NEBRASKA CITY - New University of Nebraska President Jeffrey Gold kicked off his statewide tour Monday morning at Nebraska City.

He introduced himself and talked about the reputation of the university. He said a survey of people outside of the state shows that health care is second only to athletics when people think about the University of Nebraska. He said the university is also most known for engineering and agriculture research.

Gold: “The university of Nebraska is thriving. We may not win every football game or we may not achieve every last award and recognition, but let me tell you compared to what is going on with many of our peers in the Big 10 – many of the other large public systems – we are economically stable and we are at an academic level of incredibly high respect and admiration.”

He said the university must work to get better and provide value for tax dollars and make sure students graduate with an impactful life experience.

Gold: “I’ll tell you this. We and I personally are as committed to the future of the State of Nebraska as anybody you’re going to want to meet. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that the university is a rock solid foundation for the future of the state. That is absolutely critical. You talk to any member of the Unicameral, you talk with any of our federal delegation … we are critical to future. There’s an old saying that if the university gets a cold, the state’s going to get pneumonia. I think that’s pretty true.”

Dr. Gold also visited Falls City and Beatrice Monday. He will travel to Norfolk and Columbus on Tuesday, Kearney on Wednesday, Ogallala on Thursday and the Panhandle Research  and Education center at Scottsbluff on Friday.