UNMC Commencement Honors Hixson, Johar, Starzl
The University of Nebraska Medical Center will honor three individuals
for their contributions to Nebraska, the university and the medical profession
during the spring commencement ceremony Saturday, May 6 at 2:30 p.m. at
the Omaha Civic Auditorium.
UNMC will award Christina Hixson, trustee of The Lied Foundation Trust,
with the Chancellor’s Distinguished Service Award, in recognition of her
many contributions to Nebraska and the University of Nebraska.
Jogindar S. Johar, Ph.D., head of the mathematics and sciences division
at Wayne State College, will receive the J.G. (Jack) Elliott Award for
the difference he’s made in health programs across the state. The award
is given annually in memory of Elliott, a former Scottsbluff resident who
served on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents for 20 years until
his death in 1974.
Thomas E. Starzl, M.D., Ph.D., internationally recognized as one of
the premier surgical scientists of the 20th century for performing the
world’s first liver transplant on a human in 1963, will receive an Honorary
Doctor of Science Degree for his many contributions to the development
of organ transplantation.
Hixson is a leading philanthropist known for the generous financial
support she has allocated from the Lied Foundation Trust to charitable
organizations in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Nevada, California, Utah and Washington.
Under her direction, funds have been given to several major projects for
the University of Nebraska and state including The Lied Transplant Center,
the Lied Center for Fine and Performing Arts, the Lied Jungle at the Henry
Doorly Zoo, the new Lied Humane Center, and the Salvation Army for the
Lied Renaissance Center.
The Lied Foundation Trust was established in 1972 by Ernst F. Lied,
a 1927 graduate of the University of Nebraska, to honor his parents, Ernst
M. and Ida K. Lied. When Lied died in 1980, Hixson was named sole trustee
of the funds following a 40-year business association with him. The Clarinda,
Iowa, native has turned the Lied Foundation Trust into the largest foundation
in Nevada, the state where Lied purchased land that became the foundation
of his fortune.
During his 32 years at Wayne State College, Dr. Johar has advised hundreds
of students in pre-health professions. He has served on regional and state
boards and commissions to improve the state’s health-care network. He was
instrumental in developing the Rural Health Opportunities Program, a collaborative
programs with UNMC to identify high school seniors for health-care professions.
A native of India, he also has been involved with the UNMC-Health Professions
Initiative to increase the number of Native Americans in pre-health professions
programs.
“Dr. Johar exhibits a true empathy with rural Nebraskans and their health
care needs,” one nominator said. “He saw a need for better health care
over the years, and he has worked hard to address that need in NebraskaI
consider him to be the ‘Father of Health’ in northeast Nebraska.”
Dr. Starzl’s contributions to the fields of organ transplantation, immunosuppression
and surgery have been critical to the advancement of both the science and
the clinical application of these disciplines. After developing reliable
management strategies for kidney transplantation and applying these methods
to pre-clinical animal modes of liver replacement, Dr. Starzl performed
the world’s first liver transplant on a human in 1963. In 1967, he performed
the first successful liver transplant at the University of Colorado.
In 1981, the LeMars, Iowa, native, joined the University of Pittsburgh
School of Medicine as professor of surgery. For the next 10 years, he served
as chief of transplantation services overseeing the busiest transplant
program in the world. In 1990, he became director of the University of
Pittsburgh Transplantation Institute, which was renamed the Thomas E. Starzl
Transplantation Institute in 1996.
Dr. Starzl’s teaching had a direct impact on the establishment of UNMC’s
liver transplant program. One of his proteges, Byers W. Shaw, Jr., M.D.,
and a team of medical professionals moved from Pittsburgh to start the
UNMC transplant program in 1985.
UNMC is the only public academic health science center in the state.
Through its commitment to research, education, outreach and patient care,
UNMC has established itself as one of the country’s leading centers for
cancer research and treatment, solid organ transplantation and arthritis.
During the past year, nearly $31 million in research grants and contracts
were awarded to UNMC scientists, and UNMCs funding from the National Institutes
of Health increased by 28 percent, going from $16.2 million to $20.7 million.
UNMC’s educational programs are responsible for training more health professionals
practicing in Nebraska than any other institution.