Beatrice Residents Meet Next President of University of Nebraska

BEATRICE – A small group of Beatrice area residents took the opportunity Wednesday morning to meet the priority nominee to be the next President of the University of Nebraska.

Navy Vice Admiral Walter “Ted" Carter, Jr., is the retired Superintendent of the U. Naval Academy. He is in the process of touring communities and campuses in Nebraska, during a 30-day review period. After that, his formal hiring will be considered by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents.

Carter’s Naval history is extensive, from being a combat fighter pilot, Chief of Staff for a Fighter Wing and Commander of a carrier strike group as well as two U.S. Ships, among other duties. He served just over five years as Superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, an unprecedented length of time.
Carter said well over half the faculty at the U.S. Naval Academy were civilian educators, not uniformed officers….a contrast from West Point and the U.S. Air Force Academy. He said the Academy is highly ranked in all areas of academia.

Carter was also making visits in Nebraska City and Lincoln as part of the effort to meet with Nebraskans.

Board of Regents Member Jim Pillen, head of a Regents Search Committee to fill the position left vacant by the resignation of Hank Bounds, said Carter rose to the top of the Regents list of candidates for the position.

Carter met with local residents during a breakfast reception, at the Vintage Venue in downtown Beatrice. Carter is a 1981 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, graduating from the Navy Fighter Weapons School in 1985. He flew 125 combat missions in support of operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.