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Thomas Tape, M.D., Robert O’Dell and his son, David O’Dell, M.D., after a ceremony Friday during which Dr. O’Dell was named the first LeeRoy Meyer Professor of Medicine. Dr. O’Dell said it was an honor to receive a professorship named after Dr. Meyer, who Dr. O’Dell referred to as a mentor. |
“When I was finishing my residency here, LeeRoy came up and asked me what I was going to do with my life,” Dr. O’Dell said. “Then he said, ‘I’d kind of like you to stay here.’ I listened and all these years later, I’m still here.”
On Friday, at a ceremony to dedicate a new education center named after Dr. Meyer — a legendary UNMC educator who died in 2005 after teaching for more than three decades in the College of Medicine — Dr. O’Dell was named the first ever LeeRoy Meyer Professor of Medicine.
Receiving a professorship named after someone he considered a mentor was extremely humbling, Dr. O’Dell said.
“Those are really large shoes to fill,” Dr. O’Dell said of Dr. Meyer, who during his time at UNMC received scores of teaching awards, including more than 25 Golden Apples from the American Medical Student Association.
Dr. Meyer became a pioneer in medical education in the 1960s and 1970s by employing a small-group, case-based teaching technique that is now used by educators around the nation.
The new center, which is on the fifth floor of the Medical Sciences Building (formerly the UMA Building), will be used by professors, such as Dr. O’Dell, who employ the technique. Support from the professorship award, which lasts five years, will be used to promote Dr. Meyer’s teaching methods.
“I really think it’s the best way to teach medical students,” Dr. O’Dell said.
Aside from his teaching style, Dr. Meyer had an eccentric personality and a deep concern for his students that left indelible marks on generations of doctors who came through the College of Medicine.
All of this made being named the first LeeRoy Meyer Professor even more of an honor, Dr. O’Dell said.
It’s an honor well deserved, said Thomas Tape, M.D., professor and chief in the section of general internal medicine.
From serving as an investigator on many federally-funded grants to receiving several teaching awards himself, Dr. O’Dell is carrying on Dr. Meyer’s legacy.
“Dr. O’Dell came to UNMC in 1984 as a medical student and, like Dr. Meyer, has spent his entire professional career here,” Dr. Tape said. “Dr. O’Dell exemplifies the talent, enthusiasm and professionalism demonstrated by Dr. Meyer.”