Milliken: University of Nebraska's new entrepreneur, innovation programs two keys to state's future
By Lori Potter, The Kearney Hub
A new entrepreneurship program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources should attract students from across the country and meet one of the university president's four keys to Nebraska's future.
"I'm very bullish on the future of our state and the university and its relationship with agriculture," James B. Milliken said Thursday at the Governor's Ag Conference in Kearney.
The Paul F. Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program will be funded by a $20 million gift - the largest ever to IANR - from the Paul F. and Virginia J. Engler Foundation. Paul Engler, 80, is a UNL alum and an Amarillo, Texas, cattleman.
Milliken said UNL officials hope the program will be a draw for Nebraska 4-H and FFA members with a "fire in the belly" to be entrepreneurs, a trait Engler admires.
Milliken believes entrepreneurial traits are in Nebraska's DNA. "The pioneer spirit is here. Yes, there is a conservative nature, but the willingness to take an educated risk is here," he said.
His other three keys to the future are education, research and innovation. Milliken said his goal is to create the best university in this country in terms of effects on the state.
That makes facilities beyond the main campuses in Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney vital. They include the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis, four research and extension centers, and the entire Extension Service network.
While other universities have downsized extension programs or even cut colleges of agriculture, Milliken said Nebraska officials are using communication technologies to make university resources more widely available.
University enrollment has grown in the past five years to its highest level since the mid-1990s. Milliken said the biggest jumps are at UNL's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, at 7 percent, and College of Technical Agriculture, which has doubled enrollment. That's prompted investments at the Curtis campus in a new residence hall and education building.
The United States still ranks first in the world in the overall average level of education, but is only 10th for the 24-35 age group. "We are not going down. ... Everybody else is going up," Milliken said. "So we need to step up."
He said the biggest barriers to attending college are cost and not being prepared. "If you can't afford it, why would you prepare?"
Milliken cited two programs that address the cost hurdle. Collegebound Nebraska provides free tuition to students who meet income guidelines and Buffet Scholars qualify for free tuition, books and fees.
A recent curriculum change with a direct effect on agriculture is the joint vet program with Iowa State University. Milliken said the goal is to increase the number of large animal veterinarians in Nebraska.
Ag-related research at the University of Nebraska includes crop, livestock and biofuels production, he said, with a focus on topics that can be applied in the field. In 2009, the university had a record $220 million in outside research grants, with much of it for agriculture.
Ag-related research at the University of Nebraska includes crop, livestock and biofuels production, he said, with a focus on topics that can be applied in the field. In 2009, the university had a record $220 million in outside research grants, with much of it for agriculture.
Milliken said work continues on ideas for a global institute on water for food that would make use of the expertise of more than 100 faculty members at UNL's 50-year-old Water Center.
As world population grows from 6 billion to 9 billion in the next 40 years, food needs are expected to double while ag land and water resources remain the same. "How are we going to do that (feed the world) unless we apply the best science?" Milliken said.
About 75 percent of the world's water research centers focus on municipal water and sanitation issues, he said, not water for food production.
Milliken said universities are obvious hubs for innovation because they are talent magnets and centers of knowledge.
He said development of UNL's new 250-acre innovation campus on the former state fairgrounds will start with a $70 million project to house a USDA Agriculture Research Service Center, a companion university building and some private ventures.
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