{"id":47101,"date":"2004-05-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2004-05-07T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2004\/05\/07\/unmc-to-honor-four-at-may-14-commencement-ceremony-2\/"},"modified":"2022-08-29T10:41:47","modified_gmt":"2022-08-29T15:41:47","slug":"unmc-to-honor-four-at-may-14-commencement-ceremony-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2004\/05\/07\/unmc-to-honor-four-at-may-14-commencement-ceremony-2\/","title":{"rendered":"UNMC to honor four at May 14 commencement ceremony"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNMC will honor four individuals for their dedication and support to<\/p>\n

UNMC and the health professions during its May 14 commencement ceremony<\/p>\n

in Omaha. The ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Qwest Center Exhibition<\/p>\n

Hall C for students in the College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College<\/p>\n

of Nursing Omaha division, School of Allied Health Professions and the<\/p>\n

Graduate College.<\/p>\n

UNMC will award its Distinguished Service Award to Mary and Richard<\/p>\n

Holland for their outstanding support of UNMC, and award an Honorary Doctor<\/p>\n

of Science degree posthumously to Jack L. Pulec, M.D., in recognition of<\/p>\n

his accomplishments in improving the health of people through excellence<\/p>\n

in otolaryngology.<\/p>\n

The J.G. (Jack) Elliott Award, given annually to a Nebraska resident<\/p>\n

who has made significant contributions to medicine and health programs<\/p>\n

for the State of Nebraska and UNMC, will be bestowed upon Jay Druecker,<\/p>\n

Ph.D, who was instrumental in the development of the Rural Health Opportunities<\/p>\n

Program (RHOP) curriculum and activities at Chadron State College.<\/p>\n

Chancellors Distinguished Service Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Mary and Richard Holland are longtime philanthropic supporters in the<\/p>\n

Omaha community. Their generous gift to UNMC established the Holland Cardiovascular<\/p>\n

Research Laboratories on the fifth floor of the Durham Research Center.<\/p>\n

The couples broad giving interests include establishing the Robert<\/p>\n

T. Reilly Professorship of Communication at the University of Nebraska<\/p>\n

at Omaha. Their generosity has extended to such local arts institutions<\/p>\n

as Opera Omaha, the Omaha Symphony, and the Joslyn Art Museum, and to community<\/p>\n

organizations such as the Child Saving Institute, All Our Kids Inc., and<\/p>\n

the Nature Conservancy. The Hollands also are key contributors to the efforts<\/p>\n

to build a performing arts center, which is currently under construction<\/p>\n

in downtown Omaha.<\/p>\n

A retired advertising executive, Richard Holland is the vice president<\/p>\n

of the Omaha Performing Arts Society. The president of Opera Omaha from<\/p>\n

1966 to 1970, Richard Holland currently is vice chairman of the board of<\/p>\n

the Opera Omaha Foundation, which handles the organizations endowment.<\/p>\n

Mary Holland was a princess of Ak-Sar-Ben in 1947 and a member of the<\/p>\n

Junior League of Omaha. For many years, Mary has been interested in the<\/p>\n

problems of children and young adults. She is supportive and directly involved<\/p>\n

in efforts to curtail those problems, at times assisting children whom<\/p>\n

she feels need support.<\/p>\n

The UNMC Chancellors Distinguished Service Award is given to individuals<\/p>\n

or organizations that have demonstrated outstanding support for UNMC by<\/p>\n

way of personal service, private contributions or other meritorious advocacy<\/p>\n

for the campus mission.<\/p>\n

Honorary Doctor of Science<\/b><\/p>\n

Jack L. Pulec, M.D., was a respected clinician and educator, a widely<\/p>\n

published author, and an active researcher in the fields of neurotology<\/p>\n

and otolaryngology.<\/p>\n

Born and raised in Crete, Neb., Dr. Pulec graduated from the College<\/p>\n

of Medicine at UNMC in 1957. After a year as a resident in obstetrics and<\/p>\n

gynecology at<\/p>\n

UNMC, Dr. Pulec completed an otolaryngology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic<\/p>\n

and a neurotology fellowship at the Los Angeles Foundation of Otology.<\/p>\n

Dr. Pulec continued to practice in Los Angeles and was an active, contributing<\/p>\n

member of the Los Angeles Foundation of Otology, participating in medical<\/p>\n

and surgical aspects of neurotology. He served on the faculty of several<\/p>\n

medical schools, culminating with his appointment in 2001 as clinical professor<\/p>\n

of otolaryngology and neurosurgery at the University of Southern California<\/p>\n

School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

An avid world traveler, Dr. Pulec lectured and performed numerous surgeries<\/p>\n

internationally. He was devoted to educating and providing service to those<\/p>\n

who had little means to pay for such services. In 1977, he began a non-profit<\/p>\n

foundation, Ear International.<\/p>\n

An acknowledged innovator, Dr. Pulec authored more than 200 publications,<\/p>\n

many of which are definitive. For more than 11 years, Dr. Pulec served<\/p>\n

as the editor-in-chief of Ear, Nose & Throat Journal. He is credited<\/p>\n

with raising the standards and enhancing the quality of the publication.<\/p>\n

Until the his tragic death while skiing in 2003, Dr. Pulec remained<\/p>\n

active in private practice in neurotology, as well as teaching and conducting<\/p>\n

research with a view of developing new, more advanced methods of treating<\/p>\n

neurological disease. His wife, Marlene, will accept the award on her husbands<\/p>\n

behalf.<\/p>\n

J.G. Elliott Award<\/b><\/p>\n

Jay Druecker, Ph.D., has improved the health care of Nebraskans through<\/p>\n

his tireless efforts to provide rural students with the education, encouragement<\/p>\n

and opportunities necessary for their success in becoming a health care<\/p>\n

professional.<\/p>\n

A native of Murray, Neb., Dr. Druecker began his teaching career at<\/p>\n

Chadron State College in 1968. In the late 1970s, he took a sabbatical<\/p>\n

from Chadron State and enrolled in anatomy and pathology courses at UNMC.<\/p>\n

During that year, Dr. Druecker helped interview students who were applying<\/p>\n

to medical school and attended functions for health professions advisors.<\/p>\n

The relationships Dr. Druecker built, and then maintained, were paramount<\/p>\n

in Chadron State being selected as<\/p>\n

UNMCs first Rural Health Opportunities Program (RHOP) partner. RHOP<\/p>\n

grants admission into participating UNMC programs to qualifying students<\/p>\n

upon completion of their undergraduate studies.<\/p>\n

Along with Dr. Ted Davis, Dr. Druecker was instrumental and a key driving<\/p>\n

force in the development of the RHOP curriculum and activities at Chadron<\/p>\n

State College. He served for many years as the primary advisor for students<\/p>\n

interested in the health care profession at Chadron State. Through his<\/p>\n

leadership efforts, more than 70 RHOP health professionals now are working<\/p>\n

in rural Nebraska. Another of Dr. Drueckers initiatives is the Health<\/p>\n

Professional Day at Chadron State, which began in the mid-1980s. Through<\/p>\n

this program, more than 3,000 rural students have been exposed to health<\/p>\n

career education opportunities in Nebraska.<\/p>\n

Dr. Druecker retired from full-time teaching duties in the spring of<\/p>\n

2003. He remained on the staff part time during the current school year<\/p>\n

to advise students who sought to enter the health professions. Dr. Druecker<\/p>\n

and his wife, Jane, a home health physical therapist, have two grown sons.<\/p>\n

The J.G. Elliott Award is given annually in memory of Elliott, a former<\/p>\n

Scottsbluff resident who served on the University of Nebraska Board of<\/p>\n

Regents for 20 years until his death in 1974.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UNMC will honor four individuals for their dedication and support to UNMC and the health professions during its May 14 commencement ceremony in Omaha. The ceremony begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Qwest Center Exhibition Hall C for students in the College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of Nursing Omaha division, School of Allied […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","department-press-release"],"yoast_head":"\nUNMC to honor four at May 14 commencement ceremony<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"UNMC will honor four individuals for their dedication and support to UNMC and the health professions during its May 14 commencement ceremony in Omaha. 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