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This drawing of Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., and his wife, Beverly, was enshrined on the Omaha Press Room’s Barroom Floor at a ceremonial roast of the couple last week. |
Their efforts have resulted in UNMC realizing unprecedented growth thanks in large part to tremendous financial support from the Omaha community.
Natives of Brooklyn, N.Y., the Maurers have learned firsthand how generous Nebraskans can be. On April 25, they also learned that Nebraskans can be just as generous in doling out barbs and quips, as the Omaha Press Club honored the Maurers by making them the 111th Face on the Barroom Floor.
More than 200 people attended the event, which featured five well-known Omahans as roasters. Gail Walling Yanney, M.D., a board member for UNMC’s hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center, served as emcee and the primary roaster for Beverly Maurer.
The other roasters were: Jack Baker, former chairman of Baker’s Supermarkets and now chairman and CEO of PDM, a property development management firm; Bob Bell, former chairman of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce and now vice president for UNeMed, UNMC’s licensing and marketing firm; Bruce Lauritzen, chairman of First National Bank of Omaha; and Michael Sorrell, M.D., a UNMC professor who is considered one of the world’s top liver disease experts.
Dr. Walling Yanney set the tempo for the night when she proclaimed: “We’re here tonight to honor the chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center and her husband, Harold.”
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Dr. Harold and Beverly Maurer enjoy a zinger delivered at their roast. |
Beverly Maurer’s 17 years as an elementary school principal in Richmond, Va., became an ongoing theme for several of the roasters. Here are a couple samples:
Dr. Sorrell: “I’m not scared of most men, but I’m a little apprehensive (about roasting Beverly) … I spent a lot of time in the principal’s office. Think of Hal, he’s had 46 years of detention.”
Dr. Walling Yanney: “Can’t you just hear Beverly as she says, ‘Harold, get over here right now!’ ‘Harold, one more wise crack and I’m not going to let you go to dinner with Chuck Durham!'”
For Dr. Maurer, several themes played out — his fundraising techniques, his plans to move Saddle Creek Road, his year in 2006 as king of Ak-Sar-Ben, and his remarkable ability to maintain his dark black hair in his advancing years. Here are some of the best zingers delivered:
Fundraising
Baker: “When you see Hal coming, it saves a lot of time to just hand him your wallet.”
Dr. Walling Yanney: “The Maurers love to ‘take’ people to dinner. They always pick up the tab, so it usually only costs their guests a couple million dollars.”
Saddle Creek Road
Bell showed a gallery of photos of the Maurers compiled by contacting friends and family in Richmond and Tampa, Fla. One slide depicted Dr. Maurer standing on a yellow submarine with a river flowing behind him and at least a dozen research towers on both sides of the river. He said Dr. Maurer plans to divert the Missouri River through the UNMC campus. To add to the water feature, Bell included Niagara Falls to the north of Dodge Street.
Lauritzen showed a slide depicting Saddle Creek Road looking like Lake Superior and the research towers resembling New York skyscrapers.
Baker suggested that Dr. Maurer wants to create a new theme park called Beverlyland on the west end of campus right next to a body of water that would be called Lake Maurer. Baker also looks for the UNMC name to be changed to become the University of Nebraska Maurer Campus.
Ak-Sar-Ben and hair
Dr. Sorrell: “I’m not saying Hal enjoyed being king, but (he) made sure that Bob Bates (the current king) only borrowed the crown. … When you’re a king, you learn to turn gray hair to black overnight.”
Lauritzen: “When a gentlemen enters into the dessert phase of his life, his hair begins to get a little lighter — for most of us, that is.”
Bell gave a slide presentation illustrating the evolution of Dr. Maurer’s hair from crew cut to his slightly thinner locks of today. The final slide depicted Dr. Maurer wearing a “clever hairpiece” (his Ak-Sar-Ben crown), which he wears on “trips to Walgreens and western Nebraska.”
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The roasters and honorees from left: Bruce Lauritzen, Jack Baker, Dr. Harold M. Maurer, Beverly Maurer, Dr. Michael Sorrell, Dr. Gail Walling Yanney and Bob Bell. |
Baker talked about the Maurers’ significant glass art collection. “Judy (Baker) and I trust them (the Maurers) completely,” Baker said. “We just think it’s prudent to put away our glass pieces when they come over for dinner. … It makes us nervous because Hal always brings his medical bag.”
Baker, who labeled himself a “recovering grocer,” conducted his portion of the roast while wearing a white UNMC physician coat with his name on it. The coat was given to Baker by Dr. Maurer, who told him: “You’re a doctor if I say you’re a doctor.” Baker thanked Dr. Maurer for “launching his medical career” and said he had saved a fortune by doing “self plastic surgery.”
Dr. Walling Yanney’s husband, Mike Yanney, made an impromptu appearance to present Beverly Maurer with two dozen red roses.
Concluding thoughts
Lauritzen called Dr. Maurer “a man of great vision backed by a lady of great strength. … Together they are bringing to our city an amazing transformation of a phenomenal institution.”
Bell said: “I kind of have a feeling that she (Beverly) props him up in the morning, turns the knob and says, ‘Out the door, big guy.’ I do know that two are better than one. We’re all very glad they are both here.”
In addition to the five roasters, Nebraska’s two U.S. senators — Ben Nelson and Chuck Hagel — sent letters offering their congratulations to the Maurers.