UNMC for the record, June 16, 2023

New faculty senate leaders take office

At the June 6 meeting of the UNMC Faculty Senate, new leaders were installed. Faculty senate officers for 2023-24 are:

• Amar Natarajan, PhD, president, professor in the Eppley Institute
• Ka-Chun (Joseph) Siu, PhD, vice president/president-elect, associate professor in the department of health and rehabilitation sciences
• Jordan Warchol, MD, secretary/treasurer, assistant professor in the department of emergency medicine
• Trek Langenhan, MD, immediate past president, assistant professor in the division of hospital medicine

Dr. Natarajan called serving as the 45^th president of the UNMC Faculty Senate a distinct honor.

“Thoughtful leadership by my predecessors has enabled us to navigate complex issues, and they have left some big shoes to fill,” he said. “The agenda for the senate is complex and spans many years.”

Dr. Natarajan said the faculty senate is committed to shared governance and working cooperatively with the administration and system constituencies toward the common goal of achieving excellence in teaching, research and clinical practice.

“I would like to encourage the UNMC faculty to actively participate by communicating your issues, concerns or vision for betterment with elected senators within your academic unit, members of standing senate committees or me,” he said.

“I look forward to a productive academic year.” 

Retirements announced

UNMC Human Resources this month announced seven retirements, three that have occurred and four that are set for July.

Douglas Wheatley, MD, of the UNMC College of Medicine, was the longest-tenured of the announced retirees. Dr. Wheatley, who will retire from the department of family medicine on July 1, started on the same day in 1979, giving him a 44-year long UNMC career.

Other retirees, four of whom have been at UNMC more than three decades included:

• Ann Berger, UNMC College of Nursing Omaha Division, will retire on July 1 and joined UNMC Jan. 9, 1984;
• Janice Taylor, UNMC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, retired June 3 and joined UNMC Feb. 23, 1987;
• Richard MacDonald, PhD, UNMC Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, will retire July 1 and joined UNMC May 16, 1988;
• Darlene Carritt, UNMC College of Dentistry, retired May 13 and joined UNMC Jan. 15, 1991;
• Elaine Payne, UNMC College of Pharmacy, retired June 30 and joined UNMC Sept. 25, 1995; and
• Kristie Hayes, MD, UNMC Department of Dermatology, will retire July 1 after rejoining UNMC on Dec. 1, 2019.

Lunch vendors on campus

Lunch vendors have been set for the Omaha campus for June. Faculty, staff and students should note the schedule is subject to change, and more vendors are expected to be added over time.

Food will be sold from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. these days:

Sorrell Center (Alumni Commons area)

• Mondays – Goodcents Deli Fresh Subs
• Tuesdays – Zemog’s Cocina Mexicana

Durham Research Center (Maurer Commons area)

• Mondays – Zemog’s Cocina Mexicana

Nebraska Café Summer Patio Series

The annual patio party series is back at the Nebraska Café. The next event will be Thursday, June 22, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the patio outside the café. 

The classic summer cookout meal will be jerk chicken or plant-based “chick’n” sandwich with pineapple slaw and fried plantains.

Tickets, which are $6 each, include a canned soda or bottled water and can be purchased with the cashiers inside the café.

Saddle Creek sidewalk detour

Sidewalks will temporarily be closed around the former Bank of the West building at Saddle Creek Road and Farnam Street for about six weeks starting Monday, June 19. The work is needed to replace the existing sidewalks and approaches into the property that will be the home of Metro Credit Union.

A detour will be posted.