KRVN Chat with the Chancellor

Ronnie Green Author

12/04/2017 Added

4 Plays

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Ronnie Green discusses recent groundbreaking research at the university, recognition from the premier science organization in the world for university researchers and the ongoing successful development of Nebraska Innovation Campus.

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[00:00:00.159]Brandon Bennett's with the Rule Radio Network,
[00:00:02.174]joined by Dr. Ronnie Green, the chancellor
[00:00:04.031]at the University of Nebraska Lincoln,
[00:00:05.951]as a special guest for our weekly chat
[00:00:07.973]with a chancellor here in the Fall, 2017 semester.
[00:00:11.038]Dr. Green, many people associate GBR with Go Big Red,
[00:00:14.591]that salute to Husker athletics
[00:00:16.182]and I suppose it's also just as fair to say that
[00:00:18.520]GBR could mean Go Big Research,
[00:00:21.251]and in fact, UNL recently published reports
[00:00:23.463]about Nebraska chemists that have created
[00:00:25.801]an amino acid that could help inhibit enzymes
[00:00:28.057]associated with cancer, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease.
[00:00:31.366]There's another research looking at microscopic membranes
[00:00:34.145]that could help fight gum disease,
[00:00:36.206]and yet another professor that says there's
[00:00:37.826]scientific evidence that gratitude benefits
[00:00:41.085]a persons well-being, so with all of that in it's totality,
[00:00:44.034]there's so much research on campus
[00:00:46.455]and the dollars that generates,
[00:00:47.810]and of course the impact that research has
[00:00:49.974]across the human spectrum.
[00:00:51.635]So, talk a little bit about the importance
[00:00:53.345]of research on a major college campus.
[00:00:56.265]Well, Brandon first of all,
[00:00:57.480]always great to be with you on the Rule Radio Network,
[00:01:00.148]and have a chance to visit with all of your listeners
[00:01:03.037]about the University of Nebraska
[00:01:05.412]and about the flagship campus at UNL.
[00:01:07.629]And everybody knows what the DBR means in Nebraska.
[00:01:11.143]And beyond Go Big Red, is it's own brand
[00:01:14.541]and as we cheer for our student athletes
[00:01:17.209]and for our university more generally,
[00:01:19.135]but as you said, being a research university that we are,
[00:01:22.968]it also could be, maybe convoluted a little bit
[00:01:26.179]to say Go Big Research.
[00:01:27.975]And we recently, just in the last few weeks
[00:01:31.448]have been celebrating this time of year.
[00:01:33.320]November always has been our,
[00:01:35.995]kind of month to highlight the research
[00:01:38.588]accomplishments from the past year at the university.
[00:01:41.504]We have a big research week,
[00:01:43.004]that was held back in early November on campus
[00:01:45.895]to highlight some of that progress
[00:01:47.983]across the nine colleges of the university.
[00:01:50.577]And there is a tremendous amount of research
[00:01:53.972]that goes on at the university,
[00:01:56.370]both in Lincoln as well as at the med center
[00:01:59.035]of the Bow Medical Arena as well.
[00:02:01.341]We're the largest single research
[00:02:04.050]and discovery enterprise in the state
[00:02:06.018]and in the region as a result of that research.
[00:02:09.080]We're one of the best in the country
[00:02:11.067]in commercializing the results of our research efforts.
[00:02:13.890]So we're named just this past year as 35th nationally,
[00:02:17.049]amongst 225 institutions by the Milken Institute
[00:02:20.612]for our success when combined with UNMC
[00:02:23.623]in transfer of research to commercial development.
[00:02:26.227]The things that you mentioned,
[00:02:28.109]where for example, David Berkowitz,
[00:02:31.052]one of our professors in the chemistry department
[00:02:33.690]in our college of arts and sciences.
[00:02:35.828]He's been working on synthesizing a new class
[00:02:39.163]of amino acids that can inactivate
[00:02:41.331]enzymes known for contributing
[00:02:43.123]to a whole range of human health concerns.
[00:02:45.648]Can have wide impact across human health and human medicine.
[00:02:49.531]You mentioned gum disease, Husker engineer,
[00:02:53.006]Ally Temoil, alongside colleagues
[00:02:55.541]from both UCLA and California
[00:02:57.576]and the Harvard Medical School in Boston
[00:02:59.830]have now developed a flexible,
[00:03:01.660]biodegradable microscopic membrane
[00:03:03.436]that can halt the advance of bacteria,
[00:03:05.886]promote the regrowth of healthy tissue or bone in the jaw,
[00:03:09.886]periodontitis, an advanced form of gum disease
[00:03:12.817]that breaks down tissue and bones housing the teeth
[00:03:15.397]that's a big deal, it effects more than 70 percent
[00:03:18.174]of adults that are age 65 years and older.
[00:03:21.460]You also mentioned the well-being research
[00:03:24.035]that we celebrated a few weeks ago.
[00:03:26.121]This is a reference to research
[00:03:28.224]that is not just our faculty, but it also refers
[00:03:31.523]to a volume of research that's been
[00:03:33.714]being developed around the country,
[00:03:35.314]including our faculty on the value
[00:03:37.000]of gratitude and well-being
[00:03:38.790]and enhancing our well-being in our life.
[00:03:41.337]It's not just our faculty innovating as well,
[00:03:44.560]we also have students that are involved in that innovation.
[00:03:48.201]A good example, is the student engineering team
[00:03:50.646]that's developing a space tool
[00:03:52.757]that was tested this past fall by NASA.
[00:03:55.676]So you know, you role all these things together Brandon,
[00:03:58.202]I could go on with example after example
[00:04:00.433]after example that like I said,
[00:04:02.425]we celebrated in our research fair just a few weeks ago,
[00:04:05.232]where the research being done at the university
[00:04:08.119]and the transfer of that research out into the public
[00:04:11.832]is impacting lives throughout the world
[00:04:13.971]and creating unique impacts and advantages for humanity.
[00:04:17.546]Chancellor Green, along that same line,
[00:04:20.012]the university recently announced
[00:04:21.737]that four faculty members have been named
[00:04:23.299]fellows at the American Association
[00:04:25.082]for the Advancement of Science,
[00:04:26.860]which is the largest general scientific
[00:04:28.685]society in the world.
[00:04:29.898]So, tell us a little bit about what exactly is,
[00:04:32.148]the American Association for the Advancement of Science
[00:04:34.818]and why is it important for faculty members
[00:04:36.577]and researchers to be part of such groups.
[00:04:39.076]Well, triple AS as we call it,
[00:04:41.116]the American Association for the Advancement of Science,
[00:04:43.581]is the world's largest single general scientific society,
[00:04:46.329]they publish the most renowned
[00:04:48.402]scientific journal in the world.
[00:04:50.647]I've aptly called science, and they're an international,
[00:04:54.485]non-profit organization that's dedicated
[00:04:57.405]to advancing science for the benefit
[00:04:59.292]of all people around the world.
[00:05:01.353]It's considered the premiere science
[00:05:03.878]organization around the world.
[00:05:05.983]Triple AS, for a long time, has been electing
[00:05:09.257]what they call fellows, started in 1874,
[00:05:12.820]so well over a hundred years now.
[00:05:15.501]Going on 150 years, they've been doing
[00:05:17.902]this kind of fellow designation amongst their membership,
[00:05:21.024]where they identify what they believe to be
[00:05:23.689]the top scientists in various fields
[00:05:26.435]to be designated with a little purple rosette,
[00:05:30.444]that signifies the designation of being a Triple AS fellow.
[00:05:34.641]So it's a big deal.
[00:05:35.892]Big honor to be recognized by Triple AS in that way.
[00:05:39.458]This year, we were very very happy
[00:05:41.473]that we had four of our faculty named,
[00:05:44.529]just recently they received their notifications
[00:05:47.540]that they are being named to Triple AS Fellowship Honors.
[00:05:50.663]It'll be presented to them in February,
[00:05:52.832]coming up here in a couple of months.
[00:05:54.610]And since 2016, we've had 17 of our faculty at UNL
[00:05:59.150]that have earned that honor,
[00:06:01.303]and if you look at us nationally
[00:06:02.784]amongst all institutions of higher education,
[00:06:05.165]it puts us in the top tier of institutions
[00:06:07.245]in the number of our faculty receiving
[00:06:09.240]that honor in that time period.
[00:06:11.411]So it's a big deal.
[00:06:13.077]Signifies the quality of our work here.
[00:06:15.498]Signifies the impact of the work of the scientists
[00:06:18.883]who are receiving that designation
[00:06:20.567]and we couldn't be more proud of them
[00:06:22.098]for being named Triple AS fellows.
[00:06:24.155]Brandon Bennett's with the Rule Radio Network.
[00:06:26.899]Once again, joined by a special guest, Dr. Ronnie Green,
[00:06:29.751]the chancellor at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln
[00:06:31.608]for our weekly chat with a chancellor.
[00:06:33.793]Dr. Green, in the fiscal year 2016,
[00:06:35.950]the Nebraska Innovation Campus
[00:06:37.977]had a 139.9 million dollar economic impact on the state,
[00:06:42.676]and in 2017 the momentum continues to grow
[00:06:45.810]with new partnerships, the construction of
[00:06:47.745]an 80,000 square foot building,
[00:06:49.287]and of course, the new KRVN Rule Radio Network studio there.
[00:06:52.579]So walk us through the origins of
[00:06:54.967]the Nebraska Innovation Campus,
[00:06:57.179]the history of how it came about,
[00:06:58.922]and give us an idea about your and the campuses vision
[00:07:01.764]for what that future holds.
[00:07:03.824]Well Brandon, I think many of your listeners
[00:07:05.839]have heard over the past decade now,
[00:07:08.960]the development of the Nebraska Innovation Campus
[00:07:12.246]adjacent to the main campus of the university
[00:07:15.105]in downtown Lincoln, the former State Fairgrounds Park.
[00:07:19.022]the actual property was the home
[00:07:20.928]of the State Fair of Nebraska for most of it's history
[00:07:23.639]until it was move in 2010 out to it's current site
[00:07:27.256]at Grand Island where there's been a wonderful run now
[00:07:30.516]for the past eight years on that site.
[00:07:32.982]And when it was moved to Grand Island
[00:07:35.494]there was the opportunity to develop
[00:07:38.162]a public private partnership campus,
[00:07:40.420]affiliated with the University of Nebraska
[00:07:42.979]on that former state fairgrounds property.
[00:07:45.215]We have been in process of developing Nebraska
[00:07:48.965]Innovation Campus as it's now known, since that time.
[00:07:53.151]2006, the initial planning started
[00:07:55.355]with a group of community leaders
[00:07:57.433]that put together the proposal
[00:07:59.035]that eventually led to the fair being moved
[00:08:01.160]and to the development that we're now underway.
[00:08:03.326]In 2012, just a couple of years
[00:08:05.844]after I joined the university's leadership team
[00:08:08.413]and we broke ground on the first phase
[00:08:10.761]of the development of Nebraska Innovation Campus.
[00:08:13.661]And now, some five years later,
[00:08:16.078]we sit in the fall of 2017, just a couple years past
[00:08:19.863]when we opened that phase one of the campuses growth,
[00:08:23.996]about 380,000 square feet of development
[00:08:27.233]in that first phase, another 80,000 square feet
[00:08:30.726]that we have under construction currently,
[00:08:33.822]on our way to a goal over a 25 year time period,
[00:08:37.644]of being at about 2.2 million square feet of campus space
[00:08:41.371]that houses these public private partnerships
[00:08:44.607]on Nebraska Innovation Campus.
[00:08:46.814]So we're very very pleased with that progress.
[00:08:49.486]You mentioned the economic impact
[00:08:52.002]that it's already experiencing in the state.
[00:08:54.463]We have about 30 partners already on the campus,
[00:08:57.659]and are growing those every month
[00:09:00.512]including you at the Rule Radio Network and KRVN.
[00:09:02.769]Having your location in Lincoln
[00:09:04.683]and now as part of Innovation Campus
[00:09:06.540]that we're very excited about as well.
[00:09:08.780]And in terms of the progress,
[00:09:10.872]you know these kind of longterm growth plans,
[00:09:13.839]I mentioned a 25 year time horizon
[00:09:16.572]that the Nebraska Innovation Campus
[00:09:18.848]is under development for.
[00:09:20.636]We're ahead of where we would have
[00:09:22.733]expected to be at this point into that,
[00:09:25.053]you know, first five to six years of the history
[00:09:27.578]of that development and very pleased with it.
[00:09:30.156]We were extremely pleased that just this past October
[00:09:34.124]a couple of months ago now,
[00:09:36.077]the Nebraska Innovation Campus
[00:09:38.236]was named the best new research park in the world,
[00:09:41.197]but the Association of University
[00:09:43.712]Research Parks Organization.
[00:09:46.395]That award is presented annually
[00:09:48.333]to a research park that's been in operation
[00:09:50.412]less than 10 years and excels in bringing
[00:09:52.956]technology from the lab to economically
[00:09:55.210]viable business activities and promoting
[00:09:57.370]economic development in jobs and growth in that way.
[00:10:00.922]So we were very excited that early in our life here
[00:10:04.366]at Innovation Campus to be recognized
[00:10:06.956]by that international group
[00:10:08.631]with that best new research park award.
[00:10:10.718]So excited about where we are,
[00:10:12.332]excited about the future and what the opportunities
[00:10:15.388]are going to afford to continue to grow
[00:10:17.452]Nebraska Innovation Campus as we move forward Brandon.
[00:10:21.039]Dr. Green, the last word is yours
[00:10:23.628]here in that, kinda odd part of the semester
[00:10:26.824]after Thanksgiving but before the holiday break,
[00:10:29.146]what's going on on campus?
[00:10:30.478]Well, you can just imagine Brandon,
[00:10:32.045]I mean students are working toward
[00:10:33.997]the end of the fall term, and fall semester,
[00:10:37.294]and for a number of our students
[00:10:39.246]that means that they are in there last semester
[00:10:41.485]working towards graduation,
[00:10:42.939]coming up here in a couple of weeks.
[00:10:44.843]So a very exciting time, in wrapping a term up,
[00:10:48.334]and wishing well our newest graduates
[00:10:51.260]to add to our over 190,000 living alumni around the world.
[00:10:55.647]Just an exciting time to be in higher education.
[00:10:58.705]You know, the future's that these students have
[00:11:01.442]and the future with the research work
[00:11:03.326]that we're contributing, and the outreach across the state,
[00:11:06.339]it's an exciting time to be at the university,
[00:11:09.738]and we're looking forward to welcoming those new graduates
[00:11:12.432]and alums into the world and starting again up in January.
[00:11:16.592]So a good time to be at the university.
[00:11:19.252]That was Dr. Ronnie Green,
[00:11:21.036]the chancellor at the University of Nebraska Lincoln.
[00:11:23.077]Once again, joining us as a special guest
[00:11:24.659]on our weekly chat with a chancellor
[00:11:26.423]here in the fall 2017 semester.
[00:11:28.439]With the Rule Radio Network, this is Brandon Bennett's.

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