SEWARD, Neb. – Two Concordias. One remarkable legacy.
Former Concordia University Wisconsin President Rev. Dr. R. John Buuck was inducted into the Concordia University, Nebraska Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of its Class of 2026 on Friday, Sept. 18, adding another chapter to a lifetime spent serving the Concordia family.
The Hall of Fame ceremony was held as part of Concordia Nebraska's homecoming weekend and celebrated Buuck's decorated career as a student-athlete in Seward before his path eventually led him to Wisconsin, where he helped transform CUW into the university it is today.
A 1958 graduate of what was then Concordia Teachers College, Buuck competed in all five men's sports offered by the school during the 1950s – basketball, football, track and field, baseball and tennis.
He made his biggest mark on the basketball court, lettering four times and developing into one of the top players in the Nebraska College Conference. During his senior season, the Woodburn, Indiana, native averaged 16.4 points per game and totaled 295 points to rank second in the conference.
Buuck earned a spot on the five-player 1957-58 All-Nebraska College Conference Team alongside future Nebraska football coaching legend Tom Osborne. Buuck was also selected as a Converse Basketball All-Star in 1958.
His athletic résumé stretched well beyond the hardwood.
Buuck earned letters in baseball, tennis and track and field and competed in football during his time in Seward. His baseball career even included a brush with one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game. In 1957, Buuck recorded a hit against future National Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson.
But Buuck's greatest impact on the Concordia family came after his playing days were finished.
After graduating from Concordia Teachers College, Buuck began a career in Lutheran higher education that ultimately connected Concordia campuses across the country and around the world.
He spent 21 years at Concordia University, Portland, first as a faculty member and later as academic dean. In 1979, another Concordia called.
Buuck became President of Concordia University Wisconsin and served in the position until 1996. His tenure came during one of the most transformative periods in the University's history.
Under Buuck's leadership, Concordia Wisconsin relocated from its longtime campus in Milwaukee to its current home along the shores of Lake Michigan in Mequon. During his presidency, enrollment grew from approximately 300 students to 4,400.
The move and subsequent growth helped establish the foundation for the modern Concordia University Wisconsin campus, creating a lasting connection between the institution that educated Buuck in Nebraska and the institution he would later help shape in Wisconsin.
That connection remains visible every day at CUW.
In 1999, Concordia Wisconsin named the R. John Buuck Field House in his honor, ensuring that generations of Falcon student-athletes would compete in a facility bearing the name of a former Bulldog student-athlete.
The bond between the two Concordias was on full display during the Hall of Fame celebration.
Concordia Wisconsin football coach Keith Collins made the trip from Mequon to Seward to personally congratulate Buuck on his induction and present him with a special gift from the Falcons.
Collins presented the former president with a football helmet autographed by members of the CUW football team, offering a tangible reminder of the lasting impact Buuck continues to have on Falcon Athletics.
The gesture carried special significance as a current member of the Concordia Wisconsin football program traveled to honor a former Bulldog student-athlete whose leadership helped shape the home of the Falcons.
For a man whose life has connected multiple Concordia institutions, the presentation served as another reminder that the Concordia family extends well beyond individual campuses, athletic programs and state lines.
The helmet also represented a connection between generations of Concordia student-athletes. More than six decades after Buuck competed on the football field in Nebraska, members of the CUW football program helped celebrate his newest athletic honor.
Buuck's commitment to Lutheran higher education extended far beyond Seward and Mequon. His career also included efforts to establish Lutheran universities internationally in Tallinn, Estonia; Kyiv, Ukraine; and Ghana, West Africa.
His time at Concordia Nebraska also provided a connection more important than athletics or professional accomplishments. While attending Concordia Teachers College, Buuck met his future wife, Lyla Krumm Buuck. Together, John and Lyla raised four children – David, Steven, Thomas and Cheryl.
Nearly seven decades after Buuck competed for Concordia Nebraska, his Hall of Fame induction brings his journey through the Concordia family full circle.
From student-athlete in Seward to university president in Mequon, Buuck's legacy is woven into the histories of both institutions.
And with a signed Falcon football helmet making the journey from Wisconsin to Nebraska, another piece of that shared history was added to the celebration.
Once a Bulldog, forever a Falcon – and always part of the Concordia family.
