Faculty class graduates from UNMC’s iLEAD leadership program

Thirty-two UNMC faculty members graduated from UNMC’s intensive, nine-month Interprofessional Leadership for Excellence and Academic Development (iLEAD) program on June 8.

See the full list of iLEAD 2023 graduates.

The iLEAD program is designed to help faculty explore and refine their own leadership, collaborate with other rising leaders across campus and examine leadership topics such as change management, budgeting, communication and conflict resolution.

During the graduation event, each participant showcased these skills with individual leadership projects — which have made a wide-ranging impact within multiple departments across UNMC.

View this Flickr photo album from the graduation event for the iLEAD program.

Rebekah Gundry, PhD, interim chair of the UNMC Department of Cellular and Integrative Physiology and director of the Center for Heart and Vascular Research, said she learned more about herself through the program than she expected.

“With this new understanding comes a realization of how I can approach situations and personalities with a level of confidence and grace that I did not previously believe possible,” she said.

Carrie Meyer, assistant professor with the McGoogan Health Sciences Library and head of special collections and archives, said that iLEAD’s impact goes beyond each faculty member’s individual growth.

“iLEAD fosters collaboration and relationship-building from all colleges, specialties and communities of practice,” she said. “Creating these opportunities to break down silos, forge connections and interact with individuals committed to making themselves and their units stronger also strengthens UNMC.”

Applications for the next iLEAD cohort will open in summer 2024.

Faculty members can explore other initiatives facilitated by the UNMC Office of Faculty Development, including two leadership communities in the 2023-2024 academic year.