Peter J. Whitted, M.D., chair of the board of directors for the University of Nebraska Foundation announced today changes to the organization’s leadership. “The University of Nebraska Foundation has accomplished great things for students, the university and the state during its 75-year history,” Whitted said. “We are pleased to announce the position of president and chief executive officer of the foundation, held most recently by Clarence Castner, will be served on an interim basis by John Gottschalk, retired chief executive officer and publisher of the Omaha World-Herald and a longtime supporter of the University of Nebraska. We appreciate John’s ongoing commitment to the foundation and his support for the university.”

Leaders from the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and its hospital partner, The Nebraska Medical Center announced today preliminary plans for a new cancer center at the medical center’s Omaha campus. The cancer center would house research facilities, an outpatient treatment center and clinic, and a new hospital tower. Medical center leaders call it the largest project ever proposed here.

Nebraska nonprofit organizations striving to address critical community needs or wishing to make a significant local or state impact may now submit funding ideas to Women Investing in Nebraska (WIN).

For information and to submit an online letter of inquiry for consideration, go to womeninvestinginnebraska.org by March 1.

Pre-nursing students at the University of Nebraska at Kearney benefit from a new permanently endowed scholarship fund created especially with them in mind.

Dr. Janet Steele, professor of biology at UNK, established the fund with a $25,000 gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation and named it in honor of her mother for the many accomplishments she made throughout her life.

A new memorial scholarship provides support to nontraditional students who study construction or civil engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln while remembering the life of alumnus John E. McCue, who enjoyed a career in engineering.

In honor of John’s life, his family and friends established the John E. McCue Memorial Scholarship with gifts of nearly $60,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation. Now permanently endowed, the fund enables the UNL College of Engineering to award annual scholarships to support nontraditional students with financial need.

Alumni and friends of the University of Nebraska demonstrated their generosity this year by giving the most private support in history.

Donors gave more than $172.1 million to the University of Nebraska Foundation during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, making it the best year ever in its 75-year history. More than $130.2 million was transferred to the university’s statewide system during the same period, also representing a record.

This is the sixth consecutive year annual gifts to the foundation exceeded $100 million. The previous best year was 2008 when $166.5 million was given.

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln opened a new biological engineering teaching lab designed with undergraduate students in mind. Located in Chase Hall on East Campus, the lab gives students access to the latest science equipment and features found in many of today’s professional labs. 

The $300,000 lab was made possible with a private donation to the University of Nebraska Foundation and UNL allocations. In recognition of a $150,000 leadership gift toward its construction from Carol Swarts, M.D., of Seattle, Wash., the university named the lab the Swarts Family Biological Engineering Teaching Lab.

Now featuring state-of-the-art classroom facilities and outreach clinics focused on teaching, educational administration, counseling, learning disabilities and speech/hearing education, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) formally dedicated Roskens Hall as the new home of the College of Education with a ceremony on Friday, Sept. 23.

Engineering alumnus Don Voelte and foundation board chair Nancy Keegan make $5 million gift to the Campaign for Nebraska

Lincoln, Neb.—University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Engineering alumnus Don Voelte and his wife, Nancy Keegan, chair of the University of Nebraska Foundation’s board of directors, have given a $5 million campaign gift to UNL. In recognition of their gift, UNL’s Nanoscience Metrology Facility will be named in their honor.  

"The Scotts are the epitome of greatness," said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. "They couldn't care less about being in the limelight. They simply want to help others.

Over the past eight years, the Scotts have made multiple gifts to UNMC, including the lead gifts on new buildings for four UNMC colleges - medicine, nursing, public health and pharmacy.

Their work was honored on Sept. 13 when the UNMC student plaza was named on their behalf.

Omaha, Neb. - Dr. George Haddix of Omaha has made a $1 million gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to assist the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) in addressing an important issue in American education — STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education and preparing the educators who teach in these disciplines.

The gift establishes the Dr. George Haddix Community Chair in Mathematics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) in the College of Arts and Sciences. It is Haddix’s second gift focusing on STEM education.

The UNL Center for Digital Research in the Humanities announced nearly $430,000 has been given to date toward the challenge it accepted from the National Endowment for the Humanities to raise $1.5 million by 2015.

Earlier this year, the NEH announced it would provide UNL a five-year, $500,000 challenge grant if the university is able to secure $1.5 million in private support from alumni and friends.

What started as a dream of helping to feed the world is now one step closer to reality for University of Nebraska–Lincoln crop researcher Stephen Baenziger.A Purdue University trained scientist, he joined UNL 25 years ago. He and fellow researchers have helped increase Nebraska’s annual wheat yields and have helped wheat growers provide food for millions more people each year.

To further support the university’s crop science work, Baenziger made a major gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation for the Nebraska Small Grains Fund, a permanently endowed fund Baenziger helped create some years ago. By request, the gift amount is not disclosed.

Lincoln, Neb., Aug. 23, 2011—The University of Nebraska Foundation’s board of directors awarded more than $1.1 million in grants to the University of Nebraska to support student study abroad opportunities and international partnerships.

The focus of this year’s awards was set by University of Nebraska President James. B Milliken, who tied the theme to the university’s current Campaign for Nebraska fundraising initiative and its goal to increase private support for global engagement activities and programs.

Lincoln, Neb., July 5, 2011 — State Farm Insurance of Nebraska has given $20,000 for fellowship awards to Nebraska teachers seeking to improve their math and science teaching skills. The funding will enable 32 teachers to take graduate level courses tuition-free this summer at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Nebraska Math and Science Summer Institutes.

The summer institutes are part of UNL’s Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education and offers continuing education and professional development opportunities to Nebraska teachers. According to the university, the summer courses provide intellectually rich graduate coursework, intensive collaboration and the professional development teachers need to improve student learning and foster academic success.

State Farm established the fellowships through the University of Nebraska Foundation.

“Our company understands successful students are the result of an exceptional teacher,” Angelene Hennes, of State Farm, said. “Therefore, the first step to student success is to have an outstanding teacher who inspires students to learn. Being able to support 32 teachers who enrich students’ lives with greater understanding in math and science is a gift that benefits not only our company but all of the community.”

According to the university, if 200 teachers take courses this summer, more than 10,000 students in grades K-12 will benefit from their improved teaching skills during the next school year.

Learn more about State Farm’s gift to Nebraska.

The gift from the estate of Milton E. Steinkruger to the University of Nebraska Foundation establishes a permanently endowed scholarship fund that will enable university officials to respond to the needs of students who experience a significant hardship, such as a personal emergency or family crisis, and as a result are at risk of leaving the university. Annual income from the endowment will provide approximately $13,000 a year to the university to help students.

University of Nebraska at Kearney alumna and retired teacher Jean Nama has given a scholarship to support students who wish to further their education in Nebraska and position themselves to be educated citizens.

“I want to help some youngsters from Nebraska who have good grades and goals but need some extra help to further their education and become a contributing member of society,” said Nama, who helped found the Southern California UNK Alumni Association in the early 1970s.

One of the greatest accomplishments of UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., during his 12 years as chancellor was creating the College of Public Health – the first new college at UNMC since 1968.

The college fills a void in UNMC’s broad range of health programs, and more importantly, enhances health care for all Nebraskans.

Dr. Maurer and his wife, Beverly, will receive the ultimate compliment when the building that houses the College of Public Health has its official grand opening on Wednesday, May 18 at 11 a.m.

The Lied Center for Performing Arts will celebrate the start of its expansion project at a groundbreaking event on April 29 at 4:30 p.m.

The planned 8,100-square-foot Lied Commons addition is entirely privately funded and made possible with a $2.5 million gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation from Christina M. Hixson of Las Vegas and the Lied Foundation Trust.

First generation college graduate and German descendent Wil Hergenrader practically grew up on the University of Nebraska–Lincoln campus in the 1930s and 40s. He’d walk through campus from his Russian Bottoms neighborhood just north of campus to explore, always ending up at his favorite spot: the College of Engineering.

His comfort with the university and longtime interest in mechanical engineering—thanks largely to helping his dad at a one-man auto garage on North 10^th Street—helped make it a natural decision to study engineering at Nebraska, where he graduated in 1954.

Hergenrader, who lives in Memphis, Tenn., said it’s time to give back in some way to the professors who educated and counseled him and to the state where he grew up. He and his wife, Sally, have gifted $1.2 million to the University of Nebraska Foundation for a permanently endowed chair to benefit the mechanical engineering department forever.

The University of Nebraska Foundation welcomes Laine Norton as assistant director of development for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Business Administration.

She will assist the foundation in establishing relationships with individuals and organizations interested in supporting the university through charitable giving.

World’s Foremost Bank, a subsidiary of Cabela’s Incorporated (NYSE: CAB) and the issuer of Cabela’s CLUB Visa credit card, announced today plans to expand its Lincoln, Neb., facilities and commit $1 million toward an educational endowment fund to benefit University of Nebraska-Lincoln students.

The company, in partnership with the University of Nebraska Technology Park, will grant access to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to undeveloped and environmentally sensitive property for educational field programs related to sustainable environmental practices and natural resources studies, among others. This agreement complements the $1 million gift commitment from World’s Foremost Bank to the University of Nebraska Foundation, which will be used to create a permanently endowed scholarship fund.

The University of Nebraska Foundation and University of Nebraska Kearney Alumni Association announced today a team of people to lead fundraising and alumni engagement efforts on behalf of UNK. Pete Kotsiopulos will lead the team in a dual role as the vice president for UNK development at the University of Nebraska Foundation and executive director of the UNK Alumni Association. Lucas Dart has also been named to a dual role; he will be the UNK campaign director at the foundation and associate director of the alumni association.

The Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has been named in honor of David P. Forsythe, professor emeritus, and his family for their longtime commitment to the program and generous financial support.

The Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs is a joint program of the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Law at UNL. Founded in 1997, its mission is to examine issues related to human rights from an international and interdisciplinary perspective in the classroom through teaching, research and service, as well as bringing these discussions to the wider community.

The image and likeness of one of the world’s most successful investors now has a home at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO).

University officials today unveiled a painting of businessman and billionaire Warren Buffett, now on permanent display in the atrium of Mammel Hall, the new home of UNO’s College of Business Administration.

More than 25,000 people across Nebraska and the country have given to the University of Nebraska for the very first time since the start of the Campaign for Nebraska: Unlimited Possibilities in 2005.

Gifts of every size to this comprehensive fundraising initiative have now reached $844 million—well on the way toward the goal of $1.2 billion in gifts by 2014 to meet high-priority opportunities and needs of the university.

Gifts to the Campaign for Nebraska: Unlimited Possibilities, the University of Nebraska’s comprehensive fundraising initiative, have reached $844 million toward the goal of raising $1.2 billion by 2014 to meet high-priority opportunities and needs of the university.

“We’re very grateful for this generous support from our alumni, friends, companies and other foundations to help meet the campaign priorities,” said Clarence L. Castner, president of the University of Nebraska Foundation.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing opened a new building in Omaha today that will help alleviate Nebraska’s nursing shortage.

The new $14 million Center for Nursing Science, one of the nation’s most advanced nursing education facili­ties, will address the crux of the shortage – too few nurse faculty and facility capacity. The college has turned away hundreds of qualified nursing students each year.

A student scholarship fund has been created to honor the longtime service of Gary Rupp, who has retired as professor and founding director of the University of Nebraska Great Plains Veterinary Educational Center near Clay Center, Neb.

Ruth and Bill Scott are deeply rooted and invested in the Omaha community where they have lived for nearly 55 years. The Scotts have contributed greatly to the city’s progress, health and vitality in a quiet but exceptional way.

Their lead gift supporting the redevelopment of Roskens Hall into the new home of the College of Education is significant to the University of Nebraska at Omaha where the majority of teachers in the metropolitan area are educated. The Scotts’ investment will benefit generations of future educators and those whose professions are fundamental to the success of the community’s citizens.

Holdrege native Marjorie Mattson Sorensen wants to help students have a better understanding of different cultures and has established the Robert C. Sorensen and Marjorie Mattson Sorensen Scandinavian Scholarship for students at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

The $300,000 gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation creates a permanently endowed fund that will provide up to three scholarship awards a year to cover half the costs for students to study abroad for a semester in a Scandinavian country, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway or Sweden.

National Semiconductor Corp. has honored University of Nebraska–Lincoln alumnus Brian L. Halla with a named student fellowship fund for the College of Engineering. Halla serves as executive chairman of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company and was chief executive officer for 14 years before retiring from that position in 2009.

A $1 million donation by Minneapolis resident and Omaha native John Morgan to the University of Nebraska Foundation has funded a new re-entry initiative at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) to address community needs, including inmates in the Nebraska prison system.

The University of Nebraska at Kearney Department of Music and Performing Arts has received private gifts totaling $2 million from an anonymous donor, including $500,000 to permanently endow a chair in the music department.

Blanche Berns often spoke to her children about the importance of an education. The lessons struck a chord, because her son Henry D. Berns and his wife Marilyn recently established a scholarship in Blanche’s memory to help future teachers attend the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Blanche taught at rural country schools in Webster County, Neb., after graduating from what was then Kearney State Teacher’s College. After seven years, she stopped teaching when she married Henry P. F. Berns. They were rural farmers in Webster County where they raised five children, but she never stopped taking an interest in education.

University of Nebraska alumnus and cattleman Paul F. Engler of Amarillo, Texas, announced today a $20 million gift to support programs in agribusiness at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

“I think about myself and my age, and I still have fire in my belly,” Engler said. “We need to identify these boys and girls who have that fire in the belly when they are young and then when they come to the university, expose them to a curriculum that teaches risk—how to evaluate it and how to manage it—because if you do not take risk as an entrepreneur, you are not going to make it.”

A $10,000 gift from Justin Duffy’s friends and former co-workers at the Eaton Corporation is pushing a scholarship in his memory closer to its goal.

Duffy was killed on June 2, 2009, when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee while his Army unit provided security escort for military leadership in Baghdad. A fund in his memory was established last year at the University of Nebraska Foundation to help students attend the University of Nebraska at Kearney where Duffy graduated in 2000.

Duffy’s former Kearney, Neb., employer, Eaton, donated more than $10,000 in memory of its former employee. Duffy worked at the plant as a production supervisor for about five years.

All who want to know the latest about how giving is advancing the University of Nebraska in remarkable ways now have the option to learn more with Facebook and YouTube.

Film expert and professor Wheeler Winston Dixon, the James E. Ryan Professor of Film Studies, discusses why people are drawn to films like the new blockbuster film "2012." His endowed professorship was a gift from the estate of Mr. James E. Ryan, who lived in Lincoln.

Longtime university supporters Ruth and Bill Scott of Omaha certainly had fun with this gift! In addition to support for UNMC's state-of-the-art medical education building, the couple also provided funds for a student ice rink, which opens today in Omaha.

A $5,000 gift from Joe Duffy’s employer, Tenneco of Cozad, Neb., has pushed a scholarship in memory of his son to the half-way point of being fully endowed.

Justin Duffy gave up his day off to go out with his Army unit to provide a security escort for military leadership in Baghdad. They had done it a hundred times. This time a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee, killing Duffy on June 2, 2009.

Bob Brightfelt and Ken Jones, both graduates of the UNL College of Engineering, were recognized on Nov. 5, 2009, for their longtime service and for their generosity in supporting students and academic programs within the college. UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman, Nebraska Engineering’s Dean David Allen and NU Foundation President Clary Castner helped to honor the two grads by dedicating named areas within the college’s Othmer Hall.

Information about Campaign for Nebraska, a nine-year comprehensive fundraising effort, was announced at a news conference in Omaha on Oct. 16. Participants in the news conference included campaign volunteers together with university and foundation leaders.

The public phase of a comprehensive fundraising campaign led by a prominent team of volunteers was announced today by the University of Nebraska and University of Nebraska Foundation. The Campaign for Nebraska: Unlimited Possibilities seeks to raise $1.2 billion to meet high-priority opportunities and needs for the university’s four campuses.

The industrial technology department at the University of Nebraska at Kearney is the only program in Nebraska accredited by the National Association of Industrial Technology at the undergraduate level and is one of only 55 programs of its kind in the nation.

Struggling to read is frustrating for young readers and places stress on families who don’t understand why their child may be lagging behind in school. The Reading Center at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has been a resource for Nebraska families for five years by helping children of all ages improve their reading abilities and do better in all areas of school.

After receiving a Nebraska Bankers Association Scholarship this year, Brandon Nieveen from Sterling, Neb., said, “I cannot express in words how thankful I really am for your generosity. Now I can concentrate more on my studies and less on the worry about the financial part of college.”

The University of Nebraska Foundation has announced plans for a comprehensive fundraising campaign to meet high-priority opportunities and needs for the university’s four campuses. More details, including the campaign goal and leadership, will be announced later this fall. Campaign priorities will include student scholarships, faculty recruitment and retention, research and academic program support.

David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Barack Obama, will be at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Oct. 9. Axelrod will speak at 6 p.m. at the Nebraska Champions Club for the Peter J. Hoagland Integrity in Public Service Lecture Series. The lecture is free and open to the public, with a limited number of seats available on a first-come, first-served basis. Doors will open at 5 p.m. Host for the event at UNL is the department of Political Science.

 The University of Nebraska Foundation’s board of directors awarded $1.17 million to the University of Nebraska through its annual grants program to support projects and initiatives on all four campuses. The grants will help the University of Nebraska at Omaha conduct water and health information research; allow the University of Nebraska Medical Center to purchase equipment for core research facilities in cancer and diabetes; allow the University of Nebraska at Kearney to improve its science and business programs; and help University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty develop study abroad programs, among other programs. 

Visitors to the Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park near Royal, Neb., can share the same joy and adventure as the paleontologists who discover fossils each day in the newly opened Hubbard Rhino Barn. The new building covers 17,500 square-feet—eight times larger than the one it replaces—and allows for the discovery and protection of many more fossils and enhances the experiences for visitors to the unique park.

Unsatisfied with a diagnosis that would have meant waiting for the slow-growing carcinoid cancer tumors on her liver to take her life, she turned to The Nebraska Medical Center, the teaching hospital of the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

University of Nebraska at Kearney baseball athletes are getting a competitive advantage thanks to private gifts that have built an indoor practice facility at Memorial Field in Kearney where Loper baseball is headquartered. The new facility makes UNK the only school in the region with an indoor batting and hitting facility at the field of play.

Visitors to the Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park near Royal, Neb., can share the same joy and adventure as the paleontologists who discover fossils each day in the newly opened Hubbard Rhino Barn. The new building covers 17,500 square-feet—eight times larger than the one it replaces—and allows for the discovery and protection of many more fossils and enhances the experiences for visitors to the unique park. Visitors experience a firsthand look at the extinct animals preserved exactly as they died, and all new fossil excavations are carried out in their full view.

Recent estate gifts are providing long-term support to the University of Nebraska. Virginia A. Blackman bequeathed $900,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation for the Professor James S. and Virginia A. Blackman Memorial Fund, a permanent endowment she established years earlier in memory of her husband. The Amos and Doris Greenamyre estate created an endowed scholarship fund totaling about $1.5 million.

Through a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation, Dr. Davis and his wife, Jean, established the Richard B. Davis, M.D., Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine McGoogan Library History of Medicine Lectureship. The annual event will bring national experts to UNMC to discuss the history of various scientific findings.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Office of Student Involvement and the LGBTQA Resource Center announce an endowed scholarship fund has been established in honor of Professor Emeritus Louis Crompton. Lead donors to the fund established the Louis Crompton Scholarship Fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation as a tribute to Crompton, a longtime English professor at UNL and an early leader in gay and lesbian studies. In 1970, he initiated at UNL one of the first interdisciplinary courses in the nation about the gay and lesbian community.

The Minden Exchange Bank & Trust Co. has created two scholarship funds to help students attend the University of Nebraska. The first scholarship will be awarded in the 2009-2010 academic year to a Minden student attending any campus of the University of Nebraska system.

Carl Camras, M.D., the University of Nebraska Medical Center physician whose research led to the discovery of the most effective drug for treating glaucoma, died April 14 at his home in Omaha after a long battle with heart disease. A native of Chicago, Dr. Camras devoted more than 20 years of his career to looking for a better drug to treat glaucoma.

The University of Nebraska snared several top spots in BusinessWeek magazine’s annual ranking of the best undergraduate business programs in the country. In the rankings by business specialty, the University of Nebraska received the top spot in business law, ranked third in quantitative methods and ranked seventh in macroeconomics.

Watching rural Nebraska communities lose population prompted two University of Nebraska at Kearney faculty members to work with five high schools to identify strengths and weaknesses in rural Nebraska towns. Peter Longo and John Anderson, political science professors at UNK, are teaching students about citizenship through community and school improvement projects.

Senior agribusiness majors at the University of Nebraska at Kearney get a unique opportunity during their last semester to tie everything they've learned together. Deb Bridges, Ph.D., professor of agribusiness at UNK, said the agribusiness seminar is a capstone course that allows students to apply the knowledge gained over the course of their undergraduate degree to a topic of their choice.

A Dallas businessman is helping the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) make higher education more affordable for students in Nebraska and western Iowa who otherwise could not attend college. Edward Pechar, a 1963 graduate of UNO (then Omaha University) and an Omaha native, made a $1 million gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to create full tuition scholarships.

A longtime supporter of the University of Nebraska and wife of a former engineering professor provided more than $1 million to support three areas of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Virginia A. Blackman bequeathed $900,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation for the Professor James S. and Virginia A. Blackman Memorial Fund, a permanent endowment she established years earlier in memory of her husband.

From bike riding to bingo, Lions Clubs and Foundations of Nebraska and Iowa joined forces for the first time ever to support a cause significant to the organization worldwide – the prevention of blindness. The result – a $328,000 combined gift by the Lions Clubs and Foundations of Nebraska and Iowa, the Lions Clubs International Foundation and the Iowa West Foundation to the University of Nebraska Foundation – will help enhance services provided for persons with low vision at the Weigel Williamson Center for Visual Rehabilitation on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus.

One of the largest estate gifts in University of Nebraska at Kearney history will begin providing scholarships to students this fall through a gift from the Amos and Doris Greenamyre estate. The Greenamyre estate gift creates an endowed scholarship fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation totaling about $1.5 million.

University of Nebraska alumnus Bill Walker enjoys his work as a geologist and always desired to give back in some way to the program that provided him a head start in his field. Now he’s found a meaningful way to do just that. He and wife Judy Orendorff Walker donated $250,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation to establish two permanently endowed funds designed to support students in the Department of Geosciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Nearly 600 guests joined the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) to celebrate the university’s 100th anniversary and its future of opportunities. Proceeds from the Centennial Gala, hosted by the University of Nebraska Foundation and the UNO Alumni Association on Feb. 21, will help fund two community fellowships at UNO.

A scholarship in memory of Brian Smith is keeping his passion for learning alive even though the University of Nebraska–Lincoln student’s life was cut short one year ago. Family, friends, professors and fellow students have participated in fundraisers since Smith’s death to create the Brian M. Smith Memorial Scholarship Fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation.

The University of Nebraska Foundation and the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Alumni Association will host a gala celebration in recognition of UNO's 100th Anniversary on Feb. 21.  The gala starts at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 21 at the Qwest Center in downtown Omaha and features noted Harvard economist Roland Fryer.

A lifelong resident of Gresham, Neb., has provided a $3.5 million gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to create scholarships for students. As the sole beneficiary of Schmitt’s estate, the foundation received $2 million in September of 2008 and another $1.5 million by the end of the year.

The University of Nebraska Foundation’s board of directors awarded $1.14 million to the University of Nebraska through its annual grants program to support projects and programs on all four campuses for 2008-2009. Much of the annual grant resources are made available from unrestricted donations to the foundation. The chancellors submit proposals annually for the grant money, and the proposals are aligned with the university’s strategic framework, as outlined by NU President James B. Milliken.

Her love of teaching gives University of Nebraska at Kearney English professor Kathryn Benzel something else to smile about. Benzel was recently awarded the Martin Distinguished Professorship, a three-year award that helps further excellence in teaching.

The International Quilt Study Center & Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has been honored with the gift of 275 quilts with an estimated value of more than 1.2 million dollars from the estate of collectors Sara Rhodes Dillow and Byron Dillow, M.D. of Fremont, Nebraska. In recognition of their generosity, the center’s conservation room was named in their honor.

A unique effort to raise awareness for pancreatic cancer and the research going on at the University of Nebraska Medical Center was launched today.The initiative is the idea of Ken Tolton of Atlantic, Iowa, co-owner of Duke Aerial, Inc., a construction equipment rental business. Tolton’s wife, Linda, was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in July and was given six months to one year to live.

For University of Nebraska–Lincoln historian Doug Seefeldt, creating the digital research project Envisaging the West required exhaustive field research, writing enough material to fill a book, designing a Web site, and mastering a handful of new technologies. The result is a digital archive of information that is available to readers from around the world.

While studying at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, John “Jack” M. Campbell Jr. took classes from many professors, but one teacher stood out as being different than the rest. Now, decades later, the Lincoln native is honoring the man he describes as a mentor by establishing the Carroll R. McKibbin Scholarship Fund.

On Oct. 22 the UNMC College of Nursing in Omaha hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking for a building that will enable the college to enroll more nursing students and prepare more nurse faculty. A $14 million, 43,000-square-foot building will be built adjacent to the college's current facility at 42nd Street and Dewey Avenue. Omaha philanthropists Ruth and Bill Scott provided the lead gift for the center.

The University of Nebraska Foundation announced Oct. 23 at its annual meeting of trustees that during its last fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, it raised $166.5 million-the most ever raised in a single year-in total gifts, bequests and life insurance proceeds. During the same period it transferred $130.1 million to the University of Nebraska's four campuses-the largest amount ever provided.

Two $1,000 scholarships are helping two Fillmore County students attend the University of Nebraska this year. Richard and Louisa Manning of Geneva created the scholarships last year for graduates of Exeter/Milligan and Fillmore Central high schools to attend one of the University of Nebraska campuses. The scholarship, a minimum of $1,000 each academic year, is for students to pursue any major.

Demand for quality dental faculty remains high across the United States, and Dr. John Reinhardt, dean of the College of Dentistry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, estimates there are 400 full-time faculty positions currently available. He announced the college is the recipient of the Dr. F. Gene and Rosemary Dixon Faculty Fellowship for Excellence in Teaching and the Dr. Harold “Ted” Maude and Marilyn Pedersen Maude Faculty Fellowship in Dentistry.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center broke ground Sept. 17 on the only geriatric center in the state that offers comprehensive care for older adults. he Home Instead Center for Successful Aging will offer specialized services aimed at helping seniors age better and live healthier lives. This unique facility is the only free-standing center tied to an academic medical center focused on aging in Nebraska and the region.

A new scholarship for students from Webster, Adams and Kearney counties in Nebraska has been established at the University of Nebraska Foundation. Webster County natives Henry and Marilyn Berns announced a gift to the NU Foundation to provide scholarship assistance to engineering students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering. The couple, who live in Andover, Ill., established the Henry D. and Marilyn J. Berns Scholarship Fund to provide help to students who need extra assistance in going to college.

A new colonnade and student commons area, the Donald and Lorena Meier Commons and Plaza, will be dedicated July 9 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The project is made possible with private support from Donald and Lorena Meier of Winnetka, Ill. Over the years, their family foundation also provided generous support to establish numerous student scholarship and fellowship programs at the University of Nebraska Foundation to benefit students in various academic areas.

The estate of Hershey, Neb., rancher John Carothers will provide $2.1 million to the University of Nebraska Foundation to help advance medical research in cancer and cardiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The gift establishes the Dr. John and Ethel Carothers Research Fund to honor the memory of Carothers’ parents.

Like any good dentist, George Thompson had a way of comforting people through a sometimes painful experience. He spent 40 years tending to the needs of his patients in Sidney, Neb., and now scholarship funds set up by his foundation ensure that he'll be tending to the needs of collegebound Cheyenne County students for another 40 years.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) announced a second significant gift supporting the new College of Business Administration (CBA) building project at a groundbreaking ceremony today. The commitment by Omahans Ruth and Bill Scott to the University of Nebraska Foundation, along with the lead gift by Carl and Joyce Mammel, enables the University to begin construction on the $31 million project this summer.

Louis Pol, dean of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) College of Business Administration (CBA), announced today that Carl and Joyce Mammel of Omaha have made the lead gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to establish the new CBA facility on UNO’s Pacific Street campus. The Mammels’ commitment is the largest single philanthropic gift to benefit UNO in the campus’ 100-year history.

Sue and Harry Withycombe knew the value of an education and they instilled that value in their children. Sue earned her degree in education in 1912 from what was then the Nebraska State Normal School at Kearney. The Sue Stoetzel Withycombe Fund was established shortly after her death in 1988 by her son, James Withycombe, who died in 2002. The fund is continued today by Tom and it benefits University of Nebraska at Kearney students who show potential for academic and professional accomplishments. Over the years it has provided dozens of scholarships to UNK students.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Foundation dedicated the outdoor sculpture “Reverie,” installed outside the new International Quilt Study Center and Museum on May 22, 2008.The sculpture, created by California artist Linda Fleming, was commissioned and donated by Robert Duncan, Dianne Duncan Thomas and Kathryn Dawn Duncan to honor their mother, Betty Duncan, who loves the art of quilting.

A groundbreaking event June 5, 2008, at Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park near Royal marked construction of a new 17,500 square-feet facility to allow the excavation and protection of many more fossils buried there. Plans for the project began in 2007 when the Theodore F. and Claire M. Hubbard Family Foundation of Omaha announced a $1.2 million gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation for construction of the facility to greatly expand the current Rhino Barn.

A new fund created in memory of Nebraska Congressman Peter J. Hoagland will bring high profile political speakers to both the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), the first being Ted Sorensen, one of President John F. Kennedy’s advisors. Hoagland’s friend and former Chief of Staff, Jim Crounse, made a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to create the Peter J. Hoagland Integrity in Public Service Lecture Series.

Former advisor to President John F. Kennedy and University of Nebraska graduate Theodore “Ted” Sorensen has established a scholarship for outstanding students interested in public service. The Theodore C. Sorensen Public Service Scholarship is a permanently endowed fund created with a gift of $55,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation with an additional commitment of $150,000.

A desire to help students at their alma mater led Richard and Margaret Holman of New York City to make two significant gifts for the College of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The Holmans recently established the Richard and Margaret Holman Scholarship Fund as a permanently endowed fund with a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation. It provides annual tuition assistance to one or more students studying news-editorial or broadcasting.

Charles W. "Chuck" Durham, one of UNMC's strongest supporters and most generous donors, died Saturday. He was 90. Durham, chairman and chief executive of Durham Resources, built Omaha-based HDR Inc., into an international architectural and engineering company.At UNMC, his name was synonymous with research excellence as he, and his late wife, Margre, donated untold millions to transform the state's only public academic health science center.

Scholarships more than just financially rewarding

Gene Hamaker spent 15 years helping students as a history professor at Kearney State College before he died in 1984. An endowed scholarship established through his estate has continued that spirit of service, providing scholarships to students for the last 20 years. The Gene Hamaker Memorial Endowed Scholarship, created with a gift of $55,000 from Hamaker's estate, benefits students studying history at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

Above, undergraduate students at UNK have the opportunity to get some serious lab time in the department of chemistry, thanks to an emphasis on undergraduate research on the campus. Funds from the University of Nebraska Foundation's Grants Committee have helped outfit the labs at UNK, where promising freshmen and sophomore chemistry students are given scholarships through the department's Research Apprentice Program.

It’s not often a university has the opportunity to introduce to the world a prominent new museum and academic center. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln had such an opportunity with the March 30 opening of the International Quilt Study Center & Museum. An estimated 1,500 visitors came through the doors on the opening day to see the museum and its first exhibitions. More than 400 attended the university’s dedication program on Friday, March 28.

A $1 million gift from the Carruth J. Wagner, M.D. Foundation will enhance the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health’s efforts to recruit a distinguished scholar whose teaching and research will influence public health in Nebraska and around the world. The Wagner Foundation, created by and named for public health legend and Nebraska native — Dr. Carruth Wagner, made the gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to establish an endowed chair in public health at UNMC. Wagner passed away in 2002.

Although Brittany Williams’ life was tragically cut short, her dream of pursuing a higher education will live on through a memorial scholarship established to benefit students attending the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). The Brittany Williams Memorial Scholarship commemorates the life and spirit of a young woman who was the first in her family to attend college. Williams was a student at UNO, studying pre-nursing, at the time of her death.