Creighton University is extremely pleased to announce they will confer an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa, degree upon Thomas H. Warren Sr., President and CEO of the Urban League of Nebraska and former Chief of Police for the Omaha Police Department (OPD), for his lifelong devotion to community betterment and public service. Warren graduated from Morningside College with a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice in 1983 and joined the OPD shortly after graduation. He served the community through the OPD for more than 24 years, and during his fouryear tenure as Omaha’s first Black police chief, was credited with improving police-community relations and reducing the overall crime rate. In 2007, OPD was recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice as the “Local Law Enforcement Agency of the Year” for its Project Safe Neighborhoods violence reduction initiative. Warren, who also earned a master’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Nebraska Omaha, took the helm of the Urban League of Nebraska (ULN) in 2008. Since then, he has transformed the ULN to grow in employees, operations, and advocacy. It offers educational and youth development programs, employment/career services, and violence prevention programs as it works to close the social and economic gap for disadvantaged families and individuals through social equality and economic independence and growth. Warren is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administrators, a graduate of the FBI’s National Executive Institute Leadership Development Training Program, and has served on boards of numerous community organizations, including the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, the Nonprofit Association of the Midlands, Omaha Community Foundation, 75 North Community Revitalization, Creighton’s Center for Promoting Health and Health Equity, and much more. He was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority (MECA). He and his wife, Aileen, who is assistant vice chancellor and director of human resources for the University of Nebraska Medical Center and University of Nebraska Omaha, have been involved together and separately in numerous community organizations, including being selected in 2018 to the Aksarben Foundation’s annual Court of Honor. Like the Franks, the Warrens have raised three successful children.
