Last week, we celebrated the service of 961 University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty and staff. In the day-to-day work and commitment of delivering on the tri-fold mission of this great land-grant university, we do not get enough opportunities to celebrate our collective community of people and the amazing and profound impact each member of our community has.

I recall a statement made by NU President Bounds in his investiture remarks in 2016 when he stated that an institution wins first and foremost with its people. He could not have been more on target. That is how this University succeeds – and how we will rise to even greater heights and levels of impact as we forge in to the bold future ahead of the next 150 years.

As chancellor, I am extremely grateful for my colleagues. I go to bed every night and I wake up every morning thankful for each of our 6,117 employees across our three campuses in Lincoln, and spread throughout the breadth of the 93 counties of the great state of Nebraska.

• I think of those in just their first semester as Husker faculty and staff – this year including 145 new faculty and 560 new staff members – and I’m grateful for the new energy they bring to campus.
• Especially around our Celebration of Service, I think of the work of 235 of our colleagues who have retired since July 2017, including 40 who are new emeriti faculty. Their work moved our university and our state forward.
• As we approach our 150-year milestone in February, I am respectful of and thankful for the contributions of the legions of servants who built this place and on whose shoulders we stand today.

To borrow from my comments from my installation in April of 2017, our faculty and staff are indeed the “DNA” of this great university – which in turn is in so many ways the “DNA” of our state. We are Nebraska.

We have achieved much, and we have much greater impact yet to make. Knowing the people I am fortunate enough to call colleagues – our faculty and staff – I have no doubt we will.

In Our Grit, Our Glory.