Maurice Godfrey, PhD, named Varner Educator Laureate

Maurice Godfrey, PhD, a professor at the UNMC Munroe-Meyer Institute, has been named as the Varner Educator Laureate for 2022-23.

Dr. Godfrey will be honored along with six other recipients of the UNMC Impact in Education Awards during a ceremony March 30 at 3 p.m. in Durham Research Center, Room 1002, with a reception to follow. The awards are the highest education-related awards conferred by UNMC, highlighting the dedication and ingenuity of UNMC’s educators.

The Educator Laureate Award – the highest recognition in the honors – recognizes an individual with sustained achievement in education who has significantly improved the UNMC learning environment through the provision of outstanding educational experiences. The award is sponsored by Jerald Varner, PhD, a longtime educator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering with expertise in bioengineering.

H. Dele Davies, MD, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, said UNMC is fortunate to have faculty who help it deliver “the highest quality educational programs to our trainees each day and help us meet our mission of leading the world in transforming lives through extraordinary training programs.”

Said Dr. Davies, “I am pleased that out of this group, select faculty have been identified by their faculty peers as being exemplary in their dedication to different categories of meeting our academic mission. My congratulations to all the award recipients for their dedication and commitment to excellence and for receiving the highest educational awards given by UNMC and my heartfelt thanks to all those who devoted time on the review panels that selected the awardees.”

Since 2005, Dr. Godfrey has led a National Institutes of Health program to bring science to schools and communities on Native American reservations in Nebraska and South Dakota. He also teaches courses in molecular biology, genetics and molecular basis of human disease.

Last October, Dr. Godfrey received the Arno Motulsky-Barton Childs Award for Excellence in Human Genetics Education from the American Society of Human Genetics. He has received the Antoine Marfan Award of the National Marfan Foundation, the Chief Standing Bear Organizational Award from the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, Friend of American Indian Education from the Nebraska Department of Education and the Friend of Science Award from the Nebraska Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Godfrey has been recognized as a Basil O’Connor Scholar of the March of Dimes and Established Investigator of the American Heart Association.

The other 2022-23 UNMC Impact in Education Award recipients are:

• Emerging Educator: Jordan Rowley, PhD, assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy. The award recognizes an emerging health science educator who demonstrates excellence, dedication and perseverance in teaching and education early in their career.
• Excellence in Educational Service: Renee Engler, MD, an emergency medicine physician with Great Plains Health in North Platte and an adjunct clinical instructor in the UNMC Department of Emergency Medicine. The award recognizes a UNMC volunteer, emeritus or adjunct faculty member who exemplifies the spirit of outstanding teaching and whose contributions are significant and lasting to the advancement of health care learners, health care education or health care professions. 
• Innovative Practices in Education: Michael Smith, MD, assistant professor in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine. The award recognizes an individual or team that demonstrates ingenuity, courage and creativity in teaching, including innovations in use of educational technology, experiential learning, adoption of simulation and/or creative use of the classroom.
• Inspirational Mentor of Educators: Jasmine Marcelin, MD, associate professor in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases. The award recognizes an individual who has mentored junior faculty or trainees in developing as health professions educators.
• Scholar in Education Research: Elizabeth Beam, PhD, assistant professor in the UNMC College of Nursing. The award recognizes an individual who has advanced the science of teaching and learning through research of educational pedagogy.
• Visionary Leadership in Education: Diego Torres-Russotto, MD, professor in the UNMC Department of Neurological Sciences. The award recognizes an individual who has demonstrated the ability to skillfully establish or administer an educational initiative or role at UNMC or a national organization.