 |
Robert Volz, M.D., class of 1957, center, with John Gollan M.D., Ph.D., dean of the College of Medicine, right, and Dennis Strauss, M.D., class of 1968. Dr. Volz was honored with the 2007 College of Medicine Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. |
 |
Judith S. Billings, Ph.D., left, 2007 College of Nursing Alumni Association’s Honorary Alumnus Award recipient and Susan B. Hassmiller, Ph.D., class of 1983, second from right, the 2007 College of Nursing Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient, received their honors at the College of Nursing luncheon during Alumni Weekend. Pictured with them are Virginia Tilden, D.N. Sc., dean of the College of Nursing, second from left, and Joyce Black, M.S.N., Ph.D., Class of 1981 and 1999, president of the College of Nursing Alumni Association. |
 |
Scott Swigart, Pharm.D., class of 1982, center, received the 2007 College of Pharmacy Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumnus Award during Alumni Weekend. Pictured with him from left are Courtney Fletcher, Pharm.D., incoming dean of the College of Pharmacy, Dr. Swigart’s father, Russell Swigart, wife Cindy Swigart, and mother, Janice Swigart. |
 |
James Rybacki, Pharm.D, class of 1987, was presented with the 2007 College of Pharmacy Alumni Association’s Early Career Achievement Award by Elizabeth Hermsen, Pharm.D., M.B.A., class of 2001 and 2006-07 president of the College of Pharmacy Alumni Association. |
The award recipients were:
Robert Volz, M.D., Jackson, Wyo., Class of 1957 — UNMC College of Medicine Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award;
Susan Hassmiller, Ph.D., East Windsor, N.J., Class of 1983 — UNMC College of Nursing Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award;
Judith Billings, Ph.D., Kearney — UNMC College of Nursing Alumni Association Honorary Alumnus Award;
Scott Swigart, Pharm.D., Victor, N.Y., Class of 1982 — UNMC College of Pharmacy Alumni Association Distinguished Alumnus Award; and
James Rybacki, Pharm.D., Easton, Md., Class of 1987 — UNMC College of Pharmacy Alumni Association Early Career Achievement Award.
A native of Lincoln, Neb.,Dr. Volz served as chairman of the department of orthopedic surgery at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, where he designed some of the earliest artificial joints in the United States, including the first artificial wrist, elbow and knee. The artificial knee he designed has been used in more than 40 countries. He was co-founder of the Arizona Arthritic Center, a nationally recognized endowed research and teaching center.
Since retiring in 1992, Dr. Volz and his wife, Ann, have volunteered in several foreign countries, including Vietnam, Bhutan, Nepal, Malaysia, Philippines and South Africa. The couple splits their time between Jackson, Wyo., and Tucson, Ariz. They have four children and seven grandchildren.
A nationally recognized nursing leader, Dr. Hassmiller is senior program officer and unit head with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, N.J. Her career has spanned the areas of nursing, public health, quality improvement, disaster response and recovery, and leadership development.
Dr. Hassmiller joined RWJF in 1997 and is responsible for attracting, developing and retaining a strong health care workforce through leadership development, training and research funding. She recently completed a six-year term as a member of the National Board of Governors for the American Red Cross, serving as chair of the Disaster and Chapter Services Committee. She has been a Red Cross volunteer since college and has been involved in disaster relief efforts in the U.S. and abroad.
Prior to going to RWJF, Dr. Hassmiller was with the Health Resources and Services Administration, where she was executive director of the U.S. Public Health Service Primary Care Policy Fellowship. She also has taught public health nursing at UNMC and George Mason University and is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Hassmiller and her husband, Robert, live in East Windsor, N.J. and have two adult children.
Dr. Billings retired as assistant dean of the UNMC College of Nursing Kearney Division in 2005, having spent 40 years in nursing and nearly 30 years teaching nursing students in central Nebraska. She earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Fort Hays State University in Fort Hays, Kan., before moving to Kearney to work at Good Samaritan Hospital. She was soon recruited as an instructor at St. Francis School of Nursing in Grand Island.
She went on to earn a master’s degree at the University of Minnesota, with a focus on medical/surgical nursing. While working as an instructor at the South Dakota State University in Brookings, S.D., she finished her doctorate in educational administration at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Billings returned to Nebraska when she was hired as the first chair for Kearney State College’s Department of Nursing in 1976. She started the bachelor’s degree in nursing degree program in Kearney.
Dr. Billings has been an active member of several state and national nursing organizations, as well as serving in many volunteer roles with community service organizations in Kearney. In recognition of her nursing leadership, she has received numerous awards, including the Outstanding Nurse Educator Award from the Nebraska Nurses Association in 2002. Dr. Billings and her husband, Jerry, are enjoying retirement and continue to live in Kearney.
With 16 years of academic pharmacy experience, Dr. Swigart has served the past eight years as dean and professor in two schools of pharmacy. He is currently the founding dean of the Wegmans School of Pharmacy at St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. Prior to this appointment, he was the founding dean at the Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy, Palm Beach Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, Fla.
As a founding dean, he has been responsible for all aspects of starting a new college, including navigating the accreditation process, developing curriculums, raising funds, recruiting faculty and students, creating policies and procedures, establishing practice departments and building facilities.
A 1979 graduate of Wayne State College in Wayne, Neb., Dr. Swigart also has held administrative positions at Nova Southeastern University College of Pharmacy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and at Ferris State University College of Pharmacy in Big Rapids, Mich.
In addition to Dr. Swigart’s extensive leadership, teaching and practice experience, he has been active in several professional pharmacy and medical organizations and serves as a volunteer with several community service organizations. His wife, Cindy, and his parents, Janice and Russell Swigart joined him at the UNMC Alumni Celebration Dinner.
Dr. Rybacki is president of the Clearwater Group and lead clinical consultant for the Medicine Information Institute, Inc. He also is host of a medical Web site — www.medicineinfo.com. In his varied career, he provides medical research communication, professional and consumer education, drug information services and clinical programs to health care professionals, consumers, employers and insurance companies.
He co-authored “The Essential Guide to Prescription Drugs” for five years before assuming full authorship with the 2006 edition. He is the original host, writer and producer of the nationally syndicated radio program, “The Pharmacist Minute” and “The Bayer Aspirin Report with Dr. Jim Rybacki” and is often interviewed in the national media.
Dr. Rybacki helped develop national tool kits and guideline driven practices for the American Heart Association’s Compliance Action Program. He served as a medical adviser for the National Advisory Council of Mended Hearts and helped develop a book for hospitalized heart patients. He is frequently asked to speak on heart disease, diabetes, adverse drug reactions, women’s health, HIV/AIDS and osteoporosis.