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HIXSON-LIED COLLEGE OF FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS ANNOUNCES ALUMNI AWARD WINNERSLincoln, Neb.-The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Alumni Board has selected the recipients of the College's alumni awards. The award recipients will be honored at the College's Honors Day Dinner on Saturday, April 21 at 5 p.m. in the Nebraska Union. The dinner is an invitation-only event.
The awards presented include the Alumni Achievement Awards, which recognize alumni in art, music and theatre, who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and overall professional excellence; the Award of Merit, which honors those who have made contributions to the College but who are not necessarily alumni of the college; and the Student Leadership Awards, which are presented to currently enrolled students or recent graduates who have demonstrated leadership in academics or in student life.
New this year is the Faculty Service Award, which is presented to a current or emeritus (emerita) faculty member in the College who has demonstrated outstanding and dedicated service to the community and to the College.
The Alumni Achievement Award winners will be participating in classes and other activities on Friday, April 20.
The award recipients for 2006-07 are:
Dr. Anne El-Omami
Omaha, Neb., B.F.A. 1970, M.A. 1974
Dr. Anne El-Omami is Director of Education at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha. She graduated from UNL in 1970 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in art education and art history and in 1974 with a Master of Arts in art education with a minor in the history of art. She taught art in the public school systems in Kansas and Nebraska for a decade. She moved into museum work when appointed Curator of Education at Omaha's Joslyn Art Museum in 1981, where she created the innovative "Artward Bound" project. She went on to a position as Assistant Professor and Curator of Education at the University of Kansas and Spencer Museum of Art, followed by the position of Division Director for Education and Academic Affairs at the Cincinnati Art Museum. She then was Associate Professor and Director of the M.A. Program in Museum Education at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, a program recognized for its excellence and strength of its graduates. Last spring, she returned to Omaha to become Director of Education at the Joslyn.
El-Omami was named a Distinguished Fellow of the National Art Education Association in 1998. Throughout her career, El-Omami has authored scores of publications, ranging from teacher handbooks to youth guides to art history texts. She has developed and implemented innovative and creative leadership opportunities for museum professionals, art specialists in the visual arts, university faculties, and the corporate community. She is a member of UNL's Cather Circle and also was a 2004 Master's Week Scholar.
Dr. Lawrence Gwozdz
Hatiesburg, Miss., M.M. 1976
Dr. Lawrence Gwozdz received his Master of Music degree from UNL in 1976, where he studied with Associate Dean Robert Fought. He is among the world's leading concert artists and pedagogues of the classical saxophone. He has an international reputation as a soloist, having performed on three continents, at major festivals of culture, and with leading orchestras and wind ensembles. He has had more than 40 compositions dedicated to him by composers from around the world, among them the Concerto for Saxophone by UNL Professor Randall Snyder, which he premiered with the Omaha Symphony in 2001. His seven CDs have also gained high recognition in journals and are heard frequently on American public radio networks.
Gwozdz's career also includes more than 25 years in university teaching. He is currently Professor of Saxophone and Interim Director of the University of Southern Mississippi School of Music. Having been born with spina bifida, Gwozdz is also an advocate for arts for the handicapped and Very Special Arts. He received his D.M.A. from the University of Iowa, and he received his B.M.E. from Fredonia State University College of New York.
Phyllis Gates
New York, N.Y., B.S. 1964
Phyllis Gates, a native of Beatrice, Neb., graduated from UNL in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science in English and speech. She also worked on a Master of Arts in dramatic history and theory at UNL. She began her teaching career in speech and English at Norris High School and returned to UNL as an instructor in speech and dramatic art in 1966. She moved to New York City in 1967 to serve as Director of Advertising and Publicity for Pegasus Books. She was also Vice President of Investor and Corporate Relations for Esquire, Inc., becoming he first women in the company's nearly 50-year history to be elected to corporate office. She became Vice President of Communications for CBS Magazines in 1979, where she directed all communications and media relations for the company and its publications. She became Director of Editorial Services for Paramount Communications, Inc. in 1992.
She continues her career independently in speech writing and public relations counsel in New York City. Her public relations clients have included The Hearst Corporation, Viacom, Hachette Magazines, People magazine, the launch of Family PC magazine, and MacDonald Communications, Inc. Her speech writing clients include CBS News' Mike Wallace, BP America Regional President Bob Malone and ESPN President and CEO Steven M. Bornstein, among many others.
James and Rhonda Seacrest
Lincoln, Neb.
Jim and Rhonda Seacrest recently made a donation to the University of Nebraska Foundation to create a new Opera/Chamber Orchestra as a curricular experience modeling professional orchestral playing both in terms of format and rehearsal strategies. They have also made a gift commitment to sponsor the UNL Opera production of "Most Happy Fella" to tour and compete in the Waterford Light Opera Festival in Waterford, Ireland. They similarly sponsored the production of "Bohemian Girl" to the Waterford Festival in 2002.
Tice L. Miller, Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
Tice Miller has served as Professor of Theatre in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film since 1972. He has served as Chair of the department, the Graduate Chair, a member of the Executive Committee for the College, has been recognized numerous times for his teaching, elected to the National Theatre Conference in 2002, a Fellow in the College of Fellows of the American Theatre, and served as Executive Director of the Nebraska Repertory Theatre. He has published five books and numerous published articles and presentations. He has directed productions and served in numerous capacities as a member of the National Association of Schools of Theatre.
Undergraduate Student Leadership Award
Joy Barlean
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, B.F.A. Technical Theatre
Graduate Student Leadership Award
Jeffrey Richmond
School of Music, D.M.A.
