By Steve Jordon
Celebrating the Arts
Separated by time, Dick Holland and Da’Von George are connected by their shared passion for art and communications — the late Holland, an Omaha advertising industry titan and Omaha University art graduate, and George, a future graphic designer.
Another connection: George is an inaugural recipient of a scholarship endowed by the family foundation of Holland and his wife, Mary. George will complete his bachelor’s degree in December at the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media.
The Holland Foundation’s gift adds $2.5 million to a scholarship fund supporting students studying arts and communication. The UNO Richard Holland Endowed Scholarship Fund helps students like George, who is the first in his family to go to college and serves as a role model in his community. George coaches basketball and mentors boys in Omaha’s NorthStar program, which aims to support young men in North Omaha.
“A lot of these kids are asking me how to find scholarships and other questions about college,” he said. “It’s always good to get it into their heads that college is an option.”
After graduation, George aims to pursue freelance graphic design logos. He and his brother recently started a clothing business.
“I love to do anything creative and love to create logos and design,” George said.
George has merged his passion for art with his love of skateboarding and recently created live art at an event hosted by SkateFest, an Omaha nonprofit whose mission is to develop skate culture for the Omaha inner city.
George said he is grateful for the support he received from the Holland Foundation. “It is so meaningful for me to not have the financial burden,” George said. “I feel honored to be an inaugural recipient of this scholarship.”
Da’Von George and his brother, Ira George Jr., developed and designed a clothing brand called From the Rejected, and Da’Von George is doing freelance design work, such as creating business logos.
Melissa Berke, Ph.D., associate dean of the UNO College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media, said affording college is nearly impossible for some students. “We talk about the economic mobility that a college education provides,” she said, “and to have scholarships that provide that opportunity for students to graduate without enormous amounts of debt is amazing.”
The Holland Scholarship recipients, in turn, will impact their classmates. “The collaboration that happens between students who may not be as advantaged can broaden everyone’s lifetime experiences,” Berke said.
Advocating for Public Health
Dick Holland’s passion for health equity, reflected in a recent $2 million gift from his family foundation that established a presidential chair at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, already is seeding two high-potential efforts to save lives.
“We are innovative and we’re impatient,” said Ali S. Khan, M.D., dean of UNMC’s College of Public Health and the first holder of the Richard D. Holland Presidential Chair in Public Health, an endowed fund that provides Khan more than $80,000 a year for innovative work in improving community health.
“I spend all my time thinking about how to make Nebraska the healthiest state in the union,” Khan said. “It was not surprising Dick Holland wanted to help, given his passion for social justice and public health.”
Guided by Holland’s interest in children’s issues, Khan directed part of the chair’s first-year proceeds toward an academic-private industry health coalition that aims to reduce maternal and infant mortality in Nebraska and eliminate heath inequity.
He also is funding development of a K-12 curriculum, including an online game called Zoodemic, dealing with public health and agricultural pathogens such as avian flu. Goals include supporting healthy behaviors while working with animals at state and county agricultural fairs and starting public health clubs in every school.
Larger national grants will finance these programs’ long-term growth across the nation and could yield significant impact, Khan said.
“That’s what the Holland money does,” Khan said. “It gives us seed money for a small project that will move forward to a much larger project to catalyze good change.”
“It takes the weight off my shoulders about having to worry about the financial aspects of this year.”
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