KEARNEY – The University of Nebraska Foundation has announced that Keli Books has been selected as vice president for advancement for the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
Books, who has an extensive background in higher education fundraising leadership, will work in partnership with UNK Chancellor Neal Schnoor, Ph.D., and other university leaders, the UNK Alumni Association, Loper Athletics and the foundation’s UNK development team to advance the university’s fundraising goals.
“The University of Nebraska at Kearney is full of opportunity and has great momentum,” Books said. “It’s an honor to join the foundation team and help foster a culture of deep and impactful giving at UNK. Beyond the UNK campus, the school district, parks and overall Kearney community are off the charts, offering excellent amenities and a great quality of life.”
Books currently serves as the associate vice president for philanthropy at the South Dakota State University Foundation. She joined the foundation in 2015 and spent eight years as the development director for the College of Education & Human Sciences. During her tenure, she helped secure transformative philanthropic support that established SDSU’s elementary and special education degree programs; led fundraising for a new counseling and education center that unites graduate-level training, clinical services and early-childhood intervention to strengthen mental health support for families across South Dakota; and advanced initiatives to better serve individuals with autism and children with dyslexia, improving early literacy and learning outcomes statewide.
At the University of Nebraska Foundation, Books will lead UNK’s major gift strategy and alumni engagement, and champion UNK’s role in Only in Nebraska: A Campaign for Our University’s Future, a historic effort to encourage at least 150,000 benefactors to give $3 billion to support all campuses of the University of Nebraska. One of UNK’s campaign priorities is an initiative to build rural Nebraska’s health care workforce pipeline. Through a partnership with the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the new Health Science Education Center II is scheduled to open in 2026 as part of the Douglas A. Kristensen Rural Health Education Complex on the UNK campus.
“I’m extremely pleased to welcome Keli Books to the UNK community,” Schnoor said. “Her success in education, business and technology, arts and sciences, health care and athletics is in perfect alignment with the pillars of our mission.”
Books earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota, and was also a swimmer. For nine years, she taught elementary school in the Brookings (South Dakota) School District and now serves as a member of the Brookings School Board. Books and her husband, Peter, have two daughters, Stella and Nellie.
“Keli is the right leader to guide UNK’s advancement efforts at this exciting time,” said Brian F. Hastings, president and CEO of the University of Nebraska Foundation. “She is a dynamic, mission-driven fundraising professional who understands how an excellent public university can propel the region and state forward.”
Book’s first day at the University of Nebraska Foundation will be Jan. 20.