“Heart of Gold” ice cream flavor celebrates new NU president

Ice cream holds a special place in University of Nebraska President Jeff Gold's heart.

When he was an undergraduate student at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., he got to know a fellow student, Robin Hayworth, while scooping ice cream at Maxwell's on the university's North Campus. He and Robin eventually married, and to this day, they still celebrate special occasions with ice cream sundaes.

"We just celebrated our 50th anniversary this August, and that gave us an opportunity to reflect on how we first met - which meant ice cream was part of that celebration," Dr. Gold said.

It was extra fitting, then, that an ice cream flavor for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Dairy Store be named in his honor.

That flavor is a white mint ice cream with chocolate chunks and fudge swirl named "Heart of Gold" - a nod to Dr. Gold's training and career as pediatric heart surgeon before becoming a leader in higher education.

While ice cream holds personal meaning for Dr. Gold, it also occupies an important place in NU history. The UNL Dairy Store has been a UNL campus fixture for more than 100 years. It started selling all-you-can-drink milk to students for a nickel, before eventually branching out into other products, including cheese, meats and ice cream.

Today, Dairy Store ice cream flavors are developed, tested and produced at the UNL Dairy Plant, part of the Food Processing Center on UNL's Innovation Campus. For decades, students in the Food Science and Technology department have helped make the ice cream, providing them with valuable, hands-on experience that has translated to internships and careers.

"The university is important to producers in Nebraska; the dairy industry relies on a workforce who is educated at UNL," said Kris Bousquet, Executive Director for the Nebraska State Dairy Association. "In addition, we use research from the university to make sure that producers are doing the best work they can, based on new scientific evidence."

"It's important to remember that food doesn't just appear at the grocery store or the ice cream parlor," said Dr. Gold. "It takes a great deal of work to bring it from the farm to our tables, which is why I am so appreciative of our food scientists and producers."

Dairy Store ice cream also connects the university to Nebraskans. Prospective UNL students stop at the Dairy Store on campus tours, and alumni visit on Husker game days. A mobile Dairy Store is a fixture at events across the state, including the Nebraska State Fair and Husker Harvest Days. The Dairy Store also connects customers to Nebraska dairy producers through an interactive display right on campus.

"The store is an icon-from first dates and study breaks to wedding proposals and birthday celebrations," said Nick Pace, interim dean of UNL's College of Education and Human Science.

Heart of Gold is available for purchase, along with a host of other flavors, at the UNL Dairy Store in the East Campus Visitors Center.

About the University of Nebraska

The University of Nebraska is the state's only public university system, made up of four campuses - UNL, UNO, UNK and UNMC - each with a distinct role and mission. Together the campuses enroll nearly 50,000 students and employ 16,000 faculty and staff who serve the state, nation and world through education, research and outreach. For more information and news from the University of Nebraska, visit www.nebraska.edu/news.