Ahead of investiture, Jeffrey Gold details plans as 9th NU President

Dr. Jeffrey Gold will be installed as the ninth University of Nebraska president this afternoon. Nebraska Public Media’s Jolie Peal spoke with Dr. Gold ahead of the ceremony about his investiture and the start of the school year.

JOLIE PEAL: Your investiture, it's two anniversaries for you, 10 years from being installed as UNMC Chancellor, five from UNO. How are you feeling about adding University of Nebraska president to that?

DR. JEFFREY GOLD: Well, it's really amazing of the serendipity of all three investitures occurring on the fifth of September, each exactly five years apart, 10 years to the day. I remember my investiture at the med center particularly well because that was a Saturday, and it turns out that that was the same day that the first Ebola virus patient was transported from Western Africa to the med center. And the media attention around the med center that day was huge, and I remember commenting that was probably the first and only game day in the history of Nebraska football that there was more media attention in Omaha than there was in Lincoln. But, you know, the investiture is a formal ceremony. It brings together people from all across the country, our regents, elected folks, faculty, staff, my family is flying in from across the country. But to me, it is far more about this great university, and about what we together, the university and the state of Nebraska can do and will do together. And I'm trying very hard to be sure that while I understand they will drape me with a medallion and formally make me the president of the university, but it's not about Jeff. It's really about the future of this great university system. So yes, I am very excited. I'm particularly excited to do it in the rotunda of the State Capitol. I don't know if it's ever been done there before, but that is the house of the people of Nebraska. And at the end of the day, my job and the job of every staff, faculty member, everybody from an administrative position to the people that cut the grass and sweep the streets. Their job, my job is to serve the people of Nebraska.

PEAL: Once you're officially installed, or even now, what are some of your first goals moving forward?

GOLD: Well, I spent the last roughly 9, 10 weeks really listening. I've been crisscrossing the state, you know, started off in the southeast and ended up all the way out in in Scottsbluff, you know, every place from Valentine to Ogallala, Kearney, Norfolk, Fall City, Nebraska City and seems like every stop in between, and mostly to ask questions of people. What is the university doing well? What does the university need to do more of, stop doing, et cetera. I talked to farmers and ranchers, teachers, I talked to doctors, I talked to students. I talked to people in the K-12 system, people on our university campuses, community colleges, hospital administrators and everybody in between - even people that grow wine in the state of Nebraska. And I think if there are any take home messages to me is that they love the University of Nebraska, and they depend on the University of Nebraska for their future. And of course, they all have a view of we should be doing more of this and less of that, and of course all of that will factor into some strategic planning at some point in the future. But there is little question in my mind that this is a state that deeply appreciates this university as do I and as you've said earlier, I am a Nebraskan by choice. I was not born here, but I have lived and worked here for more than 10 years, and I've really, I've drank the Kool Aid. This is a state that I really call home, and I love it.

PEAL: You brought up kind of my next question, the trip, what did you learn from Nebraskans? What were the things you heard?

GOLD: Well, aside from a tremendous sense of pride, I heard that there are things that we can and should be thinking about. You know, I always ask each of these communities, what are the top three things the university can or should do for your community? And the answer is always the same. It's workforce, workforce and workforce, and by the way, Jeff, if you're not listening, it's more workforce. But it's different kinds of workforce. Some need doctors and nurses and pharmacists. Others need a digital specialist. You know, I talked to several people who are feedlot owners and the cattle production business. And you know, I ask them what they do and what their days are like. They say to me, I think I'm running a technology company because of how much they depend on digital technology to do what they do. And of course, the same thing is true for the farming industry and the, you know, across the whole ag sector. Digital agriculture is the name of the game and what we're doing in research directly affects their ability to deploy successful digital agriculture across both the farming and the ranching communities. I talked to a rancher whose productivity more than doubled over his lifetime just as a result of research done by our extension services in terms of cattle breeding. I’ve talked to farmers who have added 25, 35% to their corn yield just by changing the way they use fertilizers as a result of research done by our extensions. So just a huge sense of gratitude.

PEAL: Speaking of research, and students are back on campus learning about those things now. How is the start of the semester for you in the president role now?

GOLD: Well, this is a president that does not like to sit in the president's office behind a desk. This is a president that really likes to be out and about on the campuses. And you know, whether it's in Memorial Stadium or the Devaney arena, whether it's out in Baxter, whether it's on the Kearney campus or the med center, I am truly out and about. And you know, I was just walking through the union earlier today. I was down in the dairy store over the weekend, out on, of course, city campus at the game last Saturday, and - great job, by the way, coach and members of the team - and the energy levels are just off the charts. You know, I can feel it, and the campuses are fully back to life right now. And you know, as I get to talk to students and parents during their move-in, and, you know, I've had kids go to college, too, and so I understand what it's like when you drive your kids, you start to unpack, you walk up all those stairs, or, I guess in these days, you take the elevator. But I wasn't so lucky. Many times I'd walk up four or five flights of stairs with all of the stuff. And I'm sure you know what I mean. It's a bittersweet moment, but it's also a really high energy moment. And I can tell you, I've spoken with dozens of parents, countless students over ice cream and elsewhere across the campus, and they're just really pleased to be back in school. We're in full swing, and they, you know, they're working hard and they're committed, but at the same time, they want to have some fun and they want to be part of our great campus. So yeah, high energy for me, because it's high energy for them.

PEAL: As university president, what can you do to attract and retain students, especially diverse voices, for this school year or next school year going forward?

GOLD: Well, I think we have to continually send the message that we are a welcoming institution. We're welcoming to students from all over the world, no matter where they grow up, no matter what their beliefs are, whether they come from rural or urban communities, whether they come from halfway around the world, what their preferences are in many different religious areas and family areas, etc., whether they're first generation or not a first generation student. As Gov. Pillen likes to say, “Our children are our future,” and that means we have to meet them where they are, and we have to have the programs and services in place to support their success, and not just some of them, but to support all of them in their needs, and whether that's their financial needs, whether it's their academic needs, whether it's to give them an infrastructure, meaning advisors and counselors that can make them successful. We need to have a philosophy that we don't admit an entering class, we admit a graduating class, and we have to do everything we can for every student, not some of our students, but for every student to make them successful. And by the way, that means we have to have the very best faculty. We have to have the very best staff that all are rowing in the same direction to make our students successful.

PEAL: To wrap up, next year, when you're looking back at where you started today, what are you hoping to have accomplished?

GOLD: Well, we're continuing to have conversations about the AAU membership, the academic quest. You know, as your audience may know that we were a founding member of the AAU over 100 years ago, and then back in 2011, we were actually dismissed, summarily dismissed from the AAU. This is an organization that really prides itself on academic achievement, research, doctoral student, production, faculty awards and recognition, textbooks and also student success. All things that that we as an institution, all of our campuses and I personally deeply value and by the way, winning a few more football games than we've won in past seasons as well. I'm not too concerned about our volleyball team. They're champions through and through. But if we're going to be on that quest, and again, I don't know whether the AAU will or will not, is able to or not able to recognize an organization, an institution, that they have dismissed. Indeed, they've never done that in the past, so I hope they do it as a first. But, you know, who knows? But I do know, this is that when I look back upon the first year, there'll be a very clear message shared across every campus, every college, every department and in every classroom, that we have to be truly excellent. You know, the theme of the investiture is “Excellent to Extraordinary,” I'm going to be talking about the odyssey to extraordinary. It's all about what it's going to take to be the absolute world class in this area and to make us the envy of other universities across the country. Now, will I get there in a year? Going to work real hard, but it's going to take a little more than that, I can tell you. But the theory, the theme, the energy, hopefully, will be pervasive across all of our campuses.

PEAL: Thank you for sitting down with me today. Is there anything else you wanted to mention?

GOLD: Just to say that, you know, I still get up in the morning and kind of pinch myself and say, “Am I really the president of this great university?” You know, I'm a kid who grew up as a first generation college student in the inner city of New York. I'm a product of the public high school system, and I have a really serious case of imposter syndrome, meaning I can't believe that all of this actually happened to me, but it did, and I'm trying very hard to use that as an inspiration for others. Because certainly, if it can happen to a kid like me, it can happen to anybody, it's just a matter of hard work. And when people say, you know, “Jeff, will you do this? Will you do that?” It's just a matter of saying, “Sure, I'll try,” and somehow magic happens.