DEPARTING WITH DAN DUNCAN

Q:How has Nebraska Innovation Campus developed during the last decade?

A: My Nebraska Innovation Campus (NIC) journey started in October 2011 when I accepted the role as the executive director of the Nebraska Innovation Campus Development Corp. Saying yes to this position meant packing my bags and leaving my position as assistant dean and director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Agricultural Research Division, a position I had held since 2008. But I was excited for the new adventure and the opportunity to be part of building an asset for the university and the state.

Some of you — and your parents or grandparents — will know the location of NIC as the former home of Nebraska State Fair. As the executive director of NIC, my task at hand is to transform this wellknown location into a campus that facilitates new and in-depth partnerships between the University of Nebraska and private sector businesses. Two historic buildings from the State Fair remain as anchor buildings on the campus. My goal for NIC’s facilities, events and programs are to positively impact economic and workforce development efforts for the university, city and state.

Last fall we celebrated 10 years of partnerships, collaborations and facilities at NIC. Our weeklong celebration recognized our partners, welcomed the public to campus for tours and served as the launch of our new ice cream flavor, NIC Cookie Crunch. I love ice cream and creating a custom flavor for this milestone was a neat process and partnership with the university’s Food Processing Center — where the Dairy Store now makes all of its products. One of my favorite parts of this job has been meeting amazing people, generating meaningful partnerships and seeing how those people and partnerships advance innovation and creative process in our region.

We also celebrated the completion of 577,000 square feet of campus facilities that include office space, lab space, a makerspace, a conference center, a local coffee shop, a hotel, a specialized green house, pilot plants for food processing, classrooms and space for startups. The celebration also highlighted how NIC connects university faculty, staff, students, the community and people working for companies located on NIC. You can’t create innovation; however, I believe that you can create environments through space design, placemaking, events and programs for unplanned collisions between people, and that is one way to drive innovation.

I started as an undergraduate student in the 1970s and have spent most of my life as a student or employee at UNL. This spring I will pack my bags one more time as I travel to a new chapter — retirement. I am proud of the work that has been done at Nebraska Innovation Campus. It has a strong foundation, and I look forward to making return trips to campus to experience its continued growth and development.

—Daniel J. Duncan (’80, ’97) EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEBRASKA INNOVATION CAMPUS