Barbara Weitz

The Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center is named for an individual deeply committed to her community and to helping others. Barbara is an avid supporter of local and national nonprofit organizations, giving back to the Omaha community through her volunteerism and financial commitments.

Barbara along with her husband, Wally Weitz, and their children were the catalyst behind the development and extraordinary growth of UNO’s service learning programs — now being integrated within K-12 schools throughout the Omaha community — and the university’s emergence as a national leader in community engagement.

Barbara holds degrees in government, public administration and social work from Carleton College, New York University and the University of Nebraska Omaha. She is a retired faculty member of the UNO School of Social Work and currently is involved with the Women’s Fund of Greater Omaha, Building Bright Futures, the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation, the Urban League of Nebraska, the Avenue Scholars Foundation and the University of Nebraska Foundation. Barbara formerly served on the National Board of the Samaritan Institute.

The Weitz Family Foundation made the lead gift to the Community Engagement Center. Their support of this transformative project at UNO continues the family’s legacy of community engagement and enriching the lives of others.