History

A New University Health Center Opens

JULY 16, 2018

In the summer of 2018, a new, state-of-the-art University Health Center facility opens to serve the wellness needs of 26,000 Nebraska students, as well as over 6,000 faculty and staff, in Lincoln. A partnership of the University of Nebraska Medical Center's Nebraska Medicine and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the 107,000-square-foot, $43.9 million building is the new home to the University Health Center and the Lincoln division of UNMC's nursing program.

The center includes a medical clinic, pharmacy, physical therapy gym and pool, wellness kitchen, dental clinic and zen room. It also allows more collaboration space for both the medical clinic staff and the counseling and psychological services staff.

website: University Health Center

Residence Centers Become Engineering Research

DECEMBER 22, 2017

After more than 50 years of housing university students, Cather and Pound halls, along 17th Street, were razed through a controlled implosion.

The demolition provided Nebraska engineering students and professors the opportunity to collect nearly a terabyte of data on the building’s reaction to the explosions. The data will see use in computer models analyzing large structures' reactions to earthquakes, severe weather and other stress events. Nearly buildings were also equipped with sensors during the demolition event to measure seismic impacts on intact structures. Daniel Linzell, associate dean of the College of Engineering and one of the project’s leaders, described the project’s goals in Nebraska Today article:

“Through this project, we hope to improve tools that predict the responses of large buildings so that substantial damage caused by extreme events can be prevented or mitigated.”

The university's oldest high-rise residence halls would have been too expensive to renovate. New suite-style housing, including University Suites and Eastside Suites, was built to accommodate university students' ongoing need for residential housing. The site is now a temporary green space. Willa Cather and Louise Pound are still memorialized on City Campus. The Willa Cather Dining Complex opened in Fall 2017, and the former College of Business Administration Building was renamed Louise Pound Hall in 2018.

New Home For College Of Business Opens

AUGUST 18, 2017

With the opening of the fall semester of 2017, the College of Business and its 4,200 students and 117 faculty begin operations in a new $84 million, 240,000 square foot home, Howard L. Hawks Hall, at 14th and Vine Streets.

The project was funded entirely by private donations from over 2,500 individuals, groups and organizations through an ambitious development effort led by then-College of Business Dean Donde Plowman (now the university's Executive Vice Chancellor and Chef Academic Officer), and is named for Howard L. Hawks '57, accounting,  a university regent and founder/chairman of Tenaska, Inc., a diversified energy company.

One the largest academic buildings added to the university in total square footage in the modern era, Hawks Hall is a beautiful, modern and thoughtfully-designed addition to the collection of buildings that make up City Campus. The building includes a student-run Husker Shop, simulated stock trading area, cafe, and a 300-seat atrium space as well as auditoriums and classrooms. Project architects were Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture of Nebraska. The two firms had previously teamed to design the university's International Quilt Study Center and Museum at 33rd and Holdrege.

Innovation Campus Begins with Land Acquisition

APRIL 18, 2008

On April 18, 2004, at a signing ceremony in Grand Island, where a new state fairgrounds would be built, Governor Dave Heinemann finalizes Legislative Bill 1116.

The legislation deeded the former State Fairgrounds northeast of 17th and Holdrege Streets to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln for future use as a research park, Nebraska Innovation Campus, and moved the fair to Grand Island. Although City Campus had expanded in every direction but west, it was the first major noncontiguous expansion of the university's land area since 1874, when the land for East Campus was purchased.

Innovation Campus would catalyze an influx of spinoff businesses, public/private partnerships and expanded university research and facilities, as well as a maker space for students and citizens. And at some point along the way, its unique and compelling mix of workers, researchers, innovation and industry began creating buzz, then critical mass, then significant growth.

Today, NIC hosts over 35 unique tenants in nearly half a million square feet of space; at full build-out, over 2 million square feet of space is expected to be located on the campus. The 75,000 square foot Rise Building was fully leased at its opening in November 2018.

website: Nebraska Innovation Campus

Evan Williams, spreading Ideas

MARCH 16, 2006

Evan Williams grew up on his family’s corn and soybean farm near Clarkson, Nebraska, graduating from Columbus High School in 1990.

He moved to Lincoln that fall, enrolled in the University, and pledged FarmHouse fraternity. Soon he started noticing the headlines. Visiting a bookstore in Grand Island, he picked up an issue of Wired Magazine, and was hooked. The Internet was heating up; while the pipes had long been in place at major research universities like Nebraska, it had been a domain of geeks; now, a center at the University of Illinois had produced the first graphical web browser, Mosaic; the Web was suddenly relevant to everyone. Evan Williams knew fertile ground when he saw it. In 1994, he started his first business in Lincoln, building the primitive websites of the day. By 1997, though, he would pack up and head to San Francisco, epicenter of the first dot-com boom.

In 1999, in the South of Market district, he founded Pyra Labs to develop project management software. Working with fellow Husker and Columbus High classmate Paul Bausch '98, broadcast journalism, they created a feature, a "weblog," or "blog." Soon, they realized what they had, and made Blogger available as a freestanding web service. The round of funding they'd secured for Pyra would soon run dry, and Williams retreated home to keep Blogger on life support. Before long, new funding was secured, and in 2003, Williams sold Blogger to Google.

Williams would stay at Google for a couple of years; he'd exit to form Odeo, a podcasting company, in 2005, and soon, in a repeat of the Blogger creation story, a 140-character microblogging feature sprouted out of it. On March 26, the feature became an independent company: Twitter.

In 2012, having served as CEO at Twitter and having stepped out again, the restless Williams founded Medium, returning his focus to long-form blogging. Medium encourages writers to fully develop their ideas; posts are categorized for easy consumption by the user, and each carries an estimate of reading time. The best are collected each month into Medium Magazine. At Medium's launch, Williams created a post; in part, it read: "We don’t know all the answers. But we know that words matter (still), so we built a better system for sharing them."

For over 20 years, Evan Williams has given the world tools so users can easily publish their ideas to a global audience. In 2017, the University of Nebraska–Lincoln awarded Evan Williams an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters; with that Williams became the seventh in his immediate family to hold a degree from Nebraska.

Evan Williams lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children. Today, his main focus is Medium; he continues to serve on the Twitter board.

Pettit, Cook Build a Volleyball Dynasty

DECEMBER 16, 1995

When does a dynasty begin? Surely, it's in the recruiting of athletes and culture and coaching and practices that precedes a breakthrough. But one essential ingredient comes from outside the program: fan support. To gain more fans, coach Terry Pettit began scheduling volleyball matches following Husker football games as a gambit to increase exposure. His promotion started humbly, with a sign stuck in the ground, carrying the word "volleyball" over an arrow pointing to the entrance of the Coliseum. What could it hurt? Tens of thousands poured past that sign after football games. It worked; fans came through the entrance to witness a breathlessly-kinetic sport played by amazing athletes; 45 Husker women have earned honors as volleyball All-Americans.

Pettit's baseline was solid, as the program had appeared in every NCAA tournament since inception, and never posted a losing record (both streaks continue today). Still, on December 16, 1995, Husker Volleyball hits its first peak: a national championship, won over the University of Texas. Pettit would replace himself with John Cook, the former head coach at Wisconsin, in 2000; the Huskers would go undefeated and win their second championship that year, and their third six years later. Nebraska's success, along with a few others like fellow Big Ten school Penn State, made the sport a truly national one. 13 of the first 14 NCAA champs came from within 20 miles of the Pacific. Coastal and inland universities have split the last 22, with four of these being captured by John Cook's Huskers. The most dominant stretch for the program has been most recently. Cook's teams earned their way to the Final Four every year from 2015-2018 and won it all in 2015 and 2017.

In 2013, Bob Devaney Sports Center, the former men's basketball arena, underwent a $20 million renovation and reopened that fall specifically as a volleyball venue. Nebraska has led the nation in volleyball attendance in each of the seasons since, selling out the more that 8,000 seats for each match, along the way extending Husker Volleyball's sellout streak to more than 250 matches, beginning in 2001.

So what did Pettit's humble sign point to? Fan support that is simply unparalleled. The highest single-game attendance figures in college volleyball, both tournament and regular season, are for matches involving the Huskers. Go Big Red, indeed.

Huskers Simply the Best; 60-3 Over Five Seasons

SEPTEMBER 4, 1993

The unprecedented run of college football success that would end in Coach Tom Osborne's retirement started with a 76-14 thumping of non-conference opponent North Texas University on the first Saturday in September, 1993. In an eerie premonition of things to come, sophomore sensation Tommie Frazier would be injured that day and capable backup Brook Berringer would lead the Huskers to victory. Having two starter-level quarterbacks proved pivotal in the years ahead as Frazier often battled injuries and medical issues through his career with the Big Red. The Huskers would go undefeated and ranked No. 2 entering the 1993 national championship against Bobby Bowden's Florida State in the Orange Bowl. The Huskers lost in a heartbreaker, 18-16, ending the season with a record of 11-1.

Partly fueled by that bitter pill, the Huskers would steamroll through their next 26 games, along the way collecting the program's first national championship since 1971 with a grinding 17-14 victory over Miami in the Orange Bowl, and one of the most dominant championship game performances in the modern era, dismantling Florida's Fun'n'Gun offense in the Fiesta Bowl by a final of 62-24. A couple of hiccups would come in 1996, but the Huskers would get on track again under second-year transfer quarterback Scott Frost in 1997. The Wood River native had an indomitable will to win, as Frazier had before him. In a face-off against the Peyton Manning-led Tennessee Volunteers, Nebraska never trailed, and would dominate for its third national championship in four years; the final score was 42-17.

After the game, reflecting the esteem in which Osborne was held throughout the sport, a disappointed Manning walked into the Nebraska locker room to quietly congratulate Osborne, who had announced his retirement on Dec. 10, after the season had wrapped up and the bowls were set. "It's important in this business," Osborne said at the time of his retirement, "to walk away while you can still walk."

The five-year, 60-3 run has not been equaled by any college football program, before or since. At their best all five teams in this stretch were reflective of the no-nonsense determination and athleticism of Frazier, Berringer and Frost, who both in turn often reflected the manner of their coach, Osborne.

Rhonda Revelle Named Head Softball Coach

JULY 16, 1992

On July 16, 1992, Rhonda Revelle is announced as Nebraska's new head softball coach. In the years since, she has compiled more wins than any coach in Nebraska school history. In the 1992 sa1993; the program had fallen, recording a 23-30 record the previous season. By Revelle's third season at the helm, Nebraska would win over two thirds of its games, which has been roughly the program's winning percentage over all seasons since.

Revelle pitched and played first base for Nebraska from 1980-83; she was a five-time American Softball Association All-American as a player. The Huskers earned a berth to the inaugural NCAA Women’s College World Series in 1982. As coach, Revelle has led the Huskers to the postseason tournament 20 times; she's taken three Nebraska softball teams, in three decades, to the WCWS: 1998, 2002 and 2013. She owns nearly every Nebraska coaching record in any sport, winning more than games (tallying 968 after the 2018 season) than any Nebraska coach in history. Her teams have finished in the softball Top Ten of the sport eight times. She was inducted in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2010. Revelle has been named Coach of the Year in three conferences – Big Eight, Big 12 and Big Ten.

Revelle is also known for coaching student athletes who succeed off the field. Nebraska leads the nation in Academic All-Americans in all sports, and Nebraska softball leads the nation with 30 academic All-Americans (14 from her teams), a total that is the third-highest in NCAA history among all women's athletic programs.

Revelle has served three terms as president of the National Fastpitch Coaches' Association, and served as Senior Women's Administrator for Husker Athletics from 2006 to 2008 after the illness and death of mentor and friend Dr. Barbara Hibner.

Tom Osborne Becomes Head Football Coach

JANUARY 3, 1973

Named the assistant head coach in January of the prior year, with Bob Devaney signaling his intent to step down, Tom Osborne would take the reins on the third of January, 1973 and proceed to 25 seasons of unparalleled consistency, punctuated with a five-year closing stretch, the most dominant by any program in the history of college football. Picking Osborne to succeed him may have been the best decision of Devaney's career. During Osborne's tenure as head football coach, Nebraska won three national championships, all within his program's  historic 60-3 run over five seasons, and 13 conference championships.

Never in the quarter-century of Osborne's leadership did the Huskers win less than nine games in a season. Only three times in that stretch — for one week in 1977 and two in 1981 — were the Huskers unranked. Still, through the seventies, Osborne was bedeviled by Barry Switzer and his stable of Oklahoma dual-threat quarterbacks. Osborne switched from a balanced attack to one based on power running and the triple option in 1980; the change heralded coming greatness, as Osborne's continual tweaks to the power/option/play action formula attracted talented student athletes nationwide to play in his system.

Among these were two Heisman winners, five Outland winners and four Lombardi winners. But Osborne wasn't done when he walked off the field. Under his direction, Nebraska built the nation's strongest support system for student athletes. His players also earned Academic All-American honors and post-graduate scholarships and accolades; Nebraska is the leading institution in CoSIDA Academic All Americans in all sports (MIT, Notre Dame, Stanford and Penn State round out the top five), and also in football. Osborne’s final record was 255-49-3 (.836). He is included, among names like Knute Rockne and Paul "Bear" Bryant, on most lists of the top college football coaches of all time.

Osborne served in the United States Congress from 2000-2006. In 2007, he returned to the school where he had earned master’s and doctoral degrees to head the Athletic Department. As Athletic Director, he began an impressive effort to upgrade facilities, including expansion of Memorial Stadium, the Hendricks Training Complex for basketball, the Student Life Complex, and the development of Pinnacle Bank Arena. He teamed with then-Chancellor Harvey Perlman to negotiate Nebraska’s entry into the Big Ten Conference in 2011. Osborne retired in 2012, but still serves as Emeritus Athletic Director. Scott Frost, who quarterbacked Osborne's last game as head coach, is today head coach of the Cornhuskers.

Devaney Era Reaches Peak with Two National Championships

JANUARY 1, 1971

Bob Devaney, who had come to Nebraska in the early sixties, began developing a powerhouse as the Cornhuskers reached the end of the decade. Undefeated and third-ranked Nebraska would play Louisiana State University in the Orange Bowl with the only blemish on their record an early season tie with the University of Southern California. The Orange Bowl was the last game of the 1970 bowl season. Nebraska entered third-ranked, but with the knowledge that both No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Ohio State had been defeated in their bowl games. On the field that night, a defensive battle ensued. The emblematic play, and image, was Nebraska quarterback Jerry Tagge's pushing the ball forward with outstretched arms, breaking the plane of the goal line with 8:05 remaining. The 17-12 score would hold.

The next year, the Huskers, with Tagge, Johnny Rodgers and Jeff Kinney returning on offense and a nasty defense led by Larry Jacobson, Rich Glover, John Dutton, Monte Johnson and Willie Harper, were simply dominant, running the table in a 13-game season in which they were ranked No. 1 in all but the first week's polls. The only challenge was the annual Thanksgiving Day game against Barry Switzer's University of Oklahoma team. Playing in Norman, Nebraska would win a ferocious battle against a very strong, second-ranked and undefeated Sooners team in which every play counted. The play that's most remembered is Rodgers' superhuman opening score, a 72-yard punt return. But the one that sealed it was the final Nebraska drive starting with 7:05 remaining, after OU had gone up by three. The Sooners were treated to a multidimensional display of finesse and athleticism courtesy of Rodgers, and in-the-trenches power by Jeff Kinney and the Husker O-line. The final: 35-31 Nebraska. The contest is known in the annals of sport as "The Game of the Century." Nebraska would end the season, again in the Orange Bowl, opposite Paul "Bear" Bryant's second-ranked University of Alabama team. Punctuated by another spectacular Rodgers punt return, this for 77 yards; it was 28-0 at the half, and 38-6 at the end, for the Huskers' second national championship. Afterward, Bryant said "They were one of the greatest, if not the greatest, teams I have ever seen."

Nebraska would spend the next year in the Top Ten of the polls, but a pair of losses kept them out of contention despite their dominating victory over Notre Dame in a third consecutive Orange Bowl. Devaney would retire after that game, handing the reins to his offensive coordinator, Tom Osborne.

Broyhill Fountain Makes a Splash

NOVEMBER 14, 1970

On  the morning of November 14, Homecoming Day 1970, a large circular fountain is dedicated in the center of a plaza north of Nebraska Union.

Measuring 48 feet across, the new Lynn Broyhill Memorial Fountain was circled by a low wall that became a peaceful spot for students to take a rest during the day. A frothy center spout sent water 25 feet into the air; it was circled by a lower circle of water jets. Initially, the fountain was heated, enabling operation nearly year-round. Named for Lynn Broyhill, a Nebraska student killed in an auto accident in 1966, the funds to construct the fountain were donated by her parents.

As part of that Homecoming Day 1970, a luncheon in honor of former Chancellor Clifford Hardin was held, and Nebraska faced off against the Wildcats of Kansas State. Devaney's team would win, 51-13, and the following day would be invited to play in the Orange Bowl, where they would face off against Louisiana State. All in all, it was an auspicious first weekend for the new fountain.

The original Broyhill Fountain would be shut off for the last time in October 1996; a new, angular Broyhill Fountain, dedicated on April 15, 1999, would accompany a major renovation of the union.

Maxwell Arboretum Dedicated

JUNE 8, 1969

On June 6, 1969, a group of dignitaries gathers in a grove of deciduous trees and shrubs and other plantings on East Campus and dedicates it as the Earl G. Maxwell Arboretum.

Earl Maxwell, possessing a Bachelor's degree from Purdue University, earned a Master's at Nebraska in 1915. The Indiana native would remain in Nebraska, becoming the first Extension agent for Douglas County. He returned to Lincoln in 1934 and until his retirement in 1952, served as the State Extension Forester for the university, distributing millions of seedlings for use in shelterbelts and woodlots. Earl Maxwell loved trees. And he began to trial plants for Nebraska's climate in an open spot on East Campus along the small tributary of Dead Man's Run that courses through the campus.

Today's Maxwell Arboretum contains hundreds of species, in that original plot and for much of the East Campus frontage along Holdrege Street. In 1987, both City and East Campuses were incorporated as botanical gardens and arboreta within the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum.

website: UNL Botanical Garden and Arboretum