Des Moines University announced that its 16th annual Glanton Dinner, the annual fundraising event for the Glanton Fund, will be held Oct. 16 at the Meadows Events Center in Altoona. This year’s Glanton honoree is Shahbaz Ahmed Merchant, chairman and CEO of Merchant Investment Trust, which operates Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches and Java Lava Coffee Inc. Merchant currently serves on the Des Moines University Board of Trustees and the Des Moines Area Community College Foundation Board  Bankers Trust Co. is the presenting sponsor for this year’s annual event. DMU established the Glanton Fund to address two important needs in health care: to diversify its workforce by generating scholarships for minority students, who are under-represented in the field, and to enhance all students’ cultural competency through multicultural programs. For more information and tickets, click here.