Public Service Award
The 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.
PUBLIC SERVICE AWARD 2022
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).