Ronnie Green's Education

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04/06/2017 Added

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Colleagues reflect on their relationships with Ronnie Green as part of events celebrating his installation as 20th chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

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[00:00:04.967](inspiring symphonic music)
[00:00:14.896]I think it's the most Jeffersonian of all things,
[00:00:18.597]this blue collar, small shareholder farm son
[00:00:25.346]who leaves his native Virginia,
[00:00:27.494]the birthplace of independence and liberty,
[00:00:30.938]and follows in many ways the Lewis and Clark path,
[00:00:35.174]so the fact that he's here I think
[00:00:36.940]is almost poetic and ordained.
[00:00:40.170]It's phenomenal.
[00:00:45.093]Well, Dr. Ronnie Green,
[00:00:46.375]he was one of my first teaching assistants
[00:00:48.690]here at Virginia Tech.
[00:00:50.242]And it was interesting.
[00:00:51.193]He took my course,
[00:00:52.439]and he asked if he could be my teaching assistant.
[00:00:54.717]I said, "Sure."
[00:00:55.701]Ronnie had passion.
[00:00:57.222]He had energy.
[00:00:58.658]He was networked with everyone.
[00:01:00.990]But he also had that special sparkle in his eye.
[00:01:04.386]And it was real interesting observing Ronnie.
[00:01:07.637]He could work with all levels of students.
[00:01:10.310]He had empathy for them.
[00:01:12.061]And you could tell there, and by the courses he was taking,
[00:01:15.416]and the organizations he was in,
[00:01:18.137]he was going to be something special.
[00:01:20.659]Ronnie's very, he was a great student,
[00:01:22.939]because it was about the question.
[00:01:25.511]And it was about the pursuit.
[00:01:27.233]And it was about the relationships.
[00:01:29.130]And it was about connecting dots.
[00:01:30.626]I've never seen a student that was more organized
[00:01:33.834]and on top of everything he did.
[00:01:35.686]It was carefully planned,
[00:01:37.302]and just conducted experiments
[00:01:39.631]that were complex and challenging.
[00:01:43.327]But, boy, you could turn it over to him,
[00:01:45.460]and he'd do it better than anybody I knew.
[00:01:47.812]He stood at right at the start as one of those people
[00:01:50.670]that, whatever he decided to do,
[00:01:52.716]he would have a huge impact.
[00:02:00.113]Ronnie Green now, 35 years later, is the visionary.
[00:02:04.982]He's the catalyst.
[00:02:06.644]He really understands change.
[00:02:09.886]But he's also a maverick.
[00:02:11.740]And one of the things that Ronnie really understands:
[00:02:14.786]change starts bottom up, not top down.
[00:02:18.258]The second thing that is really gonna be
[00:02:20.809]a catalyst for the University of Nebraska,
[00:02:23.183]he seeks balance in research,
[00:02:25.312]teaching, outreach, and extension.
[00:02:27.832]And that's unique in an administrator.
[00:02:30.479]I was very impressed
[00:02:31.634]with Ronnie's ability to grasp the gist of a problem
[00:02:38.487]and then listen to people suggest the different solutions
[00:02:43.737]that might possibly help with this problem.
[00:02:47.249]But he also had the ability
[00:02:48.761]to shut off hunting for information
[00:02:52.524]when he thought he had enough to make a good decision,
[00:02:54.926]and then something happened.
[00:02:56.384]He makes things happen.
[00:02:59.046]I think he and his wife Jane and his family,
[00:03:01.917]just extremely dedicated to the university and to Nebraska.
[00:03:07.333]I just know that he's gonna elevate it
[00:03:10.165]to an institution of distinction.
[00:03:14.698]In Chancellor Green, you have a leader.
[00:03:18.487]A leader who is visionary but is also decisive.
[00:03:22.216]He likes to dig into a challenge, make things better,
[00:03:27.233]and then he finds a new challenge.
[00:03:30.380]He has the kind of vision that sees opportunities
[00:03:33.801]and makes the best of resources.
[00:03:36.579]And, in fact, we owe it to the world
[00:03:39.491]to bring new knowledge and new information
[00:03:43.729]through our institution to solving the world's problems.
[00:03:48.454]I'm confident that Ronnie's gonna be able to do that.
[00:03:52.576]The fact that he is the Chancellor,
[00:03:54.575]in retrospect makes perfect sense,
[00:03:56.549]because he's a Renaissance guy.
[00:03:59.451]And land-grant universities deserve Renaissance guys
[00:04:03.058]with blue collar roots.
[00:04:05.537](inspirational music)

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Ronnie Green's Education

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