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Robert Binhammer, Ph.D. |
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David O’Dell, M.D. |
In 2002, Drs. Binhammer and O’Dell both received the awards, which are given by fourth-year medical students to recognize excellence in faculty teaching. Faculty members can only win the award once every four years.
Don’t look for another Binhammer-O’Dell sweep of the award in four years. With his award today, Dr. O’Dell, the LeeRoy Meyer Professor of Medicine, now has seven Golden Apples, which places him in the college’s Golden Apple Hall of Fame and also makes him ineligible to win the award again.
“The Golden Apple is very special because it comes from the students,” Dr. O’Dell said. “It has been my pleasure to be able to spend time with students over the years.”
Dr. O’Dell credited his current department chairman, Lynell Klassen, M.D., and previous chairmen, John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D., and James Armitage, M.D., for being major proponents of strong teaching. He also made special mention of the late LeeRoy Meyer, M.D., a legendary UNMC educator who Dr. O’Dell called a mentor. In March, Dr. O’Dell received the first ever Meyer professorship.
“I feel fortunate that I represent a department that believes strongly in student education,” Dr. O’Dell said. “I also want to pay special tribute to LeeRoy, whose commitment to teaching truly inspired me.”
Dr. Binhammer has taken home numerous teaching awards during his 50 plus years of teaching medical students, most recently winning the College of Medicine — Class of 1962 Basic Science Outstanding Teacher Award in March. Today marks the second time Dr. Binhammer has received a Golden Apple.
“I’ve been doing this long time and it never gets old being recognized by the students,” said Dr. Binhammer, who has long been referred to as “The Hammer” by students for his demanding teaching style. “It’s always nice to know they appreciate what you do and how you do it.”
The Hirschmann Prize for Teaching Excellence is awarded annually to two outstanding College of Medicine faculty members — one clinical and one pre-clinical — who demonstrate a devotion to teaching.
The Hirschmann Prize was created through the generosity of College of Medicine alumni Dr. Jerome Hirschmann, Class of 1941, a retired cardiologist, and his son, Dr. Richard Hirschmann, Class of 1973, a pediatric anesthesiologist.