Good morning, and welcome members of our Board of Regents, guests and everyone joining us today.
Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of traveling across northeast Nebraska, visiting with alumni, educators, community leaders, farmers and business leaders in Fremont, Blair, Wayne, South Sioux City and West Point, with stops along the way at the Haskell Agricultural Laboratory and Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park. All told, we covered more than 600 miles and met with nearly 100 Nebraskans.
Wherever we went, we heard stories about the many ways the University of Nebraska touches lives and strengthens communities. Our graduates become teachers in local schools, physicians and nurses in rural clinics, entrepreneurs, business leaders and public servants. Young people participate in 4-H and other university programs that spark curiosity and build leadership skills. Producers work alongside Nebraska Extension to test new farming practices, strengthen their operations and prepare for future challenges. Communities partner with our campuses on everything from community beautification projects, to business development, to continuing education opportunities for early childhood educators and a wide spectrum of truly life-saving health care needs.
It is clear in our largest cities and across all of greater Nebraska that the University of Nebraska is woven deeply into the fabric of this state. It is present in every county, and Nebraskans rely on it in ways both large and small every day. It is an incredible privilege to lead a university that is so deeply rooted in the people and communities it serves.
Today, we will recognize some of the faculty and programs that serve our state when we honor winners of the 2026 President’s Excellence Awards. This year’s honorees reflect the breadth and importance of innovation taking place across the university—from transforming how students learn and succeed to advancing research with national and international impact. Their contributions include creative approaches to medical and technology education, redesigned academic pathways that improve student retention and graduation, internationally recognized scholarship in information technology and materials engineering, and sustained mentorship that prepares students and emerging scholars to become leaders in their fields. Together, these and other contributions strengthen the University of Nebraska’s reputation as a place where teaching, discovery and innovation create meaningful economic, educational and societal impact. Could those who are receiving awards today please stand and be recognized?
Our students, too, are creating meaningful impact across Nebraska and beyond as they wrap up their summer internships. In one example, made possible through the Nebraska Defense Research Corporation, University of Nebraska students are contributing to real-world national security challenges by developing artificial intelligence tools, exploring the future of cybersecurity operations and helping build the workforce and technologies needed to support our nation's defense. These experiences prepare students for high-demand careers while advancing research that has meaningful national impact.
Across our state, we continue to find new ways to improve the health and well-being of Nebraskans through collaboration across our university. A new partnership between Nebraska Extension and the University of Nebraska Medical Center is bringing trusted health information and services directly into communities where people already gather.
One example comes from Nebraska's pesticide applicator training sessions, where farmers and agricultural professionals complete their required certification. This year, the UNMC Fred and Pamela Buffett Cancer Center joined Extension in providing evidence-based cancer prevention and screening to more than 1,600 participants across 15 rural counties. One participant later shared that those materials prompted him to schedule a life-saving cancer screening he had been putting off. It is a simple but powerful reminder that trusted relationships and familiar community settings can improve health outcomes. The partnership is now expanding to explore additional cancer, cardiovascular and other health screenings and improved access to prescription medications in communities with limited pharmacy services.
Last week, we learned that Nebraska Medicine, UNMC’s health care delivery partner, earned national recognition in the 2026 Lown Hospitals Index, an independent, data-driven assessment of health care performance. The Index evaluates hospitals and health systems across dozens of measures, with a particular focus on patient outcomes, value of care and health equity.
Nebraska Medicine earned “A” grades in all three major categories—Equity, Value and Outcomes—placing it on the Lown Institute’s national Honor Roll and ranking it fourth among 331 health systems nationwide. Only 11 health systems—fewer than 4% of those evaluated—achieved A grades across all three categories.
This recognition reflects not only the quality and safety of the care we provide, but also our commitment to delivering high-value, equitable care to the communities we serve. Congratulations to our faculty, learners and staff whose dedication makes achievements like this possible.
In addition and as you know, our University system is home to three outstanding athletic programs: two NCAA Division I programs at UNL and UNO, as well as a Division II program at UNK. Since we last met, I am pleased to report that the bipartisan Protecting College Sports Act, or PCSA, has successfully advanced through the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee and is scheduled for consideration by the full Senate in early September, with consideration by the House of Representatives to follow. With the support of our federal delegation—particularly the tremendous assistance of Senator Fischer on the Commerce Committee—and the leadership of the Big Ten and Southeastern Conferences, we are hopeful the act will be signed into law with language endorsed by the A-4 conferences, helping stabilize college athletics for decades to come.
It is with great sadness that I share the loss of two remarkable UNMC leaders over the past two weeks. Mr. Don Leuenberger, longtime UNMC chief financial officer and former Nebraska state tax commissioner, passed away in Phoenix. Don was an innovative, visionary and steadfast leader, as well as a great friend to Nebraska and our University. Just last weekend, Dr. Hal Maurer, UNMC’s seventh and longest-serving chancellor, passed away in Florida just short of his 90th birthday. He, too, was a visionary and deeply committed physician-leader who built a strong foundation at UNMC upon which its remarkable transformation has continued. We extend our deepest sympathies to Janie Leuenberger, Beverly Maurer and their families as we reflect with gratitude on the enduring legacies of these two extraordinary UNMC leaders.
Ladies and gentlemen, as an important part of today’s agenda, the Board will consider the university's appropriations request for the coming biennium. The stories I've shared this morning—from my recent greater Nebraska trip, preparing the next generation of educators, engineers, accountants, farmers and health care professionals, to advancing national security, to bringing cancer prevention resources directly into greater Nebraska communities to offering truly world-class medical care—are only possible because of the public and private investments in our university. These successful and sustained partnerships are essential to not only our University system, but to the vitality and economic stability of our entire state, border to border, rural and urban, communities large and small. In sum, to each and every Nebraskan, young and old, from cradle to grave.
As part of this agenda item, we are requesting a 4.25 percent increase to our base budget in each year of the upcoming biennium, as well as support in several strategic areas including scholarships for our most promising students, biomedical research, and replacement of critical but aging software. This is a carefully considered request that reflects the average rate of consumer inflation over the past two biennia, addresses key needs and ultimately will help ensure we can continue delivering the teaching, research and outreach that every Nebraskan depends upon.
The University of Nebraska has long been a careful steward of the resources entrusted to us. 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. We have lost talented people and valuable programs that makes a difference for our students, our communities and our state.
At the same time, the need for public higher education, and specifically this extraordinary university system, has never been greater. However, since we last met in late June, our annual expenditures have been reduced again, this time by an additional 5%.
The University of Nebraska remains one of the state's strongest economic engines, generating more than a ten-to-one return on the state's investment. Put differently, for every taxpayer dollar that is appropriated each year, more than ten dollars are returned directly back to the state coffers. By any measure, a great investment.
That return is also reflected in graduates who strengthen our workforce, innovations that foster entrepreneurship while improving agriculture and health care, partnerships that keep our communities strong and research that enhances our nation's security at a time of unprecedented domestic and global need. All of this while also representing over nine percent of the entire gross domestic product of the state. Again, said differently, just under one in every 10 dollars of the state economy, the gross domestic product, is provided by our university system, not to mention the countless economic benefits created by our alumni and the small and large corporations that we attract and sustain in Nebraska every day.
The faculty we have honored today and the programmatic examples we have highlighted today are not isolated successes—they are the everyday work of this university. They are what Nebraskans expect from us, and they are what Nebraska needs us to continue delivering. As we welcome back returning students, faculty and staff, as we welcome in new learners from Nebraska and around the world, it is timely to secure their future, not just in the classroom, research laboratory or on the hardwood or gridiron, but secure their future as productive Nebraskans, who will chose to stay in our communities and pay forward the gift of higher education for generations to come.
Simply put, the vitality of our state depends on the vitality of its university. At a time of economic and geopolitical uncertainty, investing in the University of Nebraska is not just an investment in higher education—it is an investment in Nebraska's future, Nebraska’s workforce, economy, communities and an investment in generations to come. Together, we can ensure that this university continues changing lives and strengthening our state.
Thank you Regent Kenney for the opportunity to share these remarks.