Kathy Tenopir, legislative program analyst for the state’s fiscal office, recently toured UNMC, meeting with campus leaders and touring the Dr. Edwin G. & Dorothy Balbach Davis Global Center.
Tenopir was making her final official visit to UNMC; in January, she will retire after a 41-year-career with the legislature.
She said she had always been interested in the Davis Global Center project, and she enjoyed learning about UNMC’s tech transfer efforts, as well.
“I have to tell you, it’s strange to think back over all those years of the fantastic changes that have happened, throughout the university and especially on this campus,” she said. “It is miraculous, the changes that have gone on.”
UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., met with Tenopir following her tour, and Bob Bartee, vice chancellor for external relations, hosted a “Thank You” lunch for her, featuring UNMC business leaders and the government relations team.
Bartee pointed to Tenopir’s assistance in helping shape UNMC’s budget requests on numerous facility projects and programs.
“She did so,” he said, “by asking tough questions and challenging our assumptions in our request documents. She also visited the campus to inquire whether we had met our goals and budget targets.”
Bartee mentioned facility projects such as iEXCEL, the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, the College of Nursing divisions in Norfolk and Lincoln, as well as the collaborative allied health and nursing facility at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He also listed programs as wide-ranging as the Rural Health Opportunities Program and UNeTech.
“It has been a pleasure to work with Kathy over the years,” Bartee said. “She has always been a conduit between the university and the legislature. We at UNMC enjoyed sharing our successes with her one last time, and we wish her well in her retirement.”