The Nebraska Alumni Association will honor the 2025 class of Alumni Masters and award winners. The group will be recognized on campus April 9-11, with the Nebraska Medallion Dinner on April 11.
Since 1964, more than 400 alumni have participated in the Alumni Masters program. The program connects outstanding alumni with students, offering valuable insights from their experiences and achievements. Students are encouraged to attend lectures, presentations and events with the Alumni Masters, where they will discuss how to apply their formal education to real-world careers and goals.
2025 Alumni Masters
Hilary Maricle (’01, ’03); Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Hilary Maricle serves as deputy director of the Nebraska Department of Agriculture and has made a difference statewide as an Extension leader and agriculture education instructor.
She has served on the Nebraska Extension Leadership Team, as an associate dean at Northeast Community College in Norfolk, and as an ag education instructor for middle school through college students. She also is a family farm operator, raising beef, lamb, corn, soybeans and alfalfa with her husband, Brian, and their five children near Albion, Nebraska.
Vanessa Schutte, AIA, ALEP (’01); Architecture
Vanessa Schutte is a principal of DLR Group, a global architecture, engineering and design firm. Working from DLR’s Omaha office, she is the firm’s central region leader in K-12 school design.
Schutte’s life has seen design and education intertwined from a young age as the daughter of two teachers. Holding an undergraduate degree from Nebraska and a master’s from the University of Maryland, she leads a studio that has completed dozens of educational design projects. She also has been a lecturer at the College of Architecture since 2015.
John Rood (’87); Arts and Sciences
John Rood is an entertainment marketing executive with experience at some of the nation’s top media brands. He currently is chief marketing officer for consumer intelligence firm Magid.
After earning an undergraduate degree from Nebraska and an MBA from the University of Texas, Rood began his career at nationally renowned advertising firm Leo Burnett Chicago. He then served as a head of marketing several brands within The Walt Disney Company and was head of marketing for DC Comics, within Warner Bros. He and his wife Cindee live in Los Angeles and have two sons, Trent, a recent graduate of the university, and Duke, a current Nebraska student.
Sue Wilkinson (’90); Business
Sue Wilkinson is president and chief operating officer of Lincoln-based Ameritas, one of the country’s most-recognized insurance companies. Over her 30-year career with Ameritas, she has held key leadership roles including chief planning officer, chief risk officer and chief financial officer.
Wilkinson earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration and began her accounting career with Deloitte. She serves on a number of community boards, including the finance committee of the University of Nebraska Foundation, and was the recipient of the 2023 Inspire Award for Excellence in Business from Inspire Lincoln. She and her husband Bert live in Lincoln.
Kisha M. Radliff (’00, ’05); Education and Human Sciences
Kisha Radliff is a licensed psychologist and program chair of the School Psychology program at Ohio State University. Her research and scholarship areas have focused on youth behavior, including mental health, bullying and social justice.
After earning her master’s and doctoral degrees from the university, Radliff completed an internship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a post-doctoral residency in Fort Myers, Florida. She has presented at many conferences, including the National Association of School Psychology, and has authored and co-authored notable publications on social justice in schools.
Justin Vala (’03); Engineering
Justin Vala serves as senior vice president of engineering and construction for Tenaska Development, an Omaha-based energy company, where he also is a member of the executive leadership board. During more than 15 years with Tenaska, he has helped the company diversify its capabilities in renewable energy, including wind, solar and hydrogen and carbon capture.
Prior to Tenaska, Vala was a technology engineer, plant engineer, and energy coordinator for ExxonMobil Chemical. He is a member of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Chemical Engineering Department advisory board and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Jay Wilkinson (’88); Journalism and Mass Communications
Jay Wilkinson is a career entrepreneur and philanthropist who tries to turn businesses not just into profit engines, but also forces for good. He has founded 13 companies, most recently, Lincoln-based Firespring — Nebraska’s first Certified B Corp.
Wilkinson is the founder of the Do More Good Movement, a nonprofit attempting to foster a global shift toward ethical and sustainable business practices. He also is a founding board member of the Nebraska Angels, an investment group that supports and mentors local entrepreneurs and start-ups. He and his wife Tawyna Starr-Wilkinson live in Lincoln.
Donald Gorder (’73); Fine and Performing Arts
Don Gorder is the chair emeritus and founder of the Music Business/Music Management Department at Berklee College of Music in Boston. He spent nearly 30 years building Berklee’s music business program into a national leader, retiring in 2021. He is also a performing musician and practicing attorney.
Gorder earned a Bachelor of Music degree in trumpet performance from Nebraska, and before beginning his career in music business education, earned a law degree from the University of Denver. He is vice president of the National Association of Music Merchants Affiliated Music Business Institutions and sits on the board of trustees of the Massachusetts Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. He lives in Somerville, Massachusetts.
Jon Clifton (’08); Law
Jon Clifton is the CEO of Gallup, a global analytics and advisory firm. His mission is to connect a billion people with their unique strengths and help organizations create thriving workplaces. Prior to becoming CEO, he was Gallup’s global managing partner in the firm’s consulting division.
Clifton is the author of the book, “Blind Spot: The Global Rise of Unhappiness,” (2022) a Wall Street Journal bestseller. He earned a J.D. specializing in international law from the university and holds a senior fellowship at Baylor University’s Institute for the Studies of Religion. He and his wife Nidia live in Washington, D.C.
2025 Alumni Award Winners
Jane Green (’82, ’83); Distinguished Service Award
Jane O. (Pauley) Green is a widely recognized and respected leader in Nebraska agriculture and a co-founder of Nebraska’s Women in Agriculture Program, helping generations of women learn the skills to financially manage farming enterprises.
Raised on a third-generation family farm near Harvard, Green earned a bachelor’s degree with honors distinction in agriculture and a masters in ag economics and finance from the university. As a member of the university’s Ag Economics Department’s Managing for Tomorrow program in the 1980’s, she helped Nebraska families manage the farm crisis. She also held Extension leadership positions at Texas A&M and Colorado State. She and her husband, former university Chancellor Ronnie Green, have four children who are university alumni and four grandchildren.
U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer (’88); Public Service Award
Sen. Deb Fischer is Nebraska’s senior U.S. Senator having been first elected in 2012 and re-elected successively to two more terms. She is a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, focusing on issues critical to national defense, and also is a member of the Appropriations and Agriculture Committees.
A lifelong Nebraskan, Fischer was born and raised in Lincoln, earning an education degree from the university. Before being elected to the U.S. Senate, she served in the Nebraska Legislature from 2005-13. She and her husband Bruce are long-time operators of a Sandhills cattle ranching business. They have three sons and six grandchildren.
