Two to be honored at UNMC Omaha commencement

UNMC will honor two individuals with special awards at its May 10 Omaha commencement at Baxter Arena, as approximately 1,000 students receive degrees next week across UNMC’s five campuses.

Former UNMC faculty member Alexander (Sasha) Kabanov, PhD, will be recognized with an honorary Doctor of Science degree for achievement in science and his service to the nation and to UNMC. 

Nebraska’s Byron Barksdale, MD, will be honored with the J.G. Elliott Award for decades of service to his fellow Nebraskans, notably in the areas of health care, outreach and public health. His vision and dedication to community helped bring critical health services to parts of Nebraska that were previously underserved. The honor is named for Jack Elliott, a longtime University of Nebraska regent who died in 1974.

Although Dr. Kabanov currently serves as Mescal S. Ferguson Distinguished Professor and the Director of the Center for Nanotechnology in Drug Delivery at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, he continues to be associated, nationally and internationally, with Nebraska and UNMC.

While serving as Parke-Davis Endowed Chair in Pharmaceutics at UNMC, he helped establish the first academic center of nanomedicine in the United States, the Nebraska Center for Nanomedicine.

Dr. Kabanov’s influence upon UNMC and beyond is profound, said David Oupicky, PhD, current Parke-Davis Chair at UNMC.

“The fact that his legacy continues to open doors and create opportunities for Nebraska’s scientific community more than a decade after his departure is perhaps the strongest testament to the lasting value of his contributions,” Dr. Oupicky said.

Dr. Barksdale, who serves as a consulting pathologist throughout the state, is the owner of Pathology Services, based in North Platte, through which he supports UNMC’s pathology department and serves 19 critical access hospitals in Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas.

After arriving in North Platte in 1981, Dr. Barksdale worked with several key community stakeholders to bring the first anesthesiologist to town in 1983. He and the group continued, establishing a cancer center, now Callahan Cancer Center, in 1985, followed by a certified stroke center in 2009, and finally, after 28 years of lobbying and organization, a hyperbaric chamber, for the treatment of carbon monoxide poisoning and wound care. These crucial health services now stand as a beacon for Nebraskans who live in the western region of the state, as well as rural Colorado and Kansas.

The 9 a.m. Omaha ceremony will be livestreamed.

UNMC commencement ceremonies also will be held in:

• Lincoln: 9:30 a.m. on May 8 at the Pinnacle Bank Arena.
• Kearney: 7 p.m. on May 8 at the University of Nebraska at Kearney Health and Sports Center.
• Norfolk: 2 p.m. on May 8 at Northeast Community College – Cox Activities Center.
• Scottsbluff: 3 p.m. MDT on May 10 at Scottsbluff High School Auditorium.