by Lana Koepke Johnson | Agronomy and Horticulture
David Lambe, agronomy and horticulture professor of practice and chief learning officer in the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program, was honored with the Holling Family Sustained Excellence in Teaching and Learning Faculty Award for the academic year 2022–2023 at the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Awards Luncheon May 12 at the Nebraska East Union.
Lambe earned bachelor’s degrees in accounting and horticulture and a master’s degree in business administration in strategic management from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
He began his career at Nebraska in 1986 teaching horticulture courses in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. In 1992 he began teaching an entrepreneurship course for the department.
In 2010 the Paul F. and Virginia J. Engler Foundation made a gift to the university to support agribusiness and established a student program focused on entrepreneurship. The Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program provides experiential, community-based learning to help students build their own enterprise from the ground up.
As he was already teaching an entrepreneurship course, Lambe was chosen to help build the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program.
“As a founding member of the team that launched the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program, Dave has poured his talent, experience and heart into our mission to 'embolden people on the courageous pursuit of their purpose through the art and practice of entrepreneurship,’” said Tom Field, director of Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program and Paul Engler Chair of Agribusiness Entrepreneurship. “Dave has been the driving force for our offering in entrepreneurial feasibility, business model development and early-stage business execution.”
Lambe’s mission for the Engler program is to help people make decisions on business ownership and then assist them in developing their ideas into business entities. He does this through upper-level courses in entrepreneurship and one-on-one coaching with people who want to start a company.
He teaches Plant and Landscape Systems 488 Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Development, PLAS 388 Business Systems in Entrepreneurship, and Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program 392 Special Topics – real estate and developing CEO’s – for both resident and distance students. He also coaches 7-10 students per semester one-on-one with their business startups.
Lambe’s philosophy is to provide unique educational experiences to students in his courses. He replaces traditional lectures with self-discovery, real world businesses instead of case-studies and hands-on demonstrations instead of tests. According to Engler’s Brennan Costello, lecturer, and Halle Ramsey, graduate assistant, students don’t simply study entrepreneurship; they jump in and learn while building functioning enterprises.
“The real impact of Dave’s teaching is the time he invests into individual students,” said Costello and Ramsey. His ability to meet students with both optimism and realism curates a unique coaching style that has certainly transformed countless college experiences for students that come through his door.”
Lambe is passionate about his students. He said the most rewarding aspects of his work is to see the light-bulb moments when his students discover something about themselves and the businesses that have been launched by his students and alums.
“You would be hard pressed to find an individual who is as devoted to their students' holistic well-being as Dave Lambe,” said Abby Miller, senior animal science major and Engler program student. “I am thankful every day the Engler program led me to Dave Lambe, my greatest source on campus for encouragement, challenge, growth, excitement, zest for learning, support, and most importantly, fierce conviction that I must believe in myself.”
Field credits Lambe’s coaching and advice to the launching of companies that have generated significant impacts in Nebraska and Nebraska's economy.
“He is the guiding light in our program and embodies what it means to be a personal, deliberate and selfless mentor,” said Costello and Ramsey.
When he isn’t working with students, Lambe cherishes his time with his wife, twin daughters and 16 grandchildren.
