Award ceremony to pay tribute to esteemed professor’s 38 year career in medical education
HOUSTON (December 2, 2008) - TIAA-CREF, a national financial services group and the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, medical and research fields announced today that Henry W. Strobel, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and associate dean for faculty affairs at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, was named the 2008 recipient of the TIAA-CREF Distinguished Medical Educator Award. Strobel is the third faculty member at the UT Medical School at Houston to earn this honor.
The award, founded by TIAA-CREF and supported by the John P. McGovern Museum of Health and Medical Science (also known as The Health Museum), is given annually to honor teaching physicians, nurses and other health care professionals for their outstanding work, significant contributions and exceptional influence in the field of medical education. The award carries a $10,000 honorarium for the recipient and 20 scholarships to The Health Museum’s mini medical camp donated in the recipient’s name.
“It is an honor to present the TIAA-CREF Distinguished Medical Educator Award to Dr. Strobel – a person who embodies TIAA-CREF’s mission of serving those who serve the greater good,” said Tameeka Aviles, Director, Institutional Business Development, TIAA-CREF. “TIAA-CREF is pleased to continue our partnership with leaders of the Texas medical community to recognize one of its outstanding leaders who has had a deep impact on health care education.”
Strobel joined the faculty of the UT Medical School at Houston in 1972 shortly after the school opened. For 36 years, Strobel has excelled as a teacher of biochemistry and molecular biology. He has sponsored international electives through the medical school in universities around the world and has had lasting effects on his students. Strobel is also known as Father Strobel when serving as assisting priest at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church. His involvement with and love for the church guides who he is as both an educator and a person. He taught at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, for two years before joining the UT faculty.
“Dr. Strobel is a multi-faceted educator who has trained many knowledgeable and caring doctors,” said L. Maximilian Buja, M.D., executive vice president for academic affairs and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. “He is an excellent classroom teacher. He is innovative and focused on the development of the student as a whole person.”
A favorite among students, Strobel is known for the enthusiasm and talent he brings to his educational activities, routinely receiving high marks in student evaluations. In recognition of Strobel’s exceptional abilities and dedication as an educator, he is the frequent recipient of the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Awards. In recognition of his long-standing contributions, Strobel was honored with the John P. McGovern Outstanding Teacher Award from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Houston in 2002 and with the 2006 President’s Scholar Award for Excellence in Teaching from the UT Health Science Center at Houston.
Strobel received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He has two children: Elizabeth J.M. Fulton and Nathaniel H.P. Strobel, M.D. For the first time in the 38-year history of the UT Medical School at Houston, a father and son are full-time faculty at the same time. Nathaniel Strobel joined the pediatrics department as an assistant professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine in 2006.
More than 25 years ago, Strobel founded the Medical Professionalism Orientation Retreat (known as the Henry Strobel Student Retreat)—a program focused on welcoming first-year medical students and building collegial relationships with all medical students and faculty to help new students through the medical school years. The success of the Retreat was recognized by the Alumni Association at the 2007 commencement ceremony with a financial endowment in Strobel’s name.
Understanding the value in broadening a student’s education, Strobel initiated international electives, including rotations at the University of Malaya and the Medical School of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; the Medical School of the Deccan in Hyderabad, India; the Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand; the University of Chile in Santiago, Chile; the Ho Chi Minh University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and the Capital Medical University in Beijing, China. Of these, the first and most long-standing program is that with Capital Medical University in Beijing, wherein more than 300 students have benefited from the experience.
TIAA-CREF, along with The Health Museum and the award steering committee, will host a banquet at La Colombe d’Or Mansion on Tuesday, Dec. 9, to honor Strobel’s accomplishments.
The steering committee selected to govern the award and to evaluate nominations is composed of leading medical professionals from the Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M Health Science Center, the University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, the UT Health Science Center at Houston, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Texas Children’s Hospital, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Nursing and the University of Texas Medical Branch School of Nursing at Galveston.
Also earning the TIAA-CREF Distinguished Medical Educator Award from the UT Medical School at Houston were Frank C. Arnett, Jr., M.D., professor of internal medicine and the Elizabeth Bidgood Chair in Rheumatology, and Herbert Fred, M.D., professor of internal medicine. Strobel is the first Ph.D. to receive the award, recognizing the inclusive nature of medical education.
About TIAA-CREF
TIAA-CREF is a national financial services organization with more than $399 billion in combined assets under management (9/30/08) and the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, research, medical and cultural fields. For information, visit www.tiaa-cref.org.
About The Health Museum
The Health Museum is a member institution of the world-renowned Texas Medical Center and is located in the heart of the Museum District at 1515 Hermann Drive, Houston, TX 77004. For more information about The Health Museum and its programs, please visit www.thehealthmuseum.org or call (713) 521-1515.
About The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston was created by the U.T. System Board of Regents and supported by the Texas Legislature in 1972. Located in the world renowned Texas Medical Center, it brings together the Dental Branch, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the Medical School, the School of Public Health, the School of Nursing, the School of Health Information Sciences, the UT Harris County Psychiatric Center, and the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases. The university pursues its mission through a comprehensive approach to health. Additional information is online at http://www.uthouston.edu/
