HERB SKLENAR
If you’re wondering why a landlocked Nebraska native would get a ship named in his honor, just take a look at the career of 1952 UNO graduate Herb Sklenar. In 2007, Vulcan Materials Company christened a cargo vessel the H.A. Sklenar in honor of the company’s former chairman and CEO. Vulcan is the nation’s largest producer of construction aggregate, asphalt, ready mix concrete, railroad ballast, and agricultural limestone. Its enormous ships transport the materials coast to coast — and the H.A. Sklenar became the largest in the fleet, capable of carrying 68,000 tons per load in its 2.6 million cubic feet of cargo space. Vulcan recruited Sklenar as vice president of finance in 1972. He rose steadily through the company ranks, becoming president in 1983, CEO in 1986, chairman in 1992 and chairman emeritus upon retirement in 1997. (Photo: Sklenar with his wife, Ellie.