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.

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.

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.

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.

The family of Martha Jungck Hunzeker of Rushville has established an endowed memorial scholarship in her name with a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation. The scholarship is available to graduates of a Sheridan County high school. Each year, a $500 scholarship will be awarded from the Martha Jungck Hunzeker Scholarship Fund to a graduate of Hay Springs High School or Gordon-Rushville High School.

Thanks to the generosity of two of UNMC's biggest supporters, Ruth and Bill Scott, a student plaza, ice rink and an architectural/artistic feature will be added to the heart of the UNMC campus. The plaza will be constructed as part of a greenway on the east side of the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education, which sits at the northeast corner of the 42nd and Emile Street intersection.

Today the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved the naming the new geriatrics center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. It will be called the Home Instead Center for Successful Aging. The naming of the building recognizes a major gift made through the University of Nebraska Foundation by Paul and Lori Hogan, co-founders of Home Instead Senior Care, the largest provider of non-medical home care to seniors in the world.

Roca resident Robert McDowell wants to give Norris High School graduates the opportunity to go to college and recently established an endowed student scholarship with a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation. Income from the Robert N. and Marilyn F. McDowell Scholarship Fund will be used to provide one or more scholarships annually to graduates of Norris High School majoring in engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL).

A major gift will enable Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park near Royal to greatly expand its Rhino Barn. The larger enclosed facility will enable paleontologists to discover more fossils and enhance the experiences for visitors. The park contains skeletons of extinct rhinos, camels and horses lying in the volcanic ash that killed them 12 million years ago and is a National Natural Landmark as designated by the U.S.

Two Nebraska natives who want to help students from the Beatrice and Holdrege areas reach their academic goals have established an endowed scholarship for students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Larry and Constance "Connie" Schuster, who attended UNL, recently established the Larry A. and Constance J. Schuster Scholarship Fund with a gift commitment of $500,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation.

Parks M. Coble, professor of East Asian history, is the newest recipient of the James L. Sellers Professorship of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The professorship was established in 1994 by John and Catherine Angle of Lincoln with a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation in honor of Catherine’s father.

The newly created Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is celebrating receipt of its first endowed student scholarship fund. Janet Beachler Day of Lincoln, an alumna of the UNL College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, established the endowed fund with a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation. Annual income from the fund will be used to provide one or more scholarships to students pursuing a doctor of veterinary medicine degree.

For years, Valentine resident Marlys Christensen was searching for just the right way to support the University of Nebraska. Her gift to create the Richard (Chris) and Marlys Christensen Teaching Fund has turned out to be the perfect place for her philanthropy. Created in February 2007 with a gift of $10,000, income from the endowed fund supports the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Department of Geosciences, specifically the Geosciences Fundamentals in the Field course.

The University of Nebraska Foundation announced Friday at its annual meeting of trustees it transferred a record $89.5 million to the University of Nebraska’s four campuses during its last fiscal year. Most of the funding provided aid for student scholarships, campus and building improvements, academic programs and research.

Marcia Kruger of Omaha recently made a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to create the Marcia Kruger Volleyball Scholarship. This gift creates the largest endowed scholarship in women’s athletics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Marcia Kruger, a longtime supporter of UNO athletics, saw this scholarship as an opportunity to encourage women to experience volleyball while also promoting support for women’s athletics.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln marked the official opening of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film with events during Homecoming Weekend Oct. 12 to 14. The university announced in August 2005 it would rename the theatre department the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film following two major gifts from Carson, an alumnus of the university.

An alumnus of the University of Nebraska has made a major gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his graduation from dental college. Bernard J. Doyle, D.D.S., M.D., a resident of Texas, has made a gift of more than $100,000 to create an endowed faculty position at the dental college. Doyle’s gift will be announced at a dinner Thursday evening to coincide with the college’s annual dental reunion celebration weekend.

The University of Nebraska Foundation’s board of directors has awarded grants of more than $1.1 million to the University of Nebraska to support projects and programs on all four campuses for 2007-2008. 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 all proposals must be aligned with the university’s strategic framework, as outlined by NU President James B. Milliken.

Recognized for its strong engineering program and reputation, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was selected by Garmin International Inc. of Olathe, Kan., to participate in the company’s scholarship and training program launched this year. The program is designed to help keep the United States competitive in an increasingly technological society by preparing future engineers.

Lori Hogan of Omaha surprised her husband, Paul Hogan, by establishing a student scholarship fund in his name to celebrate the 2007 Entrepreneur of the Year award he received from the International Franchise Association. The new Paul R. Hogan Entrepreneurial Scholarship Fund was started with a $25,000 gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to provide scholarships for students in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Business Administration who have taken an entrepreneurship course and have interest in one day starting a business.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry celebrated gifts made to the recently renovated Pediatric Dentistry Clinic on July 27, 2007. Private donations made through the University of Nebraska Foundation enabled the college’s pre-doctoral pediatric dentistry program to purchase 10 flat-screen TVs for patient viewing and four pieces of original art for areas of the clinic.

Construction is planned to begin July 23 on a new student plaza on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City Campus. The project is made possible with private support from Donald and Lorena Meier of Winnetka, Ill. The Meiers established multiple student scholarship programs at the University of Nebraska Foundation to benefit students across campus.

The University of Nebraska Foundation announced the promotion of Kevin Meyer to senior vice president of system development programs and the hire of Matt McNair as the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus director of development.

A groundbreaking celebration for the region’s only not-for-profit comprehensive center for visual rehabilitation of adults and children was held April 27, 2007, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The $1.2 million Weigel Williamson Center for Visual Rehabilitation will provide a hub for low-vision services in the region.

Edna and William Barkley of Nebraska were passionate about helping the University of Nebraska prepare teachers and other professionals to educate children and adults with speech and hearing disabilities. What they didn’t realize is that their generosity would carry on through the years to help create one of the best programs of its kind in the country.

A major gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation from the Gaughan family of Las Vegas in honor of patriarch Jackie D. Gaughan was celebrated on campus April 13 and 14, 2007. The gift will support the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s development of a new multicultural center. 

A groundbreaking ceremony for the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s (UNO) new College of Public Affairs and Community Service (CPACS) Building was held Monday, April 2, at 10:30 a.m. The celebration was held on the north side of UNO’s old Engineering Building, which is being redesigned, modernized and expanded for CPACS.

There was a time when Mary Pearson thought she would have to stand by and watch her husband Roy slowly lose his sight to macular degeneration. Then she learned she could do something about it. Together, the Pearsons donated $200,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation, designating it to University of Nebraska Medical Center researcher, Iqbal Ahmad, Ph.D., for his research in fighting vision loss.

Susan L. Hefle, former associate professor of food science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and co-director of the Food Allergy Research and Resource Program, has been remembered by her family and colleagues through the creation of an endowed scholarship fund. The Susan L. Hefle Memorial Fund has been established at the University of Nebraska Foundation to honor her while providing scholarships and fellowships for students in the Department of Food Science and Technology in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources at UNL.

Jack F. McCaffery, former president and general manager of North Platte Feeders, has been remembered by his family and colleagues through the creation of a permanently endowed scholarship fund. The Jack McCaffery Memorial Scholarship has been established at the University of Nebraska Foundation to honor him while providing scholarships for one or more undergraduate students at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture at Curtis.

On Oct. 25 the University of Nebraska Medical Center celebrated the 46-year career of a legendary physician — Dr. Fred Paustian. Known as UNMC’s “father of gastroenterology,” Paustian taught more than 3,000 students, cared for thousands of patients and rapidly rose through the academic ranks. He initiated the medical center’s gastroenterology program, a specialty devoted to the study and treatment of stomach, intestine, liver and pancreas disorders, and helped grow it into a leading center of excellence.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln programs focused on student diversity, undergraduate teaching and agriculture research are benefiting from grants totaling $430,000 from the University of Nebraska Foundation. The foundation’s grants committee awards funds each year to worthy campus projects. Much of the annual grant resources are made available from unrestricted donations to the foundation.

An alumnus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will be remembered by his family and colleagues through the creation of an endowed professorship in civil engineering. The Leslie D. Martin Civil Engineering Professorship has been established as a permanently endowed fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation to honor Martin while providing annual resources to a faculty member in the UNL Department of Civil Engineering.

The University of Nebraska Foundation has much to celebrate on its 70-year anniversary, breaking its records for gifts received and benefits transferred to the university. The foundation announced Oct. 20 at its annual meeting of trustees that it received a record $127.2 million in gifts, bequests and life insurance proceeds during the 2006 fiscal year. The previous record of $127.1 million was set in 1997. In 2005, $78.7 million was raised.

The heart of a university is its library.  The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) will celebrate the expansion and renovation of its library Oct. 11 –13 with a variety of events, including a rededication and naming program. The Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Memorial Foundation and Dr. Guinter Kahn, a 1954 graduate of UNO, have made lead gifts to the University of Nebraska Foundation to benefit the project among other donors.

The University of Nebraska Foundation announced it has hired Terry Hanna as a full-time fundraiser for the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Hanna was formerly assistant tournament director of the Cox Classic, an official PGA tour event. Hanna, a graduate of UNO, will focus on fundraising for athletic programs. Byrne said Hanna’s position is an upgrade of an existing position that had split time between fundraising for the UNO College of Business Administration and the athletics department.

The University of Nebraska at Omaha is the recipient of two grants from the University of Nebraska Foundation to bolster newly created academic programs on campus. The Institute for Collaboration Science and the Mathematics Learning Center were awarded a total of $235,000. The foundation awards grants each year to worthy campus projects.

UNMC has received three grants totaling $237,000 from the University of Nebraska Foundation to acquire and upgrade biomedical research equipment. The foundation awards grants each year to worthy campus projects. Paula Turpen, UNMC director of research resources, said the funding is especially important because external funding is often not available for acquiring smaller technology equipment costing between $50,000 and $100,000.