merrick
Member of the Kansas House of Representatives from the 48th district
In office January 8, 2007 – January 12, 2009
Preceded by	Eric Carter
Succeeded by	Marvin Kleeb
Personal details
Born	Jeffrey William Colyer (1960-06-03) June 3, 1960 (age 62) Hays, Kansas, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Ruth Gutierrez
Children	3
Education	Georgetown University (BS) Clare Hall, Cambridge (MA) University of Kansas (MD)

Jeffrey William Colyer (born June 3, 1960) is an American surgeon and politician who served as the 47th governor of Kansas from January 31, 2018, to January 14, 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he was the 49th lieutenant governor of Kansas from 2011 to 2018. Colyer served in the Kansas House of Representatives from 2007 to 2009 and the Kansas Senate from 2009 to 2011. He assumed the governorship when Sam Brownback resigned to become United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Colyer ran for a full term as governor in 2018, but narrowly lost the Republican primary to Kansas secretary of state Kris Kobach, who in turn lost the general election to Democratic nominee Laura Kelly.

Early life and education

Colyer was raised in Hays, where his father, James Daniel Colyer (d. 2015), worked as a dentist from 1955 to 1985. He graduated from Thomas More Prep High School in 1978 before enrolling at Georgetown University, where he took pre-med courses and earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1981. After receiving a master's degree in international relations from Clare Hall, Cambridge in 1982, he obtained his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Kansas in 1986.

Early career

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).

Colyer was a White House fellow under presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, working in international affairs.

In 1994 Colyer opened his own plastic/craniofacial surgery practice in Overland Park, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. He volunteers with the International Medical Corps, providing care in such areas as Kosovo and Sierra Leone; in this capacity, he has performed both trauma and reconstructive surgery as well as training local doctors. Colyer's work as a volunteer surgeon in combat zones has taken him to Afghanistan and Iraq, and to Rwanda during that country's genocide.

Personal life

Colyer has been married to his wife, Ruth, since 1991. They have three daughters.

Electoral history