Nebraska Regents select UNMC chancellor as priority candidate for NU president; Huskers name AD

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) - The Nebraska University Board of Regents on Wednesday morning named a priority candidate for president of the NU system just as the University announced it had selected UNL’s next athletic director.

After about a two-hour closed-door session, the board on Wednesday named Dr. Jeffrey Gold, who has served as the head of UNMC since 2014, ushering in major expansion there in recent years with Project NExT, as its priority candidate for Nebraska University president.

The Board of Regents voted unanimously Wednesday to approve Dr. Gold as their priority candidate after taking turns making remarks about their selection. They were all so enthusiastic about the choice, they almost forgot to formalize the vote before announcing him as their selection at the meeting.

“I’m really thrilled about the opportunity to insipre a generation of people who really want to reach for something special,” Gold said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

The Board of Regents spoke of Dr. Gold’s impressing resume, serving as UNMC’s chief exectuive officer and as chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He is also a professor in the UNMC College of Medicine.

But Dr. Gold pointed out that his experience as a student gives him an appreciation of what higher education can mean to people.

“I am myself a first-generation student. I’m a product of a large public high school in the inner city of New York, and I’m a student who earned an undergraduate engineering degree, medical degree, and a decade of residency and fellowship training — depended on scholarship, work study, and student loans,” he said.

Wednesday’s action triggered a mandated 30-day period that will include public forums where people can get to know Dr. Gold and ask questions. Information about those forums will be posted on the Board of Regents website.

Nebraska Regent Rob Schafer offered high praise.

“He was pretty formidable from the start as a candidate. Just the process where you compare the others again him, you know, he stood out and rose above,” Schafer said.

The Regents have confidence in their selection, but Dr. Gold warned that there will be bumps in the road if he is confirmed as university president.

“I can guarantee you during my time — assuming my priority candidacy is successful — that I will trip and fall. No human being is perfect,” he said.

Dr. Gold said he has learned to pick himself up, fix what he can, and move on. Regents believe that attitude will serve the students on campus and the state well.

“My disucssion with Jeff — he’s in it to win it for the long term. He’s been here for 10 years; and I guess, to me at least, one of the biggest best things you can use to pick the future is past behavior.”

Schafer also praised the work of Chris Kabourek in obtainined a new athletic director for UNL. Kabourek took on the role of interim president at NU, filling the vacancy left by current President Ted Carter, who departed for Ohio State University on Dec. 31.

“I commend President Kabourek for getting it done. We told him this is his pick, but to go out and take as much time as is needed — but please do not waste any time ’cause it’s critical,” Schafer said. “Because the folks across Nebraska love their athletics and their teams.”

Not long after announcing Dr. Gold’s candidacy, NU confirmed that Troy Dannen, who has been the AD for the Washington Huskies since October, had been named UNL’s athletic director, effective Friday.

“I think he’ll be outstanding, and he wants to be here in Nebraska. And that’s the No. 1 thing: You want someone who wants to be here, lead us, and be a part of us — and we don’t take those positions lightly,” Schafer said. “And I ahve all the faith and trust in President K’s judgment that he picked the person that could best lead our athletic department.”

Dannen was offered a six-year deal to replace Trev Alberts, who surprised the state a week ago with news that he was leaving to become Texas A&M’s athletic director.

The AD shakeup comes on the heels of a $450 million overhaul of Memorial Stadium. That plan includes destroying the stadium’s south side and replacing it with chair-backed seats. Construction is set to begin on that renovation next year, and Alberts had previously noted that the timespan allowed for fundraising ahead of that.

On the heels of Alberts’ announcement last week, Gov. Jim Pillen, a former Regent, had harsh words for the board’s leadership and urged them to expedite hiring a president of the university system as well as Alberts’ replacement. Dennis Leblanc, a 40-year veteran of Husker Athletics who had been serving as executive associate AD for academics, was appointed UNL’s interim athletic director that same day.

NU Regent Jack Stark said at Wednesday morning’s meeting that it’s been a difficult path.

“The first stage was shock; we experienced that. The second stage was anger; that lasted for about a week. Third stage was blame — there’s been a lot of that. And now the fourth stage is healing, and it’s time to heal, and time to move forward and select someone who can bring about this healing,” he said.

Pillen said in a statement Wednesday that he was pleased the board took action so quickly and offered his congratulations to Dr. Gold.

“I appreciate the Board of Regents answering the call to action and moving forward with the presidential search process. Congratulations to Chancellor Gold on emerging as the priority candidate. He has been a visionary, patient-focused leader for UNMC.

I admire the strong leadership Interim President Chris Kabourek has displayed since Ted Carter’s departure. During just 70 days in office, he has delivered the long-overdue Presidential Scholars Program to get the University in the game of retaining our best and brightest kids. He has shown strength and courage in holding the line on university spending, and he has taken swift and decisive action just this week in announcing the extension of Coach Hoiberg’s contract and the hiring of a transformative new Huskers athletic director.

The University of Nebraska will remain in capable hands throughout Chris Kabourek’s interim leadership. I look forward to the next phase of the presidential selection process as it gets underway and partnering with University leaders to make our system even more competitive.”

The Board of Regents’ meeting Wednesday was previously unscheduled. A last-minute addition to the agenda for that meeting also included an item about a “potential designation” of a priority candidate for president of the NU system.

Regents immediately address the issue about the amount of time it took them to name a priority candidate for the position of NU President, explaining that there were thing to do to prepare for the search, and then they were approaching the holiday season.

“And that probably wasn’t the best time in the world to try to find applicants. And so we left that open for a 60-day period rather than probably the traditional 30,” Regent Jim Scheer said. “From my vantage point, our search actually started on the first week in January. After it closed, we are now in the third week of March. That’s about a two-and-a-half month period — I think that’s pretty darn quick.”

Wednesday’s meeting did allow time for public comment, though only two people spoke before the announcement about Dr. Gold was made.

Regents told 6 News that they interviewed many qualified applicants, and eventually discovered the priority candidate was already on the state’s payroll.

“My conclusion at the end of the day is that Dr. Gold from the Med Center would be an aboslute dynamite fit for the presidency of the university system” Scheer said.

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Managing Editor Kevin Westhues contributed to this report.

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