Campaign for Nebraska -

Student scholarship honors teaching passion of Neva Nielsen

Alyssa Brunswick — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:54:55 +0000

Monty Nielsen vividly remembers being taught by his mother, Neva Nielsen, in a one room rural school in Nebraska. He witnessed firsthand her passion and enthusiasm for teaching, and now he hopes to pass it on to students at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Heeeeeeere’s Johnny’s latest gift

Alyssa Brunswick — Wed, 08 May 2013 16:17:35 +0000

Conan O’Brien was a student of the late, great Johnny Carson.
But what exactly, he asked, made the man so great?

“Sometimes everybody’s talking about how amazing he was but they’re not telling you why,” Conan said in a clip from a documentary about Carson, the legendary comedian and host of The Tonight Show who graduated from UNL.

The clip, from a documentary UNL students made, was played the other day for guests in the campus theater named for Carson.

“He was the complete package,” O’Brien continued. “He’s a great physical comedian. There’s a lot of grace. Great at playing comedic moments the way any great improviser – like Will Ferrell or Steve Carrell – would. He could play those moments perfectly … Great with coming up with one-liners. A great ad-libber. But he was also an intellectual.”

(At UNL, he wrote a thesis on comedy, after studying and categorizing the jokes he heard on the radio. Carson once said in an interview that his college education helped him in his career – in the type of material he did and in the way he saw the world.)

Johnny Carson was one more thing, people who knew him say – generous. He promoted the rising young comedians who came out from behind his curtain and made him laugh. He tried to make all of his guests look good.

And he never forgot his friends back home, or his alma mater.

Learn about the most recent gift to UNL from the foundation that bears his great name.

Cancer center to be named for Fred and Pamela Buffett

Alyssa Brunswick — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:09:45 +0000

He could run like the wind. He was fit.
He had a famous name: Buffett.
Fred “Fritz” Buffett grew up in Omaha and was a first cousin to billionaire Warren Buffett, the CEO and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.
He was kind, Fred’s wife, Pamela Buffett, told The Omaha World-Herald. He was a “glorious” person, she told the paper.
But none of that could cure the kidney cancer that hit him. Like many families, the Buffetts ended up losing a loved one to cancer. Fred died of cancer in 1997 at age 60.
His wife recently gave a gift in tribute to him and to his Nebraska roots.
Find out what she did – and what others are doing – to help other glorious people who have to face cancer.

New cancer buildings to be named for CL Werner, Suzanne and Walter Scott

Chris Cooper — Tue, 07 May 2013 15:25:14 +0000

A groundbreaking was held today by the University of Nebraska Medical Center and The Nebraska Medical Center for the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. Major donors to the project were announced at the groundbreaking.

Med Center’s largest project to be named the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center

Chris Cooper — Fri, 03 May 2013 11:00:00 +0000

The University of Nebraska Medical Center and The Nebraska Medical Center announced today that their cancer center project in midtown Omaha has a name: the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.

UNK’s bad storm damage brings out good in people

Alyssa Brunswick — Wed, 01 May 2013 21:15:48 +0000

The phone call came at 3:30 a.m. with the shocking news: The storm blew the roof off the library.

My library?

That was Janet Stoeger Wilke’s first thought. She’s the dean of the library at UNK. Her second thought was to get herself and her staff there as soon as possible to help save the books.

The April storm and its 78-mph winds left a lot of damage to the library and fine arts building at UNK.

But it left some silver linings, too.

UNO to make perfect pitch for soccer

Alyssa Brunswick — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:58:57 +0000

In the United States, the word “pitch” often is associated with America’s favorite pastime, baseball.

But in many other countries, “pitch” refers to the surface where soccer – the world’s most popular sport – is played.

Find out how such a "pitch" soon will help transform UNO's Caliglia Field into one of the best soccer complexes in the country.

Donor’s generosity even touched those who touched the stars

Alyssa Brunswick — Wed, 01 May 2013 20:21:44 +0000

Eileen Ryan loved helping people.

“Years ago, we started out doing small things,” she told us last year for a story about her and her husband, Wayne. “Now that we have more, we do more."

“I always tell Wayne, ‘Half of the fun of having money is giving it away.’”

She loved Omaha. Much of her generosity can be seen many places around her town including UNMC, where Wayne was a longtime professor.

She loved God. She told us this last year, too:

“One thing I think of very often, particularly when I go to funerals, is that line from Scripture: No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him.”

Eileen Ryan passed away recently.

Learn more of her story.

$1.3 million gift celebrated by UNK music department

Alyssa Brunswick — Wed, 01 May 2013 17:05:05 +0000

The University of Nebraska at Kearney Department of Music and Performing Arts has received a $1.3 million gift from an anonymous donor to bolster student scholarships, faculty support and more.

Gift sets Lied’s Johnny Carson Theater for renovation

Chris Cooper — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 13:38:12 +0000

Those who attend the more than 100 events held each year in the Johnny Carson Theater at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Lied Center for Performing Arts will notice several improvements to the 23-year-old venue when its renovation is completed next year.

UNL Quilt House receives $8 million gift for expansion, endowment

Chris Cooper — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:28:02 +0000

The thousands of guests from around the world who each year visit Quilt House, home to the International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, now look forward to seeing even more inside thanks to planned expansion of the museum.

UNL tests new media technologies with Knight Foundation support

Jessica Sorensen — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:26:26 +0000

The study of two innovative areas of journalism—mobile media and drone journalism—at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications have received backing from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with grants totaling $250,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation.

A $200,000 grant was awarded to help create a Mobile Media Lab at the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Led by Professor Gary Kebbel, the center will involve cross-campus, multidisciplinary collaboration of students, faculty and research professors working to improve the communication of news and advertising on mobile devices.

See how much Campaign for Nebraska has changed UNK

Jessica Sorensen — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:54:52 +0000

Thank you for supporting UNK, as your gifts make a tremendous difference. More than $45 million has been given during the Campaign for Nebraska to support all areas of UNK, from student scholarship funds to campus improvements.

This level of support has a remarkable effect on the student experience at UNK. And there is much more we can do in the remaining months of the campaign.

Check out this short video to learn more about what this support means for UNK.

Gift enables professor to discuss the evil that men do

Jessica Sorensen — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 19:38:34 +0000

The German police officers of Battalion 101 were normal men, not monsters.

Most were middle-aged. Before the war they had been farmers and factory workers, truck drivers and teachers, husbands and fathers. … Not rabid Nazis.

Yet these normal men shot thousands of Jews point blank, including children, even though their Army leader had told them they didn’t have to.

Step away if you can’t stomach it.

Some did. But most didn’t.

Why?

“Why is this so important?” asks the professor standing at the front of the classroom, who looks around the same age as his students despite a bowtie and beard. “Why did I assign this reading?”

Welcome to a normal day in History 4720 at UNO – “History of the Holocaust.”

Hoagland Lecture brings Obama campaign chief, top political reporter to Nebraska

Jessica Sorensen — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 15:24:38 +0000

A University of Nebraska lecture series made possible with private contributions will bring Obama campaign manager Jim Messina and leading political news correspondent Jeff Zeleny to the Lincoln campus on April 5 for this year’s Hoagland Lecture.

As the main architect of President Obama’s re-election and one of the nation’s top political reporters, the two presenters will provide insight and retrospective on the historic 2012 presidential campaign.

Major gifts advance CBA building initiative, architects approved

Jessica Sorensen — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:35:41 +0000

Lincoln, Neb., March 19, 2013 — Plans for a new state-of-the-art College of Business Administration building at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln have taken another step forward with major gift support and selection of project architects.

The University of Nebraska Foundation has received gifts and commitments of gifts toward fundraising for the building, which is part of the Campaign for Nebraska, the university’s current comprehensive fundraising initiative.

On March 15, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture of Nebraska as architects for the new building.

Studying abroad changed student’s world view

Jessica Sorensen — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 19:05:13 +0000

Confused. Scared. Mortified.

UNMC medical student Kelley Keefe will never forget the look on that young woman’s face that day at a hospital in South Africa.

Or her story.

Generous donor picks Lincoln over London

Jessica Sorensen — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 14:02:34 +0000

A beautiful English woman grew up in Henley, England, a beautiful English town on the River Thames.

One day in in the 1960s, on an elevator in London, she met a fascinating man from Lincoln, Neb.

They became friends and eventually fell in love. After getting married in Florida, they came to Lincoln for what she thought would be just a three-month visit. That was more than three decades ago.

And Lincoln became her hometown, too.

“I think Lincoln, Neb., is one of the best places to live,” Jean Shaw says. “And the university makes it more so.”

Learn about the gift she gave to the university in memory of her late husband, Norman.

Award-winning journalism student finds opportunities here not found elsewhere

Jessica Sorensen — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:41:54 +0000

What’s it like to be a Husker walk-on? To be a kid on the football team doing all the work but getting little of the glory?

What’s it like to be a Vietnam vet with PTSD, who finally finds some peace through yoga?

Faiz Siddiqui, a student in UNL’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications, asked these questions.

And he won two awards in a contest considered the Pulitzer Prize of college journalism.

New center helping UNO athletes to play smart

Jessica Sorensen — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:37:50 +0000

UNO athletes set a record last semester – for their brains.

The Mavs earned a cumulative grade-point average of 3.34 – the highest in UNO history.

And now they’ll probably get even smarter.

Find out why.

Learning how to walk away from the walking dead

Jessica Sorensen — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 18:08:38 +0000

Are you prepared for a zombie apocalypse?

Do you have enough water and food? Do you have a way to stay warm if it’s winter and zombies keep you from your home? Do you have a way to communicate that doesn’t rely on your iPhone (if they knock out the power grid)?

If you’re not prepared for a zombie apocalypse, says Shawn Gibbs, Ph.D., of UNMC’s College of Public Health, then you’re probably not prepared for other, much-more-likely disasters like a tornado or a flood or a terrorist attack.

Find out how the College of Public Health trains its students to help the world survive these scary times.

And find out, in the video, if Dr. Gibbs survives a zombie that’s holding a chain saw.

It’s true. Grit important to childhood education success

Jessica Sorensen — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 17:25:23 +0000

Grit.

It’s a passionate dedication to achieving a goal.

Kids with grit are curious and confident. They control their emotions. They stay focused. Kids with grit are more likely to grow into great adults, no matter how they started out.

The new Buffett Early Childhood Institute at the University of Nebraska hopes to become a national leader in early childhood education.

Find out how its new leader says we can create more kids with grit.

Private gifts help those who help us

Jessica Sorensen — Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:41:51 +0000

UNMC trains more health professionals practicing in Nebraska than any other institution.

These future physicians, nurses, dentists and pharmacists are learning from experts in medical research and patient care.

Private gifts have helped UNMC attract top scientists, faculty and students. Through the Campaign for Nebraska, donors have given more than $420 million to support people, programs and facilities.

Check out this video to see how that private support has transformed UNMC.

Positive professor teaches students to have positive impact

Jessica Sorensen — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 16:39:49 +0000

Passionate. Inspiring. Enthusiastic.

Those are just a few of the words Dr. Maha Younes’ students use to describe her.

Younes, who is chair of the social work department in UNK’s College of Natural and Social Sciences, has left a lasting impression on many students.

Years later, two students recall stories of Younes as if it were yesterday.

Seeing the world through a viewfinder changes student’s point of view

Jessica Sorensen — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:24:14 +0000

She tries to fit the world into a rectangle.

She has to be patient. Wait for the moment.

Photographer Anna Reed is a journalism student at UNL. She’s traveled to Kyrgyzstan, India, Costa Rica and Brazil on study abroad trips. None of those would have been possible without the scholarships she’s received.

Says Anna: “I don’t think I’d be in college if it weren’t for scholarships.”

And she wouldn’t have experienced these incredible moments.

Bravo to UNL Friends of Opera for support of new professorship

Jessica Sorensen — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 22:01:03 +0000

Leading opera professionals from around the world will be invited to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln because of a newly funded visiting professorship.

A recent gift from the UNL Friends of Opera to the University of Nebraska Foundation has completed funding for the Ariel Bybee Visiting Professorship Endowed Fund. The endowed fund of more than $200,000 will provide annual resources to enable the School of Music to sponsor visiting opera composers, directors and coaches who will come to UNL from across the country and around the world.

For Koch family, this Super Bowl will be more than just love of the game

Jessica Sorensen — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 17:41:27 +0000

Lacey Koch loves the Baltimore Ravens more than most fans do. And she’ll be cheering more loudly than most when the Ravens play this Sunday in the Super Bowl.

That’s because her big brother Sam Koch punts for the Ravens.

Lacey is a member of our foundation family.

Read more about how her family – and Sam – are feeling about this Sunday.

Generous couple helped Omaha grow great

Jessica Sorensen — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:23:44 +0000

A granite mausoleum stands on a hill at Omaha’s Forest Lawn cemetery. Engraved above the door:

“Criss.”

Beyond the glass are the names of a man and his wife and their child. The boy was just 4 years old when he died one March day in 1907. A few years after the boy’s death, the man and his wife – Clair and Mabel Criss – founded the company that grew into one of the biggest names in the insurance world, Mutual of Omaha.

Learn of their love for Omaha, and how it lives on – so many years after their deaths.

All night dance turns into longtime gift for UNL students

Jessica Sorensen — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 17:12:59 +0000

His blind date, a sorority girl from UNL, was adorable. They danced all night.

They lost track of time, and the fact that she was living all the way in Tecumseh with her folks that summer. The sun was rising as he finally drove her home.

Her mom stood waiting on the front porch in a nightgown.

“It wasn’t the warmest greeting I’ve ever had,” Bill March says, chuckling, all these years later.

Learn what happened next, and what Bill created in memory of his sorority girl.

Parents who gave, receive from children

Jessica Sorensen — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:47:13 +0000

Every so often, a guy who looked down on his luck would show up at Cash-Wa Distributing in Kearney, looking for a job.

A guy sent by Harvey Henning.

“I knew that was my cue to hire him,” says Tom Henning, one of Harvey and Betty Henning’s five sons, who’ve learned many lessons in life from their big-hearted parents.

Find out what the sons did in their honor.