Dear Colleagues,
I hope your semester is off to a wonderful start. This is a special time of year. Seeing our campuses full of students reminds us of the fundamental mission of higher education to change lives.
I want to share with you that I have accepted an offer to become the next president of Ohio State University. I have committed to the Board of Regents that I will serve as your president until December 31, giving the Board a runway to determine next steps for leadership of the University of Nebraska System.
This was a bittersweet decision for Lynda and me. In our four years here, we have come to treasure Nebraska as our own home state. In every community we’ve visited, Nebraskans have welcomed us with open arms and genuine love for their university. This is a special place, with special people, whose university is achieving great things for the state and the world.
Ultimately, Ohio State offers the opportunity to continue to advance the work and mission of public higher education at another leading Big Ten university. Just as Lynda and I saw the University of Nebraska four years ago as the next calling in our lives of service, we now see Ohio State as a calling that we will do our best to answer.
We make this decision knowing the University of Nebraska is in excellent hands. From our chancellors, to our vice presidents, to world-class faculty and dedicated staff, our university system and campuses are led by a truly outstanding team.
We have accomplished much together, a credit to your collective work and leadership. Many more successes – and much more hard work – are on the horizon. We are underway with bold plans to reimagine the University of Nebraska during this period of change and challenge for higher education, and this moment in our history is too important to let our momentum stall. I will spend the next 4 ½ months fully engaged in this work with the vice presidents, chancellors and their teams.
It has been an honor to serve among such talented, dedicated faculty and staff. I am grateful to each of you for all you do for our 50,000 students and people in Nebraska and around the world. Lynda and I will always cheer for the Huskers, Mavericks, Lopers and Labs.
Ted Carter
President, University of Nebraska System