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Annual Partnership Summit Hosts 200-Plus Board Members

The College of Business Administration hosted the 2015 Partnership Summit and Advisory Board meetings Oct. 9 for more than 200 advisory board members who serve on the college’s 13 advisory boards. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts served as the keynote speaker for the luncheon for all boards held at the Nebraska Champions Club.

Dean Donde Plowman and Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts
The day started with Dean Donde Plowman presenting the State of the College Address, highlighting many of the new programs and happenings during her five years at CBA. She also included the results of an economic impact study on the new students at CBA, as first-time freshmen enrollment has increased by 58 percent the last five years and total college enrollment is more than 4,000, the largest in its history.

Plowman said, “There has been extraordinary efforts across campus to raise enrollment at UNL to 30,000 students. I am excited our college is leading UNL to reach this goal. This energetic atmosphere of growth and change speaks to the college’s positive trajectory and our need for the new CBA building to house our community and programs.”
 
In his keynote address, Governor Pete Ricketts talked about the importance of higher education, and the university specifically, for the state.

“Partnerships happening at the College of Business Administration and Innovation Campus are breaking down the silos between education and the private sector. We need to keep thinking about how we do things better and create a culture where we think about the people we serve as customers in government as well,” Ricketts said.

Two CBA alumni, Angie Klein ’01 and Tonn Ostergard ’81, were honored at the luncheon.

Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts
Klein received the Young Alumni Award recognizing individuals who are outstanding examples of successful leaders, and who provide inspiration and insight to CBA students and members of the business community. Klein is vice president for consumer sales strategy and alternate channel distribution for the Verizon Consumer and Mass Business organization. She oversees sales acquisition strategy for the entire U.S. footprint, and also has direct operational ownership of the Verizon retail stores, digital search landscape, door-to-door and third party agent channels, as well as the Verizon Enhanced Communities division. She holds bachelor's degrees in business and journalism from UNL.

Ostergard was awarded the Business Leadership Award recognizing individuals who are outstanding examples of successful leaders in their respective fields, including business ethics, community service and overall business excellence. He is the president and CEO of Crete Carrier Corporation, a transportation and logistics company. Ostergard also spent five years in public accounting at KPMG. He currently serves as director of the American Trucking Association and Truckload Carriers Association and recently completed his term as chair of the NU Foundation Board of Directors, overseeing the capital campaign. After graduating from CBA, he completed the owner/president management program at Harvard Business School.

The boards meeting during the day included the Dean’s Advisory Board and Young Alumni Advisory Board. Also meeting were boards for actuarial science, accounting, business research, economic education, entrepreneurship, finance, marketing, management, MBA and supply chain management.
Published: October 12, 2015