Your Gifts At Work

Impact Stories

We are thankful for those who have made an estate gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation. Learn more about how their gifts have made an impact.

A Global View to Giving Back

Early in her career, Sharon Redding found herself riding on a camel through the Sahara Desert — wondering what on earth she was doing there.

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Helping Paint a Bright Future

When Valery Wachter came to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in the mid-1970s to complete her education, she already had finished two years at the University of Northern Iowa, working toward a teaching degree.

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Providing a Living Legacy

As a kid in Creighton, Nebraska, Dana Falter learned a lot about hard work. From his time on the football field and basketball court to his job on a dairy farm, getting up at 4 a.m. and working until 5 p.m., he developed a deep-seated work ethic and discipline.

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After Life of Service, Donors Set Up Scholarship in Son’s Name

Bob Blair has spent his life in public service. Born and raised in Omaha, Bob spent 14 years in Nebraska state and local government before joining the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

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Burnett Society Member Spotlight: Ron Braun

Ron Braun, M.D., is a 1965 graduate of the College of Medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He and his wife of 64 years, Pat, have been loyal supporters of UNMC and the College of Medicine for more than 55 years.

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Guest Feature: Burnett Society Member Reflects on the Impact of His Gifts

Sometimes, when I’m at University of Nebraska–Lincoln donor events, I pinch myself a little. That’s not me, I still think. I’m a poor kid from Beatrice.

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Like Mother, Like Son

The first things you learn about Leland Essary are that he’s exceptionally good humored, a great storyteller — and proud of his mother’s accomplishments.

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Memorializing a Mother’s Inspiration

Richard Griffin knows what it’s like to come from an underprivileged family. Growing up in Central Missouri as the middle child of a single mother, Richard, a Burnett Society member, didn’t have the resources to pay out-of-state tuition to pursue his degree in architecture.

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The Sum of Our Parts

“I grew up with the idea of sharing, mentored by my parents,” said Warren, who is a Burnett Society member. “It started with Sunday school offerings, and then I kept doing it.”

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Lifelong Learning Inspires Educator to Give Back

Janet Wendland grew up in Arapahoe, Nebraska, and attended the University of Nebraska at Kearney, where she majored in German and English. After teaching high school, Janet spent a summer in Germany on a Fulbright scholarship and then continued her education at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, receiving a master’s degree in education.

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90 Years Young

A student of ayurvedic wellness, which he hopes will give him at least five more very active years, Bruce walks 3.5 miles nearly every day. He spends his weekdays volunteering and has put in more than 2,500 volunteer hours at the Moffitt Cancer Center near his home in Tampa, Florida.

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Loyalty to UNK the First Step on a Fundraising Journey

Burnett Society members Chad and Jen Rutar have established an endowed scholarship and planned gift to benefit the Bleeding Blue Heart Scholarship, which supports students in the UNK College of Business & Technology.

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Student Finds a Way to Say Thanks…and Merci Beaucoup

Recent UNL graduate who’s on her way to teach English in France says her road through college would have been rougher without support from generous people like the ones she got to meet.

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Scholarships ‘Shaped the Trajectory of My Life’

Teresa Lostroh is doing what she’s doing today thanks to one thing: scholarships. She received a generous award to attend the University of Nebraska–Lincoln — and not just one. Lostroh received several scholarships, and their impact was life-changing.

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Burnett Society Spotlight: Nicholas Claps

Burnett Society member Nicholas Claps graduated from Hiram Scott College, a private liberal arts college in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. He obtained his permanent teaching license in Nebraska but was called home to Syracuse, New York, by the U.S. Army to be drafted in the Vietnam War.

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After a Life of Adventure, Love Inspires a Gift

Bill Nelsen has led an interesting life. He has traveled all over the world, surveying land in far-off places — from Greenland to Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia to Mexico — for the U.S. Department of Defense.

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Farming Family Supports Scholarships for Rural Nebraskans

When Burnett Society members John and Mary Kaldahl gave this interview, they were relaxing under a tiki hut in Florida — soaked in sunshine, palm trees swaying in the breeze behind them.

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Gutschow family 'pay it forward' with compassionate care awards

In 2017, Jim and Pam established the Gutschow Family Oncology Compassionate Care Awards through two planned gifts. Their vision was to recognize those physicians, nurses and care technicians at Nebraska Medicine who demonstrate compassionate care for patients undergoing cancer treatment with an annual award and financial gift.

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Alumni Kaye and Jud Jesske used planned gift to establish ag scholarship

In alignment with those values and their gratitude for the education they received at UNL, Kaye and Jud have established a scholarship fund through their estate to support agriculture students at the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at UNL.

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The life in our years

Patti and Joel Meier have logged thousands of miles around the world. They’ve motorcycled through the Kalahari Desert in Africa, kayaked in the frigid waters of Siberia and hiked the breathtaking vistas of the Grand Canyon.

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‘I am where I am now because of them’

Barbara Keating could not have imagined being in the position she’s in today: a professor with a Ph.D., a distinguished career in sociology and the ability to create endowed funds that give back to her alma mater and support the next generation of students.

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Robert Dewaele Thankful for Correct Diagnosis at Munroe-Meyer Institute

Robert Dewaele is an agricultural crop insurance claims adjuster and accomplished sculptor who grew up on a farm near Crescent, Iowa. His interest in sculpting began in high school, and he continued his studies at Iowa Western Community College and Bellevue University.

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Donors Preserve the Legacy of a Trailblazing Woman in Nebraska

Mark Griep and Marjorie Mikasen are members of the Burnett Society in recognition of their planned gift intentions. They have established a faculty development fund in honor of two chemistry pioneers at Nebraska, and that fund will one day provide seed funding for chemistry professors to pursue their research.

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Our Connection to the Land: A Story Told Through Art

Before the movers came to pack everything up, Carol Moseman stepped into one of her favorite rooms and took pictures. Filling the walls were more than 60 works of art that had resided in her home for years.

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Inspiring Those Who Care for Others

At age 9, Beatrice “Bea” Kalisch stepped onto a bus in Omaha and saw her future: a nurse dressed in a trim, starched-white uniform, her hair tucked neatly behind a white cap.

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A Family Tradition

A lot has changed at the University of Nebraska Foundation at Kearney in the last 60 years. For one, the name. Kearney State College was a small school of about 2,000 students in the 1960s where teaching was the focus and the cost to attend was typically less than $100 a semester.

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A Conversation with Burnett Society Member Dr. Dwayne Zobell

Burnett Society member Dwayne Zobell, D.D.S., was born in Montana and graduated from the University of Nebraska Medical Center after attending predental school at Brigham Young University and spending time as a missionary in Argentina.

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University of Nebraska is always in her heart

Charlotte has found great joy in helping others. She has volunteered with more than 20 organizations since she retired in 2003 as a children's librarian in Chula Vista, California. She also began supporting the University of Nebraska, which, she said, will always be in her heart.

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Donor Impact Spotlight: Steve and Lisa Todd

"It doesn't matter how much money you've got," Steve said. "Depending on what resources you've got available, you can do things on a very small scale or a large scale."

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'Important to be good, do good with money'

"Ted and I believed it was important to be good with money," she said. "But it was just as important to do good with money."

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Scholarship established by the Meredith family honors a ‘legacy he would’ve been proud of’

"It was really nice to know that we helped somebody achieve a goal."

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Student touched by such a generous human

Dr. Carole Levin, a beloved history professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, established a history scholarship fund to help students succeed.

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