Following the abrupt resignation of Chancellor Rodney Bennett, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln has selected Kathy Ankerson, professor emerita of architecture, to serve as interim chancellor while the university searches for its next permanent leader.
In her new role, Ankerson will oversee a student body of over 19,000 undergraduates and 4,600 graduate students, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Education. Women represent 51 percent of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s undergraduate population.
Professor Ankerson recently retired from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2025, following three years of service as executive vice chancellor. Prior to assuming that role in 2022, she served as dean of the university’s College of Architecture for six years. Her deanship marked a return to Nebraska, where she previously taught from 1996 to 2011, before leaving to serve as head of interior architecture and product design at Kansas State University for five years. Earlier in her career, she taught at Radford University in Virginia and Washington State University.
Professor Ankerson holds two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree in architecture from Washington State University.