Jim Pillen

Pillen grew up on a farm in Platte County, Nebraska, where he raised pigs with his father, Dale, and graduated from Lakeview High School.[5] He earned a bachelor's degree in animal science from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, where he played defensive back for the Cornhuskers football team from 1975 to 1978, and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Kansas State University.[1][5]

Pillen returned to Nebraska in 1983 and opened a small animal practice and a swine consulting practice.[5] He started Pillen Family Farms in 1993 and added DNA Genetics in 2003, and he remains a practicing veterinarian and chair of the family business, which his children later joined.[1][5] He also served as president of the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce and chaired the Columbus Community Hospital Board of Directors.[1]

Pillen served on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents from 2013 to 2023, and was chair in 2020.[1] He won the 2022 Republican primary for governor and defeated Democrat Carol Blood in the general election, taking office on January 5, 2023, as Nebraska's 41st governor.[1][5] Pillen and his wife, Suzanne, have four children and eight grandchildren.[5]