Omaha Business Hall of Fame Inductee: Dianne Seeman Lozier

Dianne Seeman Lozier, Corporate Counsel – Lozier Corporation, Vice-Chair – The Lozier Foundation

“Work really hard. Do what you love a lot. Make a good effort to make a difference in your own way – and the rest of it doesn’t really matter.”

Dianne Seeman Lozier learned the value of integrity and hard work from her parents.

“We grew up knowing it’s really important to do what you say you’ll do and follow through,” she said.

Her teachers inspired her to think unlimited.

“Teachers helped me realize how my brain worked, what I liked, and what I was capable of. Teachers really were the people in my life who told me I could do whatever I wanted to,” Lozier recalled. “I knew from very, very early on that I was going to get as much from education as I could.”

And she has. Lozier was the first in her family of five to go to college. Law school followed, and she has since earned her MBA.

“I have stopped going to college, however. I’ve been off that for 15 years,” she laughed.

Lozier started her career as associate general counsel for Health One Corporation in Minneapolis. A mutual friend introduced her to her now-husband Allan Lozier, a 1994 Hall of Fame inductee, which brought her to Omaha in the early 90s.

“Omaha was a good fit for me,” she said.

Dianne Lozier has served as corporate counsel for family-owned Lozier Corporation for 25 years now.

“Working with people and mentoring people and again helping them grow has been really important to me and really valuable,” she said.

In addition to her legal work, Lozier is vice chair of the 32-year-old Lozier Foundation, which focuses on underserved populations, education and health.

“We do that because we care about people. Helping them improve their own lives is so critical to us,” Lozier said.

A key supporter of Omaha Public Schools, the Foundation opened its own free, private school in 2015 – Nelson Mandela Elementary – which serves high-poverty scholars in north Omaha. Like Mandela, Lozier believes “education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”

“What we find at Nelson Mandela is that there are a lot of kids who come from settings where there is little hope their lives can be different,” she said. “Part of what I feel we do at Nelson Mandela is to try to help those kids find that hope. … That’s been an amazing opportunity.”

In addition to being a staunch champion of education, Lozier is an active advocate for women and girls. She was involved in launching what’s now the Domestic Violence Council and before that, Women’s Fund of Omaha.

“It was an amazing opportunity for me,” she said. “It really was the perfect place for me to focus from an advocacy-philanthropy kind of perspective.”

Lozier served on the College of Saint Mary Board during a pivotal time in school history – a period that saw the hiring of now-president and fellow Business Hall of Fame honoree Dr. Maryanne Stevens. One of the school’s residence halls bears Lozier’s name.

“Maryanne, being incredibly bright and convincing, talked with me about how she thought it would be meaningful for a women’s college to have the name of a living woman, in particular, on the building so we acquiesced to that,” Lozier said.

Lozier said she thinks of herself as a collaborative leader, a woman inspired by her own humble upbringing to look out for others: “I grew up in a fairly poor family. … That gave me a perspective that was valuable and important.”

Lozier served on the College of Saint Mary Board during a pivotal time in school history – a period that saw the hiring of now-president and fellow Business Hall of Fame honoree Dr. Maryanne Stevens. One of the school’s residence halls bears Lozier’s name.

“Maryanne, being incredibly bright and convincing, talked with me about how she thought it would be meaningful for a women’s college to have the name of a living woman, in particular, on the building so we acquiesced to that,” Lozier said.

Lozier said she thinks of herself as a collaborative leader, a woman inspired by her own humble upbringing to look out for others: “I grew up in a fairly poor family. That gave me a perspective that was valuable and important.”