93
Let’s hear the story of Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry Agriculture, and the people who make it happen. Sponsored by Nebraska's Law Firm® - Rembolt Ludtke.
93
Dr. Dennis Brink--Legendary Educator, Servant Leader
In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Dennis Brink, a man whose impact on agriculture and leadership in Nebraska is nothing short of extraordinary. Over the course of four decades, Dr. Brink influenced thousands of students through his work as a professor, mentor, and leader in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Department of Animal Science.
Dr. Brink’s passion for teaching and his unwavering commitment to servant leadership have inspired generations to pursue excellence in agriculture, science, and faith. His vision also played a key role in helping to establish the Agricultural Science Program at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska, expanding opportunities for students to grow as leaders grounded in both knowledge and purpose.
Join us as Dr. Brink reflects on his remarkable journey—sharing insights on mentorship, faith-driven service, and the enduring power of education to change lives.
Nebraska. It's not just a place, but a way of life. It's 93 counties that are home to innovative individuals caring to do and a spirit that runs deeper than its purple story. It's a story that's going to be told. Welcome to 93, the podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Welcome to 93. This is a podcast about Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry agriculture, and the people who make it happen. I'm Mark Folson, your host for today's episode, brought to you by Nebraska's law firm, Rembolt Lutti. And for this episode, I'm joined by my colleague Kurth Brashier, who is also an attorney at Rembolt-Lutte. Today's guest has impacted literally thousands of students through his work as an extension agent, his four decades of service as a professor, mentor, and leader at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln in its animal science department, and his leadership in helping to establish the agricultural science program at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. Dr. Dennis Brink, welcome to 93 the podcast.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks for having me, Mark. Uh and one I want to make one real comment. I've been listening to the podcast, and if I were still teaching Ag 100, it would be required.
SPEAKER_02:So thank you for doing it. I thought you were going to tell me you were if you're still teaching, you're going to teach us how to do a podcast. What do you know me? I look for every opportunity for improvement.
SPEAKER_01:So give our listeners a little background on yourself. Where'd you grow up? I grew up in Kansas, uh, around Wichita, Kansas. Okay. Little town called Valley Center. On a farm. Small farm. Okay. What type of crops or livestock did you have? Yeah. Between my dad and uncle, we had 240 acres. That was it. Diversified wheat, soy uh soybeans, that kind of thing. And um, I grew up with some sheep.
SPEAKER_02:That so a small diversified farm. So on that farm were you involved in 4-H or FFA? Yeah. Both? Both. Uh not FFA.
SPEAKER_01:We didn't have an FFA chapter in our uh high school there in Valley Center. And what did you do in 4-H? Oh, I was in the sheep project. Okay. We it again, it was small, so I did sheep, did some pigs, but uh, you know, one of my favorite ones was parliamentary procedure and model meetings in 4-H.
SPEAKER_02:I'm a big fan of parliamentary procedure.
SPEAKER_03:That's a good one right there.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, that's uh that's something you use for the rest of your life in many settings. Uh the whole model meeting thing of 4-H is valuable for me. Yeah. So you grew up on a farm central, south central Kansas, and then uh what happened after that?
SPEAKER_01:I went to Kansas State University after after high school. And you uh grew to love the color purple? I did. Uh my kids are giving me, have given me a book of words from grandpa, and one of them is your favorite color. So purple was right there. But so when they get that, they'll uh of course laugh and make sure that I change it to red.
SPEAKER_02:But anyway. So what did you major in at K-State undergrad?
SPEAKER_01:I started out pre-vet.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Went to Ag Ed, graduated in animal science. And then where after that? After that was a uh 4-H youth uh extension in uh Gerrard, Kansas.
SPEAKER_02:So I did not know that preparing for this podcast that you were an extension agent for a period of time. Yep. Yep. How how long did you do that? About three years. About three years. Did you have a county or a region?
SPEAKER_01:It was a county. It was a county. Yeah. It was it was one of the best things I did because uh I think about a month before I was ready to leave, one of my uh junior leaders introduced me to Joanne. So I met Joanne at uh in Girard.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:So yeah, but it was good, it was good uh interaction. And I just I left, I took a leave of absence to go uh get a master's and then go back to the the county.
SPEAKER_02:But things have changed. Whenever I hear extension agents, I always think so. I think it's still somewhere on East Campus. There's a Norman Rockwell painting that the University of Nebraska owns of the extension agent. What was it? I think it was a life magazine cover at one point. Is that still, do you know, is that still floating around the university? I don't know, still floating around. I know the the painting you're referring to. Yeah, it used to be over in what I still call the Kellogg Center. They used to have it there. Uh because when we had state FFA convention, there it'd be right there in the lobby. Yep, I I remember seeing it there. So that there's probably you in that picture. No. No? No.
SPEAKER_01:I think that's a calf, don't you?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. So so after it could be you. Yeah, it could be. So you got your undergrad, then you got some grad with extension agent, then you went back to school. Yep. Went back to school.
SPEAKER_03:How many degrees do you have from K-State, Dennis?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I have three.
SPEAKER_03:Is the third one free? Do they give you the third one? No.
SPEAKER_01:Uh that was a harder one, but actually. But no, I have three. Master's in uh animal nutrition, and then uh environmental physiology was my uh PhD degree.
SPEAKER_02:So where did where does the passion for animal science come from?
SPEAKER_01:I think growing up on that small farm and and 4-H, uh, the sheep project and animals, uh, and then just kind of stuck with it. Um, yeah, I think.
SPEAKER_02:Did you have have a favorite species?
SPEAKER_01:Uh favorite species was probably sheep. Was it?
SPEAKER_02:I again I that's something new I learned about you. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:I uh we did have pigs at one time. I went to a national uh York types conference and uh won the judging contest and got a uh certificate to buy a guilt. And old Susan had it uh was never supposed to be open, but she was pregnant. After I got permission for dad to do that, that was something else. But uh Susan's last litter was 21 pigs. So and anyway.
SPEAKER_02:So how did you end up at the University of Nebraska?
SPEAKER_01:Uh good question from the standpoint I looked around and it was a lot of places, but uh at the time they were looking for a position in ruminant nutrition, and I had done some things uh with the PhD, and they wanted it to be uh have some teaching with it, and uh the teaching part of it attracted me to it, as it turned out. It was started out 50-50 teaching and ruminant nutrition research, and and I uh graduated from uh UNL animal science department with 100% teaching, so they allowed me to do the teaching and but the teaching was the draw. And how long were you at UNL? Oh well, I started in uh 1978, finished in 219, let's uh do the math. I that's a long, long, long career.
SPEAKER_02:Keep track of that. So remind us what were some of the classes you taught uh at UNL? Yeah, I started teaching Feeds and Feeding, which was with uh I by the way, you scared me because I didn't take it because I was always everyone said that was the one of the hardest classes in the A College. Wow. I didn't realize that. Oh, yeah. That's good. You you you were a good and demanding instructor.
SPEAKER_01:Well, uh a quick one. Uh I was there after and after the first exam. Uh some would some around the state would know RB Warren. Yep. RB called me in and he said, uh, you're too hard on these kids. That says a lot. If RB Warren is saying that, right? Yeah, you gotta let me off, gotta let off of them a little bit. But no, I didn't other than RB, I didn't know it was do it being that tough on him. And then um, yeah, through the through the years I taught uh probably my next favorite class after Feeds and Feeding was livestock management on Ranch and Pasture, where we took a field trip out into the sand hills, took students out. I think that model was excellent uh in terms that you went out, uh, learned from the ranchers out in the field, came back, did a ranch plan, and put it all together into uh like a business plan. And so I think that plus I taught I taught physiology to the uh vet science students or pre-vet students too. So that came a little bit from my environmental physiology work at you at Kansas State.
SPEAKER_03:So for the listeners who don't know what ruminant nutrition is or what you would cover in feed and feeding, what what does that cover?
SPEAKER_01:In feeds and feeding, yeah, it kind of starts out with what feeds are available, what are grown, uh, and then how you match them up with the requirements of the animals. So you learn the feeds, and then how to feed them to the right life, uh matching them up with the livestock.
SPEAKER_02:So did as far as your testing uh methods back then, that uh was it uh essay, multiple choice, true and false, or did you uh uh what was your methodology?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it was multiple choice because gosh, today I don't know. I had 120 students in those feeds and feeding classes, and so you kind of did that. And now kind of in my repurposing career when you have 12 or 14, that's a lot, that's really good. And you can do the essay, you can do oral exams, that kind of thing. Back then it was uh multiple choice.
SPEAKER_02:One of the things you and I first met, uh you were actually my advisor in undergrad, and I didn't fully appreciate you or your wealth of knowledge or your mentorship during uh during that time. What uh what got you into being an advisor? Interesting.
SPEAKER_01:Uh it was part of the job, so to speak. And then uh it was just the I think it's a little bit of how I'm wired up uh a little bit, and uh wanting to learn about the individual. I I was listening to the the podcast with Dr. Hingmas. Yeah, and you were talking about the uh uh the uh strength finders, and and she was talking about competitors. Well, mine, one of my strengths is individualism, and uh I think that kind of fits with learner, uh the other one is learner individualism, and so I think I just kind of discovered that over time that that was the fun part about the position, although I loved the classroom too, but so it was something you did, and then you just wow, it was good, and I just kept on taking more and more advisees.
SPEAKER_02:So you and I got spent some time together in undergrad when I I there was a scholarship, I was very blessed to win, and you got to go with me as my advisor, and they served always this great big pork chop every year for that uh uh scholarship dinner.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, the husker chop. Yeah, I I tell everyone that Mark Falson was my my introduction to Husker Chop. So there are these advantages of being an advisor. Maybe that's the other reason. Yeah. Mark Folson got me into advising because I get another Husker chop. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:How many advisees did you have typically in a year, Dunit?
SPEAKER_01:Uh as a group of 50, up to 50. Yeah, that was a big thing.
SPEAKER_02:In addition to your teaching requirements?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Wow. Yeah. But yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So you your career, you retired from UNL, but uh because of who you are, you uh didn't stop. It didn't isn't like you're on a golf course somewhere or just uh laying on a beach somewhere. What'd you do after that?
SPEAKER_01:Well, when I uh I had a goal that when I reached 70, I was gonna that was that was it with UNL. And I said that whatever was in store for me next, I wanted to do something in ministry, and I wanted to do something where I could just give. And there wasn't an aspect of rather it was just I could give. And about that time Concordia was talking about uh an ag program, and that's uh I connected.
SPEAKER_02:So Concordia Sewer Nebraska, right? Concordia Sewer Nebraska. So how did that come about? The the ag program?
SPEAKER_01:The ag program, uh well, probably got a really good expert here in in terms of how that came about. And I think it's probably with his with his with Ker's social media expertise, which he never could convince me that I needed to do. I think you realize that he did was helpful in supporting that and uh getting it started.
SPEAKER_03:Well, I think you were really uh because you were on the board of regents at the time when the discussion started, and it was really a couple regents who had an ag background who saw an opportunity to have a more hands-on, broadly based uh ag program, as I recall it.
SPEAKER_01:Yep. And I think the the real stimulus came from the the advisory group that was put together by the leadership of Concordia, uh, yourself involved with that, brought together industry. And we were just out at Holyoke, Colorado, with the the uh student tour I was on with Eric Wieselmeyer, one of those, and Eric was talking about that advisory group kind of being a tipping point. Of all the advice uh everyone in AG that was invited to that, teachers, seat developers, all those things.
SPEAKER_03:But I but I think uh Mark, Dennis is underplanated. I mean, he's the father of Concordia agriculture as well, right? So Dennis, what what was as you developed that program, because you did develop it, uh wrote the whole curriculum the first time and everything. What was really the focus that you had for that program? Because it wasn't gonna be a land grant, highly specialized program. What was it you wanted to make sure that program accomplished for its students?
SPEAKER_01:That they understood stewardship of all aspects of the resources that we've been given and that we integrate them. Um heard me talk about my with uh Dr. Don Lee uh in agronomy. Uh Don and I would have these little conversations about Brink, you teach in your silo, and I teach in my silo. Uh, I teach in the animal science, so and Don taught in the agronomy silo. And uh Concordia gave me the opportunity to sit down and just put together a curriculum that started with the integration uh systems approach uh to agriculture. And so that was a goal. Uh obviously the other goal was to have uh students really looking at uh agriculture from a stewardship perspective and the gifts that we've been given in land and plant and animals, all for us.
SPEAKER_03:What would you say are some commonalities and maybe some differences between the students like Mark that you had at UNL? I'm not a good example, I'm not a good example, or other other students uh at UNL who didn't win Husker pork chops and the Concordia students. I mean, are there what would you say is common between them and what would you say is maybe a bit different between well I I I I don't see a lot of difference.
SPEAKER_01:Uh you know, they they're all there to to learn, some of them with a little higher level of motivation to learn than others. Um so I don't really see a a huge difference. Uh a lot of the students at Concordia uh because of the community will be ones that, and actually the reason what when we started thinking about um an ag program at Concordia, it's it was a fit for some students. And the fit was for some students that wanted to be part of uh the Concordia University small program, athletic program, small campus, and a Christian uh aspect to it. So there might have a higher percentage of those that would be looking at agriculture from that perspective at Concordia.
SPEAKER_02:So when you first came to Concordia, roughly how many kids were in the ag program and what's it look like today?
SPEAKER_01:To today, I I'm not sure of the exact numbers. Uh we had in that first, my I graduated, my first student was one in the class. We uh and he he was a favorite, but uh and today I think uh there's our several groups of students that are now. Uh what's being added to the ag program is more of the agribusiness students uh and more ag education students to the base ag major. I think I've seen numbers in the 45 to 50s of combining those two aspects of uh or those three aspects of the agricultural program.
SPEAKER_02:All from one student starting.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, all from one student starting.
SPEAKER_03:Thanks to my mad social media skills. I I actually insisted to Dennis that I would take a picture of the very first class on the very first day, and I think there were five students in that class, if I remember right. Yeah. A seminar he was teaching even before he was on faculty. So when I say father of Concordia Ag, he's he is.
SPEAKER_02:So what are some of the major pressures or changes that you see coming or currently in existence in the Nebraska ag uh economy or ag sector?
SPEAKER_01:I think it's an interesting uh question to ponder. And uh I think I think what I came up with is the rate of uh availability of new technology. Uh it's coming so fast. Uh when I went back to graduate school, my parents gave me an S uh Texas Instrument S10.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, those are the all the nerds had those. I roomed with a bunch of them.
SPEAKER_01:And you could add, subtract, maybe do a square square root. And then that was in 1975. Apple computer didn't come along until what 76 or maybe a year later. And that so it wasn't very as rapid as the things that are happening now. So keeping up with it, uh keeping up with all the opportunities in terms of new technology, I think, is uh something to something to stay on top of and and one that puts education and research and extension uh as very high priority needs for the agriculture.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, I think if you just blink the technological changes, I mean it's almost overnight, whether it be we now have systems whereby you can uh remotely move cattle from paddock to paddock to different pastures, you can, you know, drone technology, you can have 24-7 uh sort of eyes on your cattle, remote or otherwise. I mean, there's just so many, uh, at least from the cattle perspective, so many cool things out there, and it's only going to get uh even more advanced. Yep.
SPEAKER_01:And then artificial intelligence sorting through that, um I think is uh a technology that's going to be utilized, but keeping up with it is going to be important.
SPEAKER_03:How do the students that you've interacted with influence your view of the future of the industry? Are you optimistic? Are you you know, I was reading an article recently talking about how parents are concerned about their kids and whether they can afford to have a house and do those things? So I'll I'll ask it in the sense of if a student comes to you and says, Dr. Brink, should I go into agriculture? What would you tell them?
SPEAKER_01:Definitely. Um first thing to do would be what is your passion in terms of um what do you think you you can contribute and what do you think is your purpose? And if you think you have the talents to be a leader, agriculture's got a spot for you. If you can do math, agriculture has a spot for you. You can do anything in agriculture that you want. And it it's uh an exciting opportunity. That's what I tell the students, you're in the best position that you've ever that's ever been in. If you have an interest in ag and any kind of talent that you've been given. So I'd encourage it. Uh well, look at look at what's happening in Nebraska now and all the aspects of availability of opportunity.
SPEAKER_02:So have you kept a tally of all the students you've had in class dating back to your time at the University of Nebraska Lincoln through Concordia? And if if you didn't keep a tally, give us an estimate how many students you've had in class over the years.
SPEAKER_01:I've one of the things that I look back on that I wished I would have done. The first meeting I had to had was with somebody, some around might know the name Charlie Adams, uh, meet science professor. Charlie kept a three by five file. He had a three by five card on every student he had. And that's one I wished I would have done. And I and I so I don't know I didn't do it, an estimate. I have it's in the thousands.
SPEAKER_02:I don't know. It's in the thousands. We'll go with that. It's a lot. It's a lot.
SPEAKER_03:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:It's a lot. So again, you've seen a lot of change in the ag industry over time. You mentioned AI currently, but what in your time span, dating back to your time on a small Kansas farm up until today, what's the greatest technological advancement or change that you've seen that has benefited agriculture the most?
SPEAKER_01:I think for the state of Nebraska, it's center pivot irrigation. I think that that has allowed the higher productivity from the soils that we've been given. And then combining that with the water availability. Obviously it's it things are changing. Right. And it's important that we have good stewardship of that one knowledge and the resources. But I think if that's the one I see as one to pick out.
SPEAKER_02:Are you still in the classroom day to day or is your have you transitioned again?
SPEAKER_01:I've transitioned. Um it was interesting to stop and think about this last fall, not this fall, but the previous fall was the first time that I had not met a class since 1978.
SPEAKER_03:Wow.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. So was that tough? No. Only because only because I haven't stopped.
SPEAKER_02:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:And one of the projects that gets me up early in the mornings when I can, and and not after chasing grandkids around all for a day or two before, I'm working on a a project. Um, I don't know what to call it yet, but it's around the title of uh The Divine and Human Science of Agriculture. And I'm trying to put together things and putting them in a learning type environment publication of some kind. And so I I tell everyone, no, I just went right into that and I'm trying to put it together. And so I'm like putting together a class when you're what I did to get ready to go into a class. I'm just okay, how can I write this and do this in a module that will be more from a learning perspective? So I don't miss it. No. Is this melding? So it's a blessing. Sorry, Mark, but I'm glad I was able to do that because I think I would have if I hadn't started this project.
SPEAKER_02:Right. So is this the project, does that meld your faith with your with science and your love of science and your love of agriculture? Oh, yes. Okay. And how so?
SPEAKER_01:And the whole thing, the other thing with uh starting to teach a Concordia got me to thinking, and again, got got me to thinking more about in the beginning God. And you talk about one one student that I've he came up after class and he he says, you know, I I just can't believe and God said and he the the the idea that God said. And so no, it that whole perspective of putting together science teaching and where creation is all about has been uh a big blessing.
SPEAKER_03:I wanna I want to loop back on a question I asked you earlier, because it seems to me maybe one of the opportunities at Concordia for students for you has been having non-ag interested students in your classes, right? Or at least I my guess is at UNL, if they're taking feeds and feeding, they already know they want to do ag. Concordia, I'm guessing you've had students who are not ag majors or ag interested in your class, or is that not yep.
SPEAKER_01:There there have been those.
SPEAKER_03:What's that been like for for you as an ag project?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I was telling the students that uh we were on this this tour, and we went by John Ebersbacher on on the way uh headed west on I-80, the turkey barns that that John has renovated. Well, the first class that uh I taught, I went out, we went out to John, and John was calving in the turkey barns for the first time. And there was a student, um, he was from uh uh California, I can't remember the the state, here to play football. Took the A class. I said, Well, why did you take A? He said, Well, I looked out the window and there was all this crops going on when I learned more a little more about it. But it we went to the barn and this was the first time he'd ever touched an animal. Wow. And and he he ended up going uh and working at at the time it was uh at BASF after that, uh, with an interest in AG. So yes, that's been been there's been several, yeah, that I can think about.
SPEAKER_02:So this project you're working on, again, you don't know whether it's going to end up being a book or a curriculum or a class or all of the above. Right.
SPEAKER_01:I played around with a whole bunch of things. I I just got to visit with one of the students in the first group of uh ag students at Concordia, and I'm I'm kind of looking for a co-author, and uh she is uh in class, uh she would be my pick to be uh a co-author on this this activity. And so I sent her everything that I have. I put up this Google Classroom, and if anybody wants to send me a note, uh I'll be glad to share the link. Um and I said, uh, Amy, have you looked at it? No. And I said, Well, I'm getting a little worried because maybe you don't think it's any good or is it not worth not worth the time? So uh it's I don't know. I've thought about the Encyclopedia of Agriculture and and yeah, anyway, you you can get me started on that. We don't have enough time, but uh it's uh it's a fun thing to to try to put it all together.
SPEAKER_02:So is this a project you work on most days, most weekdays? Do you spend some time on it each and every day? Is there a schedule?
SPEAKER_01:Uh most days. Most days, but not like uh getting up at five o'clock every morning and writing something. It's uh when I have time. When I have time. Like today I didn't. All because of us. Sorry. Yeah. And actually I'm I'm at the uh I've written soil, uh it's all on the order of creation. And so I've gone soils, plants. I I went in between with animal and plant genetics because I just thought the the overlap there. So I finished plant and animal genetics, and now I'm starting on animals. Okay. So the animals were the last right my my career.
SPEAKER_02:Your uh your expertise. Yes. So you've mentioned your family a couple times during this podcast. Tell our listeners about your family.
SPEAKER_01:Oh well, Joanne and I have three amazing uh children. Our oldest son, Kelly, is uh working out on a ranch out in the out by Alliance, and uh just loves being out uh in the uh in the sand hills. And uh our daughter Lori uh graduate from and Kelly was a grazing livestock systems major at UNL. Lori, uh elementary ed from uh Concordia, taught for 15 years uh out in Seattle, accepted a call out to Seattle with Amazing Grace and uh Amazing Grace. She's back in Lincoln. Uh and we have grandkids from Noah, age eight, to Levi, age two, uh, just birthday yesterday, and uh and Isabel and Ben in between. So four grandkids from eight until two, and then Matt. Matt works for Huddle here in town, played soccer at Concordia, and uh he and his wife Chelsea have twins and uh Parker. Twins in the six-year-old, I think. Well, this is going public in a year. Did you teach him how to play soccer? Did I teach yeah, Matt?
SPEAKER_02:No, no, no, no, no, no. Probably not allowed time to play soccer when you're teaching all the time at the university, at least at that time.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, we had our good, we had our times uh when we would go down to Cook Pavilion and and uh he would I was trying to make him into a goalie, but it never worked.
SPEAKER_03:Did you did your mentees know you're a soccer fan?
SPEAKER_01:I do uh no, uh not until recently. Matthew is actually the one that got me really connected to to soccer. And he stayed after he graduated from Concordia, he stayed at the house for a while. Now I'm an Arsenal fan. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03:And they're doing pretty well.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. Is that your favorite sport? Soccer. Yeah. Oh, yes. Oh, really? Definitely. Yeah. I watched uh Noah play four soccer games yesterday.
SPEAKER_02:So do you think there's a lot of animal science professors who have soccer as their favorite uh sport? Doesn't come up very often. The animal science meetings, no. So over the course of time, uh is there is there one book or one uh thing you've read that has had perhaps the most impact on you?
SPEAKER_01:I think, well, uh the one that I think of is um by Stephen Covey called Synergism. And the whole idea of two plus two is five if you have synergy. And so I think in a way that got me thinking about understanding, and that's back to the individualism of uh my second favorite book is the whole uh what is it? Um Strength Strength Finders 2.0. I think it's by Tom Rath, and the idea of individualism, and you look for the individuals, you're you're looking for the tree rather than the force in their gifts. And so, how can I understand that in a student and then what I have available to them, and then maybe by putting those two together, we can do two plus two equals five, and the the benefit for the for society.
SPEAKER_02:So individualism is one of your top strengths on strengths finders. What are some of the others?
SPEAKER_01:Well, I I'm actually, you know, I taught feeds and feeding, so I'm a TMR guy, so I'm aware of total mixed ration. Thank you. Uh so individualism, learner, and what I learned from the learner aspect is a little bit of patience because not every student is at the same level as I am in terms of wanting to learn. And then input is this is related because it's collecting things, and so I like to collect knowledge, and that's one reason for the project, and putting that all together in a spot responsibility, and so uh and belief. So that's my total mixed ration of uh of strengths that I've been blessed with. The other thing from that book, that book is you can't be good at everything, improve what you have been given.
SPEAKER_02:Right. And so now that you mention those, that's you. I mean, that if the having known you as long as I have, and you've mentioned those five top strengths, I mean that that that explains you in many ways. It's it's spot on. And I think that was the discovery uh going through that. Yep. That's me. So the one thing I've really liked about strengths finders, I again, there's some things that people use it for that it's not really good at, but the thing I found is it's a common language for people on teams, especially, to understand how this person operates, what motivates them, what they bring to the team, and and also what others bring. And so it gives you kind of a common language.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, then that's where the synergism and uh strength for me come together. Did you use that at Concordia too? In my in my um background. Okay. In the background, thinking. It's it fits for leadership too. Yep.
SPEAKER_03:What's the highlight? If you have a highlight from your 50-year educator career, do you have one or two that are well?
SPEAKER_01:I think a lot of times it's just the most recent is one that sticks in your mind. There's and there are tons. There are tons of the little calls. The the book they gave me on the retirement from uh from UNL and the animal science department is a blessing. But I just came back from uh the tour with uh Uziah Scholars, which is a leadership program at uh Concordia in the AG program, and it's unique in a way. Uh they were out on the tour in Alamosa, California, Alamosa, Colorado. We were learning about potato farming, we were learning, and this program is a lot about leadership, and it's not a by a grade. The director of their program uh was saying, okay, now you just keep notes because I want you to tell me what you learned through it, but we're not going to be grading it. And the other aspect of that that struck me as one of the visions, one of the vision, the vision that I had. Uh, and I'm sure those that were associated with the the kind of the development of the ag program of Concordia was related to AG missions. And there was a student on that tour from Los Angeles, California, and we got to talking, and he said, I want to learn more about AG because I want to go on an AG mission. And so he that combination of being in a in a program that um is not just an academic, but it's learning from a hands-on experiential learning, going on field trips and doing all of those kinds of things uh as part of their learning, and then to do it with a goal to be uh to develop some type of admission experience. So that's the most recent highlight.
SPEAKER_02:So on a football Saturday, let's assume K-State plays Nebraska. Who do you root for? You know, that's interesting.
SPEAKER_01:That's an interesting mark because the student just asked me that very question. Uh I'm 50-50, but and if it comes to a bowl game, it's going to be a tough decision. I'll put it that way. If we get in the bowl game together, I've been looking, you know, 20 years been thinking about whether that's going to happen or not.
SPEAKER_03:Didn't did Nebraska joining the Big Ten make your life easier on that? Yeah, I did a little bit. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So, Dr. Brick, one question we ask all of our guests. You get one word. What is the one word that to you best describes the state that you've given so much to at the University of Nebraska Lincoln at Concordia University in Seward? Uh, what what is your one word for Nebraska? Leaders. Okay, can you explain?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I it I I remember back Mike Kelsey was one of the uh Nebraska Cattlemen Executive Directors. And he said we were putting on a, we were getting ready to put on the Nibbles, the Nebraska Youth Beef Leadership Symposium, leadership symposium. And Mike said, if you're a leader in the cattle industry, you're in the Nebraska cattle industry, you're a leader in the national cattle industry. And if you look at that today across Nebraska, look at the leaders that are part of agriculture in Nebraska.
SPEAKER_02:Do you wish Nebraska had more sheep? I'm okay with all the cattle now. Thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it. You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_03:Thanks for being here, Dennis.
SPEAKER_02:If you enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing on Apple, Spotify, or wherever it is you get your favorite podcast at. Give it a like and share it with someone who also might find it of interest. And please keep on listening as we release additional episodes on Nebraska, its great communities, Nebraska's number one industry agriculture, and the folks who make it happen.
SPEAKER_00:Thanks. This has been Nighty Three, the podcast, sponsored by Nebraska's law firm, Rumboldt Ludke.
