March 14, 2002

Chancellor's award

Chancellor Harvey Perlman, right, presented Anne Parkhurst, professor of biometry, the Chancellor's Commission on the Status of Women Chancellor's award at a reception March 7.

Two receive Tidball award honors

Liz Carranza Rodriguez and Rosalee Swartz are the 2002 recipients of the Sue Tidball Award for Creative Humanity on the UNL campus.

At the 21st annual awards March 10 at St. Mark's on the Campus Episcopal Church, the five nominees were honored. The other nominees were Barb Burns, central housing custodian; Lola Lorenzo, lecturer, Department of Modern Languages; and Melanie McQuatters, residence director, Burr-Fedde Hall.

Carranza Rodriguez has been an education specialist in the Office of Multi-Cultural Affairs for nearly 15 years.

"Liz has worked diligently to help create a campus climate at UNL that allows students of all races to feel secure and welcome. She has developed a successful mentoring program that provides freshman students of color with both social interaction and academic assistance. In addition, she has helped to promote an appreciation of diversity on campus by serving as a volunteer co-chair of the Martin Luther King Day celebration and the highly acclaimed People of Color conference," her nominator said.

Swartz is the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources recruitment and placement coordinator.

"Rosalee approaches each student, each committee assignment, each new responsibility with a freshness that generates innovation and creativity. In a very demanding position where the mechanical, rote response might be expected, Swartz makes each individual feel as though their questions or situations are unique and important. Each committee or organization receives her full and undivided support and attention. Her innovation and creativity are most notable as you observe her interacting with students, faculty, staff, parents of prospective students and employers seeking job candidates. If there was ever a single person 'who could never really be replaced,' Rosalee would be that person," her nominator said.

The Sue Tidball Award for Creative Humanity honors people from the UNL campus who are nominated by their peers for making significant contributions to the development of a humane, open, caring, educationally creative and just community on the campus. More than 200 students, faculty and staff members have been award nominees, and 46 have been award recipients. Recipients have ranged from senior faculty and administrators to students to secretaries.

The Sue Tidball Award program is sponsored by the campus ministry of Cornerstone-UMHE at UNL as a memorial to a former staff member, widely recognized and admired on the campus and in the Lincoln community who died in 1976. The program is conducted by an independent committee of UNL students, staff and faculty.

Air Force cadet scores national honor

Air Force ROTC Cadet Angela Weber has received national recognition for her superior accomplishments at UNL.

Weber is one of four cadets in the nation to receive the Air Force Association's W. Randolph Lovelace Memorial Award, which recognizes outstanding senior cadets based on academics, athletics and leadership.

Weber, a four-year AFROTC scholarship winner from Humboldt, is highly involved on campus and in the Lincoln community. A computer engineering major, she holds a 3.1 grade-point average and has been active in the university intramural program, playing volleyball, football, soccer and broomball. She also received the Athletic Award during Air Force ROTC summer field training and scored the maximum 500 points on the AFROTC physical fitness test. She was selected as a distinguished graduate of field training and was named the top cadet of more than 500 cadets from around the nation. She served as the cadet wing commander of the 100-plus member cadet wing and has also participated in the AFROTC honor guard and Arnold Air Society, a community service based organization within AFROTC. She has served at the People's City Mission soup kitchen, volunteered for the Take-a-Break program at the YMCA, helped children at the Lincoln Children's Museum and organized a campuswide food drive.

"I am extremely proud of Cadet Weber's accomplishments here in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Air Force ROTC program," said Mack MacElhaney, professor of aerospace studies at UNL. "She has excelled in everything she has done - academically, athletically, militarily and in numerous extracurricular activities. She sets the standards for others to emulate and has demonstrated extraordinary leadership skills during all facets of her training. She is a top-notch cadet and is well deserving of this very prestigious award."

The Air Force Association will present the award to Cadet Weber in April at an awards banquet during the annual Arnold Air Society national conclave in Washington, D.C.

5 finalists named for NU provost position

University of Nebraska President L. Dennis Smith has named the five finalists for the position of executive vice president and provost. The provost is the second-highest ranking administrative officer of the university.

The finalists are:

Donal J. Burns, associate executive vice president and provost, University of Nebraska, since 1989. He served as assistant executive vice president and provost from 1986-89. Previously he was director of the University Studies Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (1980-86) and associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (1977-82). He joined the UNL faculty in 1969 and had previously held faculty and research appointments at Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and L'Universite de la Sorbonne and l'Observatoire de Meudon, in Paris, France. He earned his bachelor's (1962) and Ph.D. (1965) degrees at Queen's University, Belfast. His academic field is physics.

John J. Kozak, professor of chemistry at Iowa State University. From 1992 to 1998, he served as the provost of Iowa State. Earlier, he had been dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Georgia (1988-92). He has held administrative positions at the University of Notre Dame and also held faculty appointments in chemistry at the University of Georgia and at Notre Dame. He earned his bachelor's degree from Case Western Reserve University in 1961, and his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1965.

Fred J. Maryanski, vice chancellor for academic administration, University of Connecticut since 1997. He was interim chancellor at that institution in 1999-2000. Previously he served as associate provost (1989-97) and as head of the Computer Science and Engineering Department. He also has held faculty appointments at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Kansas State University. He joined the University of Connecticut faculty in 1983. He earned his bachelor's degree at Providence College in Rhode Island in 1968, his master's degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in New Jersey in 1971, and his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut in 1974.

Jay Noren, director of the Health Workforce Project for the National Institute of Health Policy from January to December 2001. Previously he had been president of the Health Sciences Center and vice chancellor for health affairs for the Texas A&M University System (1999-2000). Earlier, he held faculty and administrative posts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. He was vice chancellor for health sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1986 to 1993. He earned bachelor's degrees in 1967 and 1970, and his M.D. degree in 1970, all from the University of Minnesota, and his Master of Public Health degree from Harvard University in 1976.

Marlene I. Strathe, provost and vice president for academic affairs at the University of Northern Colorado since 1998. She served as vice president for academic affairs and provost of the University of North Dakota from 1993 to 1998. Earlier, she was assistant vice president of academic affairs at the University of Northern Iowa, where she had previously served as dean of the College of Education and director of educational research and development. She earned her bachelor's (1967) and master's (1969) degrees from Iowa State University, an educational specialist degree (1973) from the University of Northern Iowa, and her Ph.D. (1975), also from Iowa State.

Smith said he hoped to name a new provost within a few weeks. Each candidate will be invited to meet with members of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, and with Smith and other university officials.

Finalists named for UNK chancellor

University of Nebraska President L. Dennis Smith has named the six finalists for the position of chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Kearney. They are:

Derek J. Hodgson, vice chancellor for academic affairs, University of Nebraska at Omaha. Before coming to UNO in 1998, Hodgson was provost and vice president for academic affairs at Mississippi State University. Earlier, he held administrative and faculty positions at the University of Wyoming and at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He earned his bachelor's degree from Harvard University in 1965, and his master's (1967) and Ph.D. (1969) degrees from Northwestern University. All three degrees are in chemistry.

Douglas A. Kristensen, an attorney and partner in the law firm of Lieske & Kristensen in Minden. Kristensen is a state senator, representing Legislative District No. 37, and is speaker of the Legislature. He served as Kearney County Attorney from 1983 to 1988 and was in private practice in Carroll, Iowa. Kristensen earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1977, majoring in economics and political science. He received his law degree from Drake University in 1980.

Rita Rice Morris, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Lewis and Clark State College in Lewiston, Idaho, since 1996. She served as dean of the College of Graduate and Extended Studies, and as dean of the College of Communication, Computer Information Science, and Library Science at Clarion University of Pennsylvania (1990-96). She held administrative and faculty positions at Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania, Davis and Elkins College in West Virginia, and Bowdoin College in Maine. She earned her bachelor's degree from California State University, Long Beach, in 1968, her master's degree from Northern Illinois University in 1970, and her Ph.D. from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1978. All three degrees are in communication.

David E. Payne, vice president for academic affairs at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas, since 1997. He held similar positions at Emporia State University in Kansas (1989-97), and Sangamon State University (now the University of Illinois at Springfield), and was dean of the College of Social Sciences at Southeast Missouri State University. Earlier, he held faculty positions at the University of North Dakota and the University of Iowa. He earned his bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University in 1968, and his master's (1970) and Ph.D. (1972) degrees from the University of North Carolina. All three degrees are in sociology.

James L. Roark, senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Nebraska at Kearney since 1999. He held the same post in an interim capacity from 1997 to 1999. He served as chair of the Department of Chemistry at UNK, where he has been a faculty member since 1969. He has also was an adjunct faculty member at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in the Office of Minority Affairs from 1981 through 1990, and has been a visiting professor at the University of Virginia (1981-82). He earned his bachelor's degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University in 1965, and his Ph.D. from Texas Christian University in 1969.

Earl G. Yarbrough, Sr., provost and vice president for academic affairs at Virginia State University, in Petersburg, Va., since 1998. He served as dean of the School of Technology at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro (1986-98). He held faculty positions at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and at Northeastern Oklahoma State University in Tahlequah. He earned his bachelor's degree from Wichita State University in 1969, his master's degree from California State University, Los Angeles, in 1974, and his Ph.D. from Iowa State University in 1976. His academic field is industrial education.

Smith said he hopes to name a new chancellor by May 1.