Alumni Association recognizes award recipients at reunion events

The UNMC Alumni Association announced recipients of its annual awards during an alumni reunion weekend in Omaha on Oct. 14-15 for graduates of the UNMC Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and the Graduate Studies Program.

More than 360 alumni and guests attended the events in Omaha with alumni representing class years spanning 1962 to the class of 2024, with 26 states represented. Alumni saw the College of Nursing History Museum, learned about health science education for the future during the welcome back lunch, toured the Wigton Heritage Center and iExcel and attended the celebration and awards reception.

During the reception, the class of 1972 was inducted into the honorary Half Century Club. On Saturday, classes gathered separately at venues throughout the city.

Awards were presented by each college’s respective alumni council, and some of the recipients from both 2020 and 2021 were in attendance to receive in-person recognition.

The College of Dentistry Alumni Association, alongside the UNMC Alumni Association, presented alumni awards at its reunion in Lincoln on Oct. 28-29. More than 200 alumni and friends gathered for continuing education with former faculty member Sree Koka, DDS, PhD, tours of the UNMC College of Dentistry and Dental History Museum and the awards reception, during which the classes of 1970, 1971 and1972 were inducted into the Half Century Club. Alumni from class years spanning 1965 to the class of 2021 were in attendance, and 23 states were represented.

Read full bios for each recipient on the UNMC Alumni Relations website.

The 2022 award recipients include:

Graduate Studies Program Alumni

  • Tammy Kielian, PhD; Honorary Alumnus Award
  • Michael Dixon, PhD ’03; Early Career Achievement Award
  • Kyle Meyer, PhD, PT ’79, MS ’85; Distinguished Alumnus Award

College of Medicine Alumni

  • Bradley Britigan, MD; Honorary Alumnus Award
  • Emily McElroy; Honorary Alumnus Award
  • Kristina Derrick, MD ‘10; Early Career Achievement Award
  • John “Andy” Craig, MD ‘13; Dedication to Student Excellence Award
  • Anne Hubbard, MD ‘77; Distinguished Alumnus Award

College of Nursing Alumni

  • Juliann G. Sebastian, PhD; Honorary Alumnus Award
  • Katie Speer, BSN ‘14; Nursing Excellence Award
  • Patricia Lopez, MSN ‘90; Dorothy Patach Spirit of Service Award
  • Lindsay Huse, DNP, BSN ‘01; Dorothy Patach Spirit of Service Award
  • Roxanne Stahl, ADN 1984, BSN 1986; Distinguished Alumnus Award

College of Pharmacy Alumni

  • Patrick Woster, PhD ‘87 (Bachelor of Pharmacy – 1978); Distinguished Alumnus Award

College of Dentistry

  • James Jenkins, DDS ’84; Outstanding Educator Award
  • Sreenivas Koka, DDS, PhD ‘99; Honorary Life Membership Award
  • John Reinhardt, DDS; Distinguished Service Award
  • Richard Reinhardt, DDS ‘72, PhD ‘87; Alumni Achievement Award

The College of Dentistry also gave recognition to its 2021 and 2020 award recipients, including:

  • Robin Hattervig, DDS ’84; Outstanding Educator Award
  • Joan Sivers, DDS; Honorary Life Membership Award
  • Janet Guthmiller, DDS, PhD; Distinguished Service Award
  • Byron Tullis, DDS ‘58 (posthumously); Alumni Achievement Award
  • Darlene Carritt, RDH ‘78; Outstanding Educator Award
  • Nebraska Innovation Campus PPE Team; Honorary Life Membership Award
  • David Brown, PhD (posthumously); Distinguished Service Award
  • Jon Asbjörnson, DDS ‘87, and Chuck Genrich, DDS ‘83; Alumni Achievement Award