Lectureship remembers Dr. Rosenlof, UNMC’s ‘Go To Guy’

Robert Rosenlof, M.D.

Robert Rosenlof, M.D., would be delighted with what is happening at UNMC these days.

A legendary physician in Kearney, Neb., Dr. Rosenlof was keenly interested in geriatric care and played a key role in bringing the first Alzheimer’s special care unit to Kearney prior to his death in 1997 at the age of 73.

With UNMC poised to break ground later this year on the Home Instead Center for Successful Aging — one of the only geriatric centers in the country on the campus of an academic medical center — Dr. Rosenlof would beam with pride. The $10.2 million facility is expected to open in the fall of 2009.

“Bob was a pioneer in geriatrics,” said his wife, Jackie Rosenlof. “It was his passion. Sometimes he felt it was due to self-interest as he grew older. However, he truly felt it was vital that the field of medicine needed to acknowledge the growing number of people over age 85.”

For the seventh time since Dr. Rosenlof’s death, the UNMC community took time out to recognize his legacy with the Robert C. Rosenlof Visiting Lectureship on May 16 at the Durham Research Center.

The lectureship, which was established through donations by the Rosenlof family and other memorials, was created to recognize Dr. Rosenlof’s commitment to geriatrics and his admiration for the leadership of Jane Potter, M.D., professor and chief of the section of geriatrics and gerontology. The University of Nebraska Foundation manages the fund. The lectureship is held about every 18 months.

Kenneth Covinsky, M.D., was this year’s speaker. Dr. Covinsky is professor of medicine and holds the Edmund G. Brown Sr. Distinguished Professorship in Geriatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. His talk focused on how functional status reveals much about the health of older adults.

On the evening before the lectureship, a dinner was held at Omaha Country Club to welcome Dr. Covinsky to Omaha and to celebrate the life of Dr. Rosenlof.

Those attending included Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D.; Bob Bartee, vice chancellor for external affairs; John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the UNMC College of Medicine; Dr. Potter; and Michael Sorrell, M.D., professor of internal medicine and one of the most prominent UNMC faculty members for many years.

Dr. Maurer called Dr. Rosenlof “a good friend,” noting that he is the only person who has two photographs of himself hanging on the walls of Wittson Hall.

“Dr. Rosenlof received both the UNMC Distinguished Service Award and the J.G. Elliott Award,” Dr. Maurer said. “That speaks volumes for how important we felt Bob was to our medical center.”

“He never really left UNMC. He consulted with UNMC constantly. He loved the teaching and research that went on at the university.” Jackie Rosenlof on her husband, Robert Rosenlof, M.D.

In paying homage to Dr. Rosenlof, Bartee said, “He was the ‘go to guy’ for governors, university leaders, community leaders, physician colleagues and UNMC faculty. He truly had his finger on the pulse of what was happening in medicine.”

Dr. Potter concurred.

“Dr. Rosenlof had a well-deserved reputation for identifying critical health care needs,” she said. “He was a huge advocate for geriatrics. Simply put he was an important and early force for care of the aging in Nebraska.”

Dr. Rosenlof’s interest in geriatrics was extensive, Dr. Potter said, noting that he was active with the American Geriatrics Society and the National Council on Aging. In 1987, he was named to the governor’s task force on Alzheimer’s disease. He worked in Kearney to start the first hospice outside a metropolitan area and to develop a model Senior Services Network.

These activities led to his being named the 1989 outstanding public citizen by the Nebraska Association of Social Workers and an appointment to the White House Conference on Aging in 1995.

Born in Seward, Neb., Dr. Rosenlof grew up in Goehner, Neb. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1948 and his medical degree from UNMC in 1951. He completed his internship and residency training at the University of Nebraska Hospital and the Veterans Hospital in Omaha.

From 1955 to 1970, Dr. Rosenlof served in either a full- or part-time capacity on the UNMC faculty in the internal medicine department. From 1956 to 1958, he returned to active duty at Offutt Air Force Base working at the base hospital as chief of medical service.

Following Dr. Rosenlof’s military service, the Rosenlofs moved to Kearney in 1958. However, his dedication to UNMC never waned.

“He never really left UNMC,” Jackie Rosenlof said. “He consulted with UNMC constantly. He loved the teaching and research that went on at the university.”

For many years, Dr. Rosenlof would drive from Kearney to Omaha each Wednesday to teach an internal medicine class. The round trip was 371 miles, or as Dr. Potter said: “If you total all his trips to Omaha over the years, I calculated that he would have gone around the world two and one-half times.”

Always the educator, Dr. Rosenlof hosted many UNMC medical students for their preceptorships. One of these students was a former Kearney resident who went on to become an illustrious physician at UNMC — James Armitage, M.D., former dean of the UNMC College of Medicine and the person who started UNMC’s bone marrow transplant program in 1982.

Pictured from left are Jane Potter, M.D., Bill Lyons, M.D., Kenneth Covinsky, M.D., and Jackie and Clark Rosenlof.

As a scientist, Dr. Rosenlof studied the relationship between farm chemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, with human illness, specifically lymphoma and leukemia. His observations served as a basis for a number of studies, and he was honored for his work by the Nebraska Groundwater Foundation. He also developed the cancer care program and tumor registry at Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney.

His numerous awards included induction into the Ak-Sar-Ben Court of Honor, the Nebraska Laureate Award from the American College of Physicians, and an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

He retired in 1992 after more than 30 years of medical practice. His survivors included his wife, Jackie, sons, Eric and Clark, and daughters, Lori and Lynn.

“Dr. Rosenlof was generous with his time, expertise and compassion,” Dr. Maurer said. “He always found the energy to help out if a project was worthy and would benefit Kearney or Nebraska. He was a great man.”