Robert E. Hannemann, M.D., FAAP, who served as AAP president from 1996-’97, died Feb. 20 at age 94.
Dr. Hannemann, of West Lafayette, Ind., earned a chemical engineering degree from Purdue University and graduated from Indiana University School of Medicine in 1959. He interned at Methodist Hospital and completed his residency at Riley Hospital for Children. He was a U.S. Army veteran, serving in Pine Bluff, Ark., until his honorable discharge in 1955.
In 1962, he joined the pediatric department at Arnett Clinic, now known as Indiana University Health Arnett Hospital, as the clinic’s first pediatrician. He is credited with building the department from a solo practice to employing more than a dozen pediatricians. It was at Arnett that he helped launch the Head Start program in Lafayette, Ind. He later served as a regional consultant for the Midwest Head Start program.
After 38 years practicing pediatrics, Dr. Hannemann retired in 2000 from Arnett Clinic. He continued to care for children at the clinic and teach and perform research at Purdue University.
In an AAP News commentary “Retirement’s toughest dilemma: Who will take care of my children?” published in June 2000, Dr. Hannemann reflected on retirement, the next wave of pediatricians and the future of pediatric care.
“The American Academy of Pediatrics has always stood for high-quality care for all infants, children and young adults,” Dr. Hannemann wrote. “Those who bear the title of pediatrician also must do this, even under trying circumstances and sometimes at great personal sacrifice.”
Chester Ho, M.D., FAAP, chief medical officer of UPMC Health Plans and Enterprise Population Health, was a former patient and student of Dr. Hannemann’s.
“He always spent time talking to me, beyond my health, about what I was doing in school, sports, activities and social life and if my adolescent life was stressful or stable at each visit,” Dr. Ho said. “It was such a unique experience to have him be one of my class professors because in that setting he was a little different, but he would still talk to me after class about how I was doing in school, social life and whether things were stressful or stable. He had an incredible life and made an incredible impact on many like me.”
As Dr. Hannemann contemplated retirement, he recruited Dr. Ho to take over his practice.
“He gave me some of the best advice: Even if you are running late, if you only have 10 minutes with a patient, make it the best 10 minutes of their day,” Dr. Ho said. “I still pass that advice on today. … I do run late, but I give people the best 10 minutes of their day, just like Dr. Hannemann did.”
Dr. Hannemann was honored as Outstanding Chemical Engineer for 2000 by the Purdue University chemical engineering department. He later worked to integrate pediatrics knowledge with the chemical and biomedical engineering departments at Purdue.
In 2000, he also received the Sagamore of the Wabash award from Indiana Gov. Frank O’Bannon for his “commitment to making Indiana a better place to live and raise a family.” The Sagamore is the highest honor that the governor of Indiana bestows and was a term used by northeastern U.S. Native American tribes to describe a lesser chief or great man among the tribe to whom the true chief would turn for wisdom and advice.
In 2019, he received the Special Boilermaker Award from the Purdue Alumni Association at the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, which recognizes individuals in the Purdue community who have contributed significantly to the improvement of students’ quality of life and educational experience.
As a student, Dr. Hannemann served as sports editor of the Purdue Exponent newspaper. He later used his writing skills as a member of the editorial staff of Growing Child, the first child development newsletter in the United States. Dr. Hannemann helped edit early editions of the AAP book Caring for Your Baby and Young Child.
In the late 1990s, he served as president of the board of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Dr. Hannemann also served on the National Secretary for Health and Human Services advisory committee on infant mortality.
