A one-time short-order cook in Brooklyn, Hal Maurer became an internationally known childhood cancer doctor before leaving the East Coast for the middle of America.
He rose to chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 1998, and in short order set out a vision that has led to the medical center's unprecedented growth.
“UNMC stands ready to position itself,” he proclaimed at his installation ceremony, “to reach new heights of excellence.”
Now, at the insistence of donors who recognize that excellence, the latest structure on campus has been named for the chancellor and his wife: the Harold M. and Beverly Maurer Center for Public Health.
The couple have come a long way together since Beverly Bennett walked in to Meyer's Restaurant on Sutter Avenue in Brooklyn, and the guy behind the counter smiled and said hello. Hal soon asked her out, taking the subway to Manhattan on dates.
He recalls getting home late, sleeping a couple of hours and then opening the eatery at 5 a.m. The son of an immigrant tailor from Poland, Hal worked at the restaurant from age 15 to 24 and could have fashioned a fine career slinging hash.
“I made it all,” he proudly recalled at his UNMC office. “All the salads, coleslaw, sandwiches, soups, beef, blintzes — all the things that people wanted. I could make anything.”
Ah, but the restaurant industry's loss was the medical community's gain. Maurer graduated from New York University in 1957 and then earned his medical degree in 1961 from the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.
“UNMC stands ready to position itself,” he proclaimed at his installation ceremony, “to reach new heights of excellence.”
Now, at the insistence of donors who recognize that excellence, the latest structure on campus has been named for the chancellor and his wife: the Harold M. and Beverly Maurer Center for Public Health.
The couple have come a long way together since Beverly Bennett walked in to Meyer's Restaurant on Sutter Avenue in Brooklyn, and the guy behind the counter smiled and said hello. Hal soon asked her out, taking the subway to Manhattan on dates.
He recalls getting home late, sleeping a couple of hours and then opening the eatery at 5 a.m. The son of an immigrant tailor from Poland, Hal worked at the restaurant from age 15 to 24 and could have fashioned a fine career slinging hash.
“I made it all,” he proudly recalled at his UNMC office. “All the salads, coleslaw, sandwiches, soups, beef, blintzes — all the things that people wanted. I could make anything.”
Ah, but the restaurant industry's loss was the medical community's gain. Maurer graduated from New York University in 1957 and then earned his medical degree in 1961 from the State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.
Hal and Beverly Maurer. The University of Medical Center's latest structure has been named for the chancellor and his wife: wife: the Harold M. and Beverly Maurer Center for Public Health.
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