Faculty, staff and alumni of the College of Business Administration bid best wishes to former dean, Dr. Donde Plowman, at the A Farewell to Donde as Dean of CBA celebration held at the Sheldon Museum of Art on February 10. Plowman, who became executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln on January 1, greeted the 150 attendees and thanked them for their dedication to making the college successful during her tenure.

“Seven years ago today, I signed the paper to come to Nebraska and start this great adventure,” said Plowman. “We all started something together. The faculty here at the time looked at themselves honestly and said, ‘We could be better.’ We all agreed to take this college to a place it needed to go.”

She also lauded the new faculty and staff who joined the college in the past seven years. She pointed out how new employees helped energize and grow the college.

“We recruited people who astounded us. You took a big risk coming here and did great things. We started programs like Career Services at CBA and the CBA Honors Academy, all built by staff willing to take a risk. It’s no longer a risk coming to Nebraska,” she said.

Plowman thanked alumni and members of the business community for supporting her vision with their time and money. She recalled her first years being particularly difficult to sell people on a dream not yet materialized.

“I remember the first couple years saying we were selling something we haven’t built, and trying to build something we can sell,” said Plowman. “The business community believed in us, and now I look around the room and think of all the things we started because of your commitment.”

She recognized the CBA leadership team and Interim Dean Dr. Kathy Farrell and she expressed her difficulties in walking away from a tremendous situation.

“One of the hardest parts of leaving CBA is leaving behind a perfect leadership team, but I have the utmost confidence in Kathy Farrell. She was my right-hand person from day one, and is already taking the ball and running with it. Leaving the new CBA building behind is also difficult. It represents all our aspirations we accomplished together. I couldn’t be prouder,” she said.

Sheri Irwin-Gish, executive director of communications, marketing and external relations, gave an introductory presentation. She recalled her first impressions of Plowman when joining CBA in 2011 prior to sharing a highlight video of Plowman’s time at CBA.

“Donde had energy, was authentic and knew how to make things happen,” said Irwin-Gish. “She did her research and had a vision of what CBA could be from the inside out. She reached out to people at the college, the university, across Nebraska and all over the world to make her vision a reality. That includes everyone here today. Thus, we all began to Start Something.”

Facebook Photo Album Published: February 14, 2017