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Investing in Students

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Trustee Creates Unique Investing Program for UNL Students

By Robyn Murray

Douglas Waggoner grew up in Gothenburg, a town of 3,500 people in central Nebraska. Today, after a highly successful Wall Street career, he still feels connected to Nebraska.

Waggoner, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln alumnus who serves as a University of Nebraska Foundation Trustee and on the foundation’s Investment Committee, comes back to Nebraska as often as he can. Mostly, he returns to check on his students  — business majors in the Investors With Purpose program, which Waggoner created in partnership with Kathy Farrell, Ph.D., James Jr. and Susan Stuart Endowed Dean of the UNL College of Business, in 2020.

“I’m trying to give them opportunities and experiences that can be used certainly here in Nebraska but around the world as well,” Waggoner said. “I believe in mentorship and the benefits it can provide to students. And perhaps, I can help provide that guidance to a few students.”

I believe in mentorship and the benefits it can provide to students. And perhaps, I can help provide that guidance to a few students.

Doug Waggoner, University of Nebraska Foundation Trustee

The Investors With Purpose program is a wealth management course that brings together high-achieving students with global investment professionals for a unique learning experience. Directed by Richard DeFusco, Ph.D., CFA, a professor of finance and department chair in the college, the program has four goals: to educate students about wealth management and finance; to connect them with industry mentors; to provide paid internship experience; and to form a community of like-minded students who can support each other throughout their careers.

“I think those connections are probably the most important part of the course,” DeFusco said. “I’ve had students write letters to me and to Doug about how the opportunities that they’ve had here in class have been life-changing.”

Waggoner, who worked for Ford Motor Co. and Rockwell International and spent 25 years as a senior leader at BlackRock, draws from his connections to bring experts to class and create internships, which are funded by the Douglas and Karin Waggoner Family Foundation.

Lydia Hoffman, a junior with a double major in finance and Clifton Builders management, spent nine hours a week during the fall semester interning at the Nebraska Investment Council with the support of the Waggoner Foundation. She said the experience brought together her love of government and finance.

“The state’s funds exceed $40 million, and going into work every day and buying millions of dollars’ worth of bonds is not something every college junior gets to experience,” she said. “I really enjoyed it.”

Waggoner hopes experiences like that will provide students with a leg up in the finance industry or any other business field they choose. He also believes the program helps to elevate the College of Business and draw more students in.

“I think as this program grows, students will be attracted to the University of Nebraska because of this program,” he said. “It’s something quite unique, which helps build recognition for the college.”

‘Public Health, It’s Everything’

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Trustee is a Passionate Advocate for the College of Public Health

By Robyn Murray

Katie Weitz holds up a board of colorful graphics. It shows a farm, a neighborhood, a bus line and a hospital, each connected by small arrows. The board is an illustration of the many areas of life that encompass public health. It was created by the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s College of Public Health, for which Weitz is a passionate advocate.

“The College of Public Health, it’s everything,” Weitz said. “It’s how to make the world a better place.”

A University of Nebraska Foundation Trustee, Weitz serves as chair of the Only in Nebraska campaign committee for the College of Public Health, and she uses the illustration to explain to people what public health means. It can be difficult to describe. The American Public Health Association says, “Public health promotes and protects the health of all people and their communities.” A few examples it lists are tracking disease outbreaks and vaccinating communities; addressing the impact of climate change on our health; developing worker safety standards; and working to prevent gun violence.

“The College of Public Health is taking on all the system issues,” Weitz said. “I think public health is the study of the interplay between the systems and the individuals. I really love the spectrum of perspectives that it brings.”

Since becoming a campaign volunteer, Weitz has worked to educate and engage people about public health. She said her goal is to broaden the base of support for the college, which has existed only since 2006 and whose graduates typically earn less than those from other UNMC colleges.

“If I had to group [public health students and faculty] into a category, I’d say these are the change-makers,” Weitz said. “These are people who are making a global difference and a local difference on the individual and social level.”

“If I had to group [public health students and faculty] into a category, I’d say these are the change-makers. These are people who are making a global difference and a local difference on the individual and social level.”

Katie Weitz, University of Nebraska Foundation Trustee

In her role for the campaign, Weitz has thought of fundraising in broader terms — not just about raising money  — and has come up with innovative ways to increase engagement. Not only has she made generous gifts supporting the college and the Trustees Fund for the Future, but she also has connected the foundation with people interested in public health and hosted several events, including film screenings, panel discussions, postcard writing activities, focus groups and even a murder-mystery-style fundraiser, where guests solved clues to find the source of an infectious disease outbreak. The events brought together nonprofit leaders, policymakers and faculty members from the college.

“Having people interested and engaged with the university is just as important as how much money they can give to the campaign or to the college,” Weitz said. “We’re never going to solve these problems with private money. So, their social capital is important  — how they vote, who they talk to, it really matters.”

Weitz serves as president of the Weitz Family Foundation, and her passion for education and volunteerism is rooted in her family. Her parents, Barbara and Wally Weitz, have made transformational gifts to the university, and Barbara Weitz currently serves as a University of Nebraska regent.

“The idea of tithing was a big deal in our family early on,” Katie Weitz said, “not just that 10% of your allowance should go in the little church envelopes, but also service. I was writing letters in protest of injustice in first grade. It was just part of how we talked and what we talked about.”

Weitz, who has two master’s degrees and a doctorate in human development and social policy, began her career as a teacher. Today, she said she is inspired in her philanthropic work by the people on the ground.

“The teachers inspire me; the people who are starting nonprofits or working in nonprofits; the academics,” she said. “They’re so passionate about the work they do. It’s contagious. I think I get energy and hope and find myself committing to things because of the individuals who are doing the work.”

While Weitz has hosted numerous events of various sizes, she encourages trustees looking to advocate for the university to start small.

“Start with your friends,” she said. “Just gathering a few people and a faculty member together, talking about an issue is fabulous. It’s the little mind shifts that happen when you meet new people and learn new things.”

Weitz said education is critical for a thriving democracy, and she encourages other trustees to use their social networks to communicate and advocate for the important work being done at the university.

“Our dollars can go a lot further if we’re able to use these informal networks of messaging, bringing people in and helping them understand the issues,” she said. “I’m sure trustees who have relationships and colleges where their passions are could find those same kinds of passion points. Having more of the community connected to the university benefits the university, our state and democracy.”

Building Nebraska

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By Deborah Shanahan

Ask a couple of students about their favorite features of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s new Kiewit Hall and you’ll hear a lot about the natural light streaming through its windows and glass walls.

“There’s a ton of natural light and thoughtful design that will make students want to hang out there,” said Hayden Wulf, a junior civil engineering student from Kearney.

“It feels so inviting and open,” said Ava Mallaro, a freshman civil engineering student from Cedar Falls, Iowa. “It makes me want to study or go to class there. I love all the open light and windows. It’s just amazing.”

College of Engineering Dean Lance C. Pérez shares the students’ affinity for the building’s natural light. That and all the design features of the privately funded, $115 million building are intentional, he said.

“All the visibility and natural light provide an entirely different atmosphere than most other academic buildings,” Pérez said. “It’s an incredibly welcoming and human-friendly building.”

The six-story building at 17th and Vine streets on the UNL campus opened for the spring semester Jan. 22. It serves as the hub for engineering education, connecting five engineering facilities and serving as home to the construction management program. 

The suspended staircase connecting the college’s offices is a showcase feat of engineering.

It’s an incredibly welcoming and human-friendly building.

College of Engineering Dean Lance C. Pérez

Pérez said Kiewit Hall is intended to fulfill Nebraska’s workforce needs in engineering, computing and construction for years to come.

The new space offers flexibly furnished, interactive classrooms and labs, places for students to study and make projects, and gathering opportunities in hallways and, eventually, in a café and on an outdoor plaza.

Contributing to the building’s light and expansive visibility is a feat of engineering itself: The staircase connecting the college’s offices on the sixth floor down to the second floor is suspended rather than having the traditional support from the ground.

“Because it’s in the middle of an atrium, it’s actually more efficient and safer if it’s suspended from the ceilings,” Pérez said. “It creates a lot of conversation and is a great example of engineering.”

Wulf said the staircase at first looked “a little scary,” but she declared it extremely stable and safe-feeling. She thinks it will serve as a reminder to students to think outside the box for engineering solutions.

Wulf, who plans to attend graduate school and hopes to eventually earn a doctorate in engineering education and become a professor, also likes the new classrooms and their departure from lecture hall setups. The classrooms have wheeled tables for desks, offering room for more materials, and the tables can be arranged in pods so students can face each other.

“The classroom setup really encourages instructors to lean more toward collaborations than lecturing at us,” Wulf said. “The professors tend to take a lot more breaks between concepts and encourage us to talk with our table partners before answering questions. Before, when they’d ask a question, it was just awkward silence.”

Wulf said a “massive point of excitement” for fellow students is an area currently dubbed “the garage,” or what Pérez says are spaces to “build, test, make or break” projects.

The spaces on the first floor and lower level serve student organizations with offices, study and collaboration spaces and maker spaces with woodworking, welding, 3D printing and other equipment. It has a big garage door and lift setup. Wulf said electrical outlets suspended from the ceiling will be great for moving equipment around and working on big projects. She said she sees the space providing hands-on experiences as well as exposure to people in different professions and crafts “so you know your design is actually possible.”

Pérez said he envisions bringing students from an array of disciplines across campus to design projects in the space, preparing students for the kinds of collaboration firms will expect after students graduate.

In addition to its contribution to the construction and naming of Kiewit Hall, leaders within Kiewit Corp. have invested in the Kiewit Scholars Program. Selected students are awarded full tuition, book stipends, travel opportunities and a leadership program that exposes them to top executives and internships. Wulf and Mallaro are both Kiewit Scholars.

Pérez said he thinks the program is unlike anything else in the Big Ten and will fast-track students to leadership positions in engineering, construction and computing.

Mallaro said Nebraska’s newest engineering building, though under construction at the time, was by far the best among the campus tours she took, and that was a contributing factor in choosing Nebraska.

“It was really nice to know there were people willing to invest in engineering education by providing this facility,” Mallaro said. “I knew it would be such a nice place that I could learn and grow in.”

Students and faculty share an affinity for the natural light abundant in the newly opened Kiewit Hall.

A Global View to Giving Back

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Burnett Society member creates opportunities for future nurses to travel the world

By Robyn Murray

Early in her career, Sharon Redding found herself riding on a camel through the Sahara Desert — wondering what on earth she was doing there.

“So here I am out in the middle of the Sahara Desert, trooping along on the top of this camel,” Redding recalled, “and I’m thinking, this is nursing?”

Redding had recently graduated from the University of Nebraska Medical Center with her nursing degree and joined the Peace Corps. On one of her first assignments, she was sent to Chad to immunize the local residents. It was the first of many adventures for Redding, who is a Burnett Society member and an excellent example of living life to the fullest.

“If I went home and told people this is what I was doing, they would look at me like, Sharon, what are you thinking?” she said. “But I thought it was great fun. I mean, I thought, why not make it fun to be a nurse?”

Redding has traveled to more countries than she can count — 50 to 75, she estimates — as both a tourist and a working nurse. With a quick wit and no-nonsense style, Redding has an abundance of interesting stories from her adventures, like the time she flew over Mount Everest in a tiny plane, an experience she describes as life-changing.

“To see the entire chain of Mount Everest, and all these mountains sticking up out of the clouds, made you feel so small and so humble,” Redding said. “And I’m sitting there thinking, I’m actually doing this. I’m at the top of the world — and I didn’t have to climb anything.”

Redding, who later earned her master’s degree from the University of Washington and her doctorate in education from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, taught nursing at the College of Saint Mary in Omaha for 24 years. She took numerous trips with students, encouraging them to see the world from a global perspective. That view is crucial, Redding said, especially for nurses, who work with diverse populations.

“We don’t just work with people who are born and raised in the United States,” Redding said. “[We work with] immigrants, people from different cultures. And you need to be very savvy about how you integrate teaching … and be attuned to cultural values.”

That belief led Redding to set a new goal later in life: to leave a legacy for the next generation of nurses that would allow them to experience the wonder and adventure of global travel. Working with the University of Nebraska Foundation, Redding established a planned gift to support UNMC nursing students and provide funding for international travel experiences.

Burnett Society member Sharon Redding riding a camel in the Sahara Desert on one of her first Peace Corps assignments as a working nurse.
Redding estimates she has traveled to 50-75 countries in her lifetime and says the experience of visiting and living in other countries has been indispensable in her career as a nurse.

“I want to make sure that my legacy is supporting students who want to be engaged in these kinds of activities,” Redding said. “Nursing and international experiences go together. And for me, that’s why I like the idea of planned giving, knowing that what I’m doing is going to continue, because I believe in that.”

Redding encourages others to think back on their careers and what they loved most as they make their estate plans.

“When did they feel the best in their career? What were things that made them the most satisfied with what they were doing? And then see if you can direct your planned giving in that direction,” she said.

And while not all careers have included riding on camels through the Sahara, Redding encourages others to be creative in their gift planning and consider giving to something that will have a lifelong benefit.

“That involves giving to people who then can turn around and do the same thing that you did,” Redding said. “I think that’s what’s exciting about working with an organization like the Burnett Society to really make your dream come true or make your life activities go on for who knows how long.”

Inspired to be a Pharmacist

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UNMC Williams Scholar Andrea López Mercado is ‘super, super grateful’ for scholarship assistance

By Susan Houston Klaus

For the residents of Puerto Rico who survived a Category 5 hurricane in September 2017, time has been divided into “before Maria” and “after Maria.”

University of Nebraska Medical Center student Andrea López Mercado grew up in the town of Lares and lived there during the storm.

She chose to pursue a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in large part because she was inspired by the role of pharmacists in her community after Hurricane Maria. A scholarship made possible by the generosity of pharmacy alumnus Joe Williams is helping López Mercado achieve her goal.

She recalls that after the hurricane, many businesses were closed. But the pharmacies remained open — a haven for residents in the days, weeks and months after the storm.

López Mercado noticed the role pharmacists played, providing medication storage for those without power, offering a cool place to get some air or charge a cell phone, or simply lending emotional support.

“That’s when I saw that pharmacists were pillars in the community,” she said.

Years later, the kindnesses she observed during that time had an impact on her choice of career.

“That’s kind of where I started learning,” López Mercado said. “When I was seeing this, and basically how they were on the front line of this emergency, I started to research a bit more into pharmacy. That’s where I ended up kind of falling in love with it because I saw how broad and big this profession is.”

Today, she’s a first-year student in the College of Pharmacy.

López Mercado is a Williams Scholar, the recipient of a scholarship created as a result of an estate gift from Williams, who died in 2021.

Williams was a leader in the pharmaceutical industry, having served at the helm of industry giants Parke-Davis and Warner-Lambert.

Williams and his wife, Millie, have been generous supporters of the College of Pharmacy. The Williams name is found throughout new and former pharmacy buildings, including Joseph D. & Millie E. Williams Science Hall. The couple also were among the principal benefactors of the UNMC Center for Drug Discovery and Lozier Center for Pharmacy Sciences and Education. Williams was a driving force behind the college’s first endowed faculty chair, the Parke-Davis Chair in Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery.

Williams left the college an estate gift of $20 million, through Only in Nebraska: A Campaign for Our University’s Future. Part of that gift funds scholarships for students like López Mercado.

The Williams scholarships range from $2,500 to $10,000. Tuition aid allows students to lessen debt and helps UNMC to compete for some of the nation’s top students.

López Mercado was already looking at pharmacy programs when her husband, a member of the U.S. Air Force, left Puerto Rico to be stationed at Offutt Air Force Base.

“UNMC just overall seemed like an amazing school,” she said. “It was an obvious choice. I applied, and, thankfully, they accepted me.”

In her acceptance letter, López Mercado also learned she would be a Williams Scholar.

Finding out she received the scholarship, “was incredible,” she said. “I was super, super grateful.”

The support has eased a lot of the financial burden for her.

“It made me feel a lot better going into this, knowing that I was getting some help,” López Mercado said.

When she learned Williams’ story, she was even more inspired. In fall 2023, she had the opportunity to meet Millie Williams and thank her for the couple’s generosity.

López Mercado says her experience so far as a pharmacy student has given her an even broader knowledge of career possibilities.

“I have been exposed to so many areas of pharmacy that I didn’t even know existed,” she said.

Wherever the future takes López Mercado — whether it’s staying in Omaha, moving back to Puerto Rico or living in another place — she envisions herself as a reliable resource for people in her community.

“For now,” she said, “all that I can say is that I just want to be someone who people can go to and hopefully make a positive impact in their life.”

Receiving the Williams Scholarship, López Mercado said, means the world to her.

“I feel like it was a confirmation that I was doing the right thing,” she said, “that I was going to the right place, and kind of like my dreams and aspirations were valid and achievable.”

Helping Paint a Bright Future

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By Susan Houston Klaus

When Valery Wachter came to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the mid-1970s to complete her education, she already had finished two years at the University of Northern Iowa, working toward a teaching degree.

This time, though, she was a nontraditional student. She was married with two children. Wachter wanted to pursue something that had always been a key interest of hers. She took a chance, she said, to earn a degree in art.

It would take eight years for Wachter, a Burnett Society member, to get two years of credit toward her Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting. She planned her schedule to be home when her children got out of school. She patiently worked her way through prerequisites and waited for a particular course or instructor she needed to fulfill her requirements.

Wachter’s education included instruction by noted, respected artists that included Dan Howard, Jim Eisentrager and Keith Jacobshagen.

“I felt like I was getting the best of the best when I was in school,” Wachter said.

She nurtured an appreciation for photorealism, challenging herself to work with patterns of light and dark and indulging her love of color.

Wachter received her degree in 1983. Since then, she has built a career as a practicing artist with many one-person shows. Her work is in private collections around the country. She’s served on the board of the MEDICI (Most Esteemed Donors, Intellects, Colleagues and Individuals) friends group and on the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Alumni Board.

Wachter also is a co-founder of the Bryan Health Art Committee and is director of the Bryan Art Gallery. In 2017, her design “Nebraska Wildflowers” was chosen to be included in the public art project Nebraska by Heart, in celebration of Nebraska’s 150th anniversary.

Years after she graduated with her degree, Wachter still remembers how some students struggled with the cost of art supplies or other expenses. And while she felt fortunate to have the necessary funds, she often thought of her classmates.

“When I had some classes with students who were not able to do some things because they didn’t have the money for it, I wondered if they knew that there was a way to apply for funds or support,” she said.

Today, Wachter has established a planned gift through retirement plan assets for studio arts majors in the College of Fine and Performing Arts. She said the goal of her gift is to help students who may not qualify for a major, well-known scholarship but who still need help financially to stay in school and pursue art.

“I know that paying back student loans is quite a burden these days,” Wachter said, “and if you don’t have to apply for a student loan or go into debt for a certain amount, that would be wonderful.”

Providing a Living Legacy

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By Susan Houston Klaus

Editor’s note: Before this story was published, Dana Falter’s wife, Pat, sadly passed away. The University of Nebraska Foundation extends its deepest condolences to Dana and his family.

 

As a kid in Creighton, Nebraska, Dana Falter learned a lot about hard work.

From his time on the football field and basketball court to his job on a dairy farm, getting up at 4 a.m. and working until 5 p.m., he developed a deep-seated work ethic and discipline.

Today, Falter, a Burnett Society member, and his brothers are honoring their hometown with a scholarship fund for business and technology students who attend the University of Nebraska at Kearney.

The third of eight children, Falter says Creighton, a community of about 1,200 in the northeast part of the state, was a good place to grow up.

“It was a close-knit community, so we had things we could do from the early ages on,” he said.

“For our family, it was really all about sports, which taught us a lot about teamwork. In Creighton, you know, you played every sport. And we did a lot of things together as a family. With eight kids, we could do a lot of things together.”

Sports opened doors. After a year at what later became Norfolk Community College in Norfolk, Falter set his sights on playing football for what was then known as Kearney State College. But after an injury, he learned he wouldn’t be ready for the upcoming season. So, he decided to heal and go out for basketball. He played basketball for three years as a Loper.

Falter was the first in his family to graduate from what’s now UNK. His three brothers also earned their degrees there.

Falter credits the discipline, drive and work ethic he developed in high school for his successful career. He’s been with Union Bank & Trust in Lincoln since 2005, for part of that time as an executive vice president of the wholesale lending area; previously, he spent 15 years with FirsTier Bank (later First Bank and U.S. Bank).

After being diagnosed with cancer in 2017, Falter has been working as a consultant for the organization while also mentoring employees and sitting on the bank’s executive committee.

Living with his new health status, Falter said, “I just decided it was time to slow down.”

But he is still driven to do good for the community of UNK, which taught him so much on and off the court.

Falter, with the support of his three brothers, Rod, Shannon and Todd, is funding the Falter “4” UNK Scholarship. The fund benefits the Creighton, Nebraska, community, as well as others in Knox County. Qualified students must be enrolled in the College of Business and Technology and meet the scholarship requirements.

The fund, which awarded its first scholarship in 2021, supports four students every year. Falter has also made a planned gift through retirement plan assets with the help of the University of Nebraska Foundation.

Falter says he and his brothers wanted to leave a legacy that acknowledges the impact that Kearney  — not only the college but also the campus community, the town and the people  — has had on them.

“I think all of us had great experiences there, not only in our education, but also developing relationships or participating in sports,” he said. “We fell in love with the community. It was just the right size for our family, and it was a steppingstone for all of us.”

Three of the four brothers have a business or technology background, which is why they designated the fund to benefit those students.

Falter says he and his brothers want to show students in the Creighton community how broad the options are in those fields.

“We’re trying to educate people about that,” he said. “When you pursue a degree in the business and technology fields, there are a lot of things you can do with this scholarship.”

Even beyond the financial assistance students receive from the scholarship fund, Falter says he and his brothers want to make a personal connection.

He watches the dean’s list every semester and aims to send the Falter “4” students a note of congratulations. This past spring, the Falter brothers began what they hope will become an annual tradition: having lunch with the scholarship recipients.

“That’s just another way we can touch their lives,” Falter said. “We want to be available, not just financially but also intellectually, if they need us for questions, whether they’re in college or out of college.

“We want them to know that we’re here now and throughout their careers if they have questions, if they’ve got a hurdle to get over, or let’s say they’re getting out into their careers and they’re trying to decide `which job should I take?’ We’d like to be involved as much or as little as they want us to be.”

‘Prepared to Go Out Into the World’

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Chase Glover Plants the Seeds for Future Ag Career at NCTA

By Connie White

Chase Glover didn’t think college was for him. He knew he wanted to work in agriculture, but he wasn’t big on school. So, he figured he would go straight into the workforce after graduating from high school in Grand Island, Nebraska.

His plans changed after his high school Future Farmers of America adviser suggested he check out the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture (NCTA). He traveled to Curtis, Nebraska, and took a tour. What he saw on campus changed Glover’s mind about college and planted the seeds for his future career.

“My love for NCTA has just grown so much over the past year and a half,” said Glover, who will graduate in May with an Associate of Science degree in agronomy. “I think it’s great that Nebraska has a school dedicated to straight-up agriculture and animal science.”

This fall, 232 students were enrolled in NCTA, a two-year college that is the rural arm of the University of Nebraska System. NCTA leaders seek to increase enrollment to 500 students over the next 10 years to address workforce needs in Nebraska’s agriculture sector. A key piece of that plan involves modernizing facilities on the historic campus in southwest Nebraska to aid in recruiting and retaining more students.

Omaha philanthropists Barbara and Wally Weitz have made a $6 million challenge gift toward a $12 million project to create the Student Success and Activity Center. The project will renovate and expand the student union, known as The Barn, originally built in 1917, to create a new student union on campus with technology-enabled study spaces, a place to hold social events and an accessible dining hall.

Fundraising is underway for the remaining $6 million, with work to begin after those commitments are in place.

Barbara Weitz has called NCTA a “too-well-kept secret south of North Platte.” The college — with the slogan “Small Campus. Big Impact.” — is ranked by Forbes Magazine as among the top 30 trade schools in the country.

NCTA Dean Larry Gossen, Ph.D., said Aggie graduates are in high demand. In surveys, 100% of graduates report being employed in their field of study or planning to go back to the family ranching or farming operation or to continue their education at another institution.

Agriculture is the No. 1 industry in Nebraska, with nearly one in four jobs in the state related to the industry, and it accounts for more than one-fifth of the gross state product. But without the workforce to fill jobs in all aspects of the industry, the ag economy is at risk.

“Every field of agriculture is looking for NCTA graduates. There are shortages across the board in agronomy, animal science, ag sales, veterinary technology and irrigation technology,” Gossen said. “We have more job openings than we have graduates to fill them.”

At NCTA, Gossen said students receive hands-on, applicable instruction that prepares them to advance in ag industry jobs or to become a partner in their family operation.

“NCTA provides a skilled workforce to rural Nebraska,” he said. “Students enjoy small-town living, and many plan on returning to rural Nebraska to begin their careers.”

Glover said NCTA has opened doors and prepared him for the “real world” of agriculture. In his agronomy major, he engages in the latest plant and soil science while learning about water resource conservation and production techniques. To gain hands-on experience, he scouts crops in the agronomy farm lab on campus, looking for stressors on plants throughout their life cycle, from seeds in the ground to fully grown plants; crunches the numbers on the cost of inputs such as fertilizer; and learns about irrigation.

“I just like looking at the plants,” he said. “I know I sound like a crop nerd.”

Glover also is a member of NCTA’s award-winning crops judging team and president of the Farm Bureau Club. “I love working in small groups and one on one with my professors,” he said.

After he graduates, Glover plans to complete a second internship as a crop scout at Long Agronomics in Minden, Nebraska, where he spent last summer learning about crop diseases and their impact on plants.

“I didn’t really have a background in agronomy before coming to NCTA,” Glover said, “and now I feel like I’m prepared to go out into the world.

How to Support NCTA

Philanthropic support is being sought for the Student Success and Activity Center at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture. The $12 million project will renovate and expand the current student union, known as The Barn, to create a new student union for students to gather, study and hold social events, as well as an accessible dining hall. Gifts may be made online.

Learning to Fly

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By Susan Houston Klaus

Aviation Gift Fuels Students’ Jet Training

Gemma Ossi got a head start on her love for aviation. Shadowing her mother, who flew for United Airlines, she had a behind-the-scenes look at what it means to be a pilot.

Ossi said one of her favorite experiences was at 17, when she tagged along with her mom to go inside a flight simulator to watch the pilots train.

Today, as a student at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Aviation Institute in the College of Public Affairs and Community Service, Ossi is on her way to becoming a professional pilot herself.
It’s an in-demand job, especially at regional and charter carriers, and regional operators are eager to fill these positions, said Scott Vlasek, UNO Aviation Institute director.

According to the Regional Airline Association, regional airlines provide 50% or more of the air service in Nebraska. But nearly 50% of the qualified pilot workforce must retire in 15 years  — and that’s impacting regional carriers.

UNO aviation student Gemma Ossi is gaining hands-on experience thanks to a gift from the Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation.

Supporting Nebraska’s workforce needs is a key priority of Only in Nebraska: A Campaign for Our University’s Future. The campaign aims to meet these needs in part by focusing on improving student access and success.

Ossi and others have been provided an instrumental tool in their academic and career success, thanks to a new addition at the institute — a Boeing 737 jet simulator.

Made possible by a gift from the Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation, the new Boeing 737 Flight Training Device from Flightdeck Solutions (FDS) offers tactile training with a full-replica cockpit built to scale.

A 200-degree curved screen wraps around the nose of the simulated aircraft, providing pilots with an immersive, seamless first-person view as they simulate flights to and from real-world airports, including Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. It features high-level Sim-Avionics Flight Management System software that fully simulates the operations and measurements of the aircraft on its journey.

The Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation was established in 1972 by its founder, Ethel S. Abbott, who passed away in 1992.

Ethel Abbott was an aviation pioneer who with her first husband, Raymond H. Page, operated the Lincoln Aircraft Company in Lincoln, Nebraska. The couple trained student pilots, and together they taught aviation legend Charles Lindbergh to fly.

It’s truly such a valuable opportunity that we have at our fingertips to use because it’s going to set us up so well. It fuels my fire, knowing that I can be in something so similar to where I’m going to be in a few years — just practicing and getting ready for the big moment.

“Our mission is to perpetuate the charitable generosity that Ethel S. Abbott demonstrated through her 97 years of life,” said Dorothy Pflug, president of the Ethel S. Abbott Charitable Foundation. “Flight training technologies have evolved tremendously from the aircraft the Pages used to teach Charles Lindbergh to fly. We are pleased to support the next generation of aviators as they pursue their own dreams of flying.”

Many students previously have never seen or been in anything like the simulator, said Vlasek.

“Where it’s really going to pay off is preparing them to make that transition to flying in jets, which is where you’re seeing that workforce issue, especially at the regional and commuter level of airlines,” he said.

The simulator offers early exposure to an important kind of training for these future professionals, Vlasek noted.

“When they make that jump from doing training to being a flight instructor to flying at that first airline,” he said, “they’ll have some basic understanding of some of the systems.”

Even more important, students gain a better understanding of decision making at 500 miles an hour, Vlasek said.

“We can start to prepare them to make that transition,” he said, “so when they go into training they will have seen these different systems and have been able to react from a critical-thinking standpoint to making decisions faster.”

Ossi said the experience being in the simulator is “scary accurate, and that gets me so excited because this is almost the real thing.”

“It’s truly such a valuable opportunity that we have at our fingertips to use because it’s going to set us up so well,” she added. “It fuels my fire, knowing that I can be in something so similar to where I’m going to be in a few years  — just practicing and getting ready for the big moment.”

After she graduates in spring 2025, Ossi plans to put her experience to work in the area. She expects to work as a flight instructor at the Council Bluffs Municipal Airport, where she currently flies, then fly for a regional or charter operation. Her ultimate goal is to be a pilot for a major airline, like her mom.

“Aviation truly has so much to offer. I want to experience as much of it as I can,” Ossi said.

Thanks to the early experience she’s getting in the jet simulator, she and other students in the program will be well prepared to join the workforce and make their mark in the industry.

Simulating to Keep Patients Safe

by

By Ed Rider

UNMC Leads the Way in High-Tech Learning

Nothing can prepare an individual for the real thing like the real thing.

Visual simulation, however, has long been acknowledged for the important role it plays in potentially high-risk industries like transportation, aerospace and power. Simulators provide a safe and controlled environment for individuals learning to fly an aircraft or drive a car, helping them navigate challenging situations while developing the confidence and intuition to manage real-life scenarios in the air and on the road.

In health care, the advancement of technology has played a critical role in the expansion of visualization and simulation. Through the Interprofessional Experiential Center for Enduring Learning (iEXCEL) at the Dr. Edwin G. & Dorothy Balbach Davis Global Center, the University of Nebraska Medical Center has taken a leadership role in the utilization and development of simulation and visualization technologies.

Uyen Tran, a second-year medical student at UNMC, said the Visualization Hub has had an “immense” impact by bringing what she has learned in lectures and textbooks to life. The Hastings, Nebraska, native is interested in pursuing pediatric neurosurgery or pediatric surgery after she graduates in 2026.

“The technology gives medical students the opportunity to ask questions, learn from faculty and most importantly — to make mistakes in a safe space instead of on actual patients. Being able to make mistakes without consequences and troubleshoot to learn from those mistakes helps to build confidence in students and hopefully improve patient outcomes.”

Uyen Tran poses in her graduation gown

The technology gives medical students the opportunity to make mistakes in a safe place.

Uyen Tran, medical student at UNMC

“As a combined visual and kinetic learner, the Visualization Hub maximizes my learning experience by allowing me to interact hands-on with medical animations and manipulate anatomical structures on screen,” Tran said. “The ability to visualize these medical structures from all sorts of different angles right in front of me strengthens my base knowledge of human anatomy and certainly benefits me as a student interested in a surgical career.” 

The program’s multidisciplinary Visualization Hub team is producing stunning and accurate augmented and virtual reality images for health care. This program uses highly advanced technologies to ensure that simulation is adopted and that an outcomes-based approach to training is accomplished.

According to Paul Dye, manager of educational technology and design for iEXCEL, the team collaborates with subject matter experts from academic, business and government entities, including faculty and clinicians, to improve outcomes in medical fields and beyond through the creation of unique educational experiences using state-of-the-art technologies.

“Our goal is to facilitate the rapid transfer of knowledge, improve understanding and retention rates, and expand the practice of professional skills and clinical procedures, including emergency response and disaster preparedness, through high fidelity visualization and simulation,” Dye said.

Alex Farrell, a second-year medical student from Canton, Michigan, who is hoping to be a surgeon after graduation, pointed to the safety provided by working with Visualization Hub technology.

“The Visualization Hub technology simulates the operating room very well, mimicking the technology seen in practice,” Farrell said. “It allows for a safe environment to practice skills relevant to clinical interactions.”

A recent $2.5 million gift from a donor who wished to remain anonymous is being utilized to retain and expand staff at the Visualization Hub and expand their skill sets. In addition, this gift will provide funding for ongoing educational opportunities for the visualization staff to ensure they remain at the forefront of visualization content development.

Tran, who served as an intern for iEXCEL for a year while working toward her bachelor’s degree at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, believes the Visualization Hub’s technology is as close to reality as can be achieved by the best technology. She said the iEXCEL Visualization Hub team does an outstanding job of working with faculty to make sure animations are as realistic and medically accurate as possible. Tran also pointed out that the team does its best to program the technology to be user-friendly for students. 

iExcel hosts a group of government officials and major health care executives from Japan who want to establish a series of simulation centers throughout their country. The group toured the Visualization Hub, a Sim truck, the Davis Global Center for Health Security and the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit on Wednesday, November 13, 2019.

Most importantly, technology at the Visualization Hub allows students to develop their skills and build their confidence in a risk-free environment.

“I feel as though I am better prepared to work with patients because of my experiences at the Visualization Hub,” Tran said. “The technology bridges the gap between textbooks, classes and interacting with real patients. It helps us solidify our medical knowledge, sharpen our skills, and ultimately, better prepare us for treating real patients.

“As a whole, iEXCEL is an amazing place. I am truly lucky as a medical student to have this type of institution in Nebraska.”

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