Omaha’s Jewish doctors and scientists continue to make major contributions here and around the world. Dr. Abe Greenberg delivered thousands of Jewish babies in the mid-1900s. He helped found the local chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. In the 1970s, Dr. Guinter Kahn discovered that minoxidil (now a key ingredient in Rogaine) could regrow hair. Two University of Nebraska library additions bear his name. Dr. Harold Maurer served as dean of UNMC’s College of Medicine from 1993-1998, then as chancellor until 2014. He was instrumental in expanding the now internationally renowned institution. Dr. Howard Gendelman is known worldwide as a pioneer in stem cell research and neurodegenerative diseases. Under his guidance, UNMC’s Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience has been ranked among the top ten nationwide.
MURIEL FRANK STEINBERG
In 1943, Muriel Frank graduated from the University of Nebraska Medical School and trained as an anesthesiologist at Bellevue Hospital in New York. Back in Omaha, she helped start the anesthesiology department at Methodist Hospital. In 1989, she became the first woman to head the Metropolitan Omaha Medical Society. Dr. Frank’s career paved the way for hundreds of women physicians. In 1995, the League of Women Voters recognized her groundbreaking contributions to gender equality with a “Shattered Ceiling” award.
WISE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
Franziska Brandeis spearheaded an effort to found a hospital that would address the unequal access to medical care. The result of her efforts, Wise Memorial Hospital, was founded in 1901. Open and free to all, it served over 3,000 patients in its first year at 3280 Sherman Street. In 1908, the hospital moved to a purpose-built three-story brick building and continued to provide care until it closed in 1930.
MORRIS N. FOX
In 1908, Morris N. Fox, his mother, and sisters emigrated to Omaha from Russia. After graduating from Creighton University College of Pharmacy four years later, he ran a local drug store. In 1928, Fox and Jacob Fregger founded F&F Laboratories and manufactured cough drops, later acquiring Smith Brothers Cough Drops. Fox eventually became sole owner of the business and moved it to Chicago in 1936. Pictured: F&F Cough Drop Factory, 1931
RENOWNED SCHOLARS
Omahas Jewish community has produced several world-renowned scholars. In 1980, Lawrence Klein was awarded a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. In 2000, Alan Heeger won a Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The next year, Saul Kripke was awarded the Rolf Schock Prize in Logic and Philosophy from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, widely regarded as equivalent to a Nobel Prize. The New York Times called him a “pioneering logician whose revolutionary theories in language qualified him as one of the 20th century’s greatest philosophers.”
SAM AND JOE RICE
In 1922, chemist Sam Rice, his college student brother Joe, and veterinarian Dr. R. T. Renwald founded Gland-O-Lac. Over the next four decades the business expanded nationwide, producing medicines for poultry to combat salmonella and other diseases. Their work enabled the poultry industry to breed more and meatier birds for the commercial market. At its peak in the 1960s, the company sold over 100 products in 40 states. The Rice brothers were leaders in Omahas Jewish community, active in the Jewish Federation of Omaha and Beth El Synagogue. They also raised money for Israel and established college scholarships for Omaha’s Jewish youth.
SALLY MALASHOCK
In the late 1970s, Sally Malashock served on the Clarkson Hospital board during its successful fund drive to expand and modernize facilities and staff. She also served as president of the Nebraska Medical Center Faculty Wives and the Clarkson Hospital Service League, and a member of the hospital’s board of directors. Malashock’s drive to support causes led her to be a trustee of the University of Nebraska Foundation, board member of Temple Israel, first Jewish chair of the Ak-Sar-Ben Women’s Ball Committee, president of the Omaha Symphony Showhouse Patron’s Party, and board member of the Nebraska Foundation for the Visually Handicapped.
