UNO Alumni Association

W.H. Thompson Alumni Center

University of Nebraska at Omaha

Omaha, NE 68182-0010

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: Oct. 23, 2001

Contact: Anthony Flott

aflott@mail.unomaha.edu

(402) 554-2989

 

 

2001 Outstanding Service Awards

(OMAHA, NE) — The UNO Alumni Association issued three of its Outstanding Service Awards during the organization’s annual Chairman of the Board Dinner Thursday, Oct. 30.

 

The dinner, hosted by Alumni Association Chairman of the Board Bruce W. Bisson, was held at Omaha Country Club in appreciation for the efforts of the 27-member UNO Alumni Association Board of Directors.

 

Outstanding Service Awards honor faculty, staff, alumni or friends who have shown continuous, outstanding service to the alumni association and/or university. Receiving 2001 Outstanding Service Awards were Kathleen Olson, James C. Semerad and Rosemary Skrupa.

 

Olson is past chairman of the Association’s Board of Directors. She joined the board in 1997, serving as its vice chairman in 1999 and as its chairman in 2000. She has served on the Communications, Corporate and Professional Outreach, Executive, Personnel and Board of Directors Nominating committees. During her time as president in 2000 the Association raised a record-$60,000 at the annual Scholarship Swing golf outing. A 1975 UNO alumna, Olson is Mutual of Omaha’s vice president for public affairs.

 

Semerad was founding president of UNO’s Blue Line Club, which in five years has grown into the largest booster group in college hockey. Membership last year reached an all-time high of 2,010. Blue Line proceeds go to programs that help enhance Maverick hockey. That includes funding scholarships for fifth-year seniors, purchasing video equipment for the coaching staff, carpeting the team's dressing room and providing other amenities, building a trophy case at the Civic Auditorium and producing a recruiting video. The club also holds an annual golf tournament, which serves as its chief fund-raiser, and it hosts various activities where fans can get up-close and personal with the coaches and players. Semerad currently is past president and coordinator of the Blue Line Luncheons, which regularly attract close to 300 fans.

 

Skrupa was a member of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents from 1988 to 2000, representing the Omaha district. The Regents oversee the four campuses of the NU system. A judge on the former Omaha Municipal Court who also served on the Omaha Public Power District board in the late 1970s, Skrupa was a vocal proponent of UNO on issues affecting the University. During her tenure with the Regents UNO expanded its campus to Aksarben, added student dorms and established the College of Information Science and Technology.

 

 

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