The Nebraska Alumni Association will honor the Holling family’s legacy of giving with the Alumni Family Tree award at the 2026 Alumni Masters Medallion Dinner on Friday, April 10.
Established in 1995, the Alumni Family Tree Award honors a family that has at least three generations of University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduates and at least two family members with a record of outstanding service to the university, the alumni association, their community and/or their profession. The Holling family’s allegiance to Nebraska began with a great-uncle, George C. Holling, who had an engineering dream and graduated in 1925 with a degree in civil engineering. It also set in motion a century of alumni and philanthropy.
“He set the tone,” noted Mike Holling, ’85, great-nephew of George, who earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering from UNL. “He’s why I became a civil engineer. When I saw what George accomplished in 60 years as an engineer, manager and board member at Kiewit, he left big shoes to fill, but I wanted to follow in those footsteps.”
Like his great-uncle, Mike Holling led civil engineering projects across the U.S. as a project engineer, project manager and executive. Both Hollings have been major contributors of time and funds to several university projects throughout the decades, because giving back to Nebraska has been impactful and meaningful.
In addition to George and Mike, Mike’s father, William C. “Bill” Holling, graduated from UNL in 1951 with a degree in business administration. All three of Bill’s children graduated from the NU system: Mike’s younger sister, Janet Moore, followed the family’s path to Lincoln from Elkhorn and was a two-time letterwinner in women’s gymnastics (1985-86) and the Big 8 Conference Champion in the balance beam in 1985. She graduated with a B.S. in elementary and special education in 1989 and an M.Ed. in elementary and special education in 1993; and brother, Jeff, graduated from UNO in 1984 with a B.S. in management. Both of Bill’s brothers, Richard “Dick” Holling and Roger Holling, are also UNL alumni, graduating in 1958 with a degree in business administration (Dick) and a B.S. and master’s degree in electrical engineering (Roger) in 1965 and 1967.
A fourth generation of NU alumni includes grandchildren Anthony (Mike and Christina’s son), who graduated in 2017 and Alexandra (Jeff’s daughter) in 2005, while Campbell Holling (also Mike and Christina’s son) is a freshman in the College of Business.
George and his late wife, Irene, established scholarships like the George and Irene (Mangold) Holling Scholarship. Following in George’s footsteps with helping UNL students financially, Mike was one of the initial contributors to the Patrick T. McCoy Fund for Engineering Excellence honoring the late Pat McCoy, a civil engineering professor who played a big part in Mike’s life as a student and as an engineer. And to honor Bill Holling, Mike and Christina recently established the William Holling Scholarship Fund in the UNL College of Business.
“I wouldn’t have achieved what I did without Nebraska putting me on the right track,” noted Mike, who said his father and mother (the late Ann Holling) were proud Nebraskans. “So, going to Nebraska wasn’t a hard sell,” recalled Mike with a laugh when asked about his family’s legacy playing a part in the college selection process.
The Holling family has contributed nearly $740,000 to the University of Nebraska, including substantial gifts to the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the Nebraska Alumni Association, University of Nebraska Foundation, Nebraska Athletics, and several colleges and departments.
