Chris Anderson

“I treat scientific evidence as the starting point for policy, not an afterthought. With 31 years in the Air Force, as an Acquisitions officer, combat aviator, US Central Command Central Asia Analyst, and US Strategic Command Chief of current nuclear operations, I saw decisions with enormous consequences based on tested data, rigorous analysis, and honest accounting of what we did and did not know. Later, as a business development executive every claim I made had to be backed by measurable performance. I would bring that discipline to the Legislature. For any bill, I want to know what problem it solves, what the best peer-reviewed research says about whether the approach works, who produced that research, and how we will measure results afterward. I would rely on the Legislative Fiscal Office, the University of Nebraska, and independent experts in agriculture, water, health, and education, and I would want the evidence behind a bill to be public so Nebraskans can see it for themselves. Where evidence is thin, I favor pilot programs and built-in evaluation.

Evidence tells us what is true and what is likely to happen. However, it does not tell us what we ought to value. Economic cost, ethics, and the proper role of government are legitimate parts of every decision, and legislators should be open about where the science ends and the value judgment begins. I will not hide a preference behind science, and I will not ignore sound science because the answer is inconvenient. When uncertainty is high, I weigh how reversible a decision is and how severe the downside could be. At the end of the day, I lean towards caution when the consequences would be irreversible.”

KEYWORDS: Discipline, Patience, Data

“Over the next decade I want Nebraska to be known as a state that turns research into results for the people who live here. Our strengths are clear: agriculture and water, biomedical research at UNMC, and national security research through the National Strategic Research Institute, which the University of Nebraska hosts for U.S. Strategic Command. Having served at STRATCOM, I understand what that partnership means for the mission and for Nebraska. Few states have anything like it. I would prioritize state programs that produce measurable, usable evidence for Nebraska decisions, especially groundwater and water quality monitoring and agricultural research that helps producers conserve water and manage nitrogen. I would also ask state agencies and the university what is working before deciding where new dollars go, so funding follows results rather than habit.”

KEYWORDS: Results, Measurable, Listening

“Nebraska already shows what works. The University’s partnership with STRATCOM, UNMC’s research and clinical enterprise, and agricultural extension all connect research to real needs. In 15 years on the industry side of defense technology, I learned that the best partnerships start with a clearly defined problem and a customer who will use the answer. State government should say plainly what it needs solved, whether that is water quality, health data, or workforce shortages. Universities supply the research, industry supplies scale and commercialization, and nonprofits supply reach and community trust. I would pair these partnerships with paid internships and apprenticeships so students gain experience in Nebraska, and I would protect academic independence by requiring that research results be published. I would also connect them to K-12 schools, so students in every part of the state can see a path from the classroom to a research career. I went through public schools myself, and I know how much that early exposure matters.”

KEYWORDS: Nonprofits, Public/Private, Community

“The Legislature has a core responsibility to fund the University of Nebraska, which drives the state’s research, its health care workforce, and its agricultural science. I am concerned that appropriations have not kept pace with inflation and that departments such as statistics and earth and atmospheric sciences have been eliminated. Those fields underpin crop forecasting, severe weather preparedness, and data-driven policy, and capacity once lost is slow and expensive to rebuild. I would support stable, multi-year funding so the university can plan, paired with accountability: clear measures of research output, workforce results, and efficiency, and close scrutiny of administrative overhead before core academic and research programs. Balancing the state budget requires tradeoffs. I would approach it the way I approached large programs in the Air Force: protect the capabilities the mission depends on, question everything else, and measure the return.”

KEYWORDS: Balance, Accountability, Predictable

“Science, research, and STEM workforce development are among the best long-term investments Nebraska can make, because they build on industries we already have: agriculture, health care, advanced manufacturing, energy, and national security at Offutt Air Force Base. They also give graduates reasons to stay. With an economics degree and an MBA, I look at return on investment. Public dollars should be tied to clear goals and measurable results, such as jobs created, graduates retained, research that reaches farms and clinics, and growth in the tax base, with results reported publicly. As a product of public schools, I also want students in every district, rural and urban, to have the science and math preparation to compete for those jobs.”

KEYWORDS: Clarity, Goals, Investment

“I would define the goal and the measures of success before a policy passes, and I would build in a reporting schedule and a review date. In the Air Force we debriefed every mission: what did we intend, what happened, why, and what do we change. I would bring that habit to state policy, using the Legislative Fiscal Office, the Legislative Performance Audit Office, interim studies, and data systems like the Nebraska Statewide Workforce and Educational Reporting System. Evidence that would prompt me to revise a policy includes results that fall short of the stated targets, unintended consequences, new research that contradicts the original basis, and costs that outweigh the benefits.”

KEYWORDS: Intention, Evidence, Measured