September 19, 2002

Splinter is interim director of museum

William Splinter, George Holmes professor emeritus of biological systems engineering, has agreed to assume the duties as interim director of the University of Nebraska State Museum during the rest of the search for a permanent director. The appointment took effect Sept. 1.

Splinter succeeds James Estes, who retired as museum director Aug. 28. He had served since 1996.

Splinter served as the head of the department of agricultural engineering from 1968 until 1988, when he was named associate vice chancellor for research. He became interim vice chancellor for research in 1990 and served as vice chancellor for research from 1992 until his retirement in 1993. He was interim dean of the College Engineering and Technology in 1994 and 1995 and again from November 2001 to Sept. 1, 2002, when David Allen became dean of that college. In recent years, Splinter has been director of UNL's Larsen Tractor Museum, a division of the NU State Museum.

Splinter has a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering from UNL, and a master's degree and a doctorate from Michigan State University.

Engineering professor wins NSF grant

Lily Wang, a UNL assistant professor of architectural engineering, has won a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development grant. Wang will receive about $377,000 over a five-year period.

The grant supports research and educational activities in the area of architectural acoustics. Using the newly developed tool of auralization, Wang will measure both the extent to which changes in the directional patterns of sound over time affect the distribution of acoustic energy in a room and human perception of the sound field.

Until now, few studies have correlated a signal's directional variations in time and frequency with human perception of the sound field. Wang's research has applications in the design of acoustics in classrooms, office spaces, performing arts centers and other environments.

Wang received a doctorate in acoustics from Pennsylvania State University in 1999. Before her arrival at UNL in 2000, she worked as a research fellow in the department of acoustic technology at the Technical University of Denmark.

Press employees honored

Several University of Nebraska Press employees have been honored recently:

Dika Eckersley, Annie Shanan and Richard Eckersley earned noticed at the Association of American University Presses Book, Jacket, and Journal Show.

Richard Eckersley was profiled in a recent issue of Print: America's Graphic Design Magazine. The eight-page piece discussed a number of Richard Eckersley's book designs.

Ladette Randolph won a Pushcart Prize for nonfiction for her essay, "Mercy," which will appear in the 2003 Pushcart Prize volume.

Army ROTC unit among top 15 percent

The Army ROTC unit at UNL has been recognized as being in the top 15 percent of Cadet Command's 270 units.

"This accomplishment demonstrates excellence in the overall Army ROTC program and the hard work and competence of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln cadets," Maj. Gen. John T.D. Casey, commander of the U.S. Army Cadet Command, wrote to Chancellor Harvey Perlman.

"This achievement also reflects the support given to the Army ROTC unit and students by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I appreciate this support and look forward to many more years of our partnership in developing leaders for our Army and the nation."

Lt. Col. Edward Pullen was chair of UNL's military science (Army ROTC) from August 2000 through June 2002.

Froeschle earns national scholar award

Dr. Mary Lynn Froeschle, associate professor of the UNMC College of Dentistry Department of Adult Restorative Dentistry and director of patient care, has been selected as the American Dental Education Association's 2002 Warner-Lambert/Enid A. Neidle Scholar-in-Residence. Her selection was announced at the ADEA's 79th Annual Session and Exposition in San Diego.

The program provides Froeschle with a three-month residency at the ADEA office in Washington, D.C. The fellowship enables her to focus on a range of issues facing dental faculty members such as promotion, advancement and tenure policies, advanced education and research opportunities, leadership, mentoring and other education-related issues.

System announces winners of Presidential Graduate Fellowships

Seven Presidential Graduate Fellowships have been awarded for academic year 2002-2003. All of the candidates are seeking Ph.D. degrees. Three are UNL students, two are at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and two are at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The fellowships include stipends of $16,500 at UNL and UNMC, and $12,000 at UNO. Funding for the fellowships is provided through donations to the University of Nebraska Foundation.

The UNL students receiving this year's fellowships:

Nataliya V. Ivankova, a Ph.D. candidate in educational administration and curriculum & instruction with an area of specialization in educational leadership and higher education. She is interested in applications of distance education and would like to see collaborations between Ukrainian and U.S. higher education institutions. Ivankova is studying the factors that contribute to students' persistence in technologically mediated instructional programs.

Mary K. Stillwell, a Ph.D. candidate in English. Stillwell's scholarly interest is in ecological literary criticism, which adds the factor of place to other considerations in analyzing poetry. Stillwell intends to survey and synthesize ecocritical thought, paying special attention to its applicability to the work of Nebraska poets.

Bingxin Yu, a Ph.D. candidate in agricultural economics. Yu believes a solid background in statistics is vital to her research efforts, which focus on agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Her research will concentrate on statistical analyses of productivity growth and the critical variables that underlie agricultural performance.