By TYLER ELLYSON
UNK Communications
KEARNEY – During nearly two decades at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Matt Mims compiled a long list of accomplishments outlined on his curriculum vitae.
There are numerous awards, promotions, professional affiliations, committee assignments, presentations and academic journal publications.
The longtime faculty member doesn’t use any of this information to measure his success. Instead, he points to his students and the people they would go on to help.
“I can impact students, but I also want them to go out and impact others, so hopefully they’re out there doing good work, whether they’re a school counselor or a licensed professional counselor,” Mims said. “I’ve always seen that as part of my benefit, because I really do want to see our communities become stronger.”
After 18 years at UNK and more than four decades spent on college campuses, Mims recently retired from the Department of Counseling, School Psychology and Family Science, where he served as a professor and assistant chair. His career included graduate-level teaching in school counseling, clinical mental health counseling and higher education student affairs, along with roles in curriculum design, residence life and international learning experiences.
“It’s been a really nice mix of my interests but also how I could impact students in different ways,” he said.
Mims joined UNK in 2008 alongside his wife Grace after the university offered both of them positions in the same department. She served as a professor, department chair and interim dean before retiring last year.
The opportunity to work with his wife was a “blessing,” according to Mims.
“It was great,” he said. “Her and I get along well professionally and personally. We have different opinions, so sometimes we disagreed during department meetings, but we could always understand each other’s position. She was a good mentor for me since she went through this first.”
At a campus luncheon honoring Mims and other retiring faculty and staff, current department chair Sharon Obasi described higher education as more than a profession for him.
“For Matt, higher education was never just a workplace,” she said. “It was a community, a calling, and, in many ways, a lifelong home.”
Obasi noted that Mims created the department’s first online course shortly after arriving at UNK and later developed 19 online courses that helped expand access and flexibility for students. He played a key role in building the online higher education student affairs program.
His work extended far beyond the classroom, too.
Mims served on university committees related to world affairs and international studies and led multiple study abroad experiences for students. In recent years, he took students to Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria and England, while another group spent a semester in the Czech Republic.
He believes those experiences help students better understand different cultures and perspectives.
“Teaching I certainly loved,” Mims said. “And I think UNK gave me the freedom for some out-of-the-box thinking.”
Prior to UNK, Mims worked in residence life and student affairs positions at multiple universities, earned his doctorate in educational psychology and counselor education from the University of South Dakota, operated a private practice and taught as an adjunct faculty member. He also spent seven years as a high school counselor in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
He earned degrees in K-12 education and student affairs before transitioning to the counseling field.
“I really wanted to connect with people and be in the helping profession,” he said. “I also saw advocacy as being very important, so I knew I wanted to speak for people who might not have a voice.”
That commitment to advocacy remained central throughout his career.
In 2016, Mims received the Counselor Educator Advocacy Award from the American Counseling Association for involving students in leadership development and lobbying efforts tied to counseling issues. He was previously recognized with the American Counseling Association’s Leadership Development Award and Nebraska Counseling Association’s Outstanding Leadership Award, along with outstanding teaching and service awards from the UNK College of Education.
At the state and national levels, he served in leadership positions with counseling organizations, helped organize professional conferences and advocated for issues including funding for school counselors and expanded recognition for licensed professional counselors.
“His service reflects a simple but powerful truth,” Obasi said. “He showed up, again and again, for the work and for the people.”
Mims also remained involved in the Kearney community, serving with Buffalo County Community Partners during efforts connected to the nonprofit HelpCare Clinic and Crossroads Mission Avenue homeless shelter.
In retirement, he plans to continue traveling with Grace while also turning their longtime interest in Midwest antiques into a new venture selling those items.
“Our home is full of wonderful treasures that you might have seen in your grandparents’ house,” he said with a smile.
Although he looks forward to the next chapter, Mims knows he will miss the daily interactions with students and colleagues that defined so much of his career. Those relationships were the foundation for countless stories collected throughout his time in higher education.
“I truly enjoyed worked with the students, seeing the different perspectives they have and helping them move toward their goals,” Mims said. “I liked to use humor. I liked to tell stories. And I wanted to hear their stories.”
Those stories, Obasi noted during the retirement luncheon, became a defining part of his legacy.
“Stories of innovation, of service, of advocacy, and of connection,” she said. “But perhaps most importantly, stories of people.”
