A foundation started by the founders of insurance giant Mutual of Omaha, a leader in developing a statewide public health infrastructure and a former surgeon general of the United States will be recognized at UNMC’s commencement on Saturday in Omaha.
In all, 630 students are being awarded certificates or degrees during UNMC commencement ceremonies in Kearney, Lincoln, Scottsbluff and Omaha.
During Saturday’s ceremony, which will be held at 10 a.m. in the Omaha Civic Auditorium, awards will be given to the Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Memorial Foundation, Adi Pour, Ph.D., director of the Douglas County Health Department, and former Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., one of the country’s leading experts on health care disparties.
The Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Memorial Foundation is being honored with the UNMC Chancellor’s Distinguished Service Award, which is given to individuals or organizations that have demonstrated outstanding support for the medical center by way of personal service, private contributions or other meritorious advocacy for the campus mission.
Established in 1978, the foundation’s support has been for educational and scientific purposes, including higher education, cultural agencies, youth activities and social service involvement.
That support is evident across the UNMC campus. Notably, the Criss Foundation has provided major gifts to the construction of the Durham Research Center and the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education.
The insurance industry giant that is today’s Mutual of Omaha began in 1909 in the mind of a young Creighton University medical student who sold insurance part-time to help finance his studies.
The student, C.C. Criss, saw a need for more comprehensive health and accident coverage than the limited policies then available. In 1910, while still in school, Dr. Criss and his wife, Mabel, bought the year-old charter of the Mutual Benefit Health and Accident Association. Serving first as treasurer and eventually as president and chairman of the company that became Mutual of Omaha,
Dr. Criss pioneered the concept of offering simplified, liberal policies to minimize liability from accident or illness.
Mabel Criss provided the organizational and business management skills that enabled the young company to grow and gain a reputation for superior customer service. Beginning as stenographer and office manager, she became Mutual of Omaha’s first woman officer and a director of the company, as well as head of personnel and planning. She oversaw construction of the original Mutual of Omaha Home Office and is credited with the company’s family-oriented culture and emphasis on service to customers and the community.
A highly regarded business leader, Mabel Criss received the Fellowship Award from the National Office Management Association in 1951 — the first woman to be so honored.
Adi Pour, Ph.D., director of the Douglas County Health Department since 2002, will be honored with the J.G. “Jack” Elliott Award for improving health services for Nebraskans.
During her career, Dr. Pour has been a leader in the establishment of a statewide public health infrastructure. Additionally, she has been a leader in propelling the State of Nebraska to the national forefront in biosecurity and biopreparedness. At UNMC, Dr. Pour is actively involved in teaching second-year medical students, as well as students in the master of public health program. Before beginning her current job, Dr. Pour was the state toxicologist with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Regulation and Licensure for 13 years.
Dr. Pour received her Ph.D. and her master’s degree in toxicology from UNMC and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Creighton University. She is a member of the National Association of County and City Health Officials International Public Health Workgroup, a member of the Governor’s Pandemic Influenza Committee and a governor-appointee to the Nebraska Preventive Health Advisory Committee. In addition, Dr. Pour serves on many local boards, such as Our Healthy Community Partnership, Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, Project Extra Mile, National Safety Council of Greater Omaha, Alegent Community Trust, Omaha Urban Area Health Education Center, College of Public Health Advisory Council, United Way of the Midlands Planning and Allocations Cabinet, and Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance and several others. Dr. Pour is a scientific reviewer for the American Public Health Association.
The J.G. Elliott 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.
Former Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., will be honored with the Honorary Doctor of Science degree, in recognition of his excellence as a physician, public servant and scholar.
Dr. Satcher completed his four-year term as the 16th surgeon general of the United States in February 2002. He also served as assistant secretary for health from February 1998 to January 2001, making him only the second person in history to have held both positions of surgeon general and assistant secretary for health simultaneously.
Dr. Satcher is director of the Center of Excellence on Health Disparities at the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) in Atlanta. He occupies the Poussaint-Satcher-Cosby Chair in Mental Health at MSM. From December 2004 to July 2006, Dr. Satcher served as president of the MSM. In 2002, he was named director of the new National Center for Primary Care at MSM. Before assuming this post in September 2002, he served as a senior visiting fellow with the Kaiser Family Foundation, where he spent time reflecting and writing about his experiences in government and consulting on public health programs.
From 1993 to 1998, Dr. Satcher served as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administrator of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. Before that, he was president of Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tenn., from 1982 to 1993. He also served as professor and chairman of the department of community and family medicine at Morehouse School of Medicine as well as on faculty of the King-Drew Medical Center and the University of California at Los Angeles School of Medicine and Public Health.
Dr. Satcher, a Morehouse College graduate (1963), is a former Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar and Macy Faculty Fellow. He is the recipient of more than 40 honorary degrees and numerous distinguished honors, including top awards from several leading health professional organizations.
Dr. Satcher received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University in 1970 with election to Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society. Dr. Satcher would most like to be known as the surgeon general who listened to the American people and responded with effective programs.
His mission continues to be to make medicine and public health work for all groups in this nation. In 2005, Dr. Satcher co-authored “Multicultural Medicine and Health Disparities” with Rubens Pamies, M.D., UNMC’s vice chancellor for academic affairs.
Born in 1941 in Anniston, Ala., Dr. Satcher and his wife, the former Nola Richardson, a poet, reside in Atlanta. He is the proud father of four grown children and grandfather of two grandchildren.