Remembering UNMC supporter Ernest Thayer

Ernest “Ernie” Thayer, who with his wife, Jan, and family was a longtime friend and financial supporter of UNMC, died Sept. 15. He was 87.

The Thayer family, long involved in health care, nutrition and assisted living in the Grand Island area, were supporters of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center. In recent years, the Thayer family has been an enthusiastic supporter of the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions. The family established, then added to, an endowed scholarship fund with first preference for allied health students students from underrepresented communities.

Thayer was former chairman of the Nebraska State Chamber of Commerce and was chairman and CEO of the Agricultural Land Company in Grand Island. He was raised on a farm near Wolbach, Nebraska, graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and served in the U.S. Army. He worked in banking and agribusiness and served his state and community in numerous ways.

His wife, Jan Thayer, who died in 2014, was a UNL alumnus, a clinical dietician, a notable Nebraskan, quality-care advocate and the third woman ever voted into the Nebraska Business Hall of Fame for pioneering assisted-living care for seniors in Nebraska in the early 1980s. She was a founding member of the Nebraska Medical Center’s board of directors.

“The impact Ernie and Jan have had on Nebraska reaches every corner of the state,” said Kyle Meyer, PhD, dean of the UNMC College of Allied Health Professions. “It’s a tremendous privilege for the college to have a named scholarship that honors the legacy of this great family.”

The couple had three sons, including D.J. Thayer, director of international and domestic business affairs for UNMC.