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Harold and Marian Andersen with Carol Russell, right, president of Nebraskans for Research. |
The Andersens were recognized April 24 at NFR’s fourth annual tribute luncheon held before a capacity crowd of more than 240 people at Happy Hollow Country Club. They were recognized for their contributions to professional and community organizations and their tireless advocacy both for freedom of the press and for the freedom of scientists to pursue life-saving research.
NFR is a 501C3 organization formed in 2000 to provide a positive voice in support of the continued development of medical research in Nebraska. A statewide organization, its members cross political and religious affiliations in support of research.
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“Nebraskans for Research is proud to salute a couple who is known to so many because of their contributions and the leadership roles they’ve held both locally and nationally,” said Carol Russell, president of Nebraskans for Research. “The Andersens have spent their lives championing what they believe in so strongly. They believe freedom of speech and freedom of the press are critical to a democratic society. They understand that literacy is a key characteristic of a productive society. They champion the freedom of scientists to pursue life-saving research, so that we might have a healthy society.”
Charles Wilson, M.D., a member of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, saluted the Andersens at the luncheon by calling them “outspoken champions for medical research.”
Marian Andersen has been going to UNMC for years for her medical care. She delighted the audience by telling about her many surgeries at UNMC, including seven hip surgeries, a shoulder replacement and a neck vertebra fusion.
“When I go through security (at the airport), the agents are dazzled,” she said. “They say, ‘You must be the Bionic Woman.’ I’ve spent quite a bit of time on 6 West. I may have overdone it a little bit. Each January, we go in and ask Dr. Kevin Garvin (professor and chairman of UNMC’s Department of Orthopaedic Surgery) what he’s offering this year.”
Harold Andersen cited Iowa as a state in which the legislature passed a ban on embryonic stem cell research. The ban resulted in a University of Iowa researcher leaving the state and going to Northwestern University. Andersen said it would be “tragic” for such a ban to occur in Nebraska
Both Phi Beta Kappa graduates of the University of Nebraska, the Andersens have been involved in many diverse civic, community and philanthropic endeavors.
Marian and Andy have been involved together in a number of public service endeavors. They were the founding co-chairmen of the fund-raising Alexis de Tocqueville Society of the United Way of the Midlands. They are the only couple to have each served as chairman of the University of Nebraska Foundation and co-chaired the Foundation’s Campaign Nebraska, which raised some $725 million for the university.
Marian was the first woman to head the Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross and later became vice chairman of the board of governors of the American Red Cross and a director of the Public Broadcasting System. She also was the first woman and first non-Lincoln resident to become chairman of the University of Nebraska Foundation board of directors.
Andy was the first American to serve as president of the International Federation of Newspaper Publishers and is the only Nebraskan to be president of the American Newspaper Publishers Association.