December 2, 2022
Dear Faculty and Staff:
I trust that this finds all in our UNL community energized and doing well in this hard-driving and deeply focused “final sprint” period of our fall academic term.
As you are likely aware, in the past few months a search advisory committee, ably led by Dean Richard Moberly, worked diligently to identify potential Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance candidates. A thorough national search with the assistance of search consultant professionals from Opus Partners led to the identification and interview of three finalists on our campuses earlier this fall. Unfortunately, we were not successful in hiring the right person to lead our efforts moving forward from this search process.
After careful evaluation and analysis of the current national landscape where a significant number of higher education business and finance leaders are being recruited, coupled with our acute needs for UNL leadership, I am very pleased to announce the decision to appoint Michael Zeleny as Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance effective January 1, 2023, pending Board of Regents final approval in February.
Mike will succeed Mary LaGrange, who has served as interim in the role over the past 11 months. Mary graciously agreed to delay her planned retirement to serve as interim Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance and has provided stable, consistent, and exemplary leadership over this past year for which we, and especially me, are forever grateful. Mary is a role model of authentic servant leadership for all of us.
Mike is a highly valued member of the Chancellor’s Executive Leadership Team and has worked in leadership roles at UNL since 1996, first as Director of Research Finance and Operations, then as Assistant and Associate Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development, and for the past five years, as the Chief of Staff and Associate to the Chancellor. He is a proud UNL alumnus, having earned a BS degree in Accounting and an MBA from the Nebraska College of Business.
Mike brings tremendous experience and knowledge to the role in university fiscal and administrative operations, capital and strategic planning, and University shared governance and policy acumen. His unmatched breadth of UNL institutional knowledge and its daily operations will be invaluable as he moves into the leadership role of Business and Finance. Over his 26 years of service at UNL in various and expanding leadership capacities, and especially in the past 5 years as my direct chief of staff, he has earned an impeccable level of trust and respect from faculty, staff, administrators, students, and alumni across the UNL family.
I am equally pleased to announce that Josh Davis will begin service as the Chief of Staff and Associate to the Chancellor, also on on January 1. Josh has served the University over the past 10 years as Assistant Vice Chancellor for Global Engagement for IANR, and at the University of Nebraska system level in global affairs. In the immediate past 4 years, he has served as UNL’s Associate Vice Chancellor for Global Affairs where he is UNL’s chief international officer and has effectively rebuilt our international strategies and operations as part of our Forward Together Global Strategy for 2025. Prior to coming to Nebraska, Josh served in leadership roles at the U.S. Department of State, the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, and in the U.S. Senate as a foreign policy adviser. He holds undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Akron. I am excited to welcome Josh to the Chancellor’s leadership team and look forward to again working closely with him on a daily basis.
Please join me in congratulating Mike and Josh and welcoming them to their respective new and expanded roles of leadership for UNL – and in thanking Mary LaGrange for her lifetime of professional service, accomplishment, and commitment to UNL as she finally gets to enjoy her long-awaited retirement.
Best regards,
Ronnie D. Green, Ph.D.
Chancellor