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Bela Toth, D.V.M. |
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Jesse Edwards |
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Richard Reinhardt, D.D.S., Ph.D. |
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James Booth, Ph.D. |
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David Crouse, Ph.D. |
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Daniel Halm, M.D. |
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Charles Murrin, Ph.D. |
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K. Reed Peters, M.D. |
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Lani Zimmerman, Ph.D. |
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James Somers, Ph.D. |
Others will be recognized for their long-standing tenure at UNMC.
Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend and pay tribute to the honorees during today’s Annual Faculty Meeting, which begins at 4 p.m. in the Durham Research Center auditorium. A reception immediately follows in the Durham Research Center atrium.
UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., will present his annual address, titled “The Path to a 21st Century Leading Academic Medical Center,” followed by the awards ceremony.
Profiles of the following award recipients have appeared online in UNMC Today and can be found in the UNMC Today archives (info.unmc.edu).
Spirit of Community Service — Linda Sather, Ed.D., College of Nursing-community-based health
Faculty Mentor of Graduate Students — Joyce Solheim, Ph.D., Eppley Institute
Outstanding Teacher Awards
- J. Scott Neumeister, M.D., internal medicine
- Carol Lomneth, Ph.D., genetics, cell biology and anatomy
- Janet Cuddigan, Ph.D., College of Nursing-adult health and illness
University-wide Departmental Teaching Award — UNMC Department of Family Medicine
Faculty members who have marked service milestones ranging from 10 to 40 years also will be recognized during today’s ceremony. Two faculty members will be recognized for 40 years of service, eight will be recognized for 30 years of service. Their biographies are below, followed by the names of UNMC employees with 20 and 10 years of service.
40 Years
Eppley Institute
Bela Toth, D.V.M., professor in the Eppley Institute, received his doctor of veterinary medicine at the University of Veterinary Science, Budapest, Hungary. His postgraduate training in pathology (oncology) was at the U.S. Public Health Service and The Chicago Medical School. Dr. Toth’s research has been in the area of hydrazines and chemical causation of cancer.
School of Allied Health Professions
Jesse Edwards, associate director in the School of Allied Health Professions’ physician assistant (PA) program at UNMC, has made historic contributions to physician assistant education. Upon retiring from the military, Edwards joined UNMC as associate to the dean for business affairs in the College of Medicine. He was a founding father of UNMC’s first physician assistant program, accepted the position as associate program director and is credited with having developed the profession in the state of Nebraska. He was instrumental in establishing the affiliation between the joint Air Force/Navy PA program and the university, which awarded a degree to the military’s students. He has served as both president and vice president of the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) and established its liaison relationship with the National Association of Advisors for the Health Professions. In 2007, Dr. Edwards was the first recipient of the PAEA’s Presidential Award. He also has received the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Veterans Caucus of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.
30 Years
College of Dentistry
Richard Reinhardt, D.D.S., Ph.D., is the B.J. and Ann Moran Professor of Periodontology at the UNMC College of Dentistry. He received his D.D.S. (1972) and Ph.D. (1981) degrees from the University of Nebraska. Dr. Reinhardt heads the undergraduate periodontal curriculum and maintains a research program in oral inflammation from which he has authored more than 100 peer reviewed articles. He is a member of Omicron Kappa Upsilon (national dental honor society), fellow in the American College of Dentists, Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology and received the 2000 Clinical Research Award from the American Academy of Periodontology.
College of Medicine
S. James Booth, Ph.D., earned his bachelor’s degree in microbiology at the University of Iowa in 1968. Shortly after graduation, he fulfilled two years in the U.S. Army as a researcher at Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in 1975 in microbiology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After his postdoctoral fellowship in the Anaerobe Laboratory at Virginia Tech, he joined the UNMC faculty in 1977. His early research interests involved the bacteriophages and bacteriocins, as well as the pathogenicity, of anaerobic bacteria. More recently, he has investigated how students in the health sciences learn and presents workshops to students on integrating active learning into their study habits. He is a co-author of several computer-based bioterrorism teaching modules used at UNMC and other health science centers and is the author of a popular board review text. He participated in major curriculum reform in both the College of Medicine and College of Pharmacy. At the national level, he is a leader in developing core objectives for teaching microbiology in medical schools. Dr. Booth’s teaching awards include the Hirschmann Award for Teaching Excellence, the Class of 1962 Basic Science Outstanding Teacher Award, the UNMC Distinguished Teaching Award (twice) and the M2 Golden Apple Award (twice).
David Crouse, Ph.D., spent 20 years in traditional research and teaching (basic sciences) and is now in his 11th year of primarily administrative roles, serving as the associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and the executive associate dean for graduate studies. He also is a professor in the department of genetics, cell biology and anatomy. Dr. Crouse earned his undergraduate degree in physics and master’s degree in zoology at Western Illinois University. Following a two-year diversion for military service, he returned to graduate school to get his Ph.D. in radiation biology from the University of Iowa in 1974. He did a post-doc at the Argonne National Laboratory before coming to UNMC as a new assistant professor in 1977 and later served as interim vice chancellor for academic affairs and interim dean for graduate studies and research under the late Chancellor William Berndt, Ph.D., and Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. He maintains graduate and other health science teaching responsibilities in stem cell biology, radiation biology and public perceptions of radiation risks. He has taken a lead role in promoting an understanding of the science and ethics that relate to stem cell biology and in developing programs related to “Responsible Conduct in Research” and other important career areas for graduate students, post-docs and junior faculty of UNMC. His administrative responsibilities relate to facilitating the launching and development of new programs, compliance oversight and various aspects of faculty and student affairs.
Daniel Halm, M.D., the medical director of the UNMC Physicians’ Summit Plaza office, received his undergraduate medical education at UNMC and graduated in 1975. He interned at the Medical College of Georgia and returned to UNMC to complete his residency in family medicine in 1978. He joined the faculty upon completion of residency and married Sharon Daniels in 1979. They have four children, Helen, Jeanette, Thomas and Andrew, and two grandchildren, Kale and Barrett. Dr. Halm has served as president of the Faculty Senate and is certified by the American Board of Family Practice.
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K. Reed Peters, M.D., received his bachelor’s degree at Creighton University and his medical degree from the UNMC College of Medicine in 1975. He took his residency training in anesthesiology at UNMC and was invited to join the faculty in which he was promoted to professor in 2002. He served as interim chairman of UNMC’s Department of Anesthesiology from August 1985 until February 1986. He has served in leadership roles in several organizations and is currently a delegate for the Metropolitan Omaha Medical Society and Nebraska’s Alternate Director to the American Society of Anesthesiologists. In January 2007, he was honored with the medical society’s Distinguished Service Award for his work to ban smoking in Omaha’s bars and restaurants.
College of Nursing
Lani Zimmerman, Ph.D., professor in the College of Nursing, conducts National Institutes of Research-supported studies that test different interventions to promote symptom management and early recovery in cardiac intervention patients. An additional emphasis of her research is using telehealth to deliver the intervention to remote areas. Dr. Zimmerman earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1970 and her master’s degree in nursing in 1975 from Montana State University. In 1983, she earned her doctoral degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She was appointed to the Florence Niedfelt Professorship in 2005 and was honored earlier this year as one of UNMC’s 2007 Distinguished Scientists.
School of Allied Health Professions
James Somers, Ph.D., has served as associate professor and program director for the division of physician assistant education in the School of Allied Health Professions at UNMC since 1991. Dr. Somers joined UNMC in 1977 and spent six years as an instructor and clinical coordinator in the division of physician assistant education. After spending a year at the physician assistant program at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Dr. Somers returned to UNMC as an instructor in the department of preventive and stress medicine. In subsequent years, he served as a physician assistant in the department of radiology and academic coordinator in the division of physician assistant education. The Leavenworth, Kan., native earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Kansas, a bachelor’s degree and physician assistant certificate at Wichita State University and a master’s and doctorate degree at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has received numerous honors including recognition for contributions to, and leadership of, the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant.
20 Years
College of Dentistry
- J Bruce Bavitz, D.M.D.
- Timothy Durham, D.D.S.
College of Medicine
- Philip Bierman, M.D.
- Steven Carson, Ph.D.
- Kevin Garvin, M.D.
- Jennifer Larsen, M.D.
- Thomas Lynch, M.D.
- Richard MacDonald, Ph.D.
- Monty Mathews, M.D.
- Arun-Angelo Patil, M.D.
- Elizabeth Reed, M.D.
- Joseph Sisson, M.D.
- Geoffrey Thiele, Ph.D.
- Susanna Von Essen, M.D.
College of Nursing
- Sharon Holyoke
College of Pharmacy
- Jonathan Vennerstrom, Ph.D.
Munroe-Meyer Institute
- Keith Allen, Ph.D.
- Sandra Houser
- William Warzak, Ph.D.
10 Years
College of Dentistry
- Caren Barnes
- Larry Crouch, Ph.D.