About 1,015 students will receive diplomas this week while four distinguished advocates for health care will be honored as another school year wraps up at UNMC.
Graduation ceremonies will be held at UNMC campuses in Norfolk, Kearney, Lincoln, Omaha and Scottsbluff and at the Omaha commencement ceremony on Saturday, Gerald Luckey, M.D., Gang Pei, Ph.D., and Fred and Eve Simon will be honored for special contributions to health care.
Greatness in greater Nebraska
Gerald Luckey, M.D., will receive the J.G. Elliott Award for his more than 34 years of service to rural Nebraska as an outstanding physician, leader, educator and innovator in rural medicine practice.
Dr. Luckey has practiced at Butler County Community Hospital and the Butler County Clinic in David City, Neb., since 1977.
As a preceptor, he has served as a teacher and mentor to hundreds of medical students and health professionals in rural Nebraska, and helped instill the importance of caring and compassion in the field of medicine.
The J.G. Elliott Award is given annually in memory of Jack Elliott, a former Scottsbluff resident, who served on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents for 20 years, until his death in 1974.
Honorary Doctorate
Gang Pei, Ph.D., will receive the Honorary Doctor of Science degree for his contributions to scientific research and for his work to foster collaborations between Tongji University in China and UNMC.
Dr. Pei is president of Tongji University in Shanghai. Along with UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., Dr. Pei led the effort to solidify scientific collaboration between the two universities. The collaboration includes:
- A joint medical education program;
- Translational research and family medicine training; and
- Tongji student participation in UNMC’s M.D./Ph.D. program — part of the first professional doctoral degree training program between the U.S. and China.
Dr. Pei’s leadership also was crucial in UNMC’s establishment of a Shanghai Joint Sino-U.S. Family Medicine Training/Cooperation Center.
Distinguished public servants
Fred and Eve Simon will receive the UNMC Chancellor’s Distinguished Service Award for their longtime friendship to the medical center for their steadfast support of biomedical research to mitigate some of society’s most devastating diseases. Fred Simon, the executive vice president of Omaha Steaks, and his wife, Eve, donate their time and resources to causes such as:
- The American Lung Association of Nebraska;
- The Jewish Federation Foundation;
- The Nebraska Cultural Endowment; and
- Operations Council of the Salvation Army Kroc Center.