# After 18-month search, Nebraska retirement board taps new director  
**Published:** 2026-06-08T09:00:13.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/08/after-18-month-delay-nebraska-retirement-board-identifies-new-executive-director-candidate/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/after-18-month-search-nebraska-retirement-board-taps-new-director

LINCOLN, Neb. — The Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Board has selected Thomas Pfeifle as its candidate to serve as executive director, ending an 18-month vacancy at the helm of the agency that administers retirement benefits for state employees, teachers, judges, and local government workers.

Board Chair Janis Elliott confirmed the selection, according to a report by the [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/08/after-18-month-delay-nebraska-retirement-board-identifies-new-executive-director-candidate/). The board is set to approve terms of Pfeifle's employment at its June 15 meeting. The appointment still requires approval from Gov. Jim Pillen and the Nebraska Legislature to be finalized.

Pfeifle, who is from Colorado and has background experience working with pensions, is already listed as the agency's executive director on NPERS' website and has agreed to work for the organization until his appointment is formally approved, Elliott said.

The search comes nearly 18 months after John Murante departed as director in December 2024. Murante had recommended his deputy director, Tyler Cummings, as his successor. Cummings was initially recommended by the board but the governor rejected the appointment without publicly providing a reason at the time.

Gov. Pillen's spokeswoman later explained the rejection was rooted in concerns about pension management experience and employee oversight capabilities, citing previous legislative hesitation about a NPERS director appointment in 2023. Cummings, who had worked at NPERS since 2019 and served as interim director during the vacancy, eventually left the agency in April 2026 to work on pension plans for Lincoln's police and firefighters.

The search process narrowed to three finalists. In addition to Pfeifle, the board interviewed Rachel Biar and Martin Noven, according to meeting minutes from April. The vacancy and subsequent rejection also prompted the departure of board member Allen Simpson in April 2025, who said he felt the board's choice should be respected by the governor.

[NPERS administers retirement benefits](https://npers.ne.gov/) for approximately 145,000 active, inactive, and retired members across six state pension plans and a voluntary deferred compensation plan.

## Sources

- [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/08/after-18-month-delay-nebraska-retirement-board-identifies-new-executive-director-candidate/)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 2 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/08/after-18-month-delay-nebraska-retirement-board-identifies-new-executive-director-candidate/.