April 11, 2002

Leitzel to receive Pettee Medal from UNH

Joan Leitzel, (shown at right), former UNL senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, will be honored April 19 with the Charles Holmes Pettee Medal from the University of New Hampshire, where she is president.

The Pettee Medal is awarded annually to a resident or former resident of the state of New Hampshire in recognition of outstanding accomplishment or distinguished service of any form to the state, nation or world.

The medal symbolizes devotion to service and is named for the late Dean Pettee, who served the University of New Hampshire for 62 years as professor and dean until his death in 1938.

Leitzel became president of the University of New Hampshire in 1996. She has worked to raise the level of excellence in academic programs, implement new and exemplary financial and fiscal management policies, guided the most ambitious capital campaign in university history, and coordinated renovations and expansions of university facilities.

Leitzel was vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of mathematics at UNL from 1992 until 1996. She served as UNL's interim chancellor from August 1995 to February 1996.

Sedimentologist appointed to Coffman chair

Christopher Fielding, a specialist in sedimentary geology, has been named the inaugural holder of the J.B. Coffman chair in the Department of Geosciences. He will start at the university in fall 2002.

The endowed faculty chair has primary funding from alumni James and Josephine Coffman. James Coffman earned a B.S. in geology from the University of Nebraska in 1950 and was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree in 1993. He received an alumni achievement award from the university in 1990. Josephine Coffman is a 1949 NU graduate.

James Coffman is president of J.B. Coffman and Assoc. of Houston, Texas, a petroleum consulting firm for exploration and production. He has also worked for Exxon and Phillips Petroleum.

The chair is intended to foster a relationship between sedimentary geology at UNL and the petroleum industry. The endowment funds provided by Coffman and five other UNL alumni donors are matched by the Donald and Mildred Othmer estate, creating a total endowment of $1 million.

Fielding earned his Ph.D. in 1982 from the University of Durham, United Kingdom, and spent four years as a petroleum sedimentologist for the British Petroleum Corp. He has been on the faculty at the University of Queensland, Australia, since 1986.

Fielding's specialty interests cover a wide area of sedimentology and stratigraphy, and much of his research has dealt with the origins of coal.

"Chris Fielding is a world-class sedimentologist whose accomplishments are well-known to his peers," said Norman Smith, chair of the Department of Geosciences. "He will add considerable strength to our sedimentary geology program, and we eagerly await his arrival."

Grad student wins case writing contest

Chris Luchs, an intern with the Nebraska Center for Entrepreneurship's Kauffman Social Entrepreneur Internship Program, won first place in the entrepreneur case writing competition, sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Mo.

The competition occurred at the Angell Center for Entrepreneurship at Wake Forest University in January.

Luchs worked with Terrence Sebora, director of the Nebraska center, in developing his entry.

Luchs, a student in the agribusiness MBA program, worked with Carol Ringenberg, a University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension educator and program development director of the Kimmel Education and Research Center in Nebraska City, and Ernie Weyeneth, chairman and CEO of the Richard P. and Laurine Kimmel Charitable Foundation Inc. The Kimmel Center is a new organization born from an alliance between the Kimmel Foundation, the University of Nebraska, and the National Arbor Day Foundation. Luchs was able to observe the development of the Kimmel Center, and the experience led to his case study and teaching notes "When Great Minds Don't Think Alike."

Luchs was one of nine graduate students from six universities who presented at the competition.

Last year, UNL's Pamela Edwards, also a student in the agribusiness MBA program, was runner-up in the competition. Her case was named "Papagenos.com: Strategies for A Growing Concern."

IANR to honor pollution prevention team, staffers

By Sandi Alswager, IANR News and Publishing

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln pollution prevention team and two staff members will receive top honors from NU's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources this month.

Partners in Pollution Prevention project will receive IANR's 2002 Team Award. Vicky Kobes, departmental secretary for animal science, and Pat Smith, payroll/data entry coordinator for the IANR Finance and Personnel office, will receive the first-ever IANR Exemplary Service Awards.

A reception for the recipients will be from 3:30-4:30 p.m. April 15 at the Nebraska East Union. Steve Waller, interim dean for the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, will present the Team Award. Alan Moeller, assistant vice chancellor for IANR, will present the Exemplary Service Award.

The IANR Team Award honors an IANR faculty and staff team that produces results in research, teaching, extension, service or international programs.

The Partners in Pollution Prevention project leadership team consists of Bruce Dvorak, Jan Hygnstrom, Wayne Woldt, Dennis Schulte and Bonita Delhay, all in biological systems engineering, and Mohamed Dahab, civil engineering.

Since 1997, this team has provided pollution prevention information, education, outreach and research throughout Nebraska using student interns and graduate students. Many small businesses, such as auto body repair shops, dry cleaners, printers, metal platters and farm cooperatives, lack the expertise to reduce, reuse and recycle in their operations. The team helps these small businesses identify ways to reduce waste, pollution and conserve energy.

The IANR Exemplary Service Award recognizes employees for continued outstanding service to the university through high-quality performance, commitment to quality work and inspiring teamwork. Each winner receives a $500 cash award.

Kobes joined animal science in 1968. As the assistant to the department head, Kobes puts her position, the department and its people first in her priorities, her nominators said. Among her many responsibilities, Kobes played a key role in organizing and preparing information for an external department review. Nominators praised the high quality of work, her dedication, problem-solving and team-building skills.

Smith joined IANR finance and personnel in 1974. Since then, Smith has continued to assume greater responsibilities. Most evident is her work during the last four years on the university's Systems, Applications and Products in Data Processing project. She worked on the SAP project as a member of an extended project team. Nominators said that during the project's first two years she averaged more than 70 hours a week for the project while fulfilling her ongoing position responsibilities. Smith demonstrates excellence, commitment, willingness to tackle any assignment and is a team player, nominators said.

NETV's Deafening Sound wins NETA award

The Nebraska ETV Network received an award from the National Educational Telecommunications Association for its production Deafening Sound.

The program, which premiered in November 2000, won the 2001 NETA Program Award in the Community Service category. Programs from around the country were recognized in eight program production categories at the ceremony in Las Vegas.

In addition to its broadcast in Nebraska, Deafening Sound was selected by the Public Broadcasting Service for national distribution. The program explores the issue of noise-induced hearing loss. The program features interviews with top hearing-loss specialists and profiles of musicians and those hooked on extreme sound.

Joe Turco was producer, director and writer, Pat Aylward was videographer/editor, and Steven Gottlieb was the audio engineer.

Kiewit, Scott Entrepreneurial Awards announced

A Lincoln advertising agency and three recent UNO graduates received the Walter Scott Entrepreneurial Business Award and the Peter Kiewit Student Entrepreneurial Award, respectively, for 2002.

Archrival Inc., a multi-disciplinary design firm, earned the Scott award. Archrival sponsors design competitions specifically for the colleges of Architecture and Journalism & Mass Communications at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Scholarships are awarded based on juried evaluations. Archrival has created an internship program called the "Gorilla Group," in which students become part of the firm's creative team. Four former interns are now full-time employees.

Kathleen T. Uehling, Keith A. Young and Irina Nolan, recent graduates of the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, won the Kiewit award for work conducted while they were MBA students. The three developed BuyNe.org, a Web site portal designed to bring bid opportunities from local governments to qualified Nebraska small businesses. City and county governments in Nebraska can use the site to post bid opportunities online. Facilitated by the UNO-based Nebraska Business Development Center, the site will encourage private businesses to compete for government purchasing contracts.

Both awards were created in 1999 to recognize entrepreneurial achievement through the application of technology. The Kiewit student award honors NU students who have directed their energies, ideals and talents toward community and business improvement through the creative and innovative use of information technology. It carries a $2,500 cash prize. The Scott business award honors businesses with a presence in Nebraska that have created partnerships and links with the University of Nebraska in the area of technology. The business award includes a $10,000 cash prize to be used for the promotion or creation of multiple student work-experiences in information science, technology and engineering.

"This team of students from UNO and Archrival fit extremely well the criteria established for these entrepreneurial awards," said L. Dennis Smith, NU president. "Each is engaged in the development of innovative uses of information and communications technologies and methods. Our intent is to encourage involvement of our students in applications of new technologies and to build collaborative efforts with businesses who want to support the university's efforts to educate students in these emerging fields."