Mr. Graves is currently the CEO of the Lane Thomas Foundation. Previously, he was employed by data and marketing company Infogroup for 9 years and served as Infogroup’s Chief Data Officer. Prior to Infogroup, he led Project and Operations teams for PayPal, Comcast and Fujitsu. He is involved in his community through St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Elkhorn, Nebraska, and also sits on the Board of Directors at the Omaha Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Graves has a bachelor’s degree in Advertising from the University of Nebraska and an MBA from Regis University in Denver Colorado.

Mrs. Graves worked at Union Pacific Railroad for 14 years in various finance, sales and marketing roles. She resigned from Union Pacific to become a stay at home mom after her second child (Lane Thomas Graves) was born. She has a bachelor’s degree in finance and banking from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., became the ninth president of the University of Nebraska System on July 1, 2024, following a national search by the Board of Regents.

As president, Gold leads a four-campus university system that enrolls nearly 50,000 students and employs 16,000 faculty and staff on campuses in Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney, plus academic divisions and research and extension centers across the state. He serves as chief spokesman and chief executive officer for the system, which operates on a $3 billion annual budget and includes a flagship Big Ten institution, a world-renowned academic health sciences center, Division I athletics programs, and preeminent institutes focused on water and agriculture, national security and defense, infectious disease and early childhood education.

He is a nationally recognized higher education and health care leader and advocate. He was the chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and board chair for the Nebraska Medicine Health System from 2014 to 2024. As UNMC’s chief operating officer, Dr. Gold was responsible for all aspects of campus leadership, program quality and operation—including 7 colleges, 37 institutes and centers, 5,429 faculty and staff and 4,700 health professions students.

Dr. Gold is a first-generation student; he graduated from the Cornell University College of Engineering with a bachelor’s degree in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics. He earned his M.D. from the Weill Cornell College of Medicine and completed his general surgery residency at The New York–Presbyterian Hospital and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He completed his cardiothoracic surgical fellowship training at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, with additional training in pediatric cardiac surgery at the Boston Children’s Hospital, both of the Harvard Medical School.

He has been certified by the American Board of Surgery and by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery, specializing in adult and pediatric cardiac surgery. Dr. Gold is licensed in Nebraska, Ohio, New York and New Jersey.

Dr. Gold has been married for more than forty years to a medical school classmate. They have two adult children and two grandchildren.

Doctor Schaefer is a distinguished healthcare leader, mentor, and is the Board Chair of City Ventures Health. She leads from all sides of healthcare. She’s a trusted, proven positive change agent and influencer. Be it as a physician, a payer, a regulator, and a patient, she harnesses her passion as a trailblazer for good. She has experience leading multiple, diverse lines of business to include direct access testing as well as urgent and primary care facilities within a holistic view.

Doctor Schaefer enjoyed being a practicing family physician before an impressive 11-year stent in public health where she led as the State’s longest serving Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and first female CMO in the Governor’s Cabinet. Under her leadership, the State addressed pandemics, mass vaccinations, use of strategic national stockpiles, natural disasters, and domestic terrorism. She led the charge in obtaining smoke-free status and other public policy changes regarding infant mortality, safety net programs, licensing regulations, and fruit and vegetable consumption – all with lasting beneficial impacts today. On the payer side, she worked to transform payment models to value-based care, developed predictive modeling and digital care management solutions. She provided oversight to a 46,000 per year patient primary care clinic with a holistic model that rocketed to the top in quality with low cost as a Medicare ACO. During the COVID-19 pandemic her expertise was used helping with safety net programs, physician wellbeing.

Dr. Schaefer has provided valuable context and medical expertise locally, nationally, and internationally in understanding SARS COV-2. Doctor Schaefer has also been on the patient side with a birth defect requiring a lifesaving liver transplant in 2008. This pivotal life experience guides her daily choices, driving her continued work on innovation in healthcare.

As Vice President of Herschend Entertainment Studios, Julie is responsible for building new growth opportunities for the company through expansion into television, film, publishing, digital media, licensing and more.  This diversification strategy includes the development and execution of projects based on existing IP, as well as new IP through partnerships and strategic acquisitions.  Julie began her career at Herschend in high school, when she developed the entertainment department at Stone Mountain Park.  Prior to returning to Herschend, she held business and creative roles with Miramax, NBC, Raytheon, and SeaWorld.  Julie also has consulted for multiple non-profits with regard to strategy. 

Organ donation is of personal importance to her as her sister has suffered from kidney failure since childhood and received multiple organ transplants.  Julie received her BS in Business Administration from Pepperdine University and her MBA from Harvard Business School.  She and her husband, Jake, live in Atlanta, GA with their two children, two dogs, and two cats.

Greg Oswald is currently the Sr. VP of Global Operational Excellence at Astec Industries in Chattanooga TN. Greg is currently responsible for safety, quality, and cost for the entire organization.

Prior to Astec, Greg was at Lindsay Corporation. Greg has had responsibility for facilities in Europe, Italy, South Africa, Turkey, Brazil, and China. In his role with Lindsay, Greg has been successful and instrumental in transforming manufacturing operations and becoming a world-class organization.

Prior to Lindsay Corporation, Greg worked his way up the ladder, from the shop floor to the Global Lean Manager for Dana Corporation Light Axle division.

In addition to being a Lean Six-Sigma Master Blackbelt, Greg attended the University of Missouri and Graduated from Grand River Technical school in welding.

Greg and his wife Lori reside in Chattanooga TN and have two sons, Nathan and Justin. They are also blessed with three Grandchildren Cora, Audrey and William.