Keith Mueller, PhD, a leading rural health policy expert and a key figure in the formation in the UNMC College of Public Health, died Sept. 26.
Dr. Mueller’s two-decade tenure at UNMC began in 1990. In 2007, he was named the associate dean for academic affairs in the then-newly formed UNMC College of Public Health. He also served as interim dean of the college in 2008-2009.
Dr. Mueller’s obituary can be found here.
For the past 16 years, Dr. Mueller has served at the University of Iowa. Most recently, he served as the head of the department of health management and policy in the UI College of Public Health, and he was the Gerhard Hartman Professor in Health Management and Policy. He also was the director of the Rural Health Policy Research Institute and its Center for Rural Health Policy Analysis.
Dave Palm, PhD, is an associate professor in the UNMC Department of Health Services Research & Administration and director of the Center for Health Policy in the UNMC College of Public Health. Dr. Palm called Dr. Mueller “a wonderful friend to many people in Nebraska, Iowa and across the country.”
“Keith was an influential leader and scholar who was passionate about using research to advocate for policies that would improve the lives of people living in rural America,” Dr. Palm said. “His work has shaped and influenced rural health policy for many years, and he has provided a role model for others to follow in the future.”
During his lifetime, Dr. Mueller served as president of the National Rural Health Association and as a member of the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services. He has also served on national advisory committees to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Dr. Mueller earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and his doctorate in political science from the University of Arizona. From 1987-88, he received the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellowship in Health Care Finance, working at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions as well as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
After completing his doctorate in 1979, Dr. Mueller joined the faculty of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an assistant professor of political science. He was named associate professor in 1985 and professor in 1991. He served on both the UNL and UNMC faculty from 1990 to 1997.