University of Nebraska System President Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., visited five communities and two university sites in Northeast Nebraska earlier this month, engaging in conversations about the university, its future, and its role in supporting the long-term vitality of Nebraska.
The tour took place Aug. 10-11 and included stops in Fremont, Blair, Wayne, South Sioux City and West Point, as well as the University of Nebraska–Lincoln Haskell Agricultural Laboratory near Concord and Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park near Royal. During the tour, Dr. Gold met with community members, civic and business leaders, alumni, educators, state senators and donors, as well as university faculty, students and staff.
“The opportunity to visit the communities we serve is one of my favorite aspects of leading the University of Nebraska System," said Dr. Gold. “It is inspiring to be welcomed into thriving communities where pride runs deep and where people care deeply about the future, not just of their communities but also of their state and their university.”
The state of the University of Nebraska System is strong, Dr. Gold said during stops in each community he visited. Across system, faculty, staff and students are building on university areas of strength, including agriculture, national defense, human performance, AI, the bioeconomy and healthcare. The university is a major driver of economic impact in Nebraska, he said, returning $10 for every dollar of state investment, creating jobs across the state and contributing 11,000 college graduates to the workforce annually.
“The university is not simply located in Nebraska. It is part of the foundational infrastructure that makes Nebraska work, developing our workforce, driving discovery and innovation, providing health care, strengthening communities, creating opportunities and enriching quality of life,” Dr. Gold said. “Few institutions have a greater stake in — or impact on — the future of this state.”
But in order for the university — and Nebraska — to continue to thrive, state investment in the university system is critical, said Dr. Gold, who first joined the university system as chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2014 and served as both Chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha and NU System provost before becoming NU president in 2024.
“The University of Nebraska System has long been a careful steward of the resources entrusted to us,” said Dr. Gold. “Over the past decade, we have responded to repeated budget reductions by making difficult decisions while protecting the core of our mission: extraordinary teaching, life-changing research and meaningful engagement across Nebraska. Our faculty and staff have consistently found ways to do more with less. But after years of reductions, we have reached a point where continued cuts will unfortunately increasingly mean doing less for the people who depend on us.”
The topic of the state’s budget outlook came up multiple times throughout the tour, as did other issues including brain drain of recent college graduates, supporting startups in Nebraska and university research, among other topics.
Dr. Gold acknowledged the challenges the state’s fiscal shortfall presents for state lawmakers who must balance the state’s budget.
“No doubt, these are difficult times,” he said. “But during times of challenge, you can simply try to weather the storm, or you can look for opportunities to invest in innovation and chart a new path forward. The organizations that choose to make prudent investments in the future are the ones that continue to thrive once the storm has passed.”