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The Academy was first organized in Omaha in 1880, with 75 charter
members. The Union Pacific Railroad, which supported the programs
to make Nebraska the educational and cultural center of the
West, was instrumental in the establishment of the Academy;
fifteen of the charter members were associated with the Railroad.
Union Pacific provided office space and meeting rooms, and also
issued rail passes to high-school and college science teachers
and others interested in science, so that they could attend
Academy meetings in Omaha. Samual Aughey, first professor of
science at the University of Nebraska and first Director of
the University Museum, was the Academy's first president. Among
other prominent charter members were Lawrence Bruner, Leavitt
Burnham, H. S. Kaley, R.R. Livingston, H.H. Nicholson, and C.D.
Wilber.
The Academy was reorganized in Lincoln in 1890-91. Some of
the illustrious scholars who were Academy leaders during and
following this reorganization were E. H. Barbour, C. E. Bessey,
J. S. Kingsley, Roscoe Pound, and G. K. Swezey. In 1895, ecological
and environmental studies were begun at the University of
Nebraska, and various Academy members were pioneers in these
studies, which were especially important during and after
the droughts of the 1890s and 1930s. Ecology and environment
continue to be emphasized in the Academy's programs.
The Academy was incorporated in 1950 as a non-profit educational
organization [Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c)(3)]. The
Academy is not a state agency, and is not sponsored by a particular
university, college, or other Nebraska educational organization.
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