Ruth Scott is beaming.
The super donor, who along with her husband, Bill, has transformed the UNMC campus with their incredible philanthropy, has pulled off perhaps her biggest deal yet — serving as matchmaker for her grandson.
And, oh what a match it is.
The wedding, which was held May 24 at St. John’s Church on the Creighton University campus, brought together the Scotts’ grandson, Eric Nagengast, M.D., and Sarah Hollins, the daughter of two UNMC physicians — Ronald Hollins, M.D., a plastic surgeon, and Susan Hollins, M.D., a pediatrician.
For UNMC, it may be as close to a royal wedding as you can get.
Eric, who is the son of David and Stephanie Scott and Dr. Stephen and Karla Nagengast, was a distinguished medical school graduate of UNMC in 2015. Sarah was Miss Nebraska USA in 2016 as well as Miss Nebraska Teen USA in 2009.
Eric got to know Dr. Ron Hollins during medical school. In fact, Dr. Hollins wrote a letter of recommendation for Eric to help him land his plastic surgery residency at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
Sarah earned her degree in broadcast journalism at the University of Missouri, worked in PR for an aerospace company and eventually moved to LA where she got into the fashion business working on wedding dresses and ball gowns.
Eric was featured in a cover story in UNMC Connect magazine in 2014. He was recognized for his volunteer missions to India, Colombia and Rwanda to provide life-changing surgical care for people.
The story caught the attention of Sarah’s mother, who wondered, “Why can’t Sarah meet a nice young man like this?”
It took Ruth Scott to get it done.
She called Eric about three years ago to let him know she had an appointment with Dr. Hollins and to see if Eric had a message for him.
Eric said, “No, just tell him hi.”
A bit later, Eric, who knew Sarah was in L.A. but had never met her, called Ruth back and laughingly said, “You might ask him if he thinks his daughter would be willing to go out with me.”
Ruth relayed the message, and three hours later, Sarah texted her phone number to Eric.
Since Eric was in his residency, Ruth knew he’d be strapped for cash. So, like any good grandmother (or Nana, in Ruth’s case), she sent Eric a few bucks so he could take Sarah out for a nice dinner.
They had their first date on June 16, 2016. Now, each year — in honor of Ruth — they celebrate their “Nanaversary” on June 16.