Gettinos creates scholarship for aspiring communicators at UNL

ABOUT THIS PHOTO: Sarah Gettino Owens (ʼ06), left, and her father, Mike Gettino (ʼ73), attend a Husker football game. They teamed up to establish a new annual scholarship to help current students at their alma mater.

Students pursuing a career in the advertising or public relations field at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln will be aided by a new scholarship established by Michael Gettino and his daughter, Sarah Gettino Owens, who are both alumni of the university.

They created the Michael Gettino and Sarah Owens Scholarship as an expendable fund with a $5,000 annual gift commitment to the University of Nebraska Foundation. Each year, the fund will enable the College of Journalism and Mass Communications to award one or more scholarships to a junior enrolled in the advertising and public relations major who have a minimum GPA of 3.0.

After graduating from UNL, Gettino and Owens have each enjoyed careers in marketing communications and advertising. They attribute a good part of their career success and enjoyment to the education they received at UNL and hope their scholarship will help others achieve similar professional success.

“Nebraska prepared us to be successful in the business world,” Mike Gettino said. “We feel we should give back to the school that gave us so much. This scholarship is a way for us to do just that.”

Gettino and Owens say they hope the scholarship will encourage students to achieve their career goals. They also intend for it to provide support especially to those who are ready to take action and responsibility for their professional development and who are creative and passionate about being a part of the next generation of business communicators.

Maria Marron, dean of the UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications, said, “This scholarship will have an immediate impact on the lives of students, perhaps even making it possible for some to attend UNL. We are very grateful to Mike and Sarah for establishing the scholarship, which is a meaningful contribution to our support for advertising and public relations students.”

Mike Gettino lives in Kansas City, Missouri, and is a Vietnam-era military veteran having served with the U.S. Air Force Special Services. While stationed in Omaha during the Cold War, his plane was nearly shot down while flying over the North Pacific Ocean. He went on to graduate from UNL in 1973 with a journalism major and advertising focus. He has enjoyed a 50-year career in the advertising and marketing field and has worked for client companies including Walmart, UMB Bank, Phillips Petroleum and others.

Sarah Owens also lives in Kansas City, Missouri, and is the commercial division marketing manager at Sedgwick LLP, an international trial law firm. She graduated from UNL in 2006 with an advertising major before earning a master’s degree at the University of Kansas. Before joining Sedgwick, she implemented an integrated marketing communications program for an agriculture-based company. She also has a passion for photojournalism and enjoyed her internship at National Geographic while attending UNL.