New members elected to Board of Regents at Concordia

Concordia University, Nebraska welcomed Ryan Burger and Krista Barnhouse as new members of the Board of Regents and began new terms for two existing members of the Board as of Sept. 1, 2015. Rev. Richard Snow also began a three-year term on Concordia’s Board of Regents by virtue of his election to the office of president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod’s LCMS Nebraska District. These Board members were elected by the delegates of the 2015 Nebraska District Convention in June.

“I am excited and honored to have been elected to the Concordia University, Nebraska Board of Regents,” said Ryan Burger, one of the new members. “It is an exciting time to be a part of this great community. May God help us pursue the goal of academic distinction while embracing our Lutheran identity as we help students discover and pursue their call to vocation.”

Burger graduated from Concordia University, Nebraska in 2004 with a Bachelor of Arts in business administration and accountancy. He has served the university as an adjunct professor for the business department and a member of the Board’s Audit and Insurance Committee since 2010, and he added service as a member of the Board’s Investment Committee in 2013.

Burger is a member of the Nebraska Society of Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. He co-founded the Horizon Financial Management investment firm in Seward as of 2009, and he provides consultation services and assistance to non-profit organizations as the co-owner and operator of the CPA firm Gabriel, Burger, and Else in Seward.

Burger serves the community as treasurer on multiple committees such as the Mental Health Association of Nebraska and Seward Memorial Library Foundation.   

Krista Barnhouse graduated from Concordia in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in elementary education and completed her master’s degree in education in 2001, also through Concordia.

“I have loved Concordia since my days as a student, and it still feels like coming home when I drive into Seward!” said Barnhouse. “I am blessed and honored to serve on the Board of Regents at Concordia, and I look forward to forming relationships, as well as supporting our mission of equipping students to learn, serve and lead in God’s church and world!”

Barnhouse serves as the principal of Faith Lutheran School in Lincoln, Nebraska, after serving as interim principal for 11 months and elementary grade teacher for the school for 20 years.

Barnhouse has received multiple awards during her career, including the Teacher of the Month award from the Lincoln Rotary Club in 2011, and she became a School Leadership and Development graduate as of June 2015.

Two Board of Regents members were reelected in June 2015 by the delegates of the Nebraska District Convention to continue their service on Concordia’s Board of Regents until August 31, 2018: Rev. Eugene Gierke from Seward, Nebraska, and Dr. Andrew Stadler from Columbus, Nebraska.