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In Memoriam · Memorial Scholarship
— May 24, 2025 —
Father. Co-founder. Developer. Mentor. Friend.
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About Adam
Nebraska.Code() was co-founded by two long-term friends, Adam Barney and Ken Versaw. Adam was an integral part of the success and growth of the Conference — an unparalleled software developer, and an even better friend and human being.
Adam passed away May 24th, 2025, leaving behind his wife, Teresa, and two children, Avery and Isaac, along with many other loved ones and numerous friends and colleagues throughout the Nebraska tech community.
To honor Adam and his lasting impact on the local tech community, a University of Nebraska Foundation perpetual scholarship has been created in his honor — a gift that will keep teaching, keep inspiring, and keep growing long after us all.
In His Own Words
I'm a nerd. After buying a Commodore 64 with money from my paper route in the 4th grade, I've never stopped learning about computers and how to make these stupid machines do cool things. That works out to nearly 40 years of experience writing code — about 25 of that time professionally.
What I've learned in that time is that software engineering isn't about tech stacks, algorithms, knowing this language or that one inside and out. After that much time, you start to see the underlying principles of software engineering. You see how the patterns so many memorize all flow from an application of these principles. You see that while C# and Python are quite a bit different, most principles of good software design still apply — the rules for writing readable, maintainable, testable code are the same. If you have those ingrained, picking up any new stack is a matter of learning some new syntax.
I believe in growing and improving those core principles in myself and everyone around me. I create a culture of collaboration, growth, innovation and pragmatism everywhere I go. I believe that as an engineer becomes more experienced, the breadth of their knowledge becomes more important than their depth of knowledge. I believe that software engineering is the best career available for people who like to create innovative solutions to complex problems and that every day should feel like a celebration of that.
"Passion" has become an overloaded term, but it is precisely what I feel for this career.
— Adam Barney, in his own words
The Scholarship
Adam's Scholarship was established in his memory as a way to keep his passion for learning and his legacy alive. This is a permanent endowment — the scholarship will exist as long as the University Foundation does, providing one or more scholarships to undergraduate students in the School of Computing, College of Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln each year in Adam's honor.
Eligibility
Students meeting the following criteria will be considered for the Adam Barney Memorial Scholarship:
Pursuing any major in the School of Computing
Cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or above
Junior class standing or above
Demonstrated involvement in the School of Computing's Learning Assistant Program
Scholarships may be renewed so long as recipients remain in good academic standing and continue to meet the criteria set above.
"Measure your life by the difference you've made in someone else's."
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