Joanne Li, Ph.D., CFA
Dr. Joanne Li is the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s (UNO) 16th chancellor. She stepped into the role in July 2021 following a national search and unanimous approval from the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. In 2023, Dr. Li became the first and only endowed Chancellor in the University of Nebraska System, carrying the title of the Barbara and Wally Weitz Endowed Chair in Higher Education.
Dr. Li is an internationally recognized leader committed to transforming communities and empowering students through enhancing access to higher education, developing strategic workforce programs, and inspiring lifelong learning.
As a first-generation student and native of Hong Kong, she has a passion for serving learners of all ages and all social, cultural, and economic backgrounds. Dr. Li ensures UNO Mavericks have the resources and support they need to be successful in their journey and strengthen their economic and social mobility.
Since joining UNO, she has focused on positioning the university - and Omaha - as the state’s workforce development engine through innovative approaches to teaching, learning, working, research, affordability, and partnerships, as well as student retention and support.
Dr. Li holds a bachelor (summa cum laude) and doctoral degree in finance from Florida State University and became a CFA Charterholder in 2002. As a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), Dr. Li’s areas of expertise include corporate governance, executive compensation, investments, and international finance. In addition, Dr. Li is a highly engaged leader and scholar who lends her expertise and experience to a wide array of causes and organizations.
As part of the University of Nebraska Foundation’s Only in Nebraska Campaign, Dr. Li has led UNO to record setting fundraising results, exceeding the $300 million fundraising goal more than 2.5 years ahead of schedule. In fiscal year 2024, Dr. Li positioned UNO to set a record in annual private philanthropic support, securing more than $57 million without a capital project.
Prior to assuming the role of UNO’s chancellor, Dr. Li served as the dean of the Florida International University (FIU) College of Business from May 2017 to June 2021. Before that, Li was dean and professor of finance at the Raj Soin College of Business at Wright State University, near Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Fairborn, Ohio. She also has served as chair of the Department of Finance at Towson University, and associate professor in the Sellinger School of Business at Loyola University of Maryland.
Education
Jul 1993 - Jul 1997
Ph.D. in Finance with support discipline in Econometrics, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, Tallahassee, Florida (Dissertation Title: Corporate Governance - Two Essays on the Role)
Jan 1991 - Aug 1992
B.S. (Summa Cum Laude) in Finance, FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, Tallahassee, Florida
Certification
Chartered Financial Analyst® (CFA®), Association for Investment Management and Research/CFA INSTITUTE (since Jun 2001)
Experience Overview
July 2021- present
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Chancellor
Professor of Finance (with tenure)
May 2017 – May 2021
Florida International University
Dean, College of Business
Professor of Finance (with tenure)
Ryder Eminent Scholar Chair in Business
July 2012 – May 2017
Wright State University
Dean, Raj Soin College of Business
Professor of Finance (with tenure)
Aug 2009 – Jun 2012 & Jul 2006 – May 2008
Towson University
Chair, Department of Finance, College of Business
Professor of Finance (with tenure)
Jun 2008 – Jul 2009
Becker’s CPA/Stalla Review for the CFA Exam
CFA Curriculum Director/Editor-in-chief
Jul 2007 – Jul 2006
Sellinger School of Business
Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland
Associate Professor of Finance (2004-2006)
Academic Director for the Sellinger Scholars Program (2002-2003)
Assistant Professor of Finance (1997-2004)
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Chancellor
6/2021 to Present
Advancement and Development:
- Secured more than $149 million in private philanthropy.
- Conceptualized and prepared campaign case statement and campaign priorities.
- Exceeded goal of receiving gifts from more than 18,000 individuals with 24,000+ unique donors.
- Recipient of the Barbara and Wally Weitz Endowed Chair in Higher Education Leadership, supported by a $5 million gift. This is the first endowed chair in higher education leadership to be attached to a chancellor's position in the University of Nebraska System.
- Expanded partnership with the Suzanne & Walter Scott Foundation to help retain and educate Nebraska’s brightest students through the Walter Scott, Jr. Scholarship Program with a $20 million private investment.
- Secured $14 million dollar investment to support faculty and staff innovation initiatives.
- Record-level participation in Giving Day fundraisers.
Campus Leadership:
Strategic Leadership
- Developed the CORE statement to guide UNO’s strategic planning process.
- Introduced metrics and methodological process to measure outcomes.
- Hosted campus strategic planning forums with participation between 200-300 faculty and staff.
- Separated essential units that were previously joint between UNO and UNMC.
- Established organizational changes to ensure operational efficiency, data intelligence, and a functional structure that supports achieving strategic goals, this included the creation of the Division of Institutional Effectiveness and Student Success and the Division of Innovation and Learning-Centric Initiatives.
Academic Affairs
- Engaged university in General Education reform to reduce students’ gen ed requirements from 42 credits to the norm of 30-32 credits.
- Launched quantitative reasoning initiative to make math and quantitative reasoning accessible to UNO students, serving 4,000-5,000 students each academic year and reducing DFW rates.
- Opened the College of Business Administration Rod Rhoden Business Innovation Center.
- Revised the executive MBA program.
- Houses the Nebraska Business Development Center serving over 2,000 clients in 2022, creating more than 250 jobs, and making $42 million dollar investments in their businesses, and being awarded $132 million in government contracts. The total economic impact to Nebraska of this collaborative effort was $343.8 million to the Nebraska economy.
- Developed the Nebraska Education Policy Research Lab, a research-practice partnership between UNO and the Nebraska Department of Education, and Nebraska school districts.
- Entered into a partnership with United Airlines to provide career pathways to UNO students.
- Created a partnership with Southwest Airlines - UNO's Aviation Institute became one of only five universities in the nation to participate in their Destination 225 program.
- Grew the UNO Dual Enrollment program to a record of nearly 7,000 dual enrollments from 39 high schools in 2022/23.
- In April 2023, the National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education (NCITE) Center finalized a new agreement with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) opening the door for an additional $25M in research funding, increasing the total funding available up to $35M for counterterrorism research initiatives identified by DHS in the evolving threat landscape.
- UNO launched the Workforce Partnerships. This arrangement between UNO and Omaha-based companies/institutions is an innovative approach to employer-provided educational benefits that enhance workforce development and career advancement. Current UNO Workforce Partnerships include Union Pacific Railroad, Mutual of Omaha, Omaha Public Power District, Blue Cross Blue Shield Nebraska, Werner Enterprises, First National Bank, Physicians Mutual, and Metropolitan Community College.
Student Success
- Established the Career Connect initiative, a campaign that partners with more than 140 employees to provide paid internships for all UNO students.
- Transitioned scholarships from merit-based focused to need-based focused.
- Created a new tuition rate to recruit out-of-state students to Omaha through the Omaha Urban Rate (OUR) tuition.
- Implemented enterprise solutions including through Salesforce’s Student Success Hub.
- Integrated Student Employment and Financial Supports' Federal Work Study (FWS) initiative to maximize utilization of FWS funding.
- Expanded Federal Work Study to community-based learning projects and research positions.
- Secured a joint grant with Metropolitan Community College from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation to support advancing transfer student success.
- Launched MetroMavs program with Metropolitan Community College to implement co-advising with Metro Community College.
- Improved the transition from community college to UNO.
- Increased student access to the Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS).
- Developed Durango’s Advancement & Support Hub (DASH) to provide hardship funds for students.
- Launched the Chancellor’s Wellness Initiative to encourage campus to focus on wellness.
- Improved food security by growing the Maverick Food Pantry with a 114% increase in 2021-22 and 130% increase in 2022-23.
- Maximize housing utility as the only campus in the NU system with a waitlist.
Innovation
- Created the Division of Innovative and Learning-Centric Initiatives at UNO, a research and development focused unit sitting at the intersection of academic affairs, IT, student success and workforce development.
- Amplified workforce partnerships to more effectively meet the educational goals of local employers/employees.
- Launched micro-credentials, which required us to articulate a vision, build a new business model/infrastructure, shape a new product, partner with the community in understanding the areas of biggest need, and market the offerings effectively throughout Omaha and beyond.
- Launched digital badging, which recognizes skills and competencies earned by UNO faculty, staff and students that are more easily translated to employers and partners through this new technology.
- Piloted and continue to expand our work with Competency Based Education (CBE), where UNO faculty are learning new strategies to increase flexibility for learners in demonstrating their learning and mastering skills rather than leaning on traditional measures of time like a semester.
- Held Future of Work Symposium Series events where we brought partners in non-profits, corporate, government, education and industry together on campus to discuss the most critical needs for the future of work and spent time together co-creating realistic and impactful solutions.
- Took a drivers-seat approach to embracing and adopting AI in the classroom, training faculty in ways that empower them to see AI as a helpful tool in their toolbox in working with students and helping students understand effective ways to use AI for first drafts and as a co-pilot in their learning process.
- Continually scanned and reviewed new market technologies for teaching and learning. As needed, launched pilots to explore whether the tools met a need for instruction on the campus. In addition, continually updated classrooms to enable creative pedagogical approaches to learning such as hy-flex.
- Championed the continued expansion of the Open Nebraska free- and reduced-cost digital course materials and open educational resources (OER) program. As of the Fall 2023 semester, this effort has saved UNO students $6.5M. While the program benefits all students who register for courses who have adopted these materials, our research has found that the biggest benefits are for part-time and first-generation students. Part-time students in OER sections at UNO have an 8% lower DFW rate than non-OER sections. When first generation students took a course at UNO using OER they earned 10% more A’s compared to non-OER sections.
Research
- Growth in research and creative activity awards from $22.2 million in FY21 to $42.1 million in FY23, and $40 million in FY24.
- Growth in research expenditures (NSF HERD) from $16.1 million in FY20 to $30.8 million in FY23.
- UNO received its first grant from the Carnegie Mellon Foundation, which focuses on the Humanities ($500,000, three-year grant).
- Since 2021, more than $1.5 million has gone to support more than 400 students through their research and creative activity projects.
- Started annual tradition of Faculty Research and Creative Activity Award ceremony.
- Launched a high-school internship program that will match high school students with faculty mentors to gain important experience in conducting research and creative activity projects.
- UNO received an $11 million-dollar COBRE NIH grant to establish the Center for Cardiovascular Research in Biomechanics (CRiB). Grant is eligible for two renewal periods of five years each and a total of $30 million dollar funding. COBRE funded 228 students and 51 faculty on a total of more than 400 individuals research projects. Received $17 million dollar gift to support expansion of Biomechanics.
- Home of the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (Department of Homeland Security’s Center of Excellence). NCITE has supported more than 78 full-time, 12-month graduate assistants and brought in more than $15 million in FY23.
Facilities
- Completed Mammel Hall and Strauss Performing Arts Center additions (Fall 2021).
- Completed $35 million dollar Durham Science Center renovation (January 2024).
- Established a physical home for the STEM Trail Center ($5 million dollar LB 384 project).
- Renovated the basement of the Health and Kinesiology building to establish the Research, Engagement, and Community Hub (REACH) ($10 million LB 384 project scheduled to complete in November 2024).
- Established a new home for the National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology and Education Center (NCITE) in the Scott Technology Center.
- Opened the Samuel Bak Museum: the Learning Center.
- Completed the Eppley Administration Building Corridor refresh.
Athletics
- Negotiated co-hosting of the College World Series in Omaha along with Creighton University with support from the Governor’s Office.
- (9) consecutive semesters achieving a GPA of 3.40 or higher.
- 85% of Maverick student-athletes earned a 3.0 GPA or higher.
- 94% Graduation Success Rate over a four-year period.
- Over 3,000 hours of community service through volunteering at 40 different organizations.
- Hosted 25 community high school and college graduations in 2022-23.
- Hosted the 2022 and 2023 Nebraska State High School Baseball Championships.
- Hosted the 2023 Nebraska State High School Softball Championships.
- Record breaking 2023 Maverick Run-Walk annual event with over 2,000 community participants.
- Hosted over 140 Athletics events and 200 non-Athletics events in Athletics facilities.
- Hosted the most concerts (10) and family shows in Baxter Arena history, including the largest attended and grossing concerts in Baxter Arena history.
- Record attendance for the 2022 Summit League Women’s Soccer Championship and Volleyball Championship games.
- Largest increase in Hockey attendance in NCAA Division I, finishing 4th nationally in 2023.
- Established (8) Omaha Athletics single game attendance records in the sports of Hockey, Volleyball, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Soccer, Softball and Baseball.
- 45% Year-Over-Year increase in total ticketing revenue totaling $3.7 million.
- 52% Year-Over-Year increase in One Fund annual fund contributions totaling $2.2 million with a record 1,704 donors.
- 17% Year-Over-Year increase in corporate sponsorship revenue totaling over $2 million.
- 35% Year-Over-Year increase and record in facilities food & beverage commissions totaling $1.16 million.
- Established and integrated a mental health support unit for student-athletes.
- Baxter Arena Extension Facility completed in 2023 in partnership with the Nebraska Philanthropic Trust.
- Since November of 2021, Omaha Athletics has competed in (10) Summit League Championship Games in the following sports: volleyball, men’s soccer, women’s soccer, women’s basketball, baseball, softball.
- Women’s Soccer captured its 1st Summit League Title and became the 1st women’s program to advance to the NCAA tournament in UNO’s Division-I era in 2023.
- Softball secured the program’s inaugural Summit League Championship, becoming the 2nd women’s program to advance to the NCAA Division I Tournament where it captured UNO’s 1st NCAA win in women’s athletics history in 2023.
- In 2023, Volleyball won the Summit League Regular Season and Tournament titles and advanced to the program’s 1st ever NCAA Division I Tournament.
- Men’s Soccer captured the 2023 Summit League Championship and advanced to the NCAA Division I Tournament.
- Women’s basketball made an appearance in the Summit League Championship game for the 2nd time in the past three seasons.
- Hockey finished the season ranked 20th in the final national polls and hosted home ice during the NCHC playoffs for the first time in Baxter Arena history.
Business and Finance
- Completed zero-based budget financial process.
- Transitioned Dining and Catering Services from a self-operation to a contracted provider
- Introduced new intercampus shuttle service provider that prioritizes customer service and the quality of its UNO branded shuttle fleet.
- Developed and secured $48M Budget for LB384 Deferred Maintenance Projects.
- Developed and implemented new Temporary Pay Increases & Interim/Acting Appointments Policy (July 2022) ensures employees working above and beyond their regular duties are properly compensated.
- Revamped the performance evaluation system via UNEVAL to make ratings more UNO job specific and relevant to work product. In addition, added a new 360 supervisor evaluation tool for direct feedback from subordinates.
- Created UNO FAST (Faculty and Staff Training) system that uses UNO staff and faculty teaching training courses directly to UNO employees.
- Developed and implemented the UNO Day 1 program, an in-person, weekly orientation session for new UNO employees. Sessions cover information that new employees need to get started in their employment including benefits, payroll, parking, how to use firefly, and what additional training they need. Each employee is set up with their NetID and password and receives their MavCARD during the orientation session.
Visibility and Community Partnerships
Selected Community Boards
- Member, Asian American Affairs Commission, State of Nebraska.
- American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU), Council of State Representative.
- Member, United States Strategic Command Consultation Committee, 2023-2026.
- Chair, National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) Board of Directors, 2023-2025.
- Director, Kansas City Federal Reserve Omaha Branch Board of Directors, 2022-2028.
- Member, Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities (CUMU), 2022-2025.
- Member, Board of Trustees of the Higher Learning Commission, 2022-2026.
- Member, Opera Omaha Board of Directors, 2022-2025.
- Member, Omaha Symphony Board of Directors, 2022-2025.
Selected Professional Activities
- Recipient of the 2024 Woman of the Year Award by Inspire Omaha.
- AGB Institute for Leadership & Governance Fellow.
- AASCU MLI Faculty Member.
- 2023, authored “You need to Look Up”, in Women in Higher Education C-Suite: diverse executive profiles.
- 2023, authored “A Humble Beginning to Higher Ed Leadership” in The Rise of Chinese American Leaders in U.S. Higher Education: Stories and Roadmaps.
- 2022, New Presidents Seminar, Harvard Graduate School of Education.
- Joined the Governor’s Trade Missions to Vietnam and Japan in 2023 as Nebraska’s education representative.