Mary Lou Chapek receives Citation
The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Alumni Association bestowed its Citation for Alumni Achievement award upon UNO graduate Mary Lou Chapek,co-founder of MVP Laboratories, during the university’s morning commencement ceremony May 6 at Baxter Arena.
John L. Morgan, chairman and CEO of Winmark Corp., received a citation at the aternoon commencement ceremony.
Inaugurated in 1949, the citation is the association’s highest honor. It encompasses career achievement, community service, involvement in business and professional associations, and fidelity to UNO. Chapek became the 170th graduate to have received a Citation award.
Chapek earned a master’s degree in biology from UNO in 1969. She also has a BS in biology from Creighton University and a degree in medical technology from the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
While director of Virus Research for a local veterinary vaccine manufacturing company, Chapek led the development of the first licensed vaccine worldwide for the prevention of a new disease, Canine Parvovirus Infection. Shortly thereafter, she co-founded MVP Laboratories in the basement of her Omaha home. The company manufactured veterinary vaccines and immune stimulators for all animal species and eventually obtained customers in 45 countries on six continents. Throughout her career, Chapek has been a tireless advocate for humane treatment of test animals in the manufacture of veterinary vaccines.
Chapek recently sold MVP Laboratories and today is the full-time steward of Turkey Creek Preserve, a 500-acre nature tract she established near Fort Calhoun, Nebraska. Chapek manages in accordance with the Native American tradition “of treating the natural world like a relative rather than as merely a resource” and is committed to protecting, restoring, expanding and studying the preserve in perpetuity.
Chapek has received numerous awards, including the Majon Huff Award, the veterinary vaccine industry’s highest honor, and a Recognition Award from the American Association of Swine Veterinarians. She was on the board of directors for two national trade associations and for Fontenelle Forest in Bellevue, Nebraska. In 2015 she received the Outstanding Alumna Award from UNO’s College of Arts and Sciences and was its commencement speaker.