Dear Alumni and Friends,
We just wrapped up another academic year, and I’m grateful for all the hardworking and talented students, faculty, staff, alumni and stakeholders who make up our community. This May, we proudly awarded 177 undergraduate degrees, 15 master’s degrees and seven graduate certificates.
Five of our graduating seniors were recognized as Chancellor’s Scholars, and six completed the rigorous University Honors Program, including Outstanding Honors Graduate Emily Stoner. Graduates like Erica Napuli, who leveraged campus involvement into impact, and Tyler Hurst and Dermot Pogson, who turned their passions for sports into career readiness, exemplify the values we strive to instill in our students, and stories like the Ferguson triplets’ shared journey through Nebraska remind us that the bonds formed here extend well beyond graduation.
Congratulations to Chris Graves on her promotion to Associate Professor of Practice and to Ciera Kirkpatrick whose recent study highlights the importance of autonomy in clinical trial recruitment through social media and to our 2025 Faculty and Staff Excellence award-winners who went above and beyond in teaching, research, service and support.
More congratulations go out to our students who took home seven honors from the American Marketing Association Lincoln Chapter’s Prism Awards, junior Hayden Hauge of Ravenna, who was inducted into the Alpha Epsilon Rho honor society for electronic media students and May 2025 graduate Ben Drozd of Columbus, who placed in the Hearst Podcast Competition.
It was a pleasure reconnecting with Tia Newcomer (’95), Sarah Rosenberg (’24), Bob Thacker (’70), Garrett Wright (’09), Mike Davis (’81), Chris Holzschuh (’08), and Phil Johnson (’77) at Drinks with the Dean in Minneapolis earlier this week. I’ll be heading to San Francisco next week for the Hearst Journalism Championships—if you’re in the area and up for a coffee, I’d love to connect. I’m also excited to join our Denver alumni at the Nebraska Reception on June 13, where we’ll come together to celebrate another remarkable academic year.
Go Big Red!
Shari
