Now stepping away after 16 years at the helm, Perlman has presided over a campus renaissance that’s seen UNL markedly elevate its academic standing and reputation.
UNL has more than doubled the amount of ultra-competitive federal research dollars it’s pulling in, a key measure of academic muscle and a way schools build stature.
Enrollment last fall hit an all-time high, and today the school attracts more top-notch students — and more students from out of state — than at any time in recent history.
The school now boasts membership in the Big Ten, an athletic conference that also represents a distinguished academic brand in the world of higher education.
The campus has also been physically made over by some $1.2 billion in construction, including the nascent Innovation Campus on the former grounds of the State Fair and a new arena that’s reshaped downtown Lincoln.
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Whether due to Tommy Lee, Perlman’s deadpan “Perls of Wisdom” social media campaign or to stepped-up recruiting efforts, UNL is enrolling more students than ever.
They’re better students, too. The number of freshmen boasting high ACT scores has more than doubled. A school that typically produced one or two Fulbright scholars a year churned out 11 last year.
In other measures of the university’s strides, faculty members are performing at a higher level. The school’s haul of competitive federal research dollars has climbed more than 150 percent since 2000 — well above national average growth in that time.
In the U.S. News rankings of national public universities, UNL has jumped from 57th to 47th, a ranking that today tops neighboring Iowa State, Kansas and Missouri.
