The UNMC community is invited to a retirement reception honoring four longtime faculty members in the UNMC College of Dentistry Department of Oral Biology who are stepping down following a combined 115 years of service.
Larry Crouch, PhD, Keith Johnson, PhD, Greg Oakley, PhD, and Tom Petro, PhD, will be honored June 16 from 2-4 p.m. in Dixon Auditorium at the UNMC College of Dentistry. Faculty, staff, students and alumni are welcome to attend to share laughs, memories and light refreshments.
Brief bios on the four retirees:
- Dr. Crouch, associate professor, has been with the college for 29 years. A recipient of the UNMC College of Dentistry Alumni Association Outstanding Educator Award, he has dedicated his career to education, in research as well as teaching. Dr. Crouch has served as chair and councilor for the American Dental Education Association’s Biochemistry, Nutrition Microbiology section and as chair of Integrated Clinical and Applied Biomedical Sciences section.
- Dr. Johnson, professor, has 25 years of service. With a background in cell and molecular biology, his research focus has been cell adhesion mediated by the cadherin and connexin families of proteins. Dr. Johnson has been a UNMC Distinguished Scientist and also has been honored as an outstanding mentor to both faculty and students.
- Dr. Oakley, professor, has been with the college for 21 years. Dr. Oakley has built a distinguished career in research focused on the DNA damage response, replication stress and cancer biology and secured significant funding as both principal and co-investigator on NIH, American Cancer Society and institutional grants. He’s also a dedicated mentor and teacher.
- Dr. Petro, professor and interim department chair, has been with the college the longest, 39 years. A recipient of the Tussing-Kaldahl Scholar Award, his research interests include using modern molecule immunobiology approaches to investigate cell signaling pathways that point to development of novel therapeutics to control viral infections and chronic inflammatory diseases. He’s also a valued research mentor.
The college is grateful for their individual and collective service and wishes them well in retirement, said Dean Gerry Kugel, DMD, PhD.