So it was a proud moment for Fort Dodge native Thomas R. Kozel, PhD, when on Jan. 30 he was honored at the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), by friends and colleagues who gathered to celebrate his retirement after 54 years with the UNR School of Medicine.

His retirement date preceded by one day the celebration of his 80th birthday — a life that began Jan. 31, 1946, when he was delivered at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Dodge by Dr. Otto Glesne, one of the city’s legendary physicians who would later assist a young Kozel in his growing interest in medical research.

Kozel, renowned worldwide as a professor of microbiology and immunology, left Fort Dodge decades ago but memories of those early years and the people who influenced his career remain strong.

“One of the most valuable parts of growing up in Fort Dodge was the ability to explore the town and the surrounding area,” Kozel said. “I remember spending summer days in Loomis Park fishing in the Des Moines River. At that time, Iowa valued education and had one of the highest literacy rates in the U.S. Folks might debate how to best achieve academic excellence, but there was no debate about the value of education. Iowa had those famous Midwest values that have served me well throughout my life.”

Kozel, a founding faculty member of UNR Med, taught his final lecture for medical students last September and received a standing ovation from his students. At that time, he had taught every single medical student to study at UNR Med, more than 2,900 students.

In honor of his service, Kozel was presented with proclamations from the city of Reno and the State of Nevada, declaring Sept. 19, 2025, Dr. Thomas Kozel Day, and a proclamation from Washoe County declaring it University of Reno, Medical Education Day.

Said Dr. Paul J. Hauptman, dean of UNR Med, “Imagine being able to state that you have trained every single medical student who ever matriculated at a medical school and that your work led to demonstrable impact on the lives of patients worldwide? Add to that garnering five decades of continual funding, through both good and stormy economic times, and you have the makings of the Tom Kozel story.”

Added Kozel’s longtime colleague Dr. David AuCoin, chair of Microbiology and Immunology and co-founder with Kozel of DxDiscovery, a biotechnology research and development firm located on the university campus: “Tom shaped the science for DxDiscovery and helped establish a startup culture that continues to benefit the university today. What stands out most to me is how Tom did all of this. He did it with scientific integrity, humility, and an unwavering commitment to mentoring.”

Not only did Kozel have an exceptional teaching career, but he also did pioneering research in microbiology and immunology, including the development of a rapid diagnostic test for patients with AIDS who develop fungal meningitis that is recognized by the World Health Organization as an “essential diagnostic,” and is estimated to save more than 50,000 to 100,000 lives annually. Kozel was the recipient of the longest continually funded National Institute of Health research grant in Nevada, receiving 48 years of continuous funding worth more than $40 million. His research is also one of the longest funded grants in the country.

“The Tom Kozel story” mentioned by Dean Hauptman began in Fort Dodge, where there were plenty of signs that success in medicine would be part of his future.

Kozel’s father, Lumire Kozel, was a tailor and a dry cleaner whose business, Kozel Kleaners, began in the Eilers Hotel, moving later to the City Square. His grandfather, Thomas Kozel,had a tailor shop in the Eilers Hotel starting around 1905.

 ”My dad came from a long line of tailors that went back to Prague,” Kozel said. “My great-grandfather came to the United States via Hamburg.”

Lumire Kozel was active in Fort Dodge governance, serving on the Board of Appeals for more than 25 years. Lumire’s wife Vilma (Moench) was from a farm near Clare and worked mostly as a homemaker, but also helped in the business. They had four children — Thomas; Douglas, now a retired architect in Madison, Wisconsin.; Deborah, a nurse working in Minneapolis, Minnesota;, and Kevin, a construction contractor working in the Golden, Colorado., area.

“I had always been interested in the sciences for as long as I remember,” Kozel said. That was confirmed by his father in a 1994 Spotlight in The Messenger when he said, “He knew the field he wanted to get into while he was still a small boy.”

His brother Doug said “a favorite activity for us early on was visiting the Carnegie Public Library.  It was close to dad’s shop at the Eilers Hotel, so it was a good place to hang out after school while waiting for a ride home. Tom discovered the Scientific American magazine and began a lifelong journey for him in the sciences.  I discovered Gershwin and jazz, which spurred my interest in music and the arts.  We also learned there how to make hot air balloons out of tissue wrapping paper, and how to make gunpowder from drug store ingredients.  We pursued both of these in our basement, a place of much intrigue and some ingenuity.  The hot air balloons would fly for miles and we wound up on the front page of the The Messenger.”

Kozel got encouragement from Glesne — “I’d go to him for checkups and we’d talk about science. He loaned me his microscope. He was a real role model for me.”

He had other angels, including scientists from Fort Dodge Laboratories who provided advice and encouragement with his science projects.

Kozel was active in state science fairs throughout high school. He was selected as a delegate to the National Conference on the Atom in Chicago in 1962 and won the senior high division of the 1963 Hawkeye Science Fair. 

At Fort Dodge Senior High School, he said, “There were so many great teachers. Mr. (Russell) Myers, my debate coach, taught me to analyze and think, to organize my thoughts and make an argument. In my work at UNR Med, to get a grant, you have to organize your thoughts and make an argument. I made thousands of grants. I was pretty good at making my case. Mr. (Eugene) Bundy taught me to think quantitatively. Quantitative thinking has been a cornerstone of my career. Mrs. (Lucille) Gibb taught me to write, especially long term papers. She had great confidence in me and encouraged me on my journey to the University of Iowa.”

Outside the classroom, Kozel was a drummer with the Fort Dodge Lanciers Drum and Bugle Corps — a member with his brother Doug when the Lanciers marched in the inaugural parade in Washington, D.C., for President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

“Being a Lancier taught me the value of endless practice and perseverance,” he said. “You have to practice, you have to put in the work. It was a life lesson at that time.”

Kozel, who attended St. Paul Lutheran School through eighth grade, graduated from Fort Dodge Senior High School in 1963 and headed to the University of Iowa to continue his education. He was the first in his family to attend college.

“My parents were incredibly proud of the fact that all four children attended college,” he said.

At Iowa, he earned bachelor’s (1967), master’s (1969) and doctorate (1971) degrees, all in microbiology. While pursuing his doctorate, he secured his first National Institute of Health award.

In 1967, Kozel married Pat Fogarty, an accounting student from Cedar Rapids. Their first two sons, Scott and Rob, were born at University Hospitals and their third son, Patrick, was born in Reno.

After attaining his doctorate, Kozel was attracted to Nevada-Reno and the opportunity to be on the founding faculty of a new medical school in a rapidly growing state. One member of the founding faculty was Dr. Russell Brown, who had just retired as vice president of the Tuskegee Institute and director of the Carver Foundation at Tuskegee.

Kozel said, “Russ brought me to Nevada and became my mentor and the most important influence in my professional development.”

Kozel joined the medical school’s faculty in 1971, six weeks before the first classes began.

“I think that the most fulfilling part of my career has been my interactions with medical and graduate students,” he said. “As a founding faculty member, it has been an honor to have taught every medical student who has attended UNR since that date. My research led to the development of a critical diagnostic test for opportunistic infections in patients with AIDS. This test is now recommended by the World Health Organization for use with all individuals with newly diagnosed AIDS. The CDC estimates that the test saves 50,000-100,000 lives each year. This is incredibly rewarding.”

Family has long played an important role in Kozel’s life.

Kozel and Pat raised three sons before her death to cancer in 2007. Their son Scott Kozel and his wife Shawll live in Sonoma County, California. He retired six months before his father as vice president for fine wines at E.&J. Gallo. They have three children – Thomas and his spouse Suzanne, Andrew Kozel and his spouse Sarah, and Aidan and his spouse Lilly and their daughter Olivia.

Rob Kozel is an emergency medicine physician in the Sacramento area; he and his wife Karen have three children — Megan, Evan and Eric.

Patrick Kozel is principal at Square the Circle Wine Consulting and lives in the Seattle area with his wife Audrey; they have four children — Liam, Shea, Quinn and Darcy.

In 2009, Kozel married Annabelle Hall. Her husband Steve, an oncologist at UNR Med, died in 2004 of cancer. She and Steve were the parents of daughter Ryan, an attorney in Reno, and her husband Brandon Sullivan, and son Reid Hall, who is in business in Carlsbad, California., and his spouse Maya. Ryan and Brandon have three children — Leigh, Oren and Brenna Sullivan, and Reid and Maya have two children — Stephen and Harper Hall.

Kozel and Annabelle are on to their next life’s adventure in March when they plan to move to a retirement community in Santa Rosa, California.

He’ll leave plenty of memories behind in Reno, including the Thomas R. Kozel Lectureship in Medical Education Endowment, created to honor his lifelong commitment to medical education, mentorship and innovation. UNR Med announced the endowment at his retirement reception. It will bring distinguished educators and scholars to campus to engage faculty in meaningful dialogue and professional development focused on excellence in medical education.