The Land Grant University Movement and the Future of IANR UAAD

Good afternoon. It is a real pleasure for me to be here with you today, and I thank you for inviting me. I also, as I begin my remarks today, want to thank each of you for the work you do, everyday, to help make this a better university. Please know that work is both valued and appreciated. I'd like to talk with you about a couple of topics today, and after that I'm going to open the floor for questions and comments. I look forward to hearing what you have to say, too. The first topic I'm going to talk about in the next few minutes is our land grant mission. People who know me at all can tell you I am passionate about land grants because I believe being part of a land grant university and helping to advance the land grant mission is one of the great privileges and responsibilities of our times.

Sustainable Families Action Team - IANR Team Effort Award

It's amazing what people, working together, can do. Amazing, inspiring, and uplifting! I know that each member of the Sustainable Families Action Team brings to that team their own particular talents. Today, with the IANR Team Effort Award, we recognize the team members willingness to combine their individual talents, with each team member contributing to a larger whole for the good of Nebraska.

Plattsmouth Rotary February Meeting (Farmer's Day Program)

Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be with you here in Plattsmouth today, and I am particularly pleased to be part of your Farmer's Day program. Because I am so new to Nebraska and the University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, I am trying to learn as much as I can about how the Institute connects with the state, annd how you feel we can be an even better partner with Nebraska. I'm curious about our work in each Nebraska county, and because I was coming to Cass County today, I asked those I work with for some figures on how the Institute is part of the lives of Cass Countians.

Serving Rural Nebraska Panhandle

I'm going to jump right into my topic tonight - Chuck Hibberd asked me to talk briefly about my ideas on serving rural Nebraska before our open-discussion. And serving rural Nebraska is a topic on which I have a great deal to say! So I'm going to talk fast here for 12 minutes or so, and then I'm looking forward to hearing what you have to say.

Panhandle Spring Conference

I am so pleased to be here with you today. live been asked to visit with you a bit about the future of IANR and its role in rural Nebraska, and that is exactly what I want to do - to visit with you. I want to hear what you have to say. I will begin today with some prepared remarks, to help you better understand how I view the work we do, but because I only have been in Nebraska since just before the Christmas holidays, and at IANR since January 2, I think it would be presumptuous of me to speak to you today as an expert on the needs of Nebraska and the role of IANR in meeting those needs.

Northeast Research and Extension Center VIP Tour

What a pleasure it is to be with you all tonight as we celebrate achievement! It is always a joy to me to see good work, hard work, work that matters, recognized. We certainly had the opportunity to see work that matters on today's tour, and I thank our Northeast Research and Extension Center faculty for all their research and extension efforts that further our land-grant mission. I also thank the staff of the Center for their good work in support of this mission.

Nebraska Cooperative Council 56th Annual Meeting

What a pleasure it is to be with you this morning - thank you for inviting me. I am looking forward to visiting with as many of you as possible while I am here today, and hope to have the opportunity to visit with you more as we meet again at other times and other places. One of the things I am always interested in knowing is what you perceive as Nebraska's greatest needs, now and in the future, and which of those Needs you think the University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources can most efficiently and effectively address for our state. In the Institute we see ourselves as partners with Nebraska, and we seek ways we can work with Nebraska's residents to find the best solutions for our state's concerns.

Nebraska Bankers Association

Thank you for inviting me to be with you today. It is a real pleasure, and I look forward to visiting with you both individually and collectively, now and in the future. I'd looked forward to meeting with you all earlier in the year, but a death in our family took my wife Virginia and me to Texas at the time of your April meeting, so I am very glad to have this opportunity to be with you now.

Nebraska Cattlemen/Nebraska Cattle Women Conference

I’m so pleased to be here with you today, and I look forward to visiting and working with members of this group now and in the future. Since arriving in Nebraska nearly a year ago now on a snowy, blustery day, I’ve been delighted to take every opportunity that comes my way to get to know Nebraska and Nebraskans better. I want to know what you think are Nebraska’s greatest needs, now and in the future. I want to know how you think the University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources can help meet those needs. I seek ways all of us, working together, can find the most efficient and effective solutions for Nebraska’s concerns.

Japanese Ag Training Program Closing Ceremony

What a pleasure it is to be here with you tonight for this year’s closing ceremony for the Japanese Ag Training Program. We have been so delighted to have those of you enrolled in the program studying with us for the past three months. You join the nearly 1,400 Japanese Ag Training Program trainees who have received animal science production, management, and agribusiness training from our faculty since the program began here in 1966, and we are so pleased to have had this opportunity to know and to work with you.

Holling Family Award Reception

John Holling, a 1912 graduate of the University of Nebraska who died in 1988, established the "Peter and Anna Holling Fund" in 1973 with his sisters, Hattie and Elvena Holling, the only other surviving children at the time. Their siblings, Gustave, Emil, and Rose also had contributed to the estate. The Hollings were a pioneer farm family of German-Danish descent. Peter Holling settled in the Grand lsland area in the 1870s after missing a westbound Union Pacific work-train that he had originally boarded in Iowa.

Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory Open House

What a tremendous gift “Pete” and Abbie Gudmundsen gave to the University, to the people who live throughout their beloved Sandhills, and to the entire State of Nebraska when they donated their 12,817 acre ranch, the Rafter C, to the University of Nebraska Foundation in 1978. And what tremendous work our faculty and staff have accomplished here over the past 20 years. UNL faculty and staff research and educational efforts have truly made this ranch the “Gudmundsen Sandhills Laboratory.”

Gamma Sigma Delta Reception

“Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself.” I think of that old Chinese proverb today as we celebrate outstanding scholarship. I know our extremely talented and dedicated faculty, of whom I am especially proud, do a tremendous job of opening doors for those students who study with us in our classes in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources and the College of Human Resources and Family Sciences here at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Today we also are very proud of and for each of you students being recognized for your scholastic accomplishments.

Family, Youth and Community Partners Luncheon With Senators

Good afternoon. I am so pleased to be here with you today. I welcome this opportunity to talk with you about how University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension, part of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, works with Nebraska’s at-risk families. I’m extremely proud of our work to help families meet their needs and develop and strengthen skills they can use to better share in Nebraska’s good life.