McCarthy’s time on Saint John’s campus helped shape his mission and practices. “I’m heavily influenced by the Benedictines, whom I respect mightily for their example and training,” he says. “To be surrounded by those aspiring to holiness is a great influence.” Being smart helps. “He can outthink most people,” says his younger brother Jack McCarthy ’78, an orthopedic surgeon in Omaha who invested with McCarthy Group from the beginning. “He ties to that a pretty good set of street smarts and a reputation that he will deliver if he says he will. He’s impeccably honest and nobody in Omaha challenges his integrity.” What’s been good for Omaha business in terms of McCarthy Group’s investments has in turn been good for its residents. “Our social work has involved building businesses which grow and employ more people and provide resources to educate children and support those who have greater needs,” Mike says. “My personal feeling is that if we aren’t building our communities, we’re contributing to their decline, so it’s important to me to be a builder rather than an observer.”
Kevin Nokels ’85 Chief Administrative Officer, Academic and Clinical Integration, Alegent Creighton Health A biology major from Long Prairie, Minn., Kevin Nokels spent most of his time at Saint John’s University in the science building, but his freshman colloquium with Paul Siebenand, OSB, made an early and lasting impression that has immediate applications for him
today. In their study of the media’s influence on society, Siebenand emphasized the values of listening to others and respecting opposing perspectives without judging. Nokels has transformed those values into skills that are essential to him today: His task is to integrate the Creighton University Medical Center and its clinical education programs with
Alegent Creighton Health, a not-for-profit, faith-based integrated health care organization that assumed operations for the university’s medical center this past fall. Building relationships—the core of community—has been the underlying theme of Nokels’ work in his current role and his previous one. In his most recent position with Alegent Creighton Health Midlands Hospital in Papillion, Nokels focused on community outreach, partnering with the city to develop wellness activities such as a fun run, half marathon and triathlon, and implementing a health academy that educated high school students in the hospital. Such initiatives strengthened the bond between the hospital and community. Since September 1, he has
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