UNMC Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs to Speak Oct. 30 at Noon About Biological, Chemical Terrorism at Grand Island Rotary Club Luncheon

William Berndt, Ph.D., University of Nebraska Medical Center vice chancellor

for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies and research, will speak

about biological and chemical terrorism at a Grand Island Rotary Club luncheon

Oct. 30.

He will speak at noon at the Riverside Golf Club in Grand Island, 2820

Riverside Drive.

Dr. Berndt’s professional and research interests have related to both

pharmacology, the study of drugs and their effects, and toxicology, the

study of toxic substances and their effects. He is particular interested

in the effects of chemicals on kidney function.

Dr. Berndt joined UNMC in 1982 as dean of graduate studies and research

and was named vice chancellor for academic affairs in 1985, both positions

he holds today. During his tenure at UNMC, Dr. Berndt has served as its

top leader twice.

He was interim chancellor, from 1991 to 1992, and was named to a two-year

term as chancellor from 1996 to 1998. During that time, Dr. Berndt facilitated

discussions with Clarkson Regional Health Services, which resulted in the

merger of Clarkson Hospital and University Hospital and affiliated clinics

to form Nebraska Health System.

Dr. Berndt received his baccalaureate degree from Creighton University

in 1954 and his doctoral degree from the State University of New York at

Buffalo in 1959. He served as a faculty member at Dartmouth Medical School

from 1959?1974 moving in rank from instructor to professor.

From 1974 to 1982 he was chairman of the Department of Pharmacology

and Toxicology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson,

Miss.

He is a diplomat of the American Board of Toxicology, and a Fellow

of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences. He is a member of various professional

organizations, most notably the Society of Toxicology, the American Society

for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the American Society of

Nephrology and the International Society for the Study of Xenobiotics.