August 22, 2002

Choueiry wins NSF Career grant

Berthe Choueiry, a UNL assistant professor in computer science and engineering, has won a prestigious five-year National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development grant. She was awarded approximately $600,000 over the five years.

The grant, known as a Career grant, supports the NSF's goal of integrating research and education in the beginning stages of a faculty member's career. It is the NSF's most prestigious award for new faculty members.

The grant supports Choueiry's research and education activities in the area of constraint processing, a sub-field of artificial intelligence. Constraint processing is a new fundamental paradigm for modeling and solving decision problems and has wide applications in computer science, engineering and management.

Traditionally, solving a decision problem, such as the allocation of aircraft to flights in an airline company, requires finding a single, enumerated solution to the problem, Choueiry said.

The project funded by the Career grant aims at investigating techniques for computing and visualizing families of equivalent solutions.

Choueiry received a Ph.D. in computer science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1994. She came to UNL in 1999.

Scofield named Rural Initiative leader

Sandra K. Scofield has been named director of the Nebraska Rural Initiative for the University of Nebraska.

Her new responsibilities are a reassignment for Scofield, who is director of the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Computer Education at UNL and an NU Cooperative Extension community development specialist. The new position begins immediately, and Scofield will phase out of her previous position.

The overall goal of the Rural Initiative is the revitalization of rural life, said John C. Owens, Harlan vice chancellor of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources. It was established as a universitywide effort based on concerns for the economic and social futures of rural Nebraska. Scofield will work with administrators and faculty on all four campuses of the NU system and relevant partners beyond the university.

Nebraska National Guard, NET Honored

The Nebraska National Guard and Nebraska Educational Telecommunications earned an eLearning Success Award for "Saving Taxpayers Money" in the government category at the eLearning Exposition and Conference in April in Washington, D.C., said Col. Robert B. Bailey, commander of the Nebraska Air National Guard's 155th Air Refueling Wing.

The two groups earned the award for collaborating on Project ALERT, a series of distance learning courses that enable Guard members to use home computers to log onto the Web and train at their own pace.

The university used NET's Interactive Media Group to take the Guard's standard training materials and develop Web-based multimedia training modules, according to IMG Manager Terry Dugas.

Chief Master Sgt. Teresa Clark, Air Guard, leads the Guard team working on the project. Members include: retired Master Sgt. Gary Satchell, Army Guard; retired Sgt. Maj. Steve Cavadini, U.S. Army; Tech. Sgt. Shannon Nielsen, Air Guard; Capt. Mike Akins, Army Guard; and Senior Airman Mike Masur, Air Guard. Project Manager Brad Barker leads the NET team working on the project.

Food Scientist Receives Honors

UNL food scientist Steve Taylor recently received three honors for his work in food science and technology.

In May, the Minnesota branch of the Institute of Food Technologists honored Taylor, professor and head of the Department of Food Science and Technology, with the Harold Macy award, a prestigious food science award.

In March, Taylor received the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network's 2002 Founders Award. The award recognizes one person annually for his or her work with the organization, which includes 24,000 patients, doctors and researchers who work to combat food allergies. Taylor is on the group's medical review board and board of directors. He was recognized for helping the group establish a positive relationship with the U.S. food industry.

The Institute for Scientific Information International, a group that indexes journal citations, also recently listed Taylor as a "highly cited researcher." The institute named Taylor as one of the 250 most cited scientists in the field of agricultural sciences.

Taylor has been head of UNL's food science and technology department and director of the university's Food Processing Center since 1987. He researches food allergies and allergy-like diseases.

College announces advisory board members

The University of Nebraska Foundation and the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts have created the Hixson-Lied Advisory Board.

The board was created to review and react to requests for expenditures of income from the Hixson-Lied endowment to benefit the college and its affiliated organizations. The board encourages requests for funding that will advance excellence in the college and enhance its national reputation. Additionally, the board is involved in overseeing the investment of the endowed funds in cooperation with the University of Nebraska Foundation's Finance Committee.

The Advisory Board is composed of Christina M. Hixson, trustee of the Lied Foundation Trust; Harvey Perlman, chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; Terry Fairfield, president and CEO of the University of Nebraska Foundation; Giacomo M. Oliva, dean of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts; and six additional members appointed to a three-year term who may serve two consecutive terms. Those members are John Angle, Heather Jones, Marguerite Hallas Scribante, James W. Strand, Sandy Veneziano and Susan Varner Wilkins.

The board met for the first time on April 6 for an organizational meeting during the Hixson-Lied dedication weekend. They will meet later this year to begin reviewing proposals for expenditures of the income.

'Reading Rainbow' wins Emmys

LeVar Burton, host and executive producer of the children's TV series Reading Rainbow, won his second consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series at the 29th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards ceremony on May 17. This follows a second consecutive win by Reading Rainbow for Outstanding Children's Series announced May 12 at the Creative Craft Daytime Emmy Awards Ceremony. Now in its 18th season, Reading Rainbow has won 18 Emmys.

The series has won the "outstanding children's series" category seven times from 12 nominations. This most recent Emmy win brings Reading Rainbow's total Emmy Award count up to 17.

The Reading Rainbow concept originated in Nebraska.

EHS program wins award

UNL's Environmental Health and Safety received a Nebraska Industrial Council on Environment Award for their Waste Minimization Program at the 2002 Nebraska Safety, Health and Environmental Conference and Exposition in May. This program has assisted in researching and/or funding 11 source reduction projects at UNL. It is estimated that these projects have reduced chemical usage associated with these projects by 80-100 percent. There has also been an estimated return of $7 for every dollar spent on the projects.

Environmental Health and Safety also received a 2002 Keeping Lincoln and Lancaster County Beautiful Cleanup Mini-grant Award for their efforts in cleaning up Leighton Street from 33rd Street to 48th streets, 48th Street from Leighton to Holdrege streets, and Dead Man's Run. The Environmental Health and Safety department received $100 for its efforts.

Mail, Distribution Services honored for VOICE program

On April 23, Mail & Distribution Services received the Ventures in Partnerships Award of Excellence at the VIP Spring Awards Celebration.

This award recognized Mail & Distribution Services' commitment and dedication to its partnership with Lincoln Public Schools. The department was honored for its work with the Vocational Opportunity in Community Experience program, or VOICE. Five students with mild to severe disabilities in the VOICE program work with Mark Porter, manager of Mail and Distribution Services, and help with mail and warehouse activities and develop custodial, clerical, recycling and mail preparation skills. The students have been working with University Services for more than 10 years in this program.