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.”

The University of Nebraska Omaha athletic department and the University of Nebraska Foundation today announced a leadership gift by local benefactors Brian and Carey Hamilton toward the construction of an on-campus Academic Excellence Center that will carry their name.

“We believe the best way to support the priority of increasing access to higher education and encouraging more of our high school graduates to go on to college is by providing resources to make student scholarships possible,” said Tom Henning of Kearney, one of Harvey and Betty Henning’s sons.

The children of Harvey J. and Betty L. Henning of Kearney have established a student scholarship in their parents’ honor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney to help make a college education within reach for more Nebraskans.

They established the Henning Family Scholarship Fund at the University of Nebraska Foundation as a permanent endowment to provide annual financial aid forever to undergraduate students at UNK.

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.

“It is a very humbling thought to hold the Albertus Magnus Chair of Philosophy dedicated to one of the greatest teachers and scholars of human history,” Fendt said.

The University of Nebraska at Kearney has received $520,000 for a professorship to support faculty members in the College of Fine Arts and Humanities’ philosophy program. Named in recognition of a renowned philosopher and writer, the Albertus Magnus Chair of Philosophy was established by an anonymous benefactor as a permanently endowed fund at the University of Nebraska of Foundation.

The university awarded the first chair to Gene Fendt, professor of philosophy, who has taught at UNK for 25 years.

“On behalf of the UNMC College of Nursing faculty and staff at the Kearney Division, I would like to say how grateful we are for Ms. Reynolds' extremely generous gift and legacy to the future of health care."

A $250,000 gift from the estate of Kathryn Reynolds to the University of Nebraska Foundation will support students in the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing Kearney Division.

The gift, to be announced Monday at the College of Nursing luncheon in Kearney, establishes the Kathryn M. Reynolds Fund, which will be used to provide scholarships to nursing students.

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.

A new partnership between the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), a Holocaust survivor and a World War II soldier who librated concentration camps will expand Holocaust and genocide education in Nebraska.

Omahans Louis Blumkin, a World War II liberator, and Sam Fried, a Holocaust survivor, both understand the need for society to be educated about genocide, so history does not repeat itself.

Their shared commitment now brings together a newly established professorship at UNO with a longstanding educational fund to provide exceptional teaching in Holocaust and genocide studies.

The Louis and Frances Blumkin family of Omaha recently made a gift to create a professorship in Holocaust and genocide education in the department of history at UNO.

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.

Former University of Nebraska President Ronald Roskens and wife, Lois, of Omaha have provided a gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation to give students in the College of Education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) the opportunity for a meaningful international educational experience.

“The fund will enable our students to experience different cultures, gain understanding of the world and develop skills required to work and teach in an environment where divisions between nations are decreasing,” says Nancy Edick, dean of the college. “Thanks to the Roskenses’ generous support, our college can offer students a well-rounded education that extends far beyond a traditional classroom.”

The Seacrests have made a contribution to the University of Nebraska Foundation to the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts to create the James C. and Rhonda Seacrest Program Excellence Fund as a permanent endowment supporting the College forever. The amount of the gift is not being disclosed.

³Jim and Rhonda Seacrest are true visionaries, who have given so much to the University of Nebraska,² said Lucy Buntain Comine, Director of Development for the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska Foundation. ³We are grateful for their continued support. They have a long history of making our students' dreams come true, from their support of the UNL Opera program to the creation of the Chamber/Opera Orchestra. This gift for the entire College will continue that legacy.²

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.

John Langan devoted nearly half a century to the University of Nebraska at Omaha, first as a student, then as a faculty member and professor, and eventually as dean of the College of Education.  

            In connection with the official dedication of Roskens Hall, the new home of UNO’s College of Education, UNO honored Langan’s legacy by naming both a building entrance and a professorship.

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.

With interest rates so low, according to UNL alum Jere McGaffey (’57), there may never be a better time to create a charitable lead trust.

“The lower your interest rate is, the greater the value of the charitable interest; therefore, the greater the amount of the deduction for gift tax purposes,” he says. “And we’re probably at an all-time low for interest rates. That’s what makes it so advantageous now.”

When it comes to charitable lead trusts, McGaffey knows what he’s talking about.

Lincoln, Neb, Sept. 6, 2011—Two Nebraska natives who support the values instilled in young people who grow up in small Midwestern communities have established a permanently endowed scholarship fund for students graduating from Fairbury High School.

W. Kim and Jean Austen of Des Moines, Iowa, have established the Austen Family Scholarship Fund with a $100,000 gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation. The scholarship will provide annual scholarship awards to encourage Fairbury grads to pursue studies in math, science or engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.