Life at UNMC for 40, 30 years

One is a soccer enthusiast. Another led the department that earned the 2008 university-wide teaching award. Another has a building named after him.

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Michael Sorrell, M.D.
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Bruce Buehler, M.D.
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Michael Sitorius, M.D.
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Katherine Kaiser, Ph.D.
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Ercole Cavalieri, D.Sc.
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Daniel Schafer, M.D.

These are a few of the characteristics of the seven faculty members who celebrate service milestones of 40 and 30 years this year. They will be recognized during today’s Annual Faculty Meeting at 4 p.m. in the Durham Research Center Auditorium. (Watch the ceremony.)

Employees with 20 years and 10 years of service also will be recognized. (View the lists of faculty with 10 to 40 years of service and of faculty with five years of service.)

Here, our honorees reflect on their years at UNMC.

What kept you engaged at UNMC these many years?

Michael Sorrell, M.D., College of Medicine (COM) – 40 years of service:

“The opportunity to do research and interact with patients in an exciting and growing campus environment.”


Bruce Buehler, M.D., COM – 30 years:

“Being part of a rapidly growing academic medical center that was building a reputation. I have watched us become a nationally recognized medical center over my tenure. It is a distinction to be part of UNMC.”


Michael Sitorius, M.D., COM – 30 years:

“The people, mission of UNMC, continuous desire for UNMC to improve, opportunity to grow professionally and the energy of growth and change. In the end, the great people I have the opportunity to work with, and for, everyday.”


Describe a moment when you realized you had picked the right occupation.

Katherine Kaiser, Ph.D., College of Nursing – 30 years:

“I knew nursing education was for me when a patient told me that one of my nursing students was the most professional nurse they had ever encountered and that they knew they were going to be ‘OK’ the first time she came to visit.”


Ercole Cavalieri, D.Sc., Eppley Institute – 40 years:

“I realized that chemical carcinogenesis was the right field of research for me in the late 1960s when Nobel Laureate Professor Melvin Calvin accepted me in his laboratory. My research here has given me the opportunity to find the etiology of cancer that can lead to its prevention.”


Editor’s Note: Douglas Wheatley, M.D., COM; and Daniel Schafer, M.D., COM ; also were recognized for 30 years of service.