Maggie Bruno

Media Writing
Research Peter Kiewit

LINCOLN – Neb. Peter Kiewit, an influential man in Omaha’s history, founder of the Kiewit

Foundation, and renovator of downtown Omaha, was selected for the Nebraska Hall of Fame

yesterday. Throughout Kiewit’s adult life he had continually made improvements to the Omaha

area and Omaha residents.

Peter Kiewit has been selected for the Nebraska Hall of Fame and will be honored during

the Founders Day Dinner on Dec. 15 at the state Capitol in Lincoln. Kiewit is the most recent

Nebraskan to be honored and a bust in his likeness will be placed in the Capitol building along

with the busts of others honored. Kiewit was selected by a panel, which included the Secretary of

State, the Speaker of the Legislature and the President of the University of Nebraska.

Peter Kiewit has done a lot of notable things throughout his adult life. In 1959, he became

instrumental in revitalizing Omaha’s downtown area. At the time Omaha was beginning to

become rundown. Kiewit who served on the Omaha Development Council and the Omaha

Industrial Foundation was outspoken about what could be done to revamp the area and general

upkeep of the area. During this time Kiewit was crowned “King Ak-Sar-Ben LXV and noted to

be “the most influential Omahan of his time, the city’s ultimate mover and shaker” due to his

work revitalizing.

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 Peter has four core values: People, Integrity, Excellence and Stewardship. He always put

the people first especially when it came to safety. In 1967, the National Safety Council awarded

his company, Peter Kiewit Sons, its highest accolade, the Award of Honor for 21 million

manhours of safe work.

Brent Holscher, a former employee of Kiewit, says, “During my time at Kiewit, everyone

greatly respected Peter. He was known for his saying ‘Trust but verify,’ meaning you always

trust people and expect them to be true to their word but don’t be a fool and believe all will be

trustworthy. This made him a very smart businessman and probably is why he was so

successful.”

His success in his business was not just done for his own gain, after his death Kiewit

created the Kiewit Foundation. This is what he left behind as his legacy, to ensure that the

Omaha and surrounding areas always were able to be kept beautiful. He gave a $150 million

endowment to support public-purpose projects in Neb. and Western Iowa.

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