I was born and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska as were my parents. My father was a hardworking salesman who did not finish high school. My mother, whose parents were Germans from Russia that settled in the German Bottoms of Lincoln, was a housewife. My family included a younger brother and sister, and we, like my mother, graduated from Lincoln High School.

After graduating from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln in 1964 with a bachelor’s degree in accounting, I took a job with Eastman Kodak in Rochester, NY and then transferred to Denver. I worked in the Internal Audit Department and as an Operations Manager. While working at Eastman Kodak in Denver, I was awarded an MBA from the University of Colorado through their evening program.

In 1975 I received a Ph. D. in Accounting from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. My career in higher education as a professor included teaching positions at the University of Nebraska, University of South Dakota, and University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. At the University of South Dakota and the University of Nebraska at Kearney, I held various administrative positions including: Dean of the College of Business & Technology, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vice President for University Relations, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs, and Interim President.

1. Member of the City Council and Mayor of the City of Kearney
2. Member of the Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. (Also member of the Chamber Board in Vermillion, SD.)
3. Member of the Buffalo County Economic Development Board. (Also member of the Economic Board in Vermillion, SD.)
4. Member and Chair of the Good Samaritan Hospital Board. Recognized by the Nebraska Hospital Association as Trustee of the Year in 2006.
5. Member and Chair of CHAN, a non-profit organization that provides internal audit to non-profit health care organizations.
6. Member of St. John’s Good Samaritan Center Board of Directors.
7. Co-Chair with my wife of the Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA) semi-annual fund-raising event.
8. Co-chair with my wife of the capitol campaign to enlarge and remodel the Kearney Public Library.
9. Member of the Nebraska Legislature since 2009.