Christopher Warner has joined the University of Nebraska National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI), a United States Strategic Command-sponsored University Affiliated Research Center (UARC), as its business development director.
The UARC is housed at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Previously Warner was employed by Booz Allen Hamilton Engineering Services LLC, ARINC, and Northrop Grumman following a career in the United States Air Force. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette and earned his master’s degree from Embry-Riddle University.
Warner will develop new relationships to expand combating weapons of mass destruction, the focus of the NSRI. The UARC concentrates on five core research competencies in support of the United States Strategic Command, the Department of Defense and other agencies.
“The addition of Chris to our team will provide immediate attention to our goal of supporting the mission and business responsibilities of our UARC while creating significant research opportunities for the university faculty and researchers. He will be working directly with our defense partners and other federal agencies serving as a conduit between them and the research expertise of the University of Nebraska,” said Robert C. Hinson, executive director of NSRI.
Only 13 U.S. universities, including the University of Nebraska, hold the designation as a UARC. UARCs are affiliated with leading research universities that are established to provide or maintain essential engineering, research and/or development capabilities through a long term, strategic relations with the Department of Defense. The original UARC laboratories evolved from World War II era research programs and proved to be very effective in executing national security research initiatives.
Some of these institutions include the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University and Penn State University, which are among the national leaders in research and development expenditures financed by the Department of Defense.
The University of Nebraska’s National Strategic Research Institute is a designated 501c3 not-for-profit subsidiary organization of the University Technology Development Corporation at the University of Nebraska. The University of Nebraska and the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) entered into a long term strategic partnership in 2012 to provide mission-essential research and development capabilities in five core competencies: nuclear detection and forensics, chemical and biological weapons detection, passive medical defense against weapons of mass destruction, consequence management, and space, cyber and telecommunications law.
The University of Nebraska, the state’s only public university, was founded in 1869, less than two years after Nebraska became a state. The university is home to 50,000 students on four campuses in Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney, plus a college of technical agriculture in Curtis. Its 14,000 talented faculty and staff support the people of Nebraska through high-quality teaching, groundbreaking research and outreach and engagement in communities around the state.