Amy Goodburn is senior associate vice chancellor and dean of undergraduate education, and professor of English at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She leads strategic initiatives to increase undergraduate degree completion and close equity gaps, overseeing 12 units that support student retention, persistence, and career readiness.

In 2017, she created and now co-chairs First Generation Nebraska, a campus initiative designed to make the university more “first-generation friendly.”

Goodburn is a past president and board member of the Association for Undergraduate Education at Research Universities and currently serves as an Edgerton Fellow of the John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Higher Education. She is one of two UNL board members for the UNIZIN consortium and serves as institutional lead for UNL’s participation in FirstGen Forward as a Champion Institution.

Goodburn joined the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor in 2011 as associate vice chancellor to focus on student success. During her tenure, she has launched several campus units, including the Center for Academic Success and Transition; Explore Advising Center; Military and Veteran Success Center; Office of Undergraduate Research and Fellowships; Center for Transformative Teaching; and the Academic Navigator Team. From 2015 to 2017, she served as UNL’s interim dean of enrollment management.

As an academic leader, Goodburn prioritizes collaboration and shared decision-making. In 2019, she led a team that received the University of Nebraska’s Inclusive Excellence Collaboration Award for Husker Dialogues. Her leadership during UNL’s COVID-19 response planning and public health advocacy was recognized in 2021 with a Collaboration Award from Student Affairs and in 2022 with a Partner in Research Award from the Office of Research and Innovation. In 2024, she received the James V. Griesen Exemplary Service to Students Award.

Goodburn joined UNL’s Department of English in 1994. From 2001 to 2013, she co-coordinated the university’s Peer Review of Teaching Project, a faculty development program focused on documenting and assessing student learning. The project received the 2006 TIAA-CREF Hesburgh Award. Her publications include “Inquiry into the College Classroom: A Model for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning” and “Making Teaching and Learning Visible: Peer Review and Course Portfolios.”

Her teaching has been recognized with several college and university honors, including induction into UNL’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English and political science from Miami University, and two master’s degrees in English education and English, as well as a doctorate in English (composition and rhetoric) from Ohio State University.