UT Medical School professor named 2008
TIAA-CREF distinguished medical educator
Henry W. Strobel, Ph.D.
HOUSTON–(Dec. 4, 2008)–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, has been 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. TIAA-CREF is a national financial services group and the leading provider of retirement services in the academic, medical and research fields.
“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 of institutional business development at 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 and has sponsored international electives through the medical school at universities around the world. As an assisting priest at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, Strobel’s involvement with and love for the church guides who he is as both an educator and a person.
"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 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 abilities and dedication as an educator, he is the frequent recipient of the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Awards. 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 taught at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, for two years before joining the UT faculty. He has two children: Elizabeth J.M. Fulton and Nathaniel H.P. Strobel, M.D. For the first time in the 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, where 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.
Previous TIAA-CREF Distinguished Medical Educator Award winners from the UT Medical School at Houston are 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.