The Founding of the Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Institute at the University of Nebraska - November 2015

Paul understood the significance of the presentation: the president of the university would be hosting, expecting to engage officials from the world’s largest irrigation company. [...] “What better institution to address the food and water challenges facing the world than the University of Nebraska?” The breakfast meeting and Bay’s encouragement to “think big” set off a flurry of conversations and meetings, both formal and informal, over the coming months. [...] “But how in the heck are you going to find the money to build such an institute? That’s where Bob Daugherty came in.” The Gift The president of the University of Nebraska was nervous. [...] In his long career, Daugherty had transformed agriculture and the rural landscape into the now familiar polka dot pattern, the signature of the center pivot irrigators Daugherty had popularized in the 1970s. [...] The initial excitement of founding an institute that puts NU in the center of one of the most pressing challenges in the new century has transitioned to the steady energy of a dedicated team working together on research, policy and education fronts designed to make a real and measurable difference on the ground and in people’s lives.