Local Businessmen Credit UNK for Their Success

Being a student at the University of Nebraska at Kearney has a lot of advantages. For Adam Akerson and Brandon Hauff, their time on campus was the beginning of what has become a rewarding career. Both men credit their time as UNK College of Business and Technology students for their current success.

Adam Akerson, who currently serves as the Vice President of Finance and Corporate Controller at Buckle, explains how he and his team play “a pivotal role in the business” through collaboration. He shares how this drives the “informed and strategic decision-making that maximizes value and long-term success.” This focus on collaboration began long ago for Akerson as a CBT student.

The experiential learning style that the CBT is known for was invaluable to Akerson who now understands how “so much of a person’s career and success hinges on their ability to connect with people of all walks of life.” The experiences he had as a student at UNK, with its diverse student body, helped him to “develop the ability to form meaningful connections” with others. This skill has carried over to his work at Buckle where he works closely with other teams. 

In Akerson’s current role, his work includes accounting, SEC reporting, financial planning and analysis, treasury, and investor relations. He also works closely with the internal data and analytics team at Buckle. He states that his “numerous opportunities for involvement” as a UNK student helped him to “develop the ability to form meaningful connections with peers, professors, administrators, and visiting business leaders.” In addition, the fact that he was able to participate in internships provided him with “a well-rounded introduction to the field” as well as allowing him to tour various businesses. This experience gave him a deeper understanding of how a business operates which was the perfect complement to what he was learning in his classes

He specifically feels that Dr. Don Morgan and the late Dr. Karl Borden challenged him and taught him skills he uses in his professional life today. He shares how their classes “didn’t always have clear-cut answers” which pushed him to “think critically, identify the relevant data to inform decisions, and articulate a point of view effectively.” Now that he is no longer a student and working in what he describes as “a world that is rarely black and white,” he appreciates the value of the skills he was taught.

Akerson explains how the world is now “a rapidly evolving technological landscape which impacts all parts of a business.” Because of this, he would “encourage business-focused CBT students to obtain a foundational knowledge of computer science and/or data analytics.” He also notes that critical thinking is an important component for today’s professionals and recommends that CBT students “explore courses in the Philosophy department.”

Brandon Hauff, Vice-President of IT at Buckle, also credits his time at UNK for his current success. He explains how, while a student at UNK, he developed “critical thinking and problem-solving skills while learning fundamental skills in Computer Science and Mathematics.” He spent time “doing undergraduate research which included writing technical papers and presenting that work at conferences.” He shares that, in his current professional life, he “leans heavily on the soft skills learned” as a student.

Hauff’s career began at Buckle as a web developer. After a few years of working on software for various business functions, he transitioned to a new role, business analyst, which allowed him to help modernize the Point of Sale and payment systems. Using the skills he honed at UNK in his classes, Hauff now leads the IT Department at Buckle where he works with “other IT leaders to ensure” they have “strong relationships across the business and enable every teammate at the right time with the right solution.”

As he enjoys a successful career, Hauff reflects on his time as a student at UNK’s College of Business and Technology. When he thinks about advice he would offer a current CBT student, he states that he believes “finding an internship in your focus area is one of the most valuable exercises you go through during your time at UNK.” He is proud to announce that at Buckle, there is a strong internship program where interns are integrated directly into a team, giving them the opportunity to do value-added work as they learn skills from their focus area and gain invaluable business experience.” 

Hauff understands that his success at Buckle started a long time ago. He credits faculty members such as  Dr. John Hastings, Dr. Sherri Harms, and Dr. Barton Willis who he shares taught him “critical skills while developing (his) curiosity and ability to research and learn on (his) own.” In addition to the academic benefits he received, he is grateful for organizations like United Campus Ministry which he shares “provided a home away from home” for him and a place he could grow spiritually.

These days when Brandon Hauff looks back on his time at UNK, he does so fondly and with an “appreciation for (his) many teachers, mentors, and organizations” that he credits for helping him prepare for the rest of his life. For Adam Akerson, he appreciates how special his time at UNK”s CBT was. He is grateful for what he describes as “a place full of incredible students and professors united by a shared mission.” 

Both of these successful local businessmen urge current UNK students to take advantage of their time on campus. As Akerson explains, classes at the CBT can be the “start of an understanding that every experience, whether or not it becomes your lifelong path, contributes to your growth and prepares you for future opportunities.”