Des Moines University’s 2022 alumni honorees represent some of the best qualities of DMU graduates: highly competent and compassionate patient care, professional leadership, community service, active support of their future fellow practitioners and even some “star power.”
“DMU alumni contribute to our quality of life in their work, service and professional advocacy in so many ways. This year’s alumni award recipients reflect those diverse contributions,” says Krystal Kruse, assistant director of alumni relations. “With all they’ve achieved, they inspire and demonstrate the power of a DMU education.”
Alumni of the Year and Rising Star Award honorees are selected by the DMU Alumni Association Board of Directors and University leadership. Award recipients must be members in good standing of their respective professional state or national organization and the DMU Alumni Association; demonstrate excellent service to DMU, its students and their profession; and demonstrate a record of service to their community on a local, state and/or national level. Below are this year’s honorees with links to additional information about each.
Ebonie Vincent, D.P.M.’15, M.B.M.S., is an apt recipient of this year’s Rising Star Award, which honors graduates of the past 15 or fewer years who’ve already made noteworthy contributions to their industry or community: Since 2020, she has been the co-star of the hit TLC show, “My Feet Are Killing Me,” in which she and fellow podiatrists Brad Schaeffer and Sarah Haller treat real patients with everything from warts and foot fungus to more complicated and even dangerous conditions. In 2021, the program won an American Reality Television Award for best new cast. Vincent also was named the 2022 Rising Star of the Year Award by the California Podiatric Medical Association.
After graduating from the College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery (CPMS), she pursued postgraduate training in advanced surgical treatments at the Rubin Institute for Advanced Orthopedics/International Center for Limb Lengthening in Baltimore. She built her practice with Orange County Podiatry in California by networking with other providers and creating YouTube videos and social media posts to promote her services. READ MORE
Shaun Grammer, M.S.P.A.’07, D.M.Sc., the 2022 College of Health Sciences Alumnus of the Year, is chair of the department of medical sciences, program director in the division of physician assistant education and an associate professor in the College of Allied Health Professions at the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). He also contributes to the educational quality future PAs experience as a director at large on the board of the Physician Assistant Education Association, the national organization representing PA educational programs. He was elected to the board by other PAs and is in the second year of a three-year term.
Grammer began teaching night classes for medical assistant students at a small college in Cedar Falls, IA, and then transitioned in 2010 to academic coordinator and educator at Indiana State University’s physician assistant program. He then helped develop the PA program at the College of Saint Mary, which he served as founding director, in Omaha. He became director of UNMC’s PA program in 2019 and chair of the medical sciences department in 2020. In the latter role, he oversees five programs, each with its own director (including himself). READ MORE
Robert Greenhagen, D.P.M.’08, the 2022 College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery Alumnus of the Year, is co-owner of the Foot and Ankle Center of Nebraska and Iowa, an adjunct clinical instructor for CPMS and a longtime preceptor for podiatric medical students. He is the section chief of the department of podiatric surgery and the department of wound care at the Veterans Administration Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System and co-chair of the podiatry department of VISN 23: VA Midwest Health Care Network, which serves more than 440,000 enrolled veterans in 10 Midwestern states. He and his team recently began seeing patients at the Omaha VA Medical Center, too.
Past president of the Nebraska Podiatric Medical Association, Greenhagen has served on committees for the American Board of Podiatric Medicine, American Society of Podiatric Surgeons and the Nebraska Podiatric Medical Association. He was the first medical director of the Fit Feet Program for Nebraska’s Special Olympics. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Podiatric Medicine and the American Board of Foot and Ankle Surgeons. His passion for podiatry is also reflected in his numerous lectures, both regional and national, and the multiple publications in podiatric journals and texts. READ MORE
Mary Radia, D.O.’81, the College of Osteopathic Medicine Alumna of the Year, retired in 2021 as a rheumatologist with Iowa Arthritis and Osteoporosis Center in Urbandale, one of the largest rheumatology groups in the country. She brought to her practice expertise as a physician with a pharmacy degree as well as great compassion for and interest in her patients, many of whom she served for years. She continues to serve her medical alma mater as a member of the DMU Board of Trustees since 2011. She chaired the board’s academic affairs committee from 2013 to 2015 and was elected board secretary in 2016, a role she continues to serve. She and her husband, Suku Radia, are generous DMU supporters as well, including as members of the Founders Society, which recognizes donors with cumulative lifetime giving of $100,000 and more.
During her career, Radia taught medical students and residents at central Iowa’s Mercy and UnityPoint health systems and at DMU. She volunteered for efforts that served younger students, too, including as a member of and donor to the Women’s Leadership Connection of United Way of Central Iowa. Now called Women United, the group raises funds to support a variety of programs and strategies that promote safe, enriching environments for young children and build their early literacy skills to help them succeed in school. A lifelong lover of pets, from dogs and rats to a parrot and monkeys, she joined the board of Des Moines’ Blank Park Zoo this summer. READ MORE
Want to nominate a deserving DMU graduate for an alumni award and learn about past recipients? Information and nomination forms are available here.
