Manuchair “Mike” Ebadi, Ph.D., 79, the first chairman of UNMC’s Department of Pharmacology and one of UNMC’s most celebrated teachers, died of a massive heart attack Jan. 19 at his home in Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Other achievements
At UNMC, Dr. Ebadi also created independent pharmacology curriculums for medicine, nursing, physician assistant, physical therapy, neurology/ophthalmology/psychiatry, pharmacy and graduate students, and established and supported the student research forum.
After leaving UNMC, Dr. Ebadi became the associate vice president for health affairs at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, associate dean for research and program development, and director of the Center for Excellence in Neurosciences at the UND School of Medicine and Health Sciences, where he stayed until his retirement in 2007.
He authored nine pharmacology textbooks, 65 chapters and co-authored one book on the role of vitamin B6 in neurobiology.
He received his Ph.D. in pharmacology in 1967 from the University of Missouri Medical School in Columbia and his master’s of science degree in pharmacology in 1962 from the University of Missouri in Kansas City. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry at Park College, Parkville, Mo., in 1960.
Dr. Ebadi, a champion of excellence in teaching, was chairman from 1971 to 1988. Services are today at the Fairhaven Memorial Home, Mission Viejo, Calif. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be sent to Omaha’s Open Door Mission, of which Dr. Ebadi was a longtime supporter.
He joined UNMC’s faculty in 1967 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor in 1969. He was appointed interim chairman in 1970 after the department was split from physiology. It is now the department of pharmacology and experimental neuroscience.
Dr. Ebadi’s passions were teaching and neurological research. “He set a high standard of quality for teaching in our department. He wanted students to understand the material and enjoy learning,” said Terry Hexum, Ph.D., professor emeritus of pharmacology, the first faculty member hired by Dr. Ebadi.
“Everyone at UNMC took note of his teaching standards, which caught on in other departments,” he said. “He loved teaching and classes were always full.”
Dr. Ebadi received many teaching awards, including the Alvin M. Earle Outstanding Health Science Educator Award, and the university-wide Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award and the now retired Burlington Northern Faculty Achievement Award.
But Dr. Ebadi was most proud of the ones presented by students, said his daughter, Michelle McCormick, a writer who lives in Holdrege.
College of Medicine students enjoyed his engaging and interesting classes so much that they awarded him the Golden Apple for teaching excellence 11 times between 1971 and 1994. He had won it so many times that Dr. Ebadi was “retired” from future award consideration and became part of the elite Golden Apple Hall of Fame in 1995.
“Although he was busy with his research, he never turned away a student. He gave them all the time in the world,” McCormick said.
He created awards too — three for students and one for faculty. The Thomas Jefferson Ingenuity Award for graduate students is the only award that remains active.
Charles Murrin, Ph.D., professor emeritus, pharmacology and experimental neuroscience, was hired by Dr. Ebadi in 1978.
“He was an interesting and complicated man,” Dr. Murrin said. “He built the department from scratch, increasing the faculty from five to 14, and developed one of the most successful basic science departments at UNMC.”
Mike Ebadi set the standard for pharmacology education here at UNMC and beyond. Although I did not have the opportunity to work with him his presence was always felt in the foundations and legacy he has left. We all stand on the shoulders of those who have come before us.
I, too, remember how Dr Ebadi's passion for science lit up the halls in the old Poynter building. He really did make time for everyone, students and technicians alike. I am saddened by Dr Ebadi's passing and my condolences go out to his family.
Dr. Ebadi was much more than a colleague to me. We were friends and spend a lot of time helping young students and post-docs. We shared several post-docs and worked closely to enhance the young people to become independent investigators. We wrote several grants and trained many medical students together. We shared our successes and help each other to overcome our disappointments. I was sad when he left UNMC for North Dakota, but he developed an excellent neuroscience program at his new home. I was honored to share with him on his children achievements. He was a true gentleman and I cherished our social and professional meetings. I will miss his graciousness and thoughtfulness.
I was privileged to work in Pharmacology with Dr. Ebadi. He was a kind and considerate person. Many a time we would chat about his homeland and his stories as he told them were so vivid you could picture being there. He always made my job enjoyable on a daily basis. His compassion and dedication to his work showed each and every day. He always too sensed when something was bothering me whether personal or job related and we would go into his office behind closed doors and he always had the right things to say and I walked out happy. When my oldest two children would come up to UNMC to do some research for a paper for school, Dr. Ebadi was always available to help them. He will be greatly missed. Mary Overton
My condolences to his wife Pari who was my lab partner one year at Park University. Terry Seelye Gillespie, Park, 1965
I am devastated to learn, just now, of Dr, Ebadi's passing. He was my mentor. I came to first work for him as a secretary and library research assistant in 1976, after I had just graduated high school. I had signed on to UNMC's substitute secretary pool and was assigned to the Dept. of Pharmacology my second week. I made it through two weeks "incognito", until he signed my first paycheck. I will never forget him bringing that check to me personally and standing in front of my desk, just staring at me. Finally he asked, "So…are you any relation to my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Alvin M. Earle?" Busted! I had to tell him that yes, I was indeed Dr. Earle's daughter, but that I was trying to fly on my own kite string. I continued to work exclusively for him through that summer. Then I would come back many weekends through my first year at UNL and type his manuscripts for publication. I worked for him full time the following summer also and then moved to San Diego. I would continue to go to UNMC and visit him each time I returned to Omaha to visit my parents, until he took the position in North Dakota. The most important thing he taught me was that if you're going to do something, do it right or don't bother. I am deeply saddened. The world was a better place with him in it.
One of the finest, if not THE finest teacher I had during the basic science years of med school at UNMC.
I loved and treasured his lectures, and left the classroom EVERY TIME understanding the topic.
As a graduating medical student in 2005, I received the Dean’s Avicenna Academic Award that Professor Ebadi supported. It is inspiring to learn of the legacy that he built. I strive to honor that legacy and pass it on to our trainees.