To Assume Duties July 16

Perlman, Former Law Dean, Named Interim Chancellor

University of Nebraska President L. Dennis Smith has named Harvey Perlman (shown at right) as interim chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, effective July 16.

Perlman, a professor in the College of Law and former dean of the college, will serve as interim chancellor until a national search is completed to replace James Moeser, who accepted a position as chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His last day at UNL will be July 15.

"Harvey Perlman brings experience, expertise and sound judgment to the position of interim chancellor," Smith said. "He is a respected faculty member who has a wealth of administrative experience. He knows the university and the State of Nebraska, and will provide effective leadership for the Lincoln campus during this transitional period. He was a visionary leader of the College of Law and helped guide the university through some of its most trying and divisive issues in recent years, earning the respect of many throughout the state. I am grateful that he is willing once again to answer the call."

Perlman, 58, a native of York, Neb., joined the faculty of the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1967. In 1975, he accepted a position at the University of Virginia Law School where he served until 1983. At that time, he returned to the University of Nebraska as dean of the College of Law, a position he held until 1998 when he returned to teaching full-time. Perlman also served as UNL's Acting Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs in 1995-96.

He was a Bigelow Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School (1966-67), visiting professor at the Florida State University College of Law (1973), visiting professor at the University of Virginia Law School (1974-75), visiting professor at the University of Puget Sound Law School (1978) and the Ida Beam Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Iowa College of Law (1981-82).

"I'm honored to have this opportunity to help maintain the positive momentum of the university," Perlman said. "I know the strength and substance of the teaching and research programs reside in the faculty and there has been consistent and exciting progress in many areas over the past several years. I look forward to doing what I can to assist the faculty in continuing this progress during the transition to new leadership."

Perlman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Nebraska in 1963 and a Juris Doctorate with highest distinction from the University of Nebraska in 1966. His legal expertise is in torts and intellectual property. Perlman is a member of the Nebraska State Bar Association and its House of Delegates, serves as a fellow of the Nebraska State Bar Foundation and on its board of directors and fellow selection committee. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the American Law Institute and serves as Vice President of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws. He serves on the boards of directors of the American Inns of Court Foundation and Nebraska Continuing Legal Education.

In addition, Perlman has served in a variety of appointed positions including: consultant and acting director of the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice and the Governor's Committee on Judicial and Social Reform. He was chair of the search advisory committee for chancellor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1991 and is an adviser to the Board of Policy Advisors of the University of Nebraska Peter Kiewit Institute for Information Science, Technology and Engineering.

Perlman's spouse, Susan, is a graduate of the University of Nebraska. His daughter, Anne, is also a graduate of UNL and the University of Nebraska Medical Center. His daughter, Amie, is enrolled at UNL.

Perlman will earn an annual salary of $180,730 during his service as interim chancellor. His salary as a professor in the College of Law is $132,067 annually.

Mel Thornton has spent 30 years teaching mathematics to future teachers.

Math Professor to Retire After 30 Years

Mel Thornton's Legacy Is Teaching Corps

By Mark Hatten, Arts & Sciences

After more than 30 years at the University of Nebraska, Mel Thornton is retiring from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. The Spring 2000 semester will be his last.

Most of the state's elementary and secondary math teachers know Thornton. His decades-long tenure at Nebraska left its mark on math education. He taught graduate students, prepared teachers, and helped students meet the math requirements of their liberal arts education.

"I'll miss the interaction with the students," Thornton said. "I'll miss the excitement of seeing them discover some things."

Thornton came to Nebraska in 1969 after spending four years on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin. But he originally came to NU as an undergraduate student in 1953, when the campus had little resemblance to today's scene.

"Back then, it was different," he said. "Fourteenth Street actually went through, and there was a temporary building that was the bookstore."

Thornton also served in the Naval ROTC at Nebraska, and after graduation in 1957, spent three years in the Navy. He then went to the University of Illinois for graduate school.

Once he arrived at NU, Thornton taught a range of courses. He designed Math 203, Contemporary Mathematics, and was the first to teach it. The course is now required for all elementary school teachers, and seems to be the preferred math course to meet the liberal education requirement, Thornton said.

But Thornton's influence on teachers reaches beyond the Math 203 requirement. "Most every semester, I've taught at least one course that's aimed at certification of teachers. An awful lot of my students are secondary math teachers and elementary teachers."

Thornton has also taught the geometry course and graduate courses in topology, his technical specialty. Topology is an abstract study of how points are joined together. Thornton describes it as "kind of like geometry without the measurements."

In addition to developing courses for teachers and math novices, Thornton also has worked in other arenas. Sandy Scofield, director of the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Computer Education, said Thornton's skills and demeanor will be missed.

"He has organized successful conferences and other activities that have furthered the professional growth for K-12 math teachers and his colleagues in higher education," Scofield said. "I keep telling him that he needs to clone himself before we can let him fully retire."

Thornton was involved with the statewide systemic initiative grant which formed the Nebraska Math and Science Initiative. The $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation also allowed the initiative to produce the Math Vantage program, a 23-video series for students to utilize the year before they take Algebra 1 in junior or senior high school.

Thornton was also active in the ADAPT program and the associated Piaget workshop, "Science Teaching and the Development of Reasoning." ADAPT (Accent on the Development of Abstract Processes of Thought), began on the UNL campus in 1975 and remained for more than 20 years. ADAPT was a freshman program that emphasized reasoning and thought; students took courses in mathematics, English, physics, history, and economics.

Additionally, Thornton worked with the Nebraska Math Scholars Program and the Western Math Scholars Program. Lasting four and two years, respectively, the programs were National Science Foundation-funded teacher enhancement programs, and they had a major impact on the state of math education in Nebraska, Thornton said.

If after May you find yourself in northern Nebraska, you might happen across Thornton and his wife, Rosemary, in Niobrara River country. The couple have been building a log cabin near the Niobrara River ­ a perfect site from which to indulge their enthusiasm for canoeing. The outside of the cabin is nearly complete, but Thornton says about two years' worth of interior work remain. Once the cabin is complete, the Thorntons will spend weekdays at the cabin and weekends in Lincoln.

Blowin' in the Wind

Climatologist Dewey Says Weather Rules Changing

By Molly Klocksin IANR news

Ken Dewey (shown at right) considers himself a tornado detective armed with new evidence.

Dewey, a research climatologist for the University of Nebraska's High Plains Climate Center, and other severe weather experts are spreading the word: Some tornado safety myths have been proved dead wrong.

Longtime advice to head for a building's southwest corner has gone out the window. Diving into ditches is sometimes riskier than driving away from a tornado. Dramatic videos of people taking cover under highway overpasses have popularized an extremely dangerous practice, Dewey said.

Weather experts have revised some traditional recommendations after researching tornado-damaged buildings, he said. For example, researchers now consider the southwest corner the most dangerous because it's often struck first by winds. Instead, experts now urge people to seek shelter in a basement or in the interior of a building on the lowest level.

"You don't want to be in any corner; you want to be in the middle," Dewey said.

Getting the revised safety messages across has been difficult because people often hear only part of a message, he said.

For example, many people equated "interior room" with "bathroom." Bathrooms on the perimeter of the house are the wrong place to head, he said.

"Go to the center of the building," Dewey urges.

Overpasses become wind tunnels, with flying debris that can injure or kill. Drivers seeking shelter under viaducts often cause traffic jams that can endanger lives.

"Going under a viaduct violates rule number one -- get as far away from flying debris as possible," Dewey said.

Similarly, people panic and remember the old "get out of the car and into the ditch" advice, Dewey said. Weather experts now recommend leaving a vehicle and diving into a ditch only as a last resort.

"In many cases, it's safer to just drive away," he said.

People hold onto myths such as believing tornadoes don't cross rivers or hit cities even after storms strike, because they feel safer believing myths, he said. However, that's naive and dangerous thinking. Severe storms are a real risk anywhere in Nebraska.

Above all, Dewey urges taking precautions to avoid severe weather hazards.

"With winter weather, everybody's talking about the snowstorm days before it gets here," he said.

Dewey suggests:

o Watch or listen to weather forecasts early in the day. If severe weather is likely, tune in periodically during the day.

o If severe weather develops, stop and assess the threat. If it's daytime and you can see the storm, consider driving perpendicular from it. Drive responsibly and safely as you seek to avoid the storm.

o If it's nighttime and you're on the road, assess the storm's severity. Stop driving. If winds are strong and accompanied by lightning and hail, head for a nearby restaurant or convenience store for a cup of coffee. Stay inside and take cover if necessary.

"I want people to realize they have more choices than they think," Dewey said. "Their choices begin early in the day to listen to the radio. Know where buildings are if you're on the road. If anything, stay home."

Tornado statistics and links are available on the NU High Plains Climate Center Web site, http://hpccsun.unl.edu/nebraska.

Right, engineer and inventor Kristen Morrow holds the redesigned Dingman Mouth Gag. Morrow, along with fellow biological systems engineering students Brigit Jepsen and Mike Moore, created the improved design in fulfillment of a class requirement.

Student Team's Device Helps Surgical Procedure

By Mary Jane Bruce, Public Relations

A class project took three University of Nebraska-Lincoln students into the operating room for real-life experience in the application of biological systems engineering. The result is an improved medical device used during surgery to correct cleft palates.

Kristen Morrow, Brigit Jepsen and Mike Moore logged hundreds of hours redesigning the Dingman Mouth Gag, a device that holds a patient's mouth open during surgery to repair cleft palate. The project filled a requirement in a design class taught by Glenn Hoffman, UNL professor and head of the biological systems engineering department.

"As graduating seniors, students are sometimes apprehensive about their ability to succeed in their first job," Hoffman said. "For students like Kristen, to see their engineering design put into medical practice is a tremendous confidence builder."

Morrow and her team not only examined design alternatives for the Dingman Mouth Gag, but also observed an operation so that they could get a better understanding of the birth defect and the surgical techniques used to correct it.

A cleft palate is a birth defect, caused when the muscle and bone masses that normally separate the oral and nasal cavities do not fuse properly. Left untreated, cleft palate affects a child's ability to talk and eat. The Dingman Mouth Gag makes it easier for surgeons to perform corrective procedures, especially in the small mouth of a child.

Morrow, who is interested in a career in biomedical engineering, started looking for project ideas in the yellow pages of the phone book, calling doctor's offices at random. Her efforts paid off when she reached Philip Metz, a Lincoln plastic surgeon.

Metz had quit using the Dingman Mouth Gag because it was wobbly and difficult to adjust. He didn't expect the students to come up with a successful redesign of the device but Metz was willing to let them try.

"All educational efforts are important and part of what we have to do is help the next generation," Metz said. "It was a frustrating problem. I didn't have the time to deal with it and I didn't have the expertise to deal with it and if they could come up with an answer, great. In fact they did and I'm impressed."

Morrow, Jepsen and Moore spent hours brainstorming ideas and working on design alternatives. In addition to the engineering analysis, the students learned about cleft palate, surgical procedures and set-up and the biomechanics of the jaw. They conducted an economic analysis, studied FDA regulations for medical devices and delved into patent law. They learned how to work as a team and how to deal with delays.

A prototype of the device was built by Scott Minchow, research and development lab manager in the biological systems engineering department. The device was used in surgery, modified and used again. Metz is pleased with the changes that make it more stable and easier to adjust. He said the improvements allow him to work efficiently during surgery.

"Your concentration isn't taken away. If your frustration is low, your success rate is high," Metz said.

Morrow said the hard work was worth it.

"It was very satisfying to see the device work for the doctor and work efficiently and help in the treatment of patients," she said.

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Budig to Deliver Commencement Address May 6

University of Nebraska alumnus Gene Budig, senior adviser to the commissioner of baseball and former chancellor of the University of Kansas, will deliver the commencement address at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on May 6.

Commencement exercises begin at 9:30 a.m in the Bob Devaney Sport Center. More than 2,200 students are expected to receive diplomas at the ceremony.

In addition, Patricia S. Broder, distinguished scholar of Native American Art and the art of the American West, will receive an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Budig was named to his present position, where he consults with Major League Baseball leaders on issues facing the industry, on March 15. He had been serving as president of the American League, a post he had held since Aug. 1, 1994. Budig has also joined the faculty of Princeton University, teaching and advising undergraduates in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

Budig was chancellor at the University of Kansas from 1981-1994. During his tenure, the university underwent a significant building boom, raised $805 million from private sources for academic program enrichment, tripled the number of distinguished professorships and increased private funding for scholarships and fellowships by 80 pecent. In 1997, KU named its largest instructional facilty in his honor. He also has been campus CEO at the University of West Virginia and Illinois State University.

A Nebraska native, Budig earned all three of his academic degrees at the University of Nebraska.

Broder's three decades of independent scholarship have resulted in her authorship of nine books on art representing a variety of media including bronzes and painting. She has received a number of awards, including the Trustees' Medal for "Outstanding Contribution to the West" and the "Best Art Book" award from the National Academy of Western Art and the Herbert Adams Memorial Medal for "Service to American Sculpture" from the National Sculpture Society.

She and her husband, Stanley H. Broder, have been generous supporters of the Great Plains Art Collection in the form of donations of important paintings by Native American artists and photographs of Southwest Indians. Considered collectively, the gifts represent a donation second only to the Christlieb Collection in significance to the Great Plains Art Collection. She holds a B.A. from Barnard College and attended graduate school at Rutgers University.

Also conferred at commencement are the Alumni Association's Distinguished Service Awards, which honor individuals with exemplary records of service to the Nebraska Alumni Association or one of its college alumni associations and the university. This year's recipients are Linda and Gene Crump, William Splinter and Charles Thone, all of Lincoln.

On May 6, a drop-off area for students and mobility-restricted guests will be available on the south side of the Devaney Center, at 17th and Court streets. Special seating is reserved for disabled guests attending commencement. Sign language interpreters for hearing-impaired individuals will be in section B-12 on the west side of the concourse level of the sports center. A limited number of seats will be reserved for hearing-impaired guests.