Since the majority of the students in the two-year-old program are headed to careers in healthcare, it makes sense that the first scholar-in-residence would be a healthcare provider, said program director Roman Miller, PhD.

Longacher retired in February 2013 and moved with his wife Constance to Harrisonburg, where they live near the EMU campus. In his part-time volunteer role with the biomedicine program, he will advise the professors and consult with students on their research projects. Longacher will serve a two-year term, with the possibility of renewal.

Longacher will also lead a consulting biomedicine team that will be set up this fall. It will be comprised of experts in the healthcare field.

“This is a big deal to have clinical expertise on our leadership team,” said Miller. “We were looking for a physician or other healthcare provider with connections to Virginia’s hospitals, medical schools and healthcare leaders as well as the ability to wisely guide us in further development of our program.”

Miller, who is EMU’s longtime director of the , is himself the graduate of a biomedicine program. He earned his PhD in biomedical science at Kent State University in Ohio. A member of EMU’s faculty for 29 years, Miller is the Endowed Professor of Biology.

“Our master’s in biomedicine is a good way to get into the healthcare field, whether as an administrator, teacher or healthcare provider,” said Miller. In some cases, like his own, it will mean further study after EMU at the doctoral level.

Many of the current biomedicine students at EMU did not pursue majors in college that would lead to health-care careers but decided later that’s what they wanted. Fewer than half of the current students came directly from undergraduate studies in college.

Following his undergraduate work at EMU, Longacher, from Newport News, Virginia, went to the Medical College of Virginia (now part of Virginia Commonwealth University) in Richmond. After an internship at a hospital in Pennsylvania, he served as a general practitioner in Appalachia under . He returned to Richmond for a residency in internal medicine and gastroenterology.

Next came three years at a clinic in Indiana, before Longacher settled in Richmond to focus on gastroenterology – dealing with the digestive system – at the McGuire Clinic, later renamed Virginia Physicians.

For most of his career in Richmond, Longacher was also a clinical professor of internal medicine at VCU. He mentored students at his clinic as well as teaching at the McGuire Veterans Administration Medical Center. A member of , Longacher related to some 50 Mennonite medical students at VCU over the years.

Longacher has been involved in a variety of leadership roles in his denomination, including two terms as moderator of . He served as president of and is completing a term this summer as president of its successor organization, .

“I’m looking forward to working with the other members of the advisory group to share our insights and help provide input from our experience,” Longacher said.

Daniel B. Suter, professor emeritus of and developer of the at ��ݮ����, died Dec. 24, 2006, at Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community where he was a resident. He was 86.

Dr. Suter joined the science department at EMU in 1948 and eventually became head of the biology department and pre-med advisor. He retired in 1985.

, completed in 1967, was named after Suter “in recognition of his leadership in the development of the school’s science/pre-medical program and his influence among students during his teaching years.”

Doctor of the Year

During his tenure, EMU students had an acceptance rate of more than 85 percent into medical, dental and veterinary schools, well above the national average of 40-50 percent. He was named “Doctor of the Year” in 1985 by the Mennonite Medical Association and the Mennonite Nurses’ Association.

The board of trustees of EMU established the Dr. Daniel B. Suter Endowed Biology Chair on Sept. 19, 1986 in honor of his distinguished teaching career and “contributions to academic excellence and the highest standards of personal and spiritual maturity in the .”

Dr. Roman J. Miller, who joined the EMU faculty in 1985, was named first appointee to the Suter Chair.

“When I arrived at EMU as an associate professor of biology, Dr. Suter was gracious and helpful as I began teaching some courses that he had taught and assumed premedical advising responsibilities in a program that he had largely developed,” Dr. Miller said. “Through his excellence in teaching and carefulness in advising students, Dr. Suter created a legacy of influential premedical training.”

Dr. Daniel B. Suter and wife Grace at Daniel’s 80th birthday party, April 2000, in the Suter Science Center.

Servant of the Church

Suter was ordained a minister in Virginia Mennonite Conference in 1951 and served as pastor of Gospel Hill Mennonite Church and later Weavers Mennonite Church in Rockingham County. He also served the broader church as a visiting minister and teacher. He spoke in many settings on the harmful effects of alcohol use and abuse on the body and on “the biology of aging.”

He served as secretary of Virginia Mennonite Board of Missions and as a board member of both Mennonite Broadcasts, Inc. (now Mennonite Media) and VMRC.

Suter was a skilled woodworker and strong advocate of church music, promoting singing from the “Harmonia Sacra,” a songbook edited and first published by Joseph Funk of Singers Glen, Va., in 1832.

Suter was a graduate of Eastern Mennonite High School, Eastern Mennonite College, Bridgewater College, Vanderbilt University and the Medical College of Virginia, where he received a Ph.D. in neuroanatomy in 1963.

Divine Placement

EMU President Loren Swartzendruber noted that Suter was offered a faculty position at UVa. at three times the salary that EMU had paid him. Suter felt compelled to return to EMU because “I believed that’s where the Lord wanted me to be.”

Asked if he had any regrets, his response was “No, not really, although it was difficult at times. I’m grateful when I think about the more than 300 physicians, dentists, and other health care workers who are serving all over the world that I helped to train.”

He married the former Grace Fisher on June 23, 1941, who preceded him in death on Dec. 8, 2003. He is survived by two daughters, two sons, one sister, six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews.

A memorial service was held Dec. 29, 2006 at Strite Auditorium of VMRC, with internment at Weavers Mennonite Church cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Daniel B. Suter Endowed Chair at EMU, 1200 Park Rd., Harrisonburg, VA 22802 or online at or by phoning (800) 368-3383.