IFCC Award for Distinguished Contributions in Education
Sponsor: Beckman Coulter, Inc.
Presented to: Prof. Norbert W. Tietz PhD, ABB, FAAAS
The
International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory
Medicine (IFCC) is pleased and honoured to announce that Professor
Norbert Tietz PhD has been selected to receive the 2008
IFCC/Beckman Coulter Award for Distinguished Contributions in
Education. This award honours an individual who has made
extraordinary contributions in establishing and developing
educational material for our discipline to improve training and
educational programs world-wide or in a region. Throughout his
career, Professor Tietz has been involved in educating and
furthering the careers of clinical chemists, laboratorians, and
pathologists and his textbooks have served as the basis of many
teaching programs around the world for almost four decades.
Professor Norbert W. Tietz received the degree of Doctor of
Natural Sciences from the Technical University Stuttgart, Germany,
in 1950. In 1954 he immigrated to the United States where he
subsequently held positions or appointments at several Chicago area
institutions including the Mount Sinai Hospital Medical Center,
Chicago Medical School/University of Health Sciences and Rush
Medical College. In 1976 Dr. Tietz moved to Lexington, KY, where he
served as Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, and
Director of Clinical Chemistry at the University of Kentucky
Medical Center. Upon retirement he moved to San Diego where he now
serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Pathology of
the University of California, San Diego, where his educational
contributions continue.
Professor Tietz is best known as the editor of the Fundamentals of
Clinical Chemistry. This book, now in its sixth edition, remains a
primary information source for both students and educators in
laboratory medicine. It was the first modem textbook that
integrated clinical chemistry with the basic sciences and
pathophysiology; it has been translated into Spanish, Italian,
Portuguese, and Turkish. Dr. Tietz also edited the Textbook of
Clinical Chemistry, which bridges the gap between the clinical
laboratory and medical management by relating pathophysiology to
analytical results in health and disease.
Both books have been supplemented by the Study Guide to Clinical
Chemistry, a "road map" for studying the continuously expanding
subject of clinical chemistry. Dr. Tietz also edited three editions
of the Clinical Guide to Laboratory Tests; this handbook contains
data from the various laboratory disciplines for use by practicing
physicians, paramedical personnel, and laboratorians. It has been
published in English, Spanish, Italian, and Russian. Dr. Tietz also
served as editor for the clinical chemistry sections of the
Dictionary and Encyclopedia of Laboratory Medicine and Technology.
The first edition of Applied Laboratory Medicine was published in
1992. The second edition of Tietz 's Applied Laboratory Medicine
followed in 2007. In addition to his many editorial
accomplishments, Dr. Tietz has made many other significant
contributions in education.
Throughout his career, Dr. Tietz has taught a range of students
from the undergraduate through post-graduate level including (1)
medical technology students, (2) medical students, (3) clinical
chemistry graduate students, (4) pathology residents, and (5)
practicing chemists. For example, in the late 1960's he began the
first master's of science degree program in clinical chemistry in
the United States at the Chicago Medical School. This program
subsequently evolved into one of the first Ph.D. programs in
clinical chemistry. Later, he directed a postdoctoral program at
the University of Kentucky. He also organized three international
symposia on Clinical Enzymology and lectured in 21 countries.
He has written over 150 scientific publications covering topics
from laboratory instrumentation, gas chromatography, clinical
enzymology, acid-base balance, and gastric function. Recently his
research interests have focused on reference intervals for the
geriatric population, particularly nonagenarians and centenarians.
Dr. Tietz served as president of the AACC and has received numerous
local, national, and international awards which include the AACC
Award for Outstanding Efforts in Education and Training; AACC Award
for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Chemistry; The Professor
Alvin Dubin Memorial Award in Recognition of Continuous
Contributions, Dedication and Distinguished Services and the IFCC
Distinguished International Service Award. Although retired,
Professor Tietz remains a vocal advocate of clinical chemistry,
encouraging clinical chemists to advance their profession by
linking progress in laboratory medicine to the practice of
medicine.