I am also pleased to announce that we will award an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree to Dr. Mitchell Olman during commencement next month. Dr. Olman graduated from SUNY Oneonta in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry. He went on to earn a master's degree in Anatomy from Columbia University and an M.D. from the New York University School of Medicine.
After beginning his career in internal medicine at the University of Chicago Hospitals and Clinics, he became a research fellow in their Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care. He then held a pulmonary medicine subspecialty fellowship at the University of California at San Diego and became a visiting investigator at the prestigious nonprofit biomedical research organization, the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. From 1993 - 2009, Dr. Olman worked at the University of Alabama at Birmingham as a member of the faculty and senior scientist in several research centers and attained the rank of Full Professor of Pathology and Medicine. In 2009, he joined the renowned Cleveland Clinic as a physician-scientist. Today, he leads a pulmonology laboratory in the Department of Inflammation and Immunity at the Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute. Dr. Olman's and The Mitchell Olman Laboratory's work focuses mainly on pathogenesis and treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. Among his many other accomplishments, Dr. Olman has served as a primary or co-investigator on grants supported by the National Institutes of Health, has co-authored publications in several prominent scientific journals, and is a member of the Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Peer Review Committee.
Dr. Olman remains very connected to the university. He returned to campus to give the Student Research and Creative Activity Day keynote address in 2011 and was recognized as an Alumni of Distinction by the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association in 2014. He also established the Dr. Mitchell Olman and Dr. Candace Gladson Scholarship in honor of Professor Bruce Knauer for students who major in Chemistry and have financial need.
Dr. Olman will receive his honorary degree and give the commencement address at the commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 20. We will also recognize Jamie, Melissa Rose and Robert during the ceremonies. Please join me in congratulating all four Red Dragons on these well-deserved honors.
Sincerely,
