My name is Ronnie Green, I have the pleasure of serving as the
chancellor here at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln,
it is a big day. For us at the University of Nebraska. It's a
big day for the State of Nebraska. It's a big day for the
field of engineering. As we turn ground here on the largest
academic facilities project in the 152 year history of the
University of Nebraska, we're very, very excited about it. And
have the opportunity today to tell you more about it and see
more about what this is going to look like as we commence and get
underway with the construction of this new instructional
facility for Nebraska Engineering. I want to recognize
several special guests that we have with us here today to help
us celebrate this momentous occasion. First, we're very,
very pleased to have Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird with
us, thank you for being with us Mayor Gaylor Baird. Very pleased
to have two of our sitting members of the University of
Nebraska Board of Regents here with us today Regent Jack Stark
from Omaha and Regent, Tim Clare from Lincoln, thank you both for
being here today. And very pleased to have the University
of Nebraska System president with us, Ted Carter, who you've
all kind of gotten to know really well, Ted, thank you for
being here today and for your labor.
You might remember that we stood in this very same spot a little
under two years ago to announce this major project. And it was
on the heels of the renovation of the Scott Engineering Center
that as you go down the street here below us you see happening
in real time and on schedule and on budget, very pleased about
that to be the first major expansion of Nebraska
Engineering primarily for our research enterprise, and
enhancing our research enterprise in the college. And
at that event here two years ago, September of 19, I think it
was where we announced the launch of Kiewit Hall. And the
naming of what will become Kiewit Hall as the home all
in-house home for Nebraska Engineering as our world class
instructional facility. And you might remember Bruce Grewcock,
current CEO at the time of the Kiewit Corporation was here to
celebrate that with us, and to lend the name of Kiewit to that
new Hall. Here we are a year and a half later, almost two years
later, and a lot of water under the bridge is you know in that
time period, and we're about to launch on that $97 million
project totally by privately fund raised as a partnership
with philanthropists and with supporters of the university.
Now in being able to move that forward. I want to acknowledge
several of our major donors and contributors who are here to
celebrate this with us today. And you'll hear more about them
throughout the course of our program. First, certainly the
Kiewit Corporation that I mentioned earlier, and who are
building this facility with us as we as we move forward. So
Rick, you and your team and a number of people who are here
you'll hear Rick here in a few moments. The Suzanne and Walter
Scott Foundation major contributor to this project, and
I saw Calvin Sisson and Laura here with us this morning. Thank
you for your support of the project. The Abel Foundation
here in Lincoln, Jim Abel and his team, group of the team here
and Jack with us this morning, not only for the philanthropic
support but the land upon which we are building. This facility
comes from the Abel Foundation as well. The Peter Kiewit
Foundation is also here. Wendy welcome, major supporter of the
project, as well as a major supporter of a new initiative
for our College of Engineering to support scholarships for
students moving forward in the future. The Robert B. Daugherty
Foundation and they were unable to be here this morning. But our
friends at the Daugherty Foundation, also a major
contributor to the project. And last but not least, certainly
the Acklie Charitable Foundation here in Lincoln, the Acklie
family, Phyllis, Tom and others who have been supportive of this
project and are a major contributor to it as well. There
has been an architect of this plan. And I've had the pleasure
and privilege of being able to work with this architect for a
number of years. You will know that he became the Dean of the
College of Engineering of Nebraska Engineering in 2016 is
the same time I became Chancellor and I was very
fortunate that those two things came together at the same time
as Lance Perez, assumed the interim leadership at that time
of Nebraska Engineering. You'll hear the term complete engineer
from this college a lot. It's a standout of Nebraska
Engineering. And this is a complete engineer that I'm
introducing to you here this morning. To tell you more about
the project. Dean Lance Perez. Please welcome Lance.
Well, thank you very much Chancellor Green for that kind
introduction. As Chancellor Green said, this is really a
culmination of a really statewide partnership involving
the president's office, President Carter has been a big
supporter of the college, the chancellor's office, the Board
of Regents, of course, the Nebraska business and
philanthropic communities. And I can't tell you, as someone who
spent my career at this university, how gratifying it is
to see that kind of investment in the College of Engineering is
really just humbling. And I can't tell you how happy
everybody is that with this major project. Of course, things
don't happen in a vacuum. I'm fortunate to have, I think, the
best external advisory board at the university for 20 years,
they've been championing the College of Engineering, I'd
particularly like dimension, Bob Brightfelt in his leadership,
they've given their time, effort and resources to this. And this
is really a reflection of their commitment to engineering and
construction education in the state of Nebraska. It also
wouldn't be possible without a really impressive leadership
team in the audience, you'll see members of my executive team,
you know, I got to be up here up front and get a lot of credit.
They're the ones that actually do all the work. So I'd like to
thank all of you. And I can't tell you how grateful I am to
work with you. The College of Engineering is also you know,
we're a big organization, we have almost 250 faculty, we have
100 staff, again, these are the people that actually deliver the
quality education that has benefited so many of you in the
audience, and is what is going to drive economic development in
the State of Nebraska as we move forward. So thank you to all the
faculty and staff and the College of Engineering. As
focused as we are today on this building. And that, of course,
is very important. What really matters is what's going to
happen in that building. What I'm proudest of is that the
Nebraska philanthropic community got behind a building that's
focused on education, right? This is about educating the next
generation of construction, computing ande engineering
professionals for the state of Nebraska. For the first time in
over a generation will have a facility that is actually about
teaching engineering and construction, it's going to be a
game changer for the State of Nebraska and for the next
generation of students. And to see that kind of private support
behind that mission is really, again, just extremely gratifying
and important. It's a long term investment in the State of
Nebraska. Chancellor green already mentioned the complete
engineer, you'll see posters about it up all around the
building, it really is an important program, a
differentiator for the College of Engineering, our Big Ten
peers do not have a program like this. It's about not just
creating engineers with strong technical capabilities. But
students, engineers who have communication skills, leadership
skills, are committed to community, committed to
inclusive excellence, and to see that the support that this
building is going to give to that program is going to be a
game changer as well. Again, Chancellor Green alluded to the
fact that not only do we have the support for this building,
but we also have several major scholarship programs that have
been created along with this building. And I'd like to thank
the leadership of Peter Kiewit Company, for providing a
scholarship program the Kiewit Scholars, we have our first
cohort of 10 students coming in this year, we had 327 applicants
from around the country for 10 slots. If that doesn't speak to
the demand for engineers and construction professionals, and
the quality of education that they get at the University of
Nebraska, I don't know what does. And we have I just had
fortunate to have a meeting this morning with the Peter Kiewit
Foundation, we will be announced formally announcing a very large
scholarship program associated with the Peter Kiewit
Foundation. And again, all those students are going to be in this
building, getting a world class education. Thank you so much for
everything you do for the College of Engineering.
Thank you, Lance. It's now my pleasure to introduce to you
Rick Lanoha is the current CEO of the Peter Kiewit Corporation,
assumed that role in late 19, early 20 right at the time, the
world got pretty interesting Rick is moving into that
position. And I am proud to say he is a 1991 graduate of the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the College of Engineering.
Rick Lanoha CEO of Kiewit.
Thank you Chancellor Green. I just like to add to to a little
bit what Dean Perez said here, we are so excited to be a part
of this project, both to be a part of the project to get an
opportunity to donate and and be a part of what is being created
down here. The complete engineer, the building the world
class facility, but also to be a part of getting to build the
project. We've got a large team here with Kiewit that are all
going to be out there building it and responsible to make it a
really successful outcome. You know, over 600 engineers,
construction managers currently work for Kiewit right now, back
in its earliest days, Peter Kiewit came to the University of
Nebraska defined many of the engineers that created the
company that you see today, and their storied careers have built
what we all get to be a part of, of working and executing every
day. And so the University of Nebraska has been in credibly
important to us. And when this opportunity came along, to
really build this world class facility and create this thing
under the vision of these two gentlemen, and the opportunity
to create this complete engineer, it was a unanimous
vote at our board of directors meetings now. Luckily, Doug
Glaser sitting there knows we kind of carry the room when when
we vote on the board for the University of Nebraska but it
was a unanimous vote to do this donation and see this world
class facility done so we are excited to be a part we can't
thank enough and and we're really excited to see what the
future brings. Thank you.
And if you know the Kiewit Corporation, you know this
building is going to be built right. So we look forward to it.
Yeah, we look forward to it. It's now my pleasure to
introduce one of our students from the University of Nebraska
is College of Engineering to give you a student perspective
on how important this building is going to be for our student
population. I'd like to introduce to you know, Noha
Algahimi, who will represent the student body of Nebraska
engineering know how.
Thank you. Thank you, Chancellor Green for that wonderful
introduction. On behalf of all engineering students, I would
like to express the appreciation we all have for this incredible
investment in the College of Engineering and the quality of
education it provides. We recognize the importance of
allocating funds for campus growth in a way that is not only
meaningful, but invaluable to the learning experiences we seek
as undergraduates and beyond. We are incredibly grateful to our
donors for taking a chance on our students and their passions,
and providing us with the means to grow as a college and as a
student body. While I have enjoyed my time here as a
student using our pre existing facilities, I am thrilled to
witness the start of something new and remarkable to be offered
to our future cohorts of bright eyed engineers in training. With
the expansion of facilities comes in unimaginable realm of
possibility. It means new spaces to develop our projects and
additional study spots to build social connections we so heavily
rely on to get us through a rigorous four years. It means
state of the art classrooms nurturing the comfort of both
students and professors, thereby allowing for the effective
delivery and reception of information. In addition to
providing our students both undergraduate and graduate, the
opportunity to conduct hands on research without the additional
worry of aging laboratories, or technology. Having establishment
such as cuit Hall at our disposal is integral to student
success. I know that during my own time as an engineering
student, I have greatly appreciated both the space and
technological aids othmer has provided without the countless
study spots, bathed in sunlight, which often turns to moonlight,
the dynamic classrooms and our computer labs, I would not have
been able to navigate my studies as effectively or as enjoyably.
I personally could not imagine the passage of the last three
years without the presence of the home I found in the chemical
engineering library on the second floor of this building.
And I'm unbelievably excited to see what new homes will be
created within the within the walls of Kiewit Hall. Thank you
to all involved for making a difference in the UNL
engineering community and for caring about the work we do as
students. As the College of Engineering continues to provide
remarkable visionaries and valuable members to the
scientific world. Kiewit Hall will become a fixture in each
individual success story. Thank you.
Well, thank you very much Noha we know that our students are
going to build the future and be more enabled to do that through
through this new facility that we're putting in place. It takes
a huge team to plan something like this and the design of the
facility and the architects to get us to this point for
launching what will be a world class facility and they tell us
a little bit about that. I'd like to introduce to you Craig
Spangler. Our partner is senior principal with Bollinger, the
lead architecture firm in designing Kiewit Hall. Craig.
Morning, great day, Chancellor Green thank you very much for
the introduction. In November of 2019, my colleagues at Ballinger
and our partner here in Lincoln, Clark-Enersen, were fortunate to
listen to Dean Perez articulate the college's vision for
educating the very best complete engineer. His aspiration for a
truly unique engineering education, and how a
transformative world class building was support this vision
inspired us tremendously. Neeless to say you were
extraordinarily honored to be selected to join the college in
designing this very important initiative for the University of
Nebraska. After embarking upon the design in February 2020, we
never imagined that one month later who would immediately have
to pivot to a virtual engagement that's lasted 15 months leading
up to today. Dean Perez's and the college's leadership team,
including Kim Wilson, unfortunately couldn't be here
today and university's facility planning capital project team
led by Brooke Hay and Brad Muehling, were exceptional
adapting to a virtual engagement to ensure a world class
transformational building of elegance and impact. With
students central to our process, Kiewit Hall will be unparalleled
in so many ways. We'll have one of the nation's largest hands on
student team based maker space will be central to the Kiewit
Hall experience. with exceptional student input and
guidance. We believe that the venue will be the premier
makerspace anywhere. A variety of spaces for fostering student
faculty interaction will create a tangible sense of engineering
community and be fundamental making Kiewit Hall the college's
facility centerpiece. A large grouping of technology based
classrooms will enable the college to provide robust active
learning, enriched university industry community outreach, and
become a conference venue destination of choice for the
campus in a region. Abundant transparency throughout the
showcase innovative instructional environments and
active learning as a magnet recruitment and retention for
the best and brightest students, faculty and staff. With phase
one Kiewit Hall will form a new campus quad for engineering
community building that will embrace the adjacent residence
halls to form identifiable engineering campus precinct.
Kiewit Hall will also become a transparent college beacon that
will form an iconic new eastern gateway for the university. As
we pass the baton to Kiewit's construction team led by Jeff
Buhler and Kyle Miller, who have been exceptional partners today.
We look forward to their crafting exceptional high
quality building resident of the firm's namesake to make a
premier world class engineering facility and revered legacy
contributer to the University of Nebraska here in Lincoln. On
behalf of my colleagues and the Clark and Enersen Ballinger
team, we look forward to joining you in 2023 to dedicate Kiewit
Hall as it embarks upon educating the very best complete
engineer for generations to come. Thank you.
And finally, I'd like to invite Brian Hastings, the CEO of the
University of Nebraska foundation to come and share a
few words about the private philanthropy that has allowed us
to get to this point, Brian.
Let me just start by just congratulating you, Chancellor
Green and Dean Perez for your outstanding leadership and for
your vision to make this project a reality. It's been fun to
watch it evolve over the years and Lance, congratulations to
you and your team on such a momentous, great day today. It's
my privilege to represent the University of Nebraska
Foundation, but I really just stand here on behalf of our
board of directors. Our Chair elect Don Volte is here who also
chairs the College of Engineering Advisory Board in
our team, Joe Selig, who leads our team for UNL, Amy Ferguson,
who leads our team for the College of Engineering, and all
of our staff. And earlier this month, the University of
Nebraska foundation celebrated our 85th anniversary. So our
85th year of partnering with the university and growing
relationships that enable the university to change lives and
save lives. And if you look at what's going to happen here with
Kiewit Hall, clearly this project and all that happens
within it is going to have a transformative effect on many
lives. From educating the next few generations of engineers in
the facility, to the work that they will go out and do in
leading teams to using their engineering principles to solve
practical, as well as important issues and challenges. To to
engineer other facilities like this to engineer infrastructure
that will really help change lives and save lives and protect
lives in our communities. And like you, I especially like
hearing the perspective of the students from Noha, and how
important this facility is to their experience as well. Like
all major philanthropic projects across the university, we have
been blessed with tremendous support. This project has
received pledges of support from 730 individuals in
organizations. And we have had outstanding volunteer advocacy
from the College of Engineering Advisory Board. I know a number
of members are with us today. And that's part of the
combination of things that helps these projects be a tremendous
success. And so while Ronnie mentioned the principal
benefactors at the beginning of the program, I'm going to
mention them again here and ask that we pause and give each of
them a moment of recognition that they so duly deserve. And
I'm going to start with the Kiewit Corporation again with
you, Rick Lanoha, CEO and can I ask all members of the Kiewit
Corp with us today to stand and be recognized so we can thank
them for their support?
The Suzanne and Walter Scott foundation with Calvin Sisson
and Laura Miller, who are with us, please stand to be
recognized.
We know Walter couldn't be with us today, but I'm sure you're
and we ask that you bring back our gratitude and thanks to
Walter for his tremendous support as well. Not with us
today, the Robert B. Daugherty Foundation, but hopefully you'll
have a chance to watch the video of the program. So let's thank
the Robert B. Daugherty Foundation for their support.
And likewise, the Acklie Charitable Foundation here in
Lincoln. Let's thank the Acklie family for their tremendous
support. And then the last of our principal benefactors, Wendy
Boyer from the Peter Kiewit Foundation, and I believe there
are a couple of other members, Liz and Jen from the Peter
Kiewit Foundation.
Every project needs champions, and without our principal
benefactors, this project wouldn't be a reality. But in
truth, without all 734 individuals and organizations,
we wouldn't be here today. So I also want to close and just ask
that we give a round of thanks for everybody who has supported
this project, and for everybody who will continue to support the
College of Engineering as well.
Thank Thank you, Brian. And I want to do an extra shout out
here. Brian mentioned this in his comments to Amy Ferguson.
Amy Fergeson has been the lead fundraiser on this project and
she deserves a big round of applause. We now are going to
adjourn from in here and go out the front door of Othmer Hall
and just to the east, down Vine Street, where we will stage a
groundbreaking if we will ground turning. Obviously, we already
are underway with the project that will conclude so put this
in your your bank for us to have the ribbon cutting for this
facility in the summer of 2023. The intent is for the facility
to be open for business and for our students for the fall term
of 2023. Ahead Lance is doing this right now. But that's okay.
So if you have a pair of gloves on your seat that you're in, you
will be part of that turning so please take those gloves and the
helmet with you. And we'll proceed out the front door and
we'll enjoy a ground turning. Thanks for being here today.
It's a great day for Nebraska.