2005 Legacy Award Recipient -
Raymond F. Lehner
Ray Lehner
Raymond F. Lehner is a Professor Emeritus of Health
Science from Moraine Valley Community College where he was Program Director
of Respiratory Care for more than 34 years. He also served as 15 year Chairman
of the Department of Allied Health as well as in innumerable capacities on
various committees and projects including as a self-study committee chair
for the Colleges initial accreditation through North Central Accreditation
(NCA). Prior to coming to Moraine Valley, he was the Educational Director
of the Respiratory Department at Little Company of Mary Hospital in Evergreen
Park, Illinois.
Working on local, state and national levels Ray Lehner
has been keenly involved in a wide range of endeavors impacting in many areas.
He is a longtime member of the Board of Directors of the Illinois Society
for Respiratory Care, serving on many committees, most recently serving as
Chair of the Licensure and Legislative committee over the last 11 years.
In 1995 he successfully secured sponsors in the Illinois House and Senate
for a Respiratory Care Licensure Bill, which passed overwhelmingly and was
signed into law. In front of the House Registration and Regulation Committee,
he testified on behalf of an amendment he helped successfully introduce in
1997, He was heavily involved in the new Practice Act, which bestows full
licensure on our profession. He testified to the Senate Licensure Activities
Committee in March 2005. The Bill subsequently passed both Houses and was
signed by the Governor on August 14.
In 1996, Governor Edgar appointed him to the new
Respiratory Care Board of the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation.
Originally Vice-Chair, he has been named Chairman every year from 1997 to
the present.
He has served as co-founder and Chair of the Illinois
Council of Respiratory Therapy Education and also co-founder, Steering Committee
member and Secretary of the National Respiratory Care Educators Network,
Lehner performed in the capacity of on-site inspector consultant for the
Joint Review Committee (JRCRTE) in cooperation with the Council of Allied
Health Education and Accreditation of the American Medical Association. He
was also an Associate Oral Examiner for the National Board for Respiratory
Care and contracted item writer for the NBRC in conjunction with the Educational
Testing Service.
In the 1970's, he served on a committee in the federally
funded Area Health Education Study (AHES) administered by the University
of Illinois. He was program chairman for the ISRC state convention and introduced
the multiple speaker format and the first keynote speakers from out-of-state.
He served as both moderator and judge of the ISRC knowledge bowl and played
at national in 1981.
Probably the largest symposium on neonatal critical
care in the nation, sponsored by the ISRC, has been organized and chaired
by Ray Lehner for the last 6 years providing up to 24 CEUs for a single event.
Another huge seminar "Asthma at the Millennium: Crossroads in Care" was sponsored
by the Illinois Society for Respiratory Care, organized and chaired by him
and hosted by Moraine Valley Community College. He has been a featured speaker
at seminars, conferences and workshops too numerous to mention including
last years ISRC state convention in June 2004. Last year he was interviewed
extensively by the Chicago Tribune and was featured in an article appearing
in January 2004. In 2003 he was featured (and pictured) in a Daily Southtown
article describing a visit of very high-level dignitaries from China While
in the United States, they visited Harvard Medical School, Mayo Clinic,
Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the Respiratory Program at Moraine
Valley.
In addition, he has published numerous articles on
a wide range of topics concerning professional, legislative, political and
ethi-cal issues,
Moraine Valley Community College established an Academic
Olympics team in 1995, which he agreed to coach and develop. During the two
years he coached the team, they won every regional competition in both north
and south regionals and finished 2nd overall in the entire state of Illinois
both years.
At the Midwest Music Festival, Lehner just completed
his 10th year as announcer. He is a member of the Lemont Sertoma and former
Warden and Vestry Member of the Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration of
Palos Park. He is a three-time recipient of the Presidents award for outstanding
Officer in the Illinois Society for Respiratory Care. He has also received
the Officer's Award, the Distinguished Service Award, the Special Service
Award and the Outstanding Contribution Award.
Over his career he has also been a member of the Speakers
Bureau of the Chicago Lung Association, the Educational Committee of the
Cook County Heart Association, a Beacon Project Fellow with the Kellogg
Foundation, consultant to the Ohio Board of Regents, a two-time VIP grant
recipient from the Illinois State Board of Education and a moderator for
State Finals in Academic Olympics. |
