Golden Apples awarded to College of Medicine faculty

Paul Larsen, M.D.

J. Scott Neumeister, M.D.

After Paul Larsen, M.D., received the Hirshmann Prize for Teaching Excellence-Golden Apple Award at the recent College of Medicine Honors Convocation — one thing is certain — the UNMC professor of pediatrics and neurological sciences will not receive the award again.

Dr. Larsen has now received seven Golden Apple awards for his teaching prowess, which places him in the college’s Golden Apple Hall of Fame and removes him from future consideration for the gilded fruit.

Dr. Larsen — who received the award from fourth-year medical students for basic science education — is one of only five members of the Golden Apple Hall of Fame.

The other four members are the late LeeRoy Meyer, M.D., the late Alvin Earle, Ph.D., Manuchair Ebadi, Ph.D., and Dave O’Dell, M.D.

The Hirschmann Prize for Teaching Excellence is awarded annually to two outstanding College of Medicine faculty members — one clinical and one pre-clinical — who demonstrate devotion to teaching.

The prize was created through the generosity of College of Medicine alumni Dr. Jerome Hirschmann, Class of 1941, a retired cardiologist, and his son, Dr. Richard Hirschmann, Class of 1973, a pediatric anesthesiologist.

J. Scott Neumeister, M.D., associate professor in the general medicine section of the department of internal medicine, received the Hirschmann Golden Apple for his clinical education efforts.

UNMC’s first and second-year medical students also annually recognize outstanding teachers with Golden Apple Awards, which are presented by the medical center’s chapter of the American Medical Student Association.

Geoffrey Talmon, M.D., assistant professor in the department of pathology and microbiology, received a Golden Apple Award from this year’s class of second-year medical students.

William Chaney, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, received a Golden Apple from the first-year medical school class.