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Ed Walsh is a neuroscientist whose work centers on questions related to how the brain encodes sound information, the exploration of developmental and molecular processes associated with auditory function and dysfunction, and pathological consequences of noise over-exposure and genetic mutations on sensory and neural information processing. His most recent biomedical research focus is on the development of a non-human animal model of blast-elicited traumatic brain injury (TBI) that will serve as a platform for the development of TBI treatment protocols.

Ed received his Bachelor of Science degree from the Western Illinois University, his Master of Science degree from the University of Illinois (Springfield), and his Doctor of Philosophy degree was earned at Creighton University.

He was the director of the Developmental Auditory Physiology Lab at the Boys Town National Research Hospital for nearly 30 years and was affiliated with Creighton University Dept. of Biomedical Sciences, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Dept. of Otolaryngology, and the University of Nebraska Lincoln in the Dept. of Special Education and Communication Disorders. Ed has contributed to the medical education program at Creighton’s Medical School and taught in a number of courses including Medical Physiology, Neurobiology, and Auditory Neuroscience. He has over 80 scientific publications and book chapters, numerous magazine articles and lay-language papers, and well over 190 abstracts in scientific journals.

Ed is currently a Senior Research Scientist at the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System and is also affiliated with the University of Minnesota in the Twin Cities in the Center for Translational and Applied Sensory Science and the Dept. of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences. He has been an Investigator on numerous grants from agencies including the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Defense.

In addition to ongoing biomedical research, conservation research is a second scientific area of interest where he has studied hearing, vocal production and vocalization acoustics in tigers, lions and other large and not so large cats, and is currently studying hearing and vocalization acoustics in bald and golden eagles.

Ed has lived in Omaha since 1990 with his spouse, JoAnn McGee, who is also a neuroscientist. They have two daughters and a son and a growing number of grandchildren. When not working he spends a substantial amount of time participating in philanthropic efforts and enjoying the great outdoors, with hiking sitting at the top of a long list of activities

Ashley Olson has been a member of the National Willa Cather Center staff since 2008 and has served as the organization’s Executive Director since 2014. In this role, she oversees a museum, arts center, ten historic sites, and a 612-acre native prairie—together comprising the largest collection of nationally designated historic sites dedicated to an American author. 

Under Olson’s leadership, the Center’s assets have grown by more than $17 million. She has strengthened institutional capacity by growing the staff from a primarily part-time team to a majority full-time workforce. Olson has also led strategic initiatives to expand the Center’s core programs in an effort to broaden the organization’s local and national reach. A cornerstone achievement of her tenure was the $7 million adaptive reuse of the historic Moon Block building, transforming it into a museum and archive that anchors the Center’s operations and interpretive work. Building on that momentum, the Center later accepted a major gift of six historic sites and an associated collection of more than 8,000 objects. Olson has since overseen significant capital improvements to preserve these sites, improve accessibility, and prepare them for new exhibits and interpretation. She has secured and administered grants from the National Park Service and from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to restore the Willa Cather Childhood Home and to develop new permanent exhibits. 

Olson holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She also holds a Certificate in Fundraising Management (CFM) and is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), reflecting the highest standards of ethical and professional practice in the field.

Brigadier General (Retired) Gary Ropers was born and raised in Sargent, Nebraska, graduating from Sargent High School in 1982. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Kearney State College in 1987 and a Master of Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College in 2014.

BG Ropers enlisted in the Nebraska Army National Guard in 1981 with C Company, 1st Battalion, 195th Armor, in Broken Bow, Nebraska. Commissioned as a Field Artillery officer in 1991, he served in leadership positions at the battery, company, battalion, regiment, brigade, state headquarters, and division levels throughout his distinguished military career. He deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from 2007 to 2008, leading a team that trained and mentored the Afghan National Police in Kandahar Province. In June 2026, BG Ropers retired after 45 years of dedicated military service.

In his civilian career, BG Ropers is President and Owner of Ropers Consulting, LLC, and works for General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) supporting U.S. Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.

He and his wife of more than twenty years, Angie, have five children, Madelynn, Michael, Macie, Malorie, and Matthew. His two older children and their families are Paige and Chris Swanson (sons Warren, Easton, and Colton), and Justin and Shelbi Ropers (sons Finley, Gabe, and Leo), who live in Holdrege, Nebraska. 

Since 2021, Jo Giles has led the Women’s Fund of Omaha’s work to address gender-based inequities through collaboration that identifies, researches, and innovates solutions to advance, educate and fund lasting impact.

Before joining the team, Jo was the Policy and Training Director for the Coalition for a Strong Nebraska (CSN), where she created training sessions for members and others in the nonprofit sector, to be able to participate more fully in the public policy advocacy process. She is also an award-winning media relations professional and journalist and was a television reporter/anchor for Omaha’s KPTM Fox 42 News.

Jo has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia, a bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and a certificate in public health from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Jo enjoys community service and is a board member of Omaha Community Foundation, Omaha Public Library Foundation and Omaha Public Radio KIOS. In her spare time, Jo is an avid reader, enjoys running and spending time with her family, including her husband, their son and goldendoodle.

Garry Clark now serves as the Executive Director of the Omaha Inland Port Authority. Garry Clark, Jr’s (Clark) career in economic and community development has evolved over the last 18 years, beginning as a city planner in Newberry, Florida, following this, he served as an economic development specialist in Bowie, Maryland (Prince Georges County), then served as the first Executive Director of the North Capitol Main Street organization in Washington, D.C.; to his most recent role serving as the President CEO at Economic Alliance Snohomish County (EASC). Which is the county’s economic development and countywide chamber organization. EASC represents the county just north of Seattle, Washington and includes the Port of Everett and the Tulalip Tribes, representing 840,000 people, with The Boeing Company being the county’s largest employer. During this tenure Clark, rebranded EASC, moved staff size from 7 to 18, and created a chamber partnership to umbrella the organization to support smaller chambers, EASC also received the 2023 NAACP Civic Leadership Award for his efforts to create an equity and inclusion chamber of commerce.

A few of Clark’s career highlights are: WholeStone Foods (Pork) Acquisition and Expansion $300 million 1,000 workers, in Fremont, Nebraska; Local Option Sales Tax/ New Market Tax Credit expansion of RTG (Traveling Nurses) Headquarters project $40 million; Canadian Company – No Meat Factory – relocation to Stanwood, WA $200 million dollar project; Amazon Facility - $355 million – 4,000 acre mega site Arlington, WA; Housing – creation of a revolving loan fund for workforce housing which created planned 2,000 units of housing in one year – Fremont, Nebraska. Clark also led two separate revolving loan funds for housing that secured $10 million in housing funds through Nebraska Investment Finance Authority and the Greater Fremont Development Council in Fremont, Nebraska.

Clark also served as the first economic development director in Cuming County, Nebraska for six years while serving a dual role as the county’s Zoning administrator. This county was the top cattle feeding county in the state. Clark also served as the National President for the National Rural Economic Developer’s Association in 2021. In late, 2018, Clark was awarded the Midland Business Journal’s 40 under 40 award for his aggressive workforce housing efforts in Fremont, Nebraska.

Clark has served as a community columnist for the Omaha World Hearld, and travels nationally to speak on economic development, motivation, and Inclusion, as a keynote speaker/instructor for many economic 0development organizations.

Clark received his BA in Sociology from Dana College, Blair, N.E. and his Master of Science in Urban Studies/Public Administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Although his Alma mater (Dana College) is no more, Clark was inducted into the Dana College Hall of Fame for Track and Field in 2010 and received the Outstanding Young Alum Award in 2018. He holds 11 records (most ever in the school’s history) and was the first male National Champion for Dana College.

In early 2019, Clark published his first work as a published author, with the memoir, Unlikely Viking – From the D.C. Projects to Rural Nebraska. Clark completed a TedxOmaha Talk at Creighton University in 2019, his talk was titled, “Running shoes, Food stamps, and Cornfields “, the talk can be found on Youtube.