The founder of one of the nation’s largest truckload carriers, the vice mayor of Shanghai and a community college president who helped bring nursing education to Northeast Nebraska will be honored during UNMC’s commencement ceremony Saturday at the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
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- Clarence L. “C.L.” Werner with the UNMC Chancellor’s Distinguished Service Award, which 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.
- Xiaoming Shen, M.D., Ph.D., with an Honorary Doctor of Science degree in recognition of his outstanding contributions to science and his collaborative efforts with UNMC.
- Bill R. Path, Ed.D., with the J.G. “Jack” Elliott Award for forging educational partnerships that improve the health of Nebraskans. The annual award is given in memory of Elliott, a former Scottsbluff resident who served on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents for 20 years.
Werner, chairman of Werner Enterprises, Inc., one of the largest and most profitable truckload motor carriers in the nation, will be honored for his autism advocacy. In 2007, he was awarded the GWR Sunshine Foundation’s Help is Hope Award for his support in the fight against autism and he hand his family have pledged nearly $8 million to support autism related efforts at UNMC and elsewhere.
Dr. Shen — currently the vice mayor of Shanghai — previously served as president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. As SJTUSM president, he helped establish an institutional collaborative agreement between his school and UNMC that provided opportunities for student and faculty exchanges, research agreements and also established a unique, joint M.D./Ph.D. program.
Dr. Path, president of Northeast Community College in Norfolk, has been a leading figure in the establishment of a UNMC College of Nursing division in Norfolk. As the initiative moved forward, Dr. Path committed countless hours of work and leadership to the project. This effort resulted in $11.9 million of private funds for the J. Paul and Eleanor McIntosh College of Nursing in Norfolk. The building will open this fall.