Roger Gonzales, who is in the second year of the health promotion program in the UNMC College of Public Health, is the inaugural recipient of the Jackson Lewis Scholarship.
The scholarship is the first of what UNMC Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dele Davies, M.D., hopes will be many partnerships throughout the community to create scholarships for UNMC graduate students.
“We’ve been working to try and increase support for our graduate students, especially to try to allow us to get the very best students into the programs,” said Dr. Davies, who also is dean of graduate studies. “Graduate students are crucial to the research programs in all colleges at UNMC, so we’ve been working with community partners to see if they would support students like Roger.”
Jackson Lewis, a nationwide law firm with an Omaha office, donated $5,000 toward supporting Gonzales’ work toward his graduate degree over the next year, after which he hopes to remain in Omaha to bring his degree in health promotion to bear.
“This community has given so much to me,” said Gonzales, who was born in Chicago and moved to Omaha after spending his childhood in Puebla, Mexico. “I have been able to grow up here. It’s nice to know there are people willing to support my work so I can have an impact in the community.”
Amy Peck, J.D., a principal at Jackson Lewis and a member of the Graduate Studies External Advisory Board, heard of the need and proposed the scholarship to her firm.
“It’s always inspiring when a board member decides to step up and be the first to help launch something that will have a big impact on our students,” Dr. Davies said.
“Our firm is very interested in promoting the community and people in the community, and we felt this was a good fit for us,” Peck said.
“Additionally a lot of the students in this program are foreign-born and –personally speaking as an immigration lawyer — it is a nice opportunity to show the positive impact immigrants and immigrant families have on the community.
“The scholarship showcases diversity and inclusion and also highlights the great things that the medical center can do. These students will do great things in the world as a result of the UNMC programs.”
Gonzales said it was a privilege to be the first recipient of the award.
Congratulations!