University News

Creighton Celebrates Winter Commencement

Almost 300 students received their degrees during Creighton University's winter commencement on Dec. 15. In addition, special awards of recognition went to people and organizations that have made a positive difference in the Omaha community and around the country.

Creighton University gave its first Magis Award to Omaha's first responders from the Omaha Police and Omaha Fire and Rescue departments for their heroic, selfless acts of courage in the wake of the tragic events surrounding the Dec. 5 shootings at Omaha's Westroads Mall. The process of considering and choosing the greater good in our thoughts and deeds is the essence of the Latin term "Magis" — literally, "the more." It is equated with generosity, magnanimity and selflessness. These words describe the heroic actions of the first responders.

First National Bank received the Presidential Medallion in recognition of the bank's 150th anniversary. Current chairman Bruce Lauritzen received the award. Family-owned for six generations, First National Bank is the largest privately held company of its kind in the country, with more than $18 billion in managed assets and 7,500 employees. Creighton founder Edward Creighton served for 11 years as the bank's first president.

The Rev. William O'Leary, S.J., MSGuid'68, a teacher at Creighton Prep High School for more than 43 years, received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. While teaching a wide range of subjects, Fr. O'Leary has always reminded his students and his colleagues of their duty to love one another as Jesus loves us. Over the years, Fr. O'Leary would use whatever money he had to help underprivileged students by discreetly paying for lunch tickets or family utility bills. Although Fr. O'Leary recently retired from teaching, his presence is still felt at Creighton Prep and in the community.

The Rev. George Bradshaw Murray, S.J., MD'72, received the Alumni Achievement Citation. Over the past 30 years, Fr. Murray has become an intellectual giant in psychosomatic medicine and neuropsychiatry and is held in great esteem as both a clinician and a teacher. He brought to these fields a unique educational background as the holder of degrees in theology, philosophy, biology, medicine and neurophysiology. Currently an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, he is renowned for his contributions to modern medicine's understanding of and clinical applications for the human brain's limbic system, which supports a variety of functions, including emotion and memory.