UNMC will honor four individuals for their dedication and support to UNMC and the health professions during Friday’s commencement ceremony in Omaha. The May 14 ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Qwest Center Exhibition Hall C for students in the College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of Nursing Omaha division, School of Allied Health Professions and the Graduate College.
UNMC will award its Distinguished Service Award to Mary and Richard Holland for their outstanding support of UNMC, and award an Honorary Doctor of Science degree posthumously to Jack L. Pulec, M.D., in recognition of his accomplishments in improving the health of people through excellence in otolaryngology. The J.G. (Jack) Elliott Award, given annually to a Nebraska resident who has made significant contributions to medicine and health programs for the State of Nebraska and UNMC, will be bestowed upon Jay Druecker, Ph.D, who was instrumental in the development of the Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP) curriculum and activities at Chadron State College.
Chancellor’s Distinguished Service Award
Mary and Richard Holland are longtime philanthropic supporters in the Omaha community. Their generous gift to UNMC established the Holland Cardiovascular Research Laboratories on the fifth floor of the Durham Research Center.
The couple’s broad giving interests include establishing the Robert T. Reilly Professorship of Communication at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Their generosity has extended to such local arts institutions as Opera Omaha, the Omaha Symphony, and the Joslyn Art Museum, and to community organizations such as the Child Saving Institute, All Our Kids Inc., and the Nature Conservancy. The Hollands also are key contributors to the efforts to build a performing arts center, which is currently under construction in downtown Omaha.
A retired advertising executive, Richard Holland is the vice president of the Omaha Performing Arts Society. The president of Opera Omaha from 1966 to 1970, Richard Holland currently is vice chairman of the board of the Opera Omaha Foundation, which handles the organization’s endowment.
Mary Holland was a princess of Ak-Sar-Ben in 1947 and a member of the Junior League of Omaha. For many years, Mary has been interested in the problems of children and young adults. She is supportive and directly involved in efforts to curtail those problems, at times assisting children whom she feels need support.
The UNMC Chancellor’s Distinguished Service Award is given to individuals or organizations that have demonstrated outstanding support for UNMC by way of personal service, private contributions or other meritorious advocacy for the campus mission.
Honorary Doctor of Science
Jack L. Pulec, M.D., was a respected clinician and educator, a widely published author, and an active researcher in the fields of neurotology and otolaryngology.
Born and raised in Crete, Neb., Dr. Pulec graduated from the College of Medicine at UNMC in 1957. After a year as a resident in obstetrics and gynecology at UNMC, Dr. Pulec completed an otolaryngology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic and a neurotology fellowship at the Los Angeles Foundation of Otology.
Dr. Pulec continued to practice in Los Angeles and was an active, contributing member of the Los Angeles Foundation of Otology, participating in medical and surgical aspects of neurotology. He served on the faculty of several medical schools, culminating with his appointment in 2001 as clinical professor of otolaryngology and neurosurgery at the University of Southern California School of Medicine.
An avid world traveler, Dr. Pulec lectured and performed numerous surgeries internationally. He was devoted to educating and providing service to those who had little means to pay for such services. In 1977, he began a non-profit foundation, Ear International.
An acknowledged innovator, Dr. Pulec authored more than 200 publications, many of which are definitive. For more than 11 years, Dr. Pulec served as the editor-in-chief of Ear, Nose & Throat Journal. He is credited with raising the standards and enhancing the quality of the publication.
Until the his tragic death while skiing in 2003, Dr. Pulec remained active in private practice in neurotology, as well as teaching and conducting research with a view of developing new, more advanced methods of treating neurological disease. His wife, Marlene, will accept the award on her husband’s behalf.
J.G. Elliott Award
Jay Druecker, Ph.D., has improved the health care of Nebraskans through his tireless efforts to provide rural students with the education, encouragement and opportunities necessary for their success in becoming a health care professional.
A native of Murray, Neb., Dr. Druecker began his teaching career at Chadron State College in 1968. In the late 1970s, he took a sabbatical from Chadron State and enrolled in anatomy and pathology courses at UNMC. During that year, Dr. Druecker helped interview students who were applying to medical school and attended functions for health professions advisors. The relationships Dr. Druecker built, and then maintained, were paramount in Chadron State being selected as UNMC’s first Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP) partner. RHOP grants admission into participating UNMC programs to qualifying students upon completion of their undergraduate studies.
Along with Dr. Ted Davis, Dr. Druecker was instrumental and a key driving force in the development of the RHOP curriculum and activities at Chadron State College. He served for many years as the primary advisor for students interested in the health care profession at Chadron State. Through his leadership efforts, more than 70 RHOP health professionals now are working in rural Nebraska. Another of Dr. Druecker’s initiatives is the Health Professional Day at Chadron State, which began in the mid-1980s. Through this program, more than 3,000 rural students have been exposed to health career education opportunities in Nebraska.
Dr. Druecker retired from full-time teaching duties in the spring of 2003. He remained on the staff part time during the current school year to advise students who sought to enter the health professions. Dr. Druecker and his wife, Jane, a home health physical therapist, have two grown sons.
The J.G. Elliott Award is given annually in memory of Elliott, a former Scottsbluff resident who served on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents for 20 years until his death in 1974.