How to Cite
Abstract
Prof. Grunberg passed away last December. He was a teacher at our school with a long and distinguished career; this was acknowledged by the collective,
who requested that the Council granted him the title of Professor Emeritus. On 4 June 2003, this request was unanimously approved, and the award ceremony
took place on 17 October of the same year. It was attended by all the members of his family, with a massive attendance of teachers, university generation
colleagues, staff and students. I have always thought that when acknowledging someone personally or collectively, we not only celebrate the honoree, but the recognition also speaks well of those who promote the honor: their sensitivity to recognize someone who excels, and this was no exception. The ordinance reads: “The title of Professor Emeritus will be awarded to those who, having finished their duties, have excelled in their work”. It is clear that justice was done.
That was the story of the institutional recognition, but I would also like to share a brief account by the Grunberg family. Eduardo, his son, told me that his
grandparents and his father arrived from Poland at the end of 1920, and then settled in Tacuarembó, where his grandfather started a business. Our country
was receiving massive immigration from all over Europe: we are all grandchildren or children of immigrants. They all arrived in a land of opportunities, where people could progress by working and sending their children to public education institutions from beginning to end, where the differences were set by each person’s capabilities and efforts. Through their effort this family clearly knew how to find support in the educational potential of Uruguay, which allowed them to have three children who graduated university. Let us try to remember his path in our school, as his two degrees in dentistry and medicine as an ENT specialist, which also enabled him to teach at the School of Medicine. He was a professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery II, who taught in a simple but powerful way, and was always willing to teach and communicate in the same way with teachers, students and graduates. An avid reader, with a
prodigious memory and a practical ability to analyze information, he always had solid arguments to support a complex diagnosis and a treatment option. He
continuously attended the clinic, and would stop when he found a group of students and give them an amazing theoretical-practical class on the patient
they were seeing. He gave teachers the freedom to teach, without overprotecting us, but also provided us with his unconditional support. That was the way he understood teaching at the clinic, and that is how his students remember him. He was always present and would withhold no opinion. All his activity as a teacher and surgeon made him a referent for contemporary physicians and dentists in the area of oral maxillofacial surgery. His teaching style, his commitment to patients, the way he studied each complex case to find the best solution, and his passion for the profession permeated us all; hence
our acknowledgment. Finally, as confirmation of the above, it was admirable to see him up to two or three years ago walking along the corridor of the ground floor, borrowing specialized magazines to continue studying. The physical loss saddens us; his longevity and full life comfort us, as well as the certainty that we honored him when he was alive. We will remain committed to remembering his example