About

The Robert J. Kadner Award recognizes outstanding contributions to teaching and mentoring PhD candidates or postdoctoral fellows pursuing careers in basic or clinical laboratory research.  It is sponsored by the Academy of Distinguished Educators. Through this award, the legacy of Robert J. Kadner’s devotion to education and research will continue.

Robert J. Kadner

Dr. Kadner  joined the faculty of the University of Virginia in 1969, rising through the academic ranks to full Professor in 1980. In 1994, he was appointed the Norman J. Knorr Professor of Basic Medical Sciences and held that Chair until his death in August of 2005. Throughout his career, Dr. Kadner was recognized for his advocacy of teaching, particularly instruction in the basic sciences, and his mentorship of medical students, graduate students, fellows, and junior faculty. He organized and taught numerous courses, delivered an impressive number of graduate lectures, and served as course director for many graduate courses as well as medical microbiology. In 1998, he was awarded the first American Society of Microbiology (ASM)-Sponsored Graduate Microbiology Teaching Award.

Dr. Kadner was an internationally recognized microbiologist whose research on microbial physiology spanned four decades. He served as Chair of the ASM Committee on Graduate Education and helped found the ASM Institute for Graduate and Postdoctoral Scientists in Preparation for Careers in Microbiology (since renamed The Kadner Institute, in his honor). He held several positions for the ASM and the Academy for Microbiology, served on government and national society advisory boards, and was an editor of the Journal of Bacteriology.

As a tribute to Robert Kadner’s outstanding career in teaching and research in microbiology at the University of Virginia, A Symposium to Celebrate the Life of Professor Robert J. Kadner was held on September 12, 2006 in Jordan Hall Conference Center. The Symposium was followed by a Memorial Service  in his honor in the University Chapel on September 12, 2006.  Starting in 2007, the Microbiology Department holds an Annual Kadner Distinguished Lecture in Microbiology in the Fall each year.