Voelte-Keegan Chair Supports Renowned Hemophilia Researcher

Renowned hemophilia researcher William H. Velander, chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering and Technology, has been awarded an endowed chair in engineering that was made possible by alumnus Don Voelte Jr.

Voelte and his wife, Nancy Keegan, established the Donald R. Voelte Jr. and Nancy A. Keegan Endowed Chair in Engineering with a $500,000 gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation. Interest from the endowment, coupled with interest from the university's Othmer-Topp endowment, creates the equivalent of a $1 million endowed chair for an annual research and salary stipend.

Harvey Perlman, chancellor of UNL, said the endowed chair enabled the college to recruit an outstanding researcher and provides support to a prominent program at the university. "Clearly, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's ability to recruit Dr. Velander to our faculty has been beneficial," he said. "His presence has helped increase our growing reputation for excellence in biomedical research, and we are excited about his future here at Nebraska."

Velander's future involves continued research of treatments for people who suffer from hemophilia. Hemophilia is an inherited bleeding disorder characterized by severe, spontaneous bleeding that affects an estimated 400,000 people worldwide. Help for people living in impoverished countries is especially urgent because of the unaffordable - or nonexistent - medical treatment.

Before joining UNL last summer, Velander had been at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) since 1986. He has been working on safer and more abundant sources of plasma-derived medicines since 1987, when disease contamination of blood supply medicines by HIV and Hepatitis B and C reached a worldwide epidemic.

To help reduce that risk, he joined efforts with the American Red Cross Holland Laboratory to create genetically engineered versions of human anticoagulant Protein C, human anti-hemophiliac factors 8 and 9, and fibrinogen (protein in the blood plasma that is essential for coagulation) from the milk of transgenic livestock (animals carrying genes transferred from another species or breeds). His group also led early efforts to humanize pig tissue to provide stop-gap alternatives for organ transplants.

Velander's work on using this technology to promote hemophilia treatment in developing countries in Latin America has been embraced by the World Federation of Hemophilia, an international nonprofit organization. His work with transgenic animals has earned worldwide acclaim and publicity.

He is also helping to write regulatory guidelines for human treatments derived from transgenic animals through his work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He is co-inventor of several U.S. patents, all of which are licensed and in the commercialization process.

Don Voelte and Nancy Keegan, trustees of the University of Nebraska Foundation, decided to provide an endowed faculty chair during Campaign Nebraska, the foundation's fund-raising initiative between 1993 and 2000 that increased support for faculty, students and programs.

Voelte, a 1975 civil engineering graduate, was recently appointed chief executive of Woodside Petroleum based in Perth, Australia, and previously led Chroma Energy based in Houston. Keegan, a former investment banker, is a corporate financial consultant who has a background in biotechnology company management and chemical engineering.

The University of Nebraska Foundation is a nonprofit corporation supplementing support for students, faculty, facilities and programs at the University of Nebraska's four campuses through gifts from alumni, friends, corporations and other foundations.

CONTACT: Robb Crouch, NU Foundation, (402) 472-0151