UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., took to the podium this past weekend to encourage Nebraska Wesleyan University graduates to seek new opportunities and then have the courage to pursue them.
It’s a message he long has practiced.
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| Harold M. Maurer, M.D. |
And, on Saturday, he shared it with approximately 500 undergraduate and graduate students during the university’s commencement ceremony, where he also received an honorary doctor of science degree.
Dr. Maurer has served as UNMC chancellor since 1998. Prior to that, he served as dean of the College of Medicine for five years. He came to Nebraska after 25 years as professor and chairman of the Medical College of Virginia’s Department of Pediatrics.
Dr. Maurer is internationally known for his expertise in rhabdomyosarcoma, a childhood cancer. A pediatric oncologist, he served as principal investigator of National Institutes of Health research grant awards and chaired the national Intergroup Rhabdomyosarcoma Study Group for 26 years. The group has been credited with raising the cure rate from 20 to 75 percent. In 2003, the Children’s Oncology Group awarded Dr. Maurer with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Seeing opportunities, Dr. Maurer led the merger of University Hospital and Clarkson Hospital to form the Nebraska Health System, now known as The Nebraska Medical Center, which has advanced its excellence in education, research and clinical care. As chancellor, he has seen UNMC add nine new facilities with a 10th underway.