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The gifts — which will go before the University of Nebraska Board of Regents for formal approval this Friday — will facilitate the construction of a College of Public Health building and an addition for the College of Nursing’s Omaha building.
“We created the dream of a building for the College of Public Health and an expanded College of Nursing,” Dr. Maurer said. “The individuals who made this dream a reality are the Scotts.”
The Scotts — who now have made seven major donations to UNMC in the past five years — have been incredibly generous to the medical center, he said.
Just last month, the Scotts provided funding for construction of a four-season student plaza, including an ice rink and architectural/artistic feature as the centerpiece for the UNMC academic campus.
The College of Public Health building — a $16.5 million project — will be south of Dewey Avenue on the east side of 40th Street in what is presently a UNMC parking lot.
The College of Nursing addition — which will cost about $14 million — will be constructed to the east of the existing College of Nursing building at 42nd Street and Dewey Avenue.
College of Nursing student Tim Pontti thanked the Scotts for making the gift, which he said will help UNMC recruit future nursing students.
The college’s current Omaha building requires updating to help facilitate the cutting-edge research and teaching being done by the college’s faculty and students, said Pontti, a native of Waialua, Hawaii.
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UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., points out where the new College of Nursing addition will be placed. |
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College of Public Health student Adrianne Wemmert, left, talks with Ruth Scott as the college’s dean, Jay Noren, M.D., looks on. Thanks to a gift from Scott and her husband, Bill Scott, plans are in the works for the college to receive a building of its own on the east end of the UNMC Omaha campus. |
“I’ve been here a while and I still can’t figure out how to open those things,” Pontti said. “So if the budget allows for it, some new mailboxes would be nice.”
Adrianne Wemmert, a student in the College of Public Health from Racine, Wis., said the Scotts’ gift will help UNMC address Nebraska’s many public health issues such as childhood obesity, diabetes, heart disease and addiction.
“I just want to thank the Scotts for giving public health a home in Nebraska,” Wemmert said.
The Scotts latest gifts pull all UNMC’s academic programs together in one common area bounded by 40th Street on the east, Emile Street on the south, 42nd Street on the west, and Dewey Avenue on the north. Prior to this, UNMC’s academic programs were scattered around campus.
This consolidation of UNMC’s academic institutions — along with the student plaza — will allow UNMC to achieve a true-campus feel that will attract students and facilitate interaction between students from all colleges, Dr. Maurer said.
This interaction will be important in establishing the interdisciplinary communication students need to develop success in their respective health care careers, he said.
Construction on the nursing addition is expected to begin in December and end by March of 2010. Construction on the College of Public Health building is slated to begin in January 2009 with completion in April 2010.
Construction of the student plaza will begin this spring. It will be completed in phases over the next two years. When completed, it will serve as a central outdoor area for student and campus activities during warmer months and will convert into a mechanically frozen ice rink during the winter months.
Bill Scott is a former vice president of Berkshire Hathaway. Ruth Scott is a bridge instructor and founder of the Omaha Bridge Studio.