The University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) have announced grants totaling $4.5 million from the Holland Foundation in support of student scholarships and funding for public health research.

Formed in 1997 by Richard (Dick) Holland, a Nebraska businessman and UNO alumnus who died in 2016, the foundation awarded $2.5 million to UNO in support of the Richard Holland Endowed Scholarship Fund. Launched in 2023, the fund is now the largest such effort to benefit UNO’s College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media. In perpetuity, the fund will provide an estimated 12 scholarships annually to help make higher education more accessible and reduce student financial burdens.

In addition, a $2 million grant to UNMC will fund the Richard D. Holland Presidential Chair in Public Health at the College of Public Health (CPH). The funds will be used to provide annual stipends to support scholarly research and academic activities.

“Dick Holland generously served as my mentor when I arrived a decade ago,” said CPH dean Ali S. Khan, who was named the inaugural recipient of the presidential chair. “I quickly learned he was a social justice champion with a keen sense for the inequity in our society who wielded an amalgam of philanthropy, purpose, and intellect to lead transformative community actions. He will always be a source of inspiration for my work in this great state for healthier lives, everywhere, for every one of us.”

(Photo credit: University of Nebraska Medical Center)