Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — University of Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold outlined his vision Thursday to take NU on an “odyssey to the extraordinary” to its next chapter, under his leadership.
More than a dozen federal, state and local stakeholders honored and endorsed Dr. Gold as NU’s ninth president in an honorific investiture ceremony. From faculty, staff, students and alumni to donors, elected officials and more, each promised to work with Gold and help improve NU. Gold ascended to the presidency July 1.
While the day was for Gold, he said it was NU’s celebration that he chose to have strategically in the Nebraska State Capitol — the “people’s house” — and as a call to action.
“A call for me and a call for all gathered here today. A call to steward this partnership with the people of Nebraska,” Gold said. “A call to action to steward this great university from, as the theme says, ‘From Excellent to Extraordinary.’”
‘From Excellent to Extraordinary’
Gold said being “extraordinary” means more than clearly defined goals, strategies or tactics. NU needs lofty, aspirational goals, Gold said, as well as a “fundamentally aligned culture, a consciousness of purpose shared not by some but shared by all.”
“Our greatest mistake would be to rest on our laurels and say that ‘excellence is good enough,’” Gold said.
Some of the areas that Gold outlined included research, discovery, creative education, student achievement, workforce and economic development, public and private partnerships and the creation of a university-wide culture that supports and embraces all on the “odyssey to the extraordinary.”
“Our legacy of excellence is a solid foundation to build upon but is not adequate,” he continued. “Our legacy serves as an inspiration but not as a roadmap for the pathway ahead.”
‘The highest character’
Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. John Hyten, who served as the 11th vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was one of more than a dozen people to endorse the new president during the event.
As vice chairman, Hyten was the nation’s second highest ranking military officer. He also led the U.S. Strategic Air Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue from 2016 to 2019, as well as led the Air Force Space Command from 2014 to 2016.
Hyten met Gold while serving at Offutt and said the doctor made himself available to help Hyten or any soldier who needed help finding health care. At one point, one soldier did, Hyten recalled, seeking help finding a specialist in Omaha for his two children with special needs. The problem: The soldier couldn’t figure out the military’s health care system or insurance.
Taking Gold up on his promise to help, Hyten called, and Gold offered his personal number for the soldier’s family. The next day, the family was able to meet with the specialists they needed.
Hyten said the immediate switch meant everything to Hyten and the soldier, who was just trying to understand StratCom while worrying about his family’s health.
“One day he’s distracted, he’s confused,” Hyten said. “The next day, ‘I’m all in. Just tell me what I have to do, coach. Put me in.’”
“This is Jeff Gold,” Hyten said. “A great soul and an individual with the highest character.”
Gold’s history with NU
Gold served with NU for more than 10 years prior to becoming president, in roles including chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a brief stint in a dual role as chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
His investiture ceremonies at UNMC in 2014 and UNO in 2019 both came on Sept. 5, as did the latest ceremony, which Gold said was also purposeful in a new chapter.
Gold also served as NU’s executive vice president and provost the past couple of years, a key role as the chief academic liaison between campuses and the regents. He will continue to hold a faculty position at UNMC.
A packed house welcomed the new president in the Capitol Rotunda in addition to Hyten, ranging from current and former state senators and state agency officials to former Gov. Dave Heineman and former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson.
Former University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Ronnie Green and former University of Nebraska at Kearney Chancellor Doug Kristensen, who both retired in the past year, also showed support, along with dozens of faculty, staff and students across the NU system.
‘Best days are still ahead of us’
Among others who endorsed Gold’s presidency in invited speeches were U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb.; Gov. Jim Pillen; NU Board of Regents Chair Rob Schafer; UNL Chancellor Rodney Bennett; Dr. Ann Anderson Berry, executive director at the Child Health Research Institute at UNMC; and UNK Student Regent Sam Schroeder.
Fischer, like Hyten and many speakers, said she was proud of the regents for selecting an “exceptional new president” and one of her friends. She said Gold has an impressive educational pedigree, with decades of specializing in adult and pediatric cardiac surgery.
Fischer said what sets Gold apart from others, and why the regents “rightfully” selected him in a 7-1 vote in April, is his dedication to NU and the care he has for anyone he encounters.
“He’s faced challenge after challenge with tenacity, and he’s led countless students and professors to success,” Fischer said. “Both the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska system at large have flourished under that leadership.”
Pillen, a former regent before becoming governor in 2023, promised to partner with Gold and improve education, as did Fischer.
Schafer said when the regents embarked to find the right leader in fall 2023, after then-NU President Ted Carter announced he would be leaving the university, the regents sought not to hit the pause button and instead build on momentum.
“I believe the University of Nebraska’s best days are still ahead of us, and I believe that Nebraskans share that conviction, and our most exciting chapters are still yet to be written,” Schafer said.
‘A family of Nebraskans’
The doctor’s career has stretched through multiple states, including New York, where he volunteered for triage and search and rescue after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. and in Ohio, where as the dean of a medical university, he helped personally pay for a student’s textbooks so she could take classes, eventually graduating at the top of her class.
Gold, Hyten said, loves Nebraska, is “all in” and wants NU “to be the best in everything it touches.”
“He will put forth all the energy necessary to make that happen,” Hyten said. “Academics, research, leadership, everything. I am convinced the University of Nebraska is about to achieve new greatness under his leadership, because I have seen him do it.”
Quoting President Abraham Lincoln, Gold said the only way for NU to see its future is to build it, and it must move forward to its “true horizon: extraordinary excellence.”
“Just as our forefathers who crossed the oceans, rivers and plains in tightly knit family and community groups, we are on this odyssey together,” Gold said. “As a family, as well as a community. A family of Nebraskans.”