UNMC for the record, Sept. 22, 2023

Dr. Koepsell inaugural holder of Wisecarver Professorship

Scott Koepsell, MD, PhD, is the inaugural holder of the Dr. James L. and Patricia A. Wisecarver Professorship.

The professorship was created by James Wisecarver, MD, PhD, and his wife, Patricia, in order to support work in the UNMC Department of Pathology and Microbiology, where Dr. Wisecarver served as director of the HLA lab, the department’s residency program and the forensics lab, as well as medical director of clinical laboratories at Nebraska Medicine, during a UNMC career that began in 1990.

Dr. Koepsell called it “incredibly humbling” to be holding a professorship under Dr. Wisecarver’s name.

“He did a million things for the department, oversaw a lot of development, provided a lot of great and steady leadership, and he also served as the president for the American Society for Clinical Pathology. It is humbling to say the least, and I just hope I can do the best I can to bring honor to that name, because it certainly deserves it.”

Dr. Wisecarver said Dr. Koepsell is “the perfect person” to be the inaugural holder of the professorship.

“He is an amazing young physician and scientist, one of these triple threat guys – a great teacher, an excellent researcher and very good in clinical medicine. You don’t find that combination a lot,” Dr. Wisecarver said.

Named Chair of Pathology Informatics established

UNMC recently announced the establishment of the Peter C. Hinrichs Chair of Pathology Informatics in the UNMC Department of Pathology and Microbiology. The announcement was made at the retirement celebration for Steven Hinrichs, MD, who served as chair of the department for 14 years.

The endowed chair is named in honor of Dr. Hinrichs’ late father, the Rev. Peter Hinrichs of Dickinson, North Dakota. Rev. Hinrichs served Lutheran congregations in Redfield, South Dakota, and Dickinson and was involved in numerous other organizations, serving as a member of the North Dakota Board of Higher Education from 1969 to 1975. During his tenure, the medical school at the University of North Dakota was expanded to a four-year program. Rev. Hinrichs died in 1994.

Dr. Hinrichs, who grew up in Dickinson and earned his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of North Dakota, said the endowed chair recognizes his father’s contributions to higher education in North Dakota.

“My father was extremely dedicated to the people of North Dakota, and his vision was to continually provide educational opportunities for its citizens,” Dr. Hinrichs said. “I would not have been able to become chair of the department without my educational experiences in North Dakota.”

The chair was created with generous support from Dr. Hinrichs through the University of Nebraska Foundation. The gift was made as part of “Only in Nebraska: A Campaign for Our University’s Future,” a historic effort to engage at least 150,000 benefactors to give $3 billion to support the University of Nebraska.

Innovator Doug Dietz to give keynote

Retired GE HealthCare engineer Doug Dietz will present a keynote address at the 2023 Innovate Nebraska conference on Oct. 3 at the Embassy Suites Conference Center in La Vista. The event also will feature TED Talk-style presentations from experts and innovators and will be followed by a networking reception.

UNMC faculty, staff and students can attend this event for free by using the code UNMC at checkout.

Dietz spent 31 years in the global design organization of GE HealthCare, serving as an industrial designer, design manager and principal designer for the development of products including MRI, PET-CT, X-ray and ultrasound equipment. He was integral in the creation and implementation of design thinking curriculum and training for GE executives and project teams, which has become known as the Menlo Innovation Model.

Dietz now works as a design thinking facilitator and coach for the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University.

Innovate Nebraska is presented in partnership with Bio Nebraska and the Greater Omaha Chamber. For more information and to register for the conference, visit 2023 Innovate Nebraska – Bio Nebraska.