Thanks to a $50,000 gift, UNMC dental student Jane Bennett is looking forward to the new student computer and study room at the College of Dentistry.
“This gift is really going to be appreciated by students because there are many useful PC applications that can help us better understand the subjects we study,” said Bennett, a junior from Lincoln. “It’s going to be a very beneficial and wonderful gift.”
Longtime university supporter Ken Morrison of Hastings provided the gift to the University of Nebraska Foundation for the new student facility. The room, planned for the first floor of the dental college building, will contain PCs, printers and ample room for study space. Morrison became familiar with some of the dental college’s needs and priorities through his hometown dentist and friend John R. Seberg, a 1944 graduate of the UNMC College of Dentistry.
Morrison said he’s especially pleased to support the project because of the college’s tremendous need for it.
“When you give, you want the gift to achieve the maximum amount of benefit for the recipient,” Morrison said. “Here’s another opportunity — this is something students need and are really going to use and benefit from. And certainly there is no lack of use for computers and computer rooms at colleges.”
John Reinhardt, D.D.S., dean of the UNMC College of Dentistry, thanked Morrison and said students soon will have outstanding amenities dedicated to learning.
“Scientific advances in dentistry are occurring rapidly, and computers are necessary for dental professionals to keep pace,” Dr. Reinhardt said. “Mr. Morrison’s generous gift will help us meet some of our major educational goals, which include teaching our students to be life-long learners and to become skilled in using information technology.”
Morrison is a general partner and business manager of Morrison Enterprises, an agricultural company engaging in alfalfa production and marketing, grain storage, livestock production, farmland development and management, aquaculture and cotton and feed grain production.
Over the years, Morrison has supported numerous university programs. He established the Morrison Biotechnology Fund and the Kenneth Morrison Distinguished Professorship in Food Engineering for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, provided support for the Lois G. Roskens Professorship in Educational Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and has been a strong supporter of university athletics.
Photo cutline: A $50,000 gift from Ken Morrison enables the college to proceed with plans for a new student computer and study room. Above: Assistant Dean Mike Molvar (back to camera) and dental students (clockwise) Nik Sather, Chris Harris, Corey Karmazin, Shilo Hilger and Jane Bennett.