{"id":134587,"date":"2026-08-11T10:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T15:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=134587"},"modified":"2026-08-10T10:31:26","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T15:31:26","slug":"dr-iwen-retires-after-48-years-at-unmc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/08\/11\/dr-iwen-retires-after-48-years-at-unmc\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Iwen retires after 48 years at UNMC"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Dr. Peter Iwen can look back on many accomplishments in his 48-year career at UNMC. He\u2019s also leaving with a sense of gratitude for the people who played a big part in his journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had many opportunities, which occurred because of people providing encouragement to me,\u201d he said. \u201cDr. Norman Miller, who was co-chairman of what was then called the Department of Medical Microbiology, hired me as a research scientist in October 1978. He took a chance on me since I had recently graduated from undergraduate college and had no laboratory experience. Dr. Harry McFadden was chair of the department at that time and was also medical director for the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory at what was called University Hospital. Between the two of them, they encouraged me to continue my education and introduced me to the benefit of the tuition reimbursement program. So I got my master\u2019s degree through that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mid-1986, the department merged with the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. Dr. David Purtilo was chairman of this new merged department of Pathology and Microbiology following the retirement of Dr. McFadden. Dr. Purtilo encouraged Dr. Iwen to teach microbiology labs and made him an instructor within this new merged department.  Dr. Purtilo unfortunately passed away shortly thereafter, and Dr. Samuel Cohen stepped in as chair. He brought in Dr. Steven Hinrichs as a new faculty member for his expertise in virology, and he subsequently became medical director for Nebraska Medicine\u2019s clinical microbiology lab. Both felt Dr. Iwen\u2019s research would make for a good PhD dissertation, and they encouraged Dr. Iwen to pursue his PhD, again using the tuition reimbursement program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Mark Rupp was his PhD advisor. \u201cHe was interested in my work with invasive fungal diagnostics. He opened up the door for my interest in infectious diseases to apply the clinical patient care side with laboratory diagnostics. He encouraged me to join the hospital infection control committee. So again, opportunities were available for me to move forward in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Iwen is also appreciative of Emily McCutchen, who\u2019s succeeding him as director of the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, and for the entire NPHL staff. \u201cThey\u2019re what make the laboratory function. Although I direct the laboratory, they are the ones that do the work. They\u2019re very competent individuals.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That makes stepping away from the laboratory easier. \u201cThere are so many new things that are happening all at once in the laboratory sciences. I\u2019m at an age now where keeping up with these changes is getting to be a challenge. I feel the laboratory is in a good position to move into the future. So I think it\u2019s time. These young laboratory scientists are prepared to move NPHL into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Iwen said he got the most satisfaction out of seeing people be successful. \u201cA lot of people I\u2019ve worked with have gone on to other positions and have been very successful. Also, being appreciated by your colleagues as a person of integrity and valued for my knowledge of clinical microbiology were important to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019d also like to be remembered for being supportive of my staff,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve tried to make sure the staff is adequately compensated for what they do, for instance, and that they had opportunities to participate in programs to advance their careers. If you don\u2019t get somebody to go to bat for you, sometimes things don\u2019t happen. Finally, multiple staff members have been encouraged to continue their education while still working and supporting their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd leaving here knowing that NPHL is better than when I started, and it\u2019s going to move in the right direction makes retiring easier. I believe the lab is going to be better yet after I leave. New blood will do that. This is important to me. I\u2019ve been working at that; Emily has been working hard during this transition time, and I feel she\u2019s the right person to direct and keep the laboratory moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Iwen said he plans to spend more time with his family. \u201cA couple of my children and their families are here in Omaha. My daughter lives in Germany with a couple of our grandchildren, and I have a son and his wife who live in Fort Collins, Colorado. My wife and I enjoy traveling to national parks, so that\u2019s something that we\u2019re healthy enough to still do that. We have a shared lake cabin up in Minnesota that we like to go to and just hang out. Other retirees have told me not to make big plans early in retirement, to just sit back, take your time to define the new you, and that\u2019s where I\u2019m at now. But I\u2019m not going to completely leave my professional interests in microbiology, as I\u2019m still going to be involved here as an emeritus professor. This is not goodbye; I\u2019ll see you later.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Career highlights<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n