Thechancellor of the University of Nebraska Omaha is the chief administrator of theUniversity of Nebraska Omaha and is selected by theUniversity of Nebraska systempresident and approved by the Board of Regents. The position has been held by Joanne Li since July 2021.^[2][1]

The University of Nebraska Omaha, originally called theUniversity of Omaha, was founded as a private,nonsectarian, religious institution in September 1908; however, the University of Omaha did not choose a president until a year later when classes began in September 1909.^[3] The Rev. Daniel Edwards Jenkins was appointed acting president in September 1909 and was made full president in 1910. At the time he was appointed, Jenkins served as professor ofsystematic theology andapologetics on the faculty ofOmaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary.^[3] Jenkins served 17 years as the president of the University of Omaha before ill health due to overwork brought about his departure in December 1926.^[4] He was expected to return as president,^[5] but he never did and instead died in November 1927. W. Gilbert James, dean of the University of Omaha, served as interim president in Jenkins' absence until a successor could be found.^[6]

In July 1927, Jenkins was made president emeritus of the university when the board announced that it had hired 34-year-old Rev. Karl Frederick Wettstone, the president of theUniversity of Dubuque, to succeed him.^[7][8] However, Wettstone's short tenure was tumultuous, with students hanging him in effigy and demanding his resignation after he refused to ratify a student-body election.^[9] Consequently, Wettstone resigned after only one year, citing his inability to raise funds and to obtain accreditation for the university.^[10] The university then hired E. Wesley Emery, then president ofYork College, to succeed Wettstone.^[11][12] Emery's tenure was also short since, as the university sought accreditation, theNorth Central Association of Colleges and Schools required that heads of universities it accredited have aDoctor of Philosophy degree, and Emery only had aDoctor of Divinity degree. Thus, after only two years of service, Emery departed, and W. Gilbert James was once again appointed acting president of the university.^[13]

In 1930, thecity of Omaha took control of the University of Omaha, turning it into a public municipal institution rather than a private, religious university. In 1931, after an eight-month search, the Board of Regents named William E. Sealock, then dean of the teachers' college at theUniversity of Nebraska, president of the newly created Municipal University of Omaha.^[14] Sealock was hired with the agreement that the university would move to a new location.^[15] Sealock soon ran into disagreements with the Board of Regents, leading to his removal as president four years later in June 1935. However, two regents resigned in protest, some faculty threatened to quit, and a large group consisting of students, faculty, and community members, displeased with the board's decision, rallied to ask them to reconsider and reinstate Sealock.^[16] Several days later, after being informed that the Board of Regents was unlikely to change its mind, Sealock committed suicide by ingesting poison on July 7, 1935.^[17] Close friend of the Sealock familyJohn G. Neihardt traveled back from Missouri to attend his funeral.^[18] After Sealock's ouster, the Board of Regents failed to name an interim president and was threatened with an investigation by theAmerican Association of University Professors. As the highest-ranking officer of the university, Edgar A. Holt, dean of the college of arts and sciences, was thede facto interim president, although the Board of Regents refused to officially appoint him due to his ardent support of Sealock after his removal.^[19] Homer W. Anderson was rumored as a possible candidate for acting president, but he declined, offering instead to act only in an advisory role.^[20][21][22]

On August 15, 1935, the Board of Regents unanimously named Rowland Haynes, former Nebraska administrator for theFederal Emergency Relief Administration, president.^[23] After serving as president for 13 years, Haynes retired due to a state law for which he had advocated that required heads of universities to retire at age 70.^[24] Haynes was named president emeritus, and the Board of Regents then appointed Milo Bail, dean of the college of education atButler University, to succeed him.^[24] Bail would go on to become widely recognized as one of the university's most influential presidents, serving for 17 years.^[25] To succeed Bail, the Board of Regents appointed Leland E. Traywick, the formerly ousted president ofSouthwest Missouri State University, on February 1, 1965.^[26][27] However, Traywick lasted only two years before he resigned to pursue other scholarly activities.^[28] The board then appointed Kirk E. Naylor, the dean of administration at the university, to become acting president.^[28] He was later named president on June 5, 1967.^[29]

In 1968, the Municipal University of Omaha was merged into theUniversity of Nebraska system, creating the new University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). Three years later, after disagreements with the Board of Regents andUniversity of Nebraska President D. B. Varner, Kirk Naylor was fired by the Board of Regents.^[30] It was at this time that the Board of Regents also changed the title of the post from "president" to "chancellor," and thus John V. Blackwell was appointed the acting chancellor until a replacement for Naylor could be found.^[30]Ronald Roskens, the executive vice president atKent State University, was hired as the next chancellor of UNO in July 1972.^[31] Roskens later resigned his position as chancellor in 1977 to become D. B. Varner's replacement asPresident of the University of Nebraska. Roskens then hired Del Weber, a native Nebraskan who was serving as the dean of the college of education atArizona State University, as his replacement as UNO chancellor.^[32] Weber went on to become the longest-serving chancellor at UNO, serving in the position for 20 years before retiring.^[33] In 1986, Weber initially accepted the top administrative position at theUniversity of Nevada, only to turn it down the next day to remain at UNO after the faculty senate asked him to stay. Upon his retirement, a UNO campus building was named after him: the Del and Lou Ann Weber Fine Arts Building.^[33]

In 1997, Nancy Belck was appointed as UNO's chancellor. The first woman to serve in this position, she was previously the chancellor atSouthern Illinois University.^[34] Nine years later, Belck resigned after controversy over how the budget of the athletic department was handled as well as allegations that she falsified an expense report.^[35] In the wake of Belck's resignation, vice chancellor for academic and student services John E. Christensen was appointed interim chancellor and was later made full chancellor.^[36] He was the first chancellor to have also been an alumnus of UNO.^[37] After Christensen's retirement,Jeffrey P. Gold, chancellor of theUniversity of Nebraska Medical Center, was appointed interim chancellor of UNO and was later made full chancellor as well.^[38][39] After Gold stepped down to become the executive vice president and provost of theUniversity of Nebraska system, Joanne Li, the first Asian-American to hold the position, was appointed UNO's 16th chancellor.^[2]

No.	Portrait	Chancellor	Term start	Term end	Ref.
Presidents of the University of Omaha (1909–1931)
1		Daniel Edwards Jenkins[a]	September 1909	December 1926[b]	[6]
Interim		W. Gilbert James	December 1926	September 1927	[6]
2		Karl Frederick Wettstone	September 1927	July 4, 1928[c]
3		Ernest Wesley Emery	July 4, 1928	July 17, 1930[d]
Interim 4		W. Gilbert James[e]	July 17, 1930	August 31, 1931
Presidents of the Municipal University of Omaha (1931–1968)
5		William Elmer Sealock	September 1, 1931	July 7, 1935[f]
De facto Interim		Edgar A. Holt[g]	July 7, 1935	August 14, 1935
6		Rowland B. Haynes	August 15, 1935	June 30, 1948
7		(Philip) Milo Bail	July 1, 1948	January 31, 1965
8		Leland E. Traywick	February 1, 1965	December 31, 1966	[40]
Presidents of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (1968–1971)
Interim		Kirk E. Naylor[a]	January 1, 1967	June 5, 1967	[40]
9			June 5, 1967	August 31, 1971[h]	[41][42]
Chancellors of the University of Nebraska at Omaha (1971–present)
Interim 10		John Victor Blackwell[i]	September 1, 1971	June 30, 1972	[43]
11		Ronald W. Roskens	July 1, 1972	December 31, 1976[j]	[44]
Interim		Herbert Garfinkel	January 1, 1977	August 31, 1977	[32][45]
12		Delbert D. "Del" Weber	September 1, 1977	June 30, 1997	[46]
Interim		Ernest J. Peck Jr.	July 1, 1997	August 31, 1997	[47]
13		Nancy Belck	September 1, 1997	September 12, 2006[k]	[48][49]
Interim		John E. Christensen[a]	September 13, 2006	May 8, 2007
14			May 8, 2007	May 7, 2017	[50][51]
Interim		Jeffrey P. Gold[l][a]	May 8, 2017	December 21, 2018	[52]
15			December 21, 2018	June 30, 2021[m]	[53][54]
16		Joanne Li	July 1, 2021	present	[2][55]

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