UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., has without a doubt become one of Omaha’s foremost newsmakers as he leads the medical center to new heights with his vision for a world-class academic health sciences center. His wife, Beverly, is an award-winning educator and active community volunteer.
The couple will be saluted by the Omaha Press Club as the next “Faces on the Barroom Floor” on Wednesday, April 25. The honor has been extended to Omaha newsmakers since 1971. They will be the 111th Face.
The event, which is open to nonmembers, begins at 5:30 p.m. with a no-host bar. The roast and toast begins at 6:30 p.m. An optional dinner follows.
Reservations are required only for the dinner. Call 345-8008. Dinner is $50 per person for nonmembers and $40 per person for members.
Roasters of the couple will be Jack Baker, chairman and CEO, PDM; retired Vice Adm. Bob Bell, vice president for business and community development for UNeMed, UNMC’s licensing and marketing arm; Bruce Lauritzen, chairman, First National Bank of Omaha; and Michael Sorrell, M.D., professor, UNMC Department of Internal Medicine. Gail Walling Yanney, M.D., board member of The Nebraska Medical Center, will emcee.
Since becoming the seventh UNMC chancellor in 1998, Dr. Maurer, an internationally recognized, award-winning researcher, has overseen much growth and activity on campus, including $150 million in recent construction.
Construction has been completed on the 10-story Durham Research Center, the four-story Hixson-Lied Center for Clinical Excellence connecting University and Clarkson hospitals, a 1,500-stall employee parking garage and a new utility plant.
Construction has started on a second research tower, a Good Manufacturing Process facility for cellular transplants and vaccine research and the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education, which will provide for a state-of-the-art, interdisciplinary learning environment for UNMC students.
A major force in Nebraska’s economic development, UNMC received nearly $80 million in research support in 2005-06 and its goal is to reach $200 million by the close of 2009.
A native New Yorker, Dr. Maurer began his academic career in 1968 at the Medical College of Virginia, where he spent 25 years before coming to Omaha. While there, he established himself as the world’s foremost expert on rhabdomyosarcoma, a childhood cancer involving the soft tissue, and helped form the Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group, which he chaired from 1972 to 1998. The group has been credited with raising the cure rate of children afflicted with the disease from 20 percent to 75 percent.
The author of more than 200 publications and the editor of a pediatrics textbook and a book on rhabdomyosarcoma, Dr. Maurer has presented at more than 150 scientific meetings and has served on the editorial boards of several medical journals.
In 1993, he became dean of the UNMC College of Medicine and set the college on a new course for academic excellence. As dean, he led negotiations to join Clarkson and University Hospitals to form Nebraska Health System in 1997, now known as The Nebraska Medical Center.
Building ties with the Omaha community and with cities and towns across Nebraska has been a major priority for Dr. Maurer. UNMC has a presence in more than 130 communities in Nebraska.
Among many honors and awards received by Dr. Maurer are the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Children’s Oncology Group for his research in rhabdomyosarcoma, People of Vision Award and the American Diabetes Association Nebraska Honoree. In 2005, he received two major recognitions as he was named the Omaha World-Herald’s Midlander of the Year and he was crowned king of Ak-Sar-Ben.
Beverly Maurer served for 25 years in various positions from math teacher to principal at a Richmond, Va., elementary school. Her innovative methods as principal earned her the Master Teacher Award and continuous inclusion in Who’s Who in Education and Who’s Who in America.
She is a founding member of the Nebraskans for Research and serves on the group’s executive board. She currently is a member of the advisory board for the Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Board of Governors at the Joslyn Art Museum. She has served on the boards of Uta Halle and the University of Nebraska Hospital Auxiliary and on several committees at the Jewish Federation.
In addition, Beverly Maurer is a full-time volunteer for UNMC assisting with special events, recruiting and fundraising. She supports the UNMC SHARING Clinic, a student-run clinic providing health care for underserved populations in Omaha.
In 2006, the Maurers received the Jason Award from Children’s Square U.S.A. in Council Bluffs, Iowa, for their commitment to children, family and community. In 2005, the Maurers co-chaired the first annual benefit for children afflicted with autism. Together they also served as chairs in 2002 of the National Conference for Community and Justice. They were honored in 2004 with the People of Vision Award from Prevent Blindness Nebraska.
The Maurers have two daughters who live in Tampa, Fla. — Ann, married to Dr. David Rosenbach, and Wendy — married to Mark Linsky. They have two grandchildren, Diana and Michael and two step-grandchildren, Matt and Lauren, and are expecting twin granddaughters in May.