Greetings from Brussels, Belgium!
I’m here teaching a study abroad course on military public affairs in global governments. We’ve been meeting with public affairs officers and communication professionals from the European Union Council, NATO, SHAPE and the U.S. State Department’s Media Hub. We even got a tour of Belgium Parliament from superstar alum Tin Geysels (‘00) and her father Joseph Geysels who served in Parliament for 18 years!
I am delighted to announce that Jay Wilkinson (’88) has been named our 2025 Alumni Master. It’s Jay’s goal to turn businesses not just into profit engines, but also forces for good. He’s founded 13 companies, most recently, Lincoln-based Firespring — Nebraska’s first Certified B Corp. The Alumni Masters program honors UNL alumni who have demonstrated success and leadership in their fields while strengthening the Nebraska tradition.
Next week, we look forward to welcoming alumna J.J. Jurgens (‘98, ‘00) as a guest lecturer on March 24 and CNN Chief National Affairs Correspondent Jeff Zeleny ('96) and Nebraska Examiner Editor-in-Chief Aaron Sanderford ('24) for the Seline Lecture on March 27. If you can’t make it to their lecture “A memo from Washington: Why all politics are local,” please join us via livestream. We’re also excited to bring Pulitzer Prize-winning science journalist Ed Yong to campus for the E.N. Thompson Forum, order your free tickets here.
We have much to celebrate this month with 10 honors from the Creative Nebraska Awards, our Perry Photo Challenge winners and the Hearst Audio Competition and Innovative Multimedia Competition awardees. We also celebrate faculty members Chris Graves and Matt Waite who were honored with Family & Friends Recognition Awards and our spring semester Matousek Scholars. Lastly, check out this story on Unlimited Sports student Krystin Collins and nominate CoJMC faculty and staff for our annual excellence awards by April 4.
Go Big Red!
Shari
