Milliken, Kauffman to receive Spirit of Nebraska awards

The fourth annual Nebraska Ring Ceremony will be held at the Wick Alumni Center April 29, with 40 alumni and students receiving their official Nebraska rings purchased earlier this year.

Rings and The Spirit of Nebraska awards also will be presented to James B. Milliken (B.A., 1979), University of Nebraska President; and Jan Kauffman (M.Ed. 1989), director of the Nebraska Human Resources Institute. The award is given annually to alumni who go above and beyond their job requirements to improve the quality of student life, display selfless service to the university, and foster or improve a campus tradition.

Milliken took over leadership of the four-campus University of Nebraska system Aug. 1, 2004, after serving as senior vice president for university affairs at the University of North Carolina's 16-campus system. A fourth-generation native of Fremont, Milliken was selected for Innocents Society, Mortar Board and Phi Beta Kappa while a student at UNL. He continued his education as a Root-Tilden scholar at New York University's law school, joining a Wall Street law firm after graduation. Milliken returned to academia in 1988 as vice president for external affairs, first at Nebraska and later at North Carolina.

Kauffman, director of NHRI since 1998, joined the institute in 1985 as part-time business manager. She later became associate director, continuing as business manager while assuming responsibilities for the institute's child and pre-teen projects. By 1992, she was teaching numerous related classes in Teachers College (now part of the College of Education and Human Sciences) and from 1992-94 served in an interim leadership capacity when the NHRI director retired. Kauffman received her bachelor's degree from the University of Colorado and her master's from UNL.

The ceremony will be at 7 p.m. in the Wick Alumni Center, 1520 R St.

CONTACT: Shelley Zaborowski, Nebraska Alumni Association, (402) 472-4222