2008 - 2009 Directory

District Governor 2008 - 2009

Robert Tully Chambers was born in Chandler, PQ, Canada and grew up in Québec City.  He graduated M.D. from Queen’s University in Kingston Ontario, Canada and M.Sc (Experimental Surgery) from McGill University in Montreal.  His surgical residency was at the Montreal General Hospital and University of Colorado Hospitals in Denver.  He began a private practice of surgery in Prince George, British Columbia immigrating to Joliet, Illinois in 1978 and becoming a citizen of the United States of America on January 17, 1984 in Chicago, Illinois. He continued to practice surgery at Saint Joseph Medical Center and Silver Cross Hospital in Joliet and became the Chief of Surgery at Saint Joseph Medical Center. In 1995, he was recruited by MeritCare Health Systems, Fargo, North Dakota to be their surgeon in Wahpeton, N.D.  He was Chairman of the Surgery Committee of the North Central Cancer Treatment Group, Rochester, MN and an Advanced Trauma Life Support instructor for the American College of Surgeons. Retiring from clinical practice in August of 2005 he currently teaches at the North Dakota State College of Science.

Tully has four children and two granddaughters, all residing in the Chicago area excepting his third daughter who resides in Huntington Beach, California, as well as two step sons and five step grand children, all residing in Massachusetts.

He was Chairman of the Citizen Advisory Panel for the Joliet Plant of Amoco Chemicals; member of the Board of Joliet Jaguar Youth Hockey; Executive Producer for the Jaguar Television Group and a member of the Wilkin-Richland Counties Emergency Medical Services Oversight Board.

Tully joined the Rotary Club of Wahpeton, N.D. in 1997 and was assigned to the International Directorate of which he became Chairman in 1999.  In 2000 he was part of a medical team sent by District 5580 to Honduras to assess the medical system there and was the senior author of the report of those findings to District Governor Steve Andrews.  In 2003 he became President of the Rotary Club of Wahpeton, ND and in 2005 the Assistant District Governor for Area 4 of District 5580.

He is married to Marilyn Mary Chambers who is herself a Rotarian.  Marilyn has been a Rotarian for 6 years.  Her initiation into Rotary was as the Editor of the Wahpeton Club Newsletter.  From there, she became the Directorate of the International Committee.  She is currently Vice-President of the Wahpeton Club.  Marilyn looks forward to accompanying Tully on all club visits this year. Tully and Marilyn are both Paul Harris Fellows.  Tully is a member of the Paul Harris Society and Marilyn is a Paul Harris Sustaining Member.  Tully’s father was a polio victim at age 9, so the work Rotary International has done with Polio Plus is very important to him.