Dr. Jeffrey Gold may be known to many Nebraskans for having led two of the University of Nebraska’s Omaha campuses, but he’s also no stranger to the more rural parts of the state.

Last week, Gold, who is currently chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, was tapped as the regents’ pick to become the next president of the NU system. A day earlier, however, he and other top UNMC officials were in Scottsbluff meeting with hospital executives, area educators and community leaders.

During his Panhandle visit, Gold and Mel McNea, CEO of Regional West Health Services, signed an agreement that will allow more health professions’ students to complete clinical training rotations at area facilities. It’s one of a series of deals UNMC is inking with hospitals across the state.

Also along for the ride was a steel beam that will top off a new $95 million health education facility in Kearney. It’s been traveling the state this spring, giving Nebraskans an opportunity to sign a piece of the structure that will allow for expanded health professions education programs at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, which will be administered by UNMC.

While the phrase predates his tenure, Gold frequently reminds audiences that UNMC is a “500-mile campus.” Although its primary site is in Omaha, UNMC also has campuses in Kearney, Lincoln, Norfolk and Scottsbluff-Gering.

“That’s our mantra,” said Dr. Dele Davies, UNMC’s senior vice chancellor for academic affairs and dean of graduate studies, noting that university leaders regularly travel to those sites to gather feedback about programs needed in the state. “It’s in our mission to support the whole of the state, and we take that very seriously.”

Gold will have additional opportunities to traverse the state in the coming weeks. Under state law, he will be introduced to NU campuses and vetted over a 30-day period before receiving a final vote from the NU Board of Regents. Together, the university’s four campuses in Omaha, Lincoln and Kearney enroll nearly 50,000 students, employ 16,000 faculty and staff, and have a budget exceeding $3 billion.

While Gold acknowledged last week that there still are things he would need to learn in that new role as president, those who work closely with him said that he already has deep insight into other campuses and programs, as well as the state’s workforce and economic needs.

Not only has Gold, 71, served as UNMC’s chancellor since 2014, he also served concurrently as chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha from 2017 to 2021.

And since 2021, he also has served as executive vice president and provost for the NU system. That position made him the chief academic officer for the NU system — with the chief academic officer from each campus reporting to him — and liaison to the regents on all aspects of academic affairs.

“I have every confidence that Jeff will be successful as president,” said Dr. James Linder, CEO of Nebraska Medicine, UNMC’s primary clinical partner. Linder is familiar with the job, having served as interim NU president from 2014 to 2015.

National stature and a ‘big vision’

Linder said higher education today is under a lot of evolutionary pressures, with constituents wanting to make sure that it brings value for its cost, that graduation rates are high and that degrees are relevant to the needs of society.

“Having Jeff as a seasoned academic leader can strike that balance between evolving the university to be … efficient, if you will, and fiscally responsible, and still meeting the many needs that exist at NU,” Linder said.

Linder has worked closely with Gold for a decade, and was involved with bringing him to UNMC. In 2013, Linder was chairman of the search committee seeking a new chancellor. After a failed search, the committee cast a wider net. Gold emerged as the top choice for Linder and other committee members, as well as NU’s then-president, J.B. Milliken.

“The reason we were attracted to him was his national stature,” Linder said. Gold was — and continues to be — involved in a number of national professional committees and organizations in medicine and higher education.

Gold was high energy and high commitment, Linder said. And Gold had a background in engineering, which committee members believed would aid him in problem-solving.

UNK Chancellor Doug Kristensen, the longest-serving chancellor in the university’s history, agreed that Gold is ready for the job as president.

“He has a big vision, and that big vision includes what are the opportunities for the State of Nebraska, and not just Omaha,” he said. “I think that big vision will be very beneficial and will help all of Nebraska.”

Kristensen said Gold has been attuned to rural health needs for a long time, not just what hospitals or clinics need, but also what communities need. That includes health care workers. Gold, he said, has been a wonderful partner in helping UNK build on its health professions education initiatives. The new facility — the second in the Douglas A. Kristensen Rural Health Education Complex — will allow for expanded programs in nursing and allied health in Kearney and add programs in medicine, pharmacy and public health.

Training rural students close to home, Kristensen said, means they’re more likely to stay. For the last two years, 25% of incoming freshman have expressed interest in health professions.

“I don’t think I’m losing a champion at the med center,” he said. “I’m gaining one at Varner Hall.”

Nebraska’s workforce and quality of life

Some may see Gold as serious and focused, Kristensen said, but he also has a compassionate, caring side. Gold has helped a number of people he knows who have had serious health issues connect with the services they need.

Henry “Hod” Kosman, chairman and CEO of Platte Valley Companies in Scottsbluff, said that Gold has worked since he arrived at UNMC to make the health of all Nebraskans — and access to health care — better.

“I’m very pleased that they would consider him a priority candidate,” said Kosman, who serves on the board of Regional West and was among those who met with Gold and other UNMC officials last week.

Gold said his decade in Nebraska has given him opportunities to get to know the state. He’s spent time in a combine and visited Gov. Jim Pillen’s hog breeding facility. He’s also been able to connect with rural residents through his appearances on “Rural Health Matters,” a call-in show focused on health impacts on rural communities on RFD-TV. He is a co-convener of the university’s Water Resources Advisory Panel, a 17-member group of experts established to provide guidance to the university on state water research needs, education and outreach programs.

Gold stressed last week that he knows that the state’s workforce needs extend well beyond health care, as they do in many states, to fields as varied as engineering, technical agriculture and social work.

Gold said he and Pillen share a belief in the power of the university to build the state’s future workforce and improve quality of life.

“We need to compete, and we need to win,” he said.

World-Herald staff writer Henry J. Cordes contributed to this report.