April 25, 2002

Dental College dean honored by academy

John Reinhardt, D.D.S., dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Dentistry, received the Award of Excellence from the Academy of Operative Dentistry at its annual meeting in Chicago.

The award, presented annually since 1986, recognizes recipients for their service to the academy, free-sharing and innovative ideas in the teaching of operative dentistry, and continuous promotion of excellence in operative dentistry at the national and international level.

Before coming to UNMC in March 2000, Reinhardt served on the University of Iowa dental faculty for 22 years. Reinhardt was named a fellow in 1995 in the American College of Dentists, and in 2001 in the International College of Dentists.

CBA announces award winners

The UNL College of Business Administration Alumni Association will honor seven individuals and three companies at its annual awards luncheon April 26 in Lincoln.

Jeff Raikes of Redmond, Wash., group vice president of productivity and business services at Microsoft Corp., will receive the Honorary Lifetime Member Award. The Nebraska native is a graduate of Stanford University and a 20-year veteran at Microsoft, where he is a member of the senior leadership team.

Lisa M. Smith of Lincoln, a registered representative with Smith Hayes Financial Services, will receive the Alumni Leadership Award. She is a graduate of Lincoln Northeast High School and UNL and is finishing a two-year term as president of the College of Business Administration Alumni Association.

Business Leadership Awards go to Louie Blumkin of Omaha, chairman emeritus, Nebraska Furniture Mart; Roy Dinsdale of Palmer, Dinsdale Brothers, a farming, cattle and banking operation; and J. Gates Minnick of Lincoln, chairman of the board of DuTeau Chevrolet.

Thomas E. Balke, Raymond C. Dein professor of accountancy at UNL, will receive the Distinguished Faculty Award. Balke, who has been on the Nebraska faculty since 1970, has been widely published and honored with College of Business Administration and UNL Distinguished Teaching Awards.

Shawn D. Buchanan of Omaha, president and CEO of All American Meats, will receive the Business Excellence Award. Buchanan, though drafted by the Atlanta Braves out of high school, elected to attend UNL on an athletic scholarship and later played for the Chicago White Sox. During off-seasons he worked at Nebraska Beef Inc. and learned the beef business.

Corporate Leadership Awards will go to three Nebraska-based companies that have a high level of commitment to their communities and employees. BryanLGH Medical Center is the largest hospital in Nebraska and the largest private employer in Lincoln with more than 4,200 employees and gross revenues of about $600 million. The Omaha World-Herald grew from a single newspaper to a company that has 37 operating companies in seven states. The company owns 22 newspapers producing nearly 70 publications. Platte Valley National Bank of Scottsbluff, one of seven subsidiaries of Platte Valley Financial Service Companies Inc., offers financial services in Nebraska and Wyoming and employs 167 people.

NU Press author honored by booksellers' group

University of Nebraska Press author T. Louise Freeman-Toole received a Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association 2002 Book Award for her book Standing Up to the Rock.

The Pacific Northwest Book Awards 2002 celebrate the best writing and reading from regional authors. Through this award, regional authors and books are brought to national attention.

Standing Up to the Rock was one of five books selected for the award.

Winkle's book on Lincoln honored

A book by Ken Winkle, professor of history, was named the best book about Abraham Lincoln in 2001.

The Young Eagle, which covers Lincoln's life up to his presidency, was selected for the award by the Abraham Lincoln Institute of the Mid-Atlantic. The award recognizes The Young Eagle as the best work published about Lincoln in the previous year. It includes a $5,000 stipend.

The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg (Pa.) College also named the book one of three finalists, out of 161 entries, for the Lincoln Prize of 2001. This prize is for the best book about The Civil War or President Lincoln.

Winkle's book addresses how Lincoln rose from a modest background to become perhaps the greatest president the nation has known, during a time of great crisis. Winkle has been studying Lincoln for about 10 years, and this is his second book about him.

"People often overlook his early life, and I thought his early life deserved detailed examination," said Winkle, who chairs the history department.