Speakers

Rev. Daniel S. Hendrickson, SJ, PhD, is the 25th president of Creighton University; a position he has held since 2015.

Prior to serving as president, Fr. Hendrickson was Creighton student in the Jesuit Humanities Program in 1996, before returning to teach at the University from 2000 to 2003. He was elected to the Creighton Board of Trustees in 2013, elected president of Creighton in December 2014.

During his presidency, Creighton University has welcomed record-breaking first-year classes of more than 1,000 students each year, recorded a 99 percent outcome rate for graduates, opened a health sciences campus in Phoenix, and overseen nearly $200 million in scholarship dollars for Creighton students.

Fr. Hendrickson serves on the boards of Boston College and Xavier University; is the current chair of the BIG EAST Conference Board of Directors; and is a trustee of ILAC/Centro de Educación para la Salud Integral (CESI) in the Dominican Republic, and Jesuit Worldwide Learning (JWL).

A native of Fremont, Nebraska, Fr. Hendrickson holds a BA from Marquette University; an MA in philosophical resources from Fordham University; a Master of Divinity degree from the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University; and MA and PhD degrees from Columbia University.

After graduating high school, Matt Walsh worked as a construction worker for five years, becoming a lifelong  Laborers Local 1140 Union member. He enrolled in Creighton University as a nontraditional student, receiving a bachelor's degree in finance, which led to his 30-year career in banking. 

Walsh was elected as a Council Bluffs city council member in 1996 and served continuoulsy until he was elected mayor in 2013. Serving as an elected official for nearly three decades, Mayor Walsh has consistently worked to improve the quality of life and attractiveness of the City of Council Bluffs. 

Mayor Walsh is a fourth-generation Council Bluffs resident. He and his wife, Barb, have two children, Erin and Jake, and three grandchildren.

Dr. Pour was the health director of the Douglas County Health Department for 19 years. At the department, she oversaw more than 140 full-time employees and an annual budget of more than $ 14 million. She retired on July 1, 2021.

Dr. Pour has an undergraduate degree in Biology from UNO; a Master’s Degree and a Ph.D. in Toxicology from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular pharmacology at Creighton University. Before becoming the health director, Dr. Pour was the Nebraska State Toxicologist for 13 years with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services in Lincoln.

Dr. Pour received many prestigious awards, such as the 2007 J.G. Elliot Award and the Public Service Excellence Award from the University, the Tribute to Women Award from the Women’s Center for Advancement and the 2014 Champion Award from the Empowerment Network, and she was inducted in The Omaha Hospitality Hall of Fame the same year. Dr. Pour served on several local non-profit boards such as the National Safety Council, Greater Omaha Chapter; Creighton Center for Promoting Health and Health Equality; Live Well Omaha and Live Well Omaha Kids, just to name a few. At this time, she is on the Nebraska Medical Center board, engagement advisory board.

Her goal was always to make Omaha a healthier community by promoting healthy behavior and addressing the underlying social determinants of health.