Creston native leads Nebraska teacher group

LINCOLN, NEB. - Creston native and University of Nebraska professor of music Peter A. Eklund was named last month President-Elect of the UNL Faculty Senate for a one-year term.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln participates in shared governance between the faculty and administration through the Faculty Senate. Established in 1974 the Faculty Senate is a representative body of members elected by the faculty of the various academic departments and units of UNL. His president position includes staff at campuses in Lincoln, Omaha, Kearney and the medical center in Omaha.

Eklund said the time was right for him to take this position.

“We have a chancellor who is retiring,” he said. “It’s a transition time. I’m also looking at Nebraska as an outlier in the Big 10. I thought this was an important time.”

Eklund said his position is like a lisasion for student needs, faculty and administration needs. After serving the term, he will then shift to a year as past-president.

Eklund said he is desiring a shift in environment and culture among Nebraska’s higher-learning institutions he represents to create more prepared students.

“The more we actually be a business and act a like a business, the more we get to believe the customer is right and students know they are here to learn,” he said. “That doesn’t totally work in step within.”

He said he is aware of today’s college-student generation has been exposed to different work settings, like four-day work weeks and performance evaluations that are passive or even exist. Eklund said there are still expectations to be met when students enter the workforce.

“If you do this really well, remember there is a lot of competition out there,” he said. “It would be really good for you for you to be prepared for that competition.”

Prior to coming to Nebraska, Eklund taught at Thomas Jefferson High School in Cedar Rapids.

Eklund has been a national quarter-finalists for the first-ever Grammy National Music Teacher of the Year (out of over 30,000 nominees) and was a national finalist for the NFHS Outstanding Music Educator in 2019.

He annually conducts instrumental and choral ensembles in no fewer than eight European countries and throughout North America. His concertizing/clinician schedule averages 60 national and international concerts annually and includes a wide array of scholarly, professional, orchestral, collegiate, liturgical, festival, all-star, and youth/student ensembles throughout North America and Europe. He trained as a classical pianist and organist in the finest traditions of Western historical music. He counts among his early musical influences the numerous local concerts that his grandfather took him to of Big Band performances by Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, and others.

His academic choirs have performed on numerous American Choral Directors Association regional and national conventions.