Zach Gilbert
NEWS EDITOR
After serving as chancellor for the University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) for four years, Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., will be stepping down from this role on June 30, 2021 to take up a new role as executive vice president and provost of the University of Nebraska system.
Chancellor Gold initially assumed his position at UNO in 2017, taking on these responsibilities alongside his additional duties as the chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC). However, both Gold and University of Nebraska System President Ted Carter acknowledge that the ultimate goal was to have separate chancellors for UNO and UNMC.
“The new and exciting initiatives underway at both UNO and UNMC demand that we have a leader devoted full-time to the unique needs and opportunities of each campus,” Carter said in a statement sent out by email to all UNO students and staff. “In addition, the pending retirement of our current executive vice president and provost, Dr. Susan Fritz, creates an opportunity for Dr. Gold to assume a new system-wide role that will leverage his invaluable counsel and deep expertise.”
Gold will remain chancellor of UNMC and continue to act as the Board Chair of Nebraska Medicine as he fulfills his new role as executive vice president and provost.
In Gold’s personal farewell address, he reflected on past successes at UNO and offered his gratitude to the Maverick family for allowing him to serve as chancellor for these past four years. He also offered an explanation for his departure.
“As a first-generation student from New York City, I was drawn in by the institution’s infectious attributes that together make the Maverick Spirit,” Gold said. “That same Maverick Spirit – the innate calling that drives us to collaborate, to create, to explore, and to make a positive difference in as many lives as possible – is also what draws me to serve at the system level. I can say with full confidence that the Maverick Spirit will weave its way into all that I do in the future, in tasks both big and small.”
Gold made note of past achievements that occurred throughout his time as chancellor, including adapting courses and activities during the COVID-19 outbreak, speaking out against injustices faced by marginalized communities and reaching historic retention in enrollment. He ended his address with a hopeful message for what’s to come.
“Though we have much to accomplish together in the next eight months, I do look forward to moments that we may have together as a community to reflect, and to build the future,” Gold said. “What we are doing here at this university matters. We are changing lives. We are making our home of Omaha – our living, breathing campus – a better place to live, work, and grow.”
In addition to announcing Gold’s departure, Carter noted that the University of Nebraska leadership will be launching a national search for UNO’s next chancellor. The team has asked AGB search, a leading higher education executive search agency, to assist them in their endeavors. Their next task will involve assembling a broadly representative search committee, according to Carter.
“The timing could not be better to find the next outstanding person to lead UNO into the future,” Carter said. “She or he will be someone who emerges from a deep, talented, diverse pool of candidates – someone who understands UNO’s mission as an access-oriented, metropolitan university, and who can identify opportunities to take your momentum to the next level.”
