Nebraska retirement board meeting leaves questions about new leadership

LINCOLN — A special meeting of the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Board ended with several unanswered questions about the sudden resignation of the agency’s latest executive director, as well as who will replace him.

The current executive director of the state Public Employees Retirement System, Thomas Pfeifle, submitted his resignation letter Sept. 21, roughly three months after he was selected to lead the agency on June 15. His official last day with NPERS is Oct. 31.

The board accepted Pfeifle’s resignation at a special meeting Sept. 30. In his resignation letter, read by board Chair Janis Elliott, Pfeifle said he was leaving the agency to be closer to his children in Colorado. Elliott said Pfeifle shared the news of his resignation with her immediately after the board’s last regular meeting.

Tag Herbek, NPERS legal counsel, said in an email that the board did address Pfeifle’s previous residency in Colorado and his commitment to relocating to Nebraska during the interview process.

During public comment at Wednesday’s meeting, NPERS accounting staff Teresa Zulauf said that since submitting his resignation Sept. 21, Pfeifle has not been present in the NPERS office. Zulauf asked if Pfeifle would continue to be compensated through Oct. 31.

The board did not answer Zulauf’s question at the meeting, which is customary for public comment periods. Herbek later said NPERS cannot comment on employee personnel details.

Herbek did not answer a question about whether Pfeifle would continue working from NPERS’ Lincoln office through Oct. 31 or whether the position can be handled remotely.

It took the board roughly 18 months to select Pfeifle as executive director after the previous director John Murante left in December 2024. During most of this stretch, former deputy director Tyler Cummings served as NPERS’ interim director. He was recommended to replace Murante, but Gov. Jim Pillen rejected his appointment.

Cummings left the agency this April, and a new deputy director has not been named, according to NPERS’ website. The board did not share details of who would serve as interim director at Wednesday’s meeting, but Elliott said the search for a new executive director had already begun.

Herbek said the board will address further leadership succession issues at its next regular meeting Oct. 19.