Dean's Leadership Council

Bill Albin – Bill Albin is based out of Elmhurst, Illinois, United States and works at Deloitte as Partner.

Judy L. Altmaier has served as a director of Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. since February 2019. Ms. Altmaier, served as the President of Exmark Manufacturing Co, a subsidiary of The Toro Company, a worldwide provider of innovative solutions for the outdoor equipment, from 2013 until her retirement in January 2019. Prior to that, she was Vice President, Operations and Quality Management of The Toro Company.  Before joining Toro, Ms. Altmaier spent more than 25 years with Eaton Corporation, holding positions of increasing responsibility including Vice President of Operations, Auto Group Americas during 2009 and Vice President, General Manager Global Engine Valve Division in Turin, Italy from 2007 until 2009. Ms. Altmaier joined Eaton in 1983 as an accountant. She serves on the board of directors of Enerpac Tool Group Corp.

Brian Bode joined Park University in August 2015 and currently oversees the University’s facilities and administrative operations across Park’s 42 campuses nationwide. His responsibilities include leadership over Park’s deferred maintenance and master plan, as well as construction of the Robert W. Plaster Free Enterprise Center on the University’s Parkville Campus. Bode has since retired.  He is also the former CFO at Park University.

Randy Brown is the Director at Winfield United, where he began working in 1997.  He received both his undergraduate and masters degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his Doctorate from Kansas State University.  He currently resides in Kearney, Nebraska. 

Linette Butler joined BD Construction in 1996 working in accounts payable, eventually earning the position of senior accountant and, in 2016, general manager. Linette holds a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. Due to Linette’s focus and organizational skills, BD Construction employs an open-book policy and clear cost-plus-work guidelines that enable clients to easily monitor project costs, which are tracked and managed through collaboration with project managers and the estimating department.  Linette’s drive is not limited to the workplace. She has served as president of the Association of General Contractors of America Nebraska Building Chapter Board of Directors – the first woman to hold that position. She has served as chairperson of the Membership Development committee and participated in the Construction Leadership Academy. A graduate of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce Leadership Nebraska Class XI, Linette is also a Kearney Works board member, Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce Envoys, and American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women.

Bob Caldwell, vice president at NEBCO, Inc. in Lincoln, is on the board of directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLBank) of Topeka, a wholesale bank that serves as a source of credit for member financial institutions in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. Caldwell serves as vice chairman of the board and is on the audit; compensation, human resources, and inclusion; and executive committees, as well as the Council of FHLBanks.  Caldwell graduated from the University of Nebraska at Kearney with a bachelor of science in business administration. He also has an MBA and JD from the University of Nebraska. He serves on the board of the Lincoln Community Foundation, Nebraska Chamber of Commerce, Capitol Casualty Company, and the Lincoln Chamber Economic Development Corporation.

Mark Callahan is the Chief Operating Officer at Mary Lanning Healthcare in Hastings, Nebraska.  He received his undergraduate degree from 体育菠菜大平台, where he was also a member of the Loper Football team.  His masters degree is from Bellevue University in Health Care Administration/Management.

Rick Chochon is the President & Chief Executive Officer at Great Plains State Bank based in Columbus, Nebraska. Previously, Chochon was the Market President at Pinnacle Bank.  He received his undergraduate degree in business from Kearney State College.

Thomas Crowther, President and CEO of The Crowther Group, a commercial general contractor specializing in multi-site projects, lives in Frisco, Texas.  He is a native of Freeport, Bahamas.  He worked for 20 years in general construction before creating and opening his general construction firm in 2017.  He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Construction Management from the 体育菠菜大平台 in 1998.  He is continuing his education through Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business.

Ron Eckloff – Ron joined Barney Insurance to establish Barney Financial Services in 1997. He has been in the Banking/Investment profession for over 30 years. Eckloff is a Certified Financial Planner professional and a member of the Financial Planning Association. 

Craig Fundum is the former president of Zurich Insurance Company in Las Vegas, Nevada.  He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and Management from 体育菠菜大平台, where he was also a member of the Loper Baseball team.

Byron Hansen is the current president of Precision Financial group, which was formed in February 2020  as a financial consulting group providing a broad spectrum of advisory services.  He received his undergraduate degree from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and his M.B.A. from 体育菠菜大平台.  He is the former Executive Vice President of First National Bank of Omaha, where he worked for almost 28 years.

Tom Henning is the President and CEO at Cash-Wa Distributing Co. in Kearney, Nebraska.  Henning began his career at Cash-Wa Distributing Co. in 1963, working after school, and returned to Cash-Wa on a full time basis in February of 1971. He served in the positions of truck driver, office manager, salesman, sales manager, general manager, and then was made president and CEO in 1987.  He holds degrees from 体育菠菜大平台 and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Cindy Johnson is President of the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce, a role that she has served in for almost 20 years.  She received her education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Ward Jorgenson is the Vice President of global production at Orthman Manufacturing, Inc. Jorgenson, a Callaway native, holds a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and master’s degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska at Kearney. He and his wife, Diane, live in Kearney with their two children.

Brad Kernick retired from Eakes Office Equipment in 2017. He graduated from Kearney State College is 1971 with a degree in Business Administration.  Kernick received the Ron and Carole Cope Cornerstone of Excellence Award, 体育菠菜大平台’s highest honor, in 2020. 

Bruce Meister, CPA, assists taxpayers and small businesses with taxes in Lincoln, Nebraska and the surrounding communities.  Meister is a graduate of 体育菠菜大平台.

Bob Niedbalski is the Executive Vice President of Manufacturing at Paige Electric Company, L.P. in Columbus, Nebraska, where he has worked for the past 28 years.  He graduated from Kearney State College in 1984 with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration Management and Human Resources.

Arlen Osterbuhr is the President at Minden Exchange Bank & Trust Co. where he has worked for the past 31 years.  He received his bachelor’s degree from 体育菠菜大平台, where he was also a member of the Loper Football team and R.O.T.C.  He later attended University of Colorado, Boulder Graduate School of Banking.

Larry Peterson is the Chief Scientist at Open Networking Foundation.  He previously worked at Princeton, where he was the Robert E. Kahn Professor of Computer Science and Director of the Princeton-hosted PlanetLab Consortium. He served as chair of the CS Department from 2003-2009. Peterson is co-author of the best-selling networking textbook Computer Networks: A Systems Approach (6E), which is now open sourced. His research focuses on the design and implementation of networked systems. Peterson is a former Editor-in-Chief of the ACM Transactions on Computer Systems, was on the Editorial Board for the IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking and the IEEE Journal on Select Areas in Communication, and served as program chair for SOSP, NSDI, and HotNets. Peterson is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the ACM and the IEEE, the 2010 recipient of the IEEE Kobayashi Computer and Communication Award and the 2013 recipient of the ACM SIGCOMM Award. He received his Ph.D. degree from Purdue University.

Terry Peterson of Omaha is owner and president of Omaha Track.  Peterson enjoyed a successful 10-year career in the food and beverage industry prior to purchasing the Tie Yard of Omaha in 1983. The Tie Yard was a small landscape company selling railroad ties. Once purchased by Peterson, that business quickly evolved and became Omaha Track Inc., a full-service supplier and vendor to Class I and short-line railroads across the United States. Today, Omaha Track has more than 400 employees, including mobile crews, and facilities in nine states.  His family foundation, The Terry and Holley Peterson Foundation, supports philanthropic activities in Nebraska and surrounding states.  Peterson is a Kearney High School graduate and received his degree in business administration from Kearney State College in 1975.

As President/CEO of Nebraska’s third-largest chamber, Derek maintains a strong commitment to leadership and public visibility, recognizing that both are essential to grow and sustain the mission of the Chamber. He actively works to expand the Chamber’s reach with his hands-on leadership style and innovative troubleshooting. Derek also serves as the Chair for the State Chamber’s Small Business Policy Council and an Ex-Officio Board Member for the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry. Outside of the Chamber, Derek is the Founder and President of a nonprofit business, Impact Art. Impact Art is known for the variety of large murals in the Kearney community. He possesses more than 15 years of experience as a teacher, and many more as a former collegiate athlete and coach. Derek and his wife Meggie have five daughters.

A 20-year veteran CEO in the Technology Services sector, Dan Shundoff is the founder of The PPL Group (People, Performance and Leadership).  The PPL Group, works to improve organizational performance in business sectors including Technology, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Agri-Business, Legal, Accounting, Non-Profits, Government, and Higher Education by engaging with business owners and executives using strength based approaches to engagement, management, leadership, strategy, communication, organic growth, and strong financial performance.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UNL. 

Mark Spelts is the President and Founder of Spelts Wealth Management, Inc. Growing up in Nebraska provided him with a strong foundation of hard work and integrity. After graduating from the University of Nebraska-Kearney, he entered the US Army and upon serving his tour, was honorably discharged as a First Lieutenant. His career led him to Continental Bank & Trust Company in Chicago where he held several different management positions. He then joined his father as a fourth-generation lumberman and was manager and co-owner of Spelts Lumber & Home Center in Kearney, Nebraska. After selling the business, Mark moved to California to open an office for Edward Jones. Ten years later, he opened and managed the first Merrill Lynch office in Chico, California. In 2002 he established Spelts Wealth Management Inc., a firm that provides unbiased investment recommendations, no proprietary products but rather objective, conflict-free, tactical, and strategic advice.

Kirk Stinson is the President of Euramax International, an international producer of aluminum, steel, copper, and vinyl products for equipment manufacturers, distributors, contractors, and home centers worldwide.  Stinson graduated from 体育菠菜大平台 with a degree in Marketing.

Fred Trofholz is the Senior Systems Engineer at Peraton inc. in Bellevue, Nebraska.  His received his undergraduate degree in computer science from 体育菠菜大平台.

Dick Wiles oversaw the development and operation of telecommunication and information technology systems at the past seven men’s World Cups. A Kearney native, Wiles graduated from 体育菠菜大平台 in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in education and earned his master’s degree in 1979.  As a senior manager for EDS, Wiles oversaw the delivery of IT services for a number of major sporting events and organizations, including the 1992 Olympics, Formula One events in Australia, NASCAR, USA Cycling and the 1994 and 1998 World Cups. Wiles co-founded Eurotech Global Sports AG, a Switzerland-based company that primarily focused on providing IT services for the 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups. When FIFA decided to handle most of those services internally, he was hired in January 2015 as the organization’s chief information officer and head of information and communications technology. Wiles was a resident of Switzerland, where FIFA is headquartered, from 2015 through 2018, and he spent much of last year in Russia preparing for the most recent men’s World Cup. FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, organizes a number of international competitions and Wiles was also involved with several Women’s World Cups throughout his career. Wiles left FIFA in November 2018 but continues to do some consulting work. Wiles was the 2019-20 Ron Landstrom Executive-in-Residence at 体育菠菜大平台. Wiles lives in Colorado Springs with his wife.  They have 11 grandchildren.

Jeanette Wojtalewicz is the SVP and interim President & Chief Executive Officer for CommonSpirit Health’s Midwest Division, which includes CHI Health. Serving Nebraska, southwest Iowa, North Dakota and parts of Minnesota, this organization of more than $2 billion in net revenues, comprises 28 hospitals, 800 employed physicians and numerous post-acute services and joint ventures. Before becoming interim President and CEO, Jeanette served the organization as Chief Financial Officer. She has worked in healthcare finance for 35 years and received her undergraduate degree in Business Administration-Accounting Emphasis from the University of Nebraska-Kearney in 1984, before earning her a Masters in Healthcare Administration from Bellevue University. Her work experience has focused on public accounting, acute healthcare care settings, post-acute/rehabilitation services, and children’s psychiatric services.

Wojtalewicz was the recipient of the 体育菠菜大平台 Distinguished Alumni Award in 2012, was the Ron Landstrom Executive in Residence for 体育菠菜大平台, and is a past mentor for the 体育菠菜大平台 Gold Torch Society.  Jeanette is married to Michael, and they have five children.