September 21, 2026
Dear colleagues,
We are now a month into the fall semester, and I have had the opportunity to connect with many of you through shared governance meetings, campus events, lectures, celebrations, Chat with the Chancellor (donuts and coffee) and the everyday interactions that come with being part of this community. I have also spent time with partners across Nebraska and beyond, seeing firsthand the work and relationships that make the University of Nebraska–Lincoln such a vital institution.
Beginning today, I plan to write regularly to share reflections from across our campus and beyond, highlighting the people, partnerships, opportunities and challenges that define our work. My commitment is to be straightforward about both our successes and our challenges as we move forward together.
Recently, I began meeting with members of the Nebraska Legislature. These conversations are an important part of ensuring that those who serve our state understand not only the breadth of our university’s impact, but also why continued investment in higher education matters for Nebraska’s future. Our appropriation is determined by leaders who need an accurate view of how UNL strengthens Nebraska through the graduates we prepare, the businesses and innovations we help create and the research that attracts talent and investment to our state. As Nebraska’s largest economic driver, UNL plays a vital role in the state’s prosperity, and I will continue making that case while keeping you informed about both our progress and the challenges we face along the way. Our partnerships across Nebraska continue to elevate our state, and I look forward to meeting with additional state senators in the months ahead and continuing to nurture these relationships.
One only needs to read the economic forecasts for Nebraska to understand that we are not out of the woods yet. On the heels of the $27.5 million we reduced last year (and are still realizing), I shared with you in July that the state directed a five percent reduction and spending restraint across agencies. Our share of that was $13.9 million, and it arrived at the beginning of our fiscal year. I said at the time that a reduction of this size, arriving when it did, was a serious setback. That is still my view. Since 2020, roughly $75 million has come out of this university permanently.
Here is a reminder of what this means between now and the end of the academic year. The hiring freeze holds, and we are only refilling the positions we cannot operate without. We are deferring investments in classroom technology and building infrastructure. There are things I do not know yet, such as how the state’s projected budget shortfall and ongoing deficit will impact us.
Here is what I do know and believe so strongly in: the power of education. Each of us is constantly educating, whether in the classroom, lab, studio or field, or with our families, friends and communities of influence. We do it through our words and actions. We believe in this university and need to demonstrate and communicate its impact, our impact, with the same intentionality and care as we take providing educational experiences for our students. This means remembering, always, our “why.” The “why” of what a college education at UNL means. The “why” of our research, our Extension, our service. Look no further than Our Bold Path Forward to remind yourself of our priorities — priorities you helped shape.
Earlier this month, I welcomed those participating in the National Strategic Research Institute Research Showcase (NSRI) on East Campus. The showcase was a powerful demonstration of our faculty’s excellence and the ways our faculty and students contribute to NSRI’s mission — from strategic deterrence and countering weapons of mass destruction to resilient communications and radiological protection for the people who serve our nation. When U.S. Strategic Command raised NSRI’s contracting ceiling to $500 million this year, it was a statement of trust in the quality of what is done here. It was especially meaningful to have U.S. Senator Deb Fischer and Admiral Richard Correll of U.S. Strategic Command join us for the showcase. Their presence underscored the importance of these partnerships and the national significance of the work taking place on our campuses. This work is exactly what a land-grant university was created to do. The obligation is the same one we accepted in 1869: to use our knowledge, talent and expertise in service to our state, our nation and the people who depend on us.
And who does this work? Our engineers, chemists, veterinarians, food scientists, computer scientists and graduate students — people who came to Lincoln to study something they love and who are now applying that expertise to challenges of national and global consequence.
Before you read further, I want to identify something, because I suspect some of you are already thinking it. A $500 million contracting ceiling and a $13.9 million shortfall in the same message can look like a contradiction. It is not. Those are restricted federal contract dollars, committed to specific work and specific people, and they cannot be moved to cover a state-aided operating budget. I would rather explain that plainly than have it look like we are pleading poverty with one hand and celebrating with the other.
On Wednesday, Sept. 30, we will have the inaugural UNL-UNMC Summit, which is part of our ongoing effort to strengthen that partnership to advance education, research and service to Nebraska. A few goals of the summit include strengthening faculty and staff connections; highlighting shared strengths and identifying opportunities for strategic growth; and identifying structural barriers to collaboration while proposing solutions to those barriers.
Finally, I look forward to celebrating another group whose contributions are central to everything we accomplish: our employees.
On Friday, Oct. 2, at 11 a.m., we will gather at the Coliseum on City Campus for our 2026 Celebration of Service. This event recognizes employees who have reached a five-year service milestone. This year, 870 employees are being honored, including one employee reaching 60 years of service, two reaching 50 years and nine reaching 40 years.
Sixty years. I think about what this university has asked of that person across six decades, and about how much of what we are is carried by people who have devoted their work life to us, not only to the power of what an education can provide individuals, but to the positive difference it makes for our future. Please come if you can and help us recognize these remarkable milestones.
Thank you for all you do for our students, our state, our nation and one another. Each contribution matters. Every person and every interaction matters. Together, we create a community built on integrity, compassion and a shared commitment to doing the next right thing.
Sincerely,
Katherine S. Ankerson
Interim Chancellor, University of Nebraska–Lincoln