UNO Alumni Night of Honor 

On Thursday, December 1, 2022, the UNO Alumni Association celebrated achievements by members of the worldwide UNO alumni network, now numbering more than 120,000 living graduates, with the 2022 UNO Alumni Night of Honor.

The event was held at Mammel Hall on UNO’s Scott Campus. Among the highlights was a surprise renaming of the service award to the Jim Leslie Outstanding Service Award in honor of Jim Leslie, president of the alumni association from 1973-2006. Leslie was on hand for the ceremony, receiving a miniature replica of the campus' Maverick Monument in recognition of the honor.

Past recipients of alumni awards who were present at the event also were honored. The ceremony continued with the following awards issued. 

  • Outstanding Service Award: Chris Denney, Al Hansen and Laurie Ruge
  • Alumni Public Service Award: Senator Mike McDonnell
  • Young Alumni Achievement Award: Sahra Kaboli-Nejad and Elizabeth O’Connor
  • UNO Athletic Hall of Fame: Foluso (Makinde) Adepitan (track and field), Brian Masek (football) and Krista Unger Wood (softball).

OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARDS

Established in 1974, Outstanding Service Awards honor faculty, staff, alumni or friends who have shown long, outstanding service to the alumni association and/or university. With this year’s honorees, the list of recipients grows to 117 individuals.

Al Hansen
Al Hansen was the 95th alum to chair the board, from 2017-18. He is a 1984 graduate with a BSBA in finance. He joined the board in 2012. He is recently retired, last serving as senior vice president at First National Bank of Omaha. He worked previously for First Westside Bank and Omaha National Bank.

Laurie Ruge
Laurie Ruge, a 2001 MBA UNO graduate, was the 96th alum to chair the board, doing so in 2018-19. She joined the board in 2008 and served terms as treasurer, secretary and vice chair. She is vice president, audit, at Fiserv. She previously worked at ACI Worldwide, Gordmans and Deloitte.



Chris Denney
Chris Denney was the 97th graduate to chair the board, in 2019-20. He is director of strategy and development at OrthoNebraska. He earned a BS in 2005 in real estate and land use economics and an EMBA in 2017. Denney played football for the Mavericks as a four-year starter and captain. He joined the board in 2012.


YOUNG ALUMNI ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS

Established in 2014, Young Alumni Awards recognize outstanding career achievement, active community involvement or exceptional service to the university by graduates 40 or younger.

Sahra Kaboli-Nejad
Sahra Kaboli-Nejad is a first-generation Iranian-American, born and raised in Omaha. She currently is the global head of diversity, inclusion and social impact at On, one of the fastest growing global sports brands. There she serves as a leader to educate and empower the “Oniverse” to make inclusion core to the business. Her passion is to help organizations design working environments and experiences that increase diversity, equity and belonging. Kaboli-Nejad earned a master’s degree in industrial organizational psychology (2018) and a Ph.D. in psychology (2021) from UNO. Prior to joining On she was a senior people scientist at Culture Amp in San Francisco. Kaboli-Nejad also has worked for CHI Health, Quantum Workplace, the Center for Applied Psychological Services, Project Interfaith and the Eileen B. Lieben Center for Women, all of Omaha.

Elizabeth O’Connor
Elizabeth O'Connor is a deputy county attorney in the civil division of the Douglas County, Nebraska Attorney’s Office. Prior to that she was a litigator in private practice. She also is a University of Nebraska Regent, believed to be the youngest person ever elected to a regent seat. She graduated from UNO in 2012 with a BA in political science. At UNO she served as student body president/student regent, speaker of the senate, Chi Omega community service chair, and a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa honors society. Upon graduation, she was awarded the Sr. Vice Chancellor's Student Leadership Award, Outstanding Student in Arts and Sciences, and Outstanding Student in Political Science. She went on to graduate from Notre Dame Law School.

PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD

The Alumni Public Service Award recognizes UNO alumni who have a record of outstanding public service benefiting the advancement of the university and higher education in general.

Senator Mike McDonnell
State Senator Mike McDonnell was elected to the Nebraska Legislature in 2016 and reelected in 2020. He is president of the Omaha Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. Prior to that he was chief of the Omaha Fire Department for six years, retiring in 2013 after 24 years with the department. During that stint he served terms as president of the Omaha Professional Firefighters IAFF Local 385 and the Nebraska Professional Firefighters Association. He also has served as an executive board member for the Nebraska State AFL-CIO. He has taught as a senior community service associate with UNO’s William Brennan Institute for Labor Studies. McDonnell has earned numerous honors and awards, including the 2018 Legislative Leadership Development Award from the Bohay Institute. He earned a BS in criminal justice from UNO in 1992 and a BS in fire protection technology from UNL in 1996. He also has an MPA from Bellevue University (2014).

UNO ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME
A joint venture of the UNO Alumni Association and UNO Athletics, the UNO Athletic Hall of Fame began in 1975 and with the 2022 class now numbers 123 inductees.

Foluso (Makinde) Adepitan
Foluso Adepitan was a two-time national champion and a six-time All-American for UNO track and field from 2003-2006. Adepitan won the long jump at the indoor national championship in 2005 and 2006. Outdoors, she was the national runner-up in the long jump in 2005 and finished third in 2006. She was the North Central Conference champion in the long jump indoors in 2005 and 2006 and won the NCC title in the long jump outdoors in 2004, 2005, and 2006. She also was a member of UNO’s NCC Championship 4x100 meter relay team in 2006. In addition, she was a member of the Academic All-NCC Team in both 2005 and 2006.

Brian Masek
A four-year starter at quarterback from 2002-2006, Brian Masek is UNO’s all-time passing leader with 7,155 career passing yards and 70 touchdowns, both school records. He also holds the school record for most career completions (500) and career total offense (8,531 yards). As a sophomore in 2003, Masek broke the late Marlin Briscoe’s 1967 record for total offense in a season with 2,645 yards. As a junior in 2004, Masek was named the All-NCC quarterback after completing 57.1 percent of his passes for 1,695 yards and 17 touchdowns. Masek also accumulated 424 yards on 89 rushing attempts with seven touchdowns. As a senior in 2005, he earned the team’s Beckman Award for his offensive excellence. He was also selected to the Academic All-NCC Team twice.

Krista (Unger) Wood
Krist (Unger) Wood pitched for the UNO softball team from 1999-2003 and left as the school’s all-time winningest pitcher with a record of 106-27. A two-time all-conference selection, Wood led the Mavericks to the 2001 national championship and was named to the all-tournament team. In the national championship game, Wood threw a complete-game two-hitter with five strikeouts and no walks to give UNO a 4-0 win. Wood pitched 43 career shutouts. She is second in school history with 530 career strikeouts and her career ERA of 1.25 ranks seventh. Wood was a 2001 NFCA All-Region selection and was the 2000 NCC Freshman of the Year. She also was a two-time Academic All-District VII selection and three-time Academic All-NCC selection.