I am thrilled to lead the College of Business Administration into the next phase of our transformation as a world-class business college. As is often the case, when following an accomplished leader such as Donde Plowman, the bar has been set very high. I plan to continue the momentum of the college, and with your help, take us to new heights.
 
At CBA, we use the expression – Start Something – and it is more than just a tagline. It speaks to who we are and to the paths so many of our great alumni have taken. For more than a 100 years, our alumni have been busy changing the world, and bringing Nebraska values and work ethic to the world of business. Having served both as the college’s associate dean and most recently, as the chair of the Department of Finance, I can attest that our current students – our future alumni – have the courage and the skills to do the same thing.
 
As you may know, the State of Nebraska is facing a significant budget shortfall which will result in a budget reduction for the University of Nebraska system. We will continue to be good stewards of our resources and manage the cut in ways to have limited impact on our students and our distinctive programs. Despite these challenges, this will be a historic year for CBA as we move the entire college into the new state-of-the-art facility this summer. This project has only been a success because it is built entirely by donations from our remarkable alumni for our future alumni. This year we will focus on growing our distinctive programs including the Clifton Builders program, which identifies and develops the leadership and entrepreneurial potential of students, and our highly ranked online MBA program. To aid our employers, we will continue to expand our Executive Education offerings. At May commencement, we will honor the first graduating class of the CBA Honors Academy. We will also celebrate the first group of students graduating who participated as juniors in high school in the DREAMBIG Academy, where they learned about the dynamic world of business and experienced life at the University.
 
Thank you all for your support of the college. I look forward to getting to know you better at one of our upcoming events or programs, and I hope you are all ready to Start Something with me.
 
Published: January 24, 2017