Has led UNMC to new heights as chancellor for past 13 years
Harold M. Maurer, M.D., chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, will receive a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from the school he earned his medical degree from – SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.
A 1961 graduate, Dr. Maurer will be honored by SUNY Downstate Medical Center on May 21 as part of the 131st Anniversary Alumni Reunion at the Marriott NY at the Brooklyn Bridge.
“I had no idea that I was even being considered,” Dr. Maurer said. “What a wonderful surprise to be honored by my medical school alma mater.”
Dr. Maurer came to Omaha in 1993 to become dean of the UNMC College of Medicine after 25 years as a physician-scientist at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. He was named chancellor in 1998.
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Dr. Maurer practiced as a pediatric oncologist. He is internationally known for his expertise in rhabdomyosarcoma, a fast-growing, highly malignant tumor that accounts for more than half of the soft tissue cancers in children. He chaired a national study group that has been credited with raising the cure rate of children afflicted with that cancer from 20 percent to 75 percent.
In 2010, Dr. Maurer was one of 15 members selected by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to serve on the National Health Care Workforce Commission. With the nation going through health care reform, the commission will seek to map out U.S. health care workforce needs to meet the increasing demands resulting from newly insured people entering the system as well as the expanding senior age population.
In 2003, the Children’s Oncology Group awarded Dr. Maurer with its most prestigious honor – the Lifetime Achievement Award – recognizing his leadership and contributions in this important area of cancer.
As chancellor, he has led fundraising efforts that have produced some of the most significant buildings on the UNMC campus, including the Durham Research Center and Durham Research Center II, the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education, the Hixson-Lied Center for Clinical Excellence, the Home Instead Center for Successful Aging, the Center for Nursing Science, and the soon-to-be-open Harold M. and Beverly Maurer Center for Public Health. These new facilities have allowed UNMC to retain and recruit outstanding faculty.
Under Dr. Maurer’s direction, UNMC took the lead in getting the Nebraska State Legislature to pass LB 692, the 2001 Tobacco Settlement Biomedical Research Initiative. The initiative continues to provide millions of dollars each year to the state’s four biomedical research institutions – UNMC, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Creighton University and Boys Town National Research Hospital. UNMC’s federal research funding has grown to $91.6 million/year from $19.7 million in 1999.
As dean of the College of Medicine, Dr. Maurer was instrumental in leading the merger of University Hospital and Clarkson Hospital to form The Nebraska Medical Center.
Dr. Maurer’s awards are numerous. They include being named Midlander of the Year by the Omaha World-Herald and King of Ak-Sar-Ben. In addition, he has been honored by Prevent Blindness Nebraska, 100 Black Men of Omaha, Inc., Children’s Square U.S.A. and the Omaha Press Club.
Through world-class research and patient care, UNMC generates breakthroughs that make life better for people throughout Nebraska and beyond. Its education programs train more health professionals than any other institution in the state. Learn more at unmc.edu.