Award: $4000
Eligibility: Faculty, staff, and students
The Dennis Molfese, Sue Venteicher, and David Hansen Hero Award is an annual award, recognizing a faculty member, staff member, or student whose courageous and unselfish act saved the life of another person.
Nomination Instructions
Do you know someone at the university (faculty, staff, or student) who was directly responsible for saving someone’s life through an act of heroism within the past five years?
Before submitting the nomination form, compile the documents listed below in the order shown and save as one PDF file.
- one-page narrative describing the heroic act
- supporting materials and corroborative evidence, like newspaper articles
Nominees must be willing to share their story; however, the person who was saved may remain anonymous. The committee may request a follow-up meeting with the nominators and/or nominees.
About the Award
In the U.S., thirteen people die each day from kidney disease. Fortunately, Dennis Molfese was one of the lucky 5% who received a kidney transplant from a living donor. Dennis, his donor Sue, and his colleague Dave participated in the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine's 18-person transplant chain — nine donors and nine recipients — the largest internal transplant chain ever completed in Nebraska. Victoria and Dennis Molfese created this award to honor Sue Venteicher and David Hansen for their heroism in saving the life of another and to recognize others within the University of Nebraska-Lincoln community who demonstrate life-saving efforts in their service to others.
Past Awardees
| Year | Recipient | Department |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Paul Springer | Child, Youth and Family Studies |
| 2021 | Scott Holly | Center for Grassland Studies |
| 2021 | Morgan Pfeiffer | Biological Sciences |