February 9, 2026
Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,
We begin 2026 with momentum across the University of Nebraska System; the legislative session is now almost halfway complete and there are multiple campus updates to share.
We welcomed a new interim chancellor at our Lincoln campus, Katherine S. Ankerson, whose appointment was formally approved by the NU Board of Regents on Friday. We also welcomed a new regent, Dr. Joel Makovicka, an Omaha business owner and UNL alum, who was appointed by Gov. Pillen and attended his first board meeting last week.
A search is now underway for a permanent chancellor for our medical center campus. We are implementing a new governance structure at Nebraska Medicine that will position us to continue providing world-class medical education and care well into the future. Construction is nearing completion on the Health Science Education Center at the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
And the renewal of the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement at the University of Nebraska at Omaha underscores decades of meaningful community partnerships and engagement.
Today, I am writing to celebrate another important initiative: the launch today of a new system-wide AI Institute that will position Nebraska as a national leader in shaping the future of responsible, human-centered artificial intelligence.
The University of Nebraska AI Institute will bring together emerging technologies and human expertise to serve society, grow the economy and support future generations. Through interdisciplinary research, teaching, workforce development and public engagement, its work will span areas such as healthcare, agriculture, rural and urban development, business and national security—placing Nebraska at the forefront of applied AI research and advancement.
The AI Institute will be co-directed by Santosh Pitla, Ph.D., professor of Biological Systems Engineering, and Adrian Wisnicki, Ph.D., professor of English, both at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. It builds on a recommendation from the NU AI Task Force, a faculty-led group that developed a system-wide roadmap for how the university engages with artificial intelligence across research, teaching, outreach and service.
Structured as a hub-and-spoke model, the AI Institute will coordinate AI research, teaching and engagement efforts across the NU System while leveraging the unique strengths of each campus and its faculty and positioning our university as a leading institution in this space.
The University of Nebraska invites faculty, students, staff, industry partners and communities statewide to engage with the AI Institute as it launches its first year of programming and events. More information, updates and opportunities to collaborate are available at ai.nebraska.edu.
Thank you for all you do to advance the mission of the University of Nebraska. I look forward to the year ahead and to the many ways our university will continue to lead, innovate, and serve.
