Events

Robert grew up on a farm/ranch in South Central Nebraska. He became a Rotarian in 1994 after serving as Rotary District’s 5650’s Ambassadorial Scholar to the University of Edinburgh Law School, Edinburgh, Scotland in 1988-89. He was President of his Omaha Morning Rotary Club in 2020-21. Robert earned his undergraduate degree in Business/Finance from Doane University and MBA from the University of Nebraska Omaha. Robert’s professional background includes his work in economic/community development, international business consulting, and insurance and financial services. He enjoys spending time working and relaxing at the family farm/nature reserve located near Johnson Lake in the Platte River Valley. His son, Alex and wife Allie live in Mesa, AZ. He and his partner, Pam, live in Elkhorn, NE. His hobbies include music, photography, and history.

DISTRICT GOVERNOR FOCUS Club Strategic Planning; Building Stronger Rotary Clubs; Membership Retention & Growth; Rotary Club Innovation, Community & International Projects; Rotary International Foundation Giving; Peace & Conflict Resolution ROTARY AWARDS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS ● Ambassadorial Scholar, District 1020, Univ. Edinburgh Law School, Scotland 1988-89 ● Group Study Exchange Team Leader, District 4370, Venezuela, 2006 ● Outstanding District Chair 2010 – Rotary Group Study Exchange Team ● Group Study Exchange Team District Chair 2010 – 2013 ● Vocational Training Team Chair 2013 – Present ● Presidential Citation 2016-17 ● Paul Harris Fellow, 2011, 2012, 2021 ● Benefactor/Bequest Society Level 1 2020-21

Monroe Burianek

Education Coordinator for Adult Programs and Volunteers at Lauritzen Gardens

I am originally from Kansas City Missouri and moved to Omaha permanently after attending Creighton University to study Environmental Science. Through my career I always have a goal of preserving the natural world and teaching on how to return to a native landscape. When I am not teaching, I am always on the hunt for new knowledge and spend most of my time reading about new environmental topics or in my own garden to let nature be my teacher.

"Our speaker will be our own Bob Nelson who most of you already know.  He was the charter President of Northwest Rotary and the first recipient of their club's "Distinguished Service Award."  Bob has had perfect attendance since he joined Rotary in 1978.  His topic will be "Is Rotary Still Relevant?"  It is not what you might expect.  Don't miss this message of a most unusual journey and how you might enhance your own Rotary experience."

Graduate of UNL with Marketing degree.

33 year career in newspaper industry including serving as:

>General Manager of Capital Newspapers in Madison, WI

>President and Publisher of the State Journal-Register in Springfield, IL

>President and Publisher of the Omaha World-Herald

President of the First Responders Foundation since 2021.

Married for 29 years with two grown sons.

What could be better than to lead, train and inspire Scouts to become 1st Class? 

• Bob currently serves as 282’s Committee Chair since 2018. 
• Before that he was Troop Chaplain and Cubmaster dating back to 2010. 
• He is Wood Badge trained and has served on Wood Badge staff for 5 years.
• He serves as an Assistant Council Commissioner coordinating the Roundtable Commissioners across the Mid-America Council.
• Bob is pretty low-key behind the scenes until someone says Christmas Tree, then it’s ‘Game On!” He has coordinated the efforts for the past 7 years growing the program to collect 7,000 trees a year adding Kearney as Scouting For Trees expands westward.