Priscilla Grew is director of NU State
Museum
Priscilla C. Grew,
professor of geosciences at UNL, has been
named director of the
University of Nebraska State Museum effective
Aug. 18.
Grew will succeed Robert Kaul and William Splinter, who each
served as interim directors of the museum during the past year,
and
James Estes, who was director from 1996 until 2002.
While
Grew was UNL vice chancellor for research from 1993
to 1999, she
was responsible for general administrative oversight
of the museum,
and the museum's director reported to her. Since
1998, she has
served as UNL's coordinator for campus compliance
with the federal
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation
Act. She has
worked with Native American tribes on the repatriation
of human
remains and funerary objects from UNL's archaeological
collections.
In addition to her new role as museum director, Grew will
hold a quarter-time academic appointment as professor in the
department of geosciences and will continue to serve as UNL's
NAGPRA coordinator supervising tribal repatriations.
Before
coming to UNL in 1993, Grew served at the University
of
Minneapolis-Twin Cities as professor and director of the Minnesota
Geological Survey, where she led public outreach efforts including
the Minnesota county geologic atlas program. Before that, she
held
positions in state government as a Commissioner of the California
Public Utilities Commission and earlier as Director of the California
Department of Conservation. She has taught geology and environmental
studies at the University of California (Davis and Los Angeles
campuses), and at Boston College. She is a Fellow of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science, the Geological Society
of America and the Mineralogical Society of America.
Grew
earned her bachelor's degree magna cum laude at Bryn
Mawr College
and her doctorate in geology at the University of
California-Berkeley.
Johnson
named Omtvedt professor
Rodger K. Johnson, a UNL swine
geneticist and professor of
animal science, is the first recipient
of the Omtvedt professorship
in animal science.
The
endowed professorship, a gift to the NU Foundation from
Irvin T.
and Wanda R. Omtvedt, provides an annual salary stipend.
The
appointment is for five years and honors outstanding accomplishments
in teaching, research and/or service to the professor's academic
discipline and the livestock and meat industry.
Irv Omtvedt
retired in 2000 after serving as NU vice president
and vice
chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural
Resources.
Johnson, who joined the university in 1978,
developed a highly
prolific line of pigs for his research that was
released to industry.
The line continues to be a genetic leader in
reproductive performance.
Mahoney to lead Plains Humanities Alliance
Timothy R.
Mahoney, UNL professor of history, has been named
director of the
Plains Humanities Alliance effective July 1.
Headquartered at UNL, the Plains Humanities Alliance is of
one
of nine regional centers nationwide and represents Kansas,
Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Oklahoma. UNL has been
part of the initiative since 1999 when the campus won a planning
grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. In December
2001, UNL was officially awarded a regional center grant from
the
NEH to establish the center.
The Plains Humanities Alliance
is dedicated to preserving
and promoting the cultural heritage of
the Great Plains region.
By encouraging collaboration among
humanities educators, scholars,
professionals and the public, the
center allows for exploring
the region's history, literatures, and
peoples.
Mahoney earned his bachelor's degree from College
of the Holy
Cross in Worcester, Mass., in 1975 before attending the
University
of Chicago, where he earned his master's in 1976 and
doctorate
in American history in 1982. He specializes in 19th
century American
social and urban history. He also studies local
and regional
history.
Belasco awarded NEH stipend
Susan Belasco, professor
of English, has been awarded a Summer
Stipend from the National
Endowment for the Humanities for her
project, "Black Hero:
Toussaint L'Ouverture in Antebellum
American Literature and
Culture."
Summer Stipend grants provide individuals
with an opportunity
to pursue research in the humanities that
contributes to scholarly
knowledge or to the public's understanding
of the humanities
and are designed to support two months of
full-time research
and writing.
Student wins championship at national forensics meet
Juanita Page, a junior broadcast
journalism major, won a national
championship at the 26th Annual
American Forensics Association
National Individual Events
Tournament April 4-6 at the University
of Mississippi, in Oxford,
Miss. Ninety universities took part
in the tournament.
Page finished first in the program of oral interpretation
of
literature, in which the competitor combines drama, poetry
and
prose to create an argument or develop a theme. Page's theme
was
"the lack of political leadership in the African-American
community."
In addition to her championship, Page was
seventh overall
in individual sweeps, which combines the scores
from all entered
events. She finished fourth in poetry
interpretation, fourth
in prose interpretation, and was a
quarter-finalist in duo interpretation
with Adam Knowlton.
Page is from Omaha and has been on the forensics team for
two
years.
The UNL team finished eighth overall. Team members
are: Page,
Knowlton, Dan Chevalier, Tom Cosenza, Anna Knier,
Brittani Lewit,
Debra Mategrano, Diana Mategrano, Craig McGill,
Cristina Musquiz,
Jill Mussack, Kevin Tvrdy and Todd West.
Education consortium honors 4 from
UNL
The UNL-based American Distance Education Consortium
presented
several honors at its annual awards program in San
Antonio, Texas,
in May.
Among those honored:
Dan Cotton, director of the Communications and Information
Technology unit at the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources,
and Mark Hendricks, a systems administrator and web designer
with
CIT, received exemplary service awards for their work on
ADEC's
National Science Foundation-funded Advanced Internet Satellite
Extension Program.
UNL's master's of science in
entomology program and Library
of Crop Technology received
honorable mentions in the ADEC
Excellence in Distance Education
category.
ADEC membership includes 65 state universities
and land-grant
universities in the United States and several
higher-education
institutions outside the United States. The
consortium is a leader
in adapting information technologies for
delivery of distance
education programs.
Several from UNL win Mayor's Arts Awards
Several artists with ties to UNL received honors at the 2003
Mayor's Arts Awards presented June 4:
The Pow Wow Plains
exhibition in the Great Plains Art Collection
received the
Cultural Celebration Award. The exhibition was curated
by Reece
Summers and produced by photographer Tom Tidball and
UNL student
and independent filmmaker Carrie Wolf.
Vince Learned
received the Sam Davidson Theatre Award.
He has been musical
director for the Nebraska Repertory Theatre
and the UNL Department
of Theater. He also is staff accompanist
for the dance division in
the School of Music, creates music
for ballet and modern dance
classes, and has taught music for
dance and musical theater.
Michael James received the Artistic Achievement Award.
James is the Ardis James Professor in the UNL College of Human
Resources and Family Sciences.
Marvin Spomer,
professor emeritus of curriculum and
instruction at UNL, received
the Gladys Lux Education Award for
his work in educating art
teachers. He has taught art methods
classes, supervised student
teachers and mentored graduate students.
Mary
Merritt received the Heart of the Arts Award for
her work as a
volunteer at the Lied Center for Performing Arts
since it opened in
1990. She also gives tours of the Lied and
volunteers in the
administrative office.
8 NU
Presidential Graduate Fellowships awarded
Eight
Presidential Graduate Fellowships have been announced
for the
academic year 2003-2004 by University of Nebraska President
L.
Dennis Smith. Seven of the students are seeking Ph.D. degrees
-
four at UNL - with one master's student. The fellowships include
stipends of $16,500 at UNL. Funding for the fellowships is provided
through the University of Nebraska Foundation.
This year's
Presidential Graduate Fellows from UNL are:
Fleura
Bardhi, a Ph.D. candidate in marketing. Her
primary research
interest is in consumer behavior aspects of
globalization.
Maria Rosario T. de Guzman, a Ph.D. candidate in psychology.
De Guzman is interested in research on moral and prosocial behaviors
among children, especially those in Kenya, the Philippines, Brazil
and Turkey.
Matthew T. Koetz, a Ph.D. candidate in
mathematics.
Koetz's area of research is in coding theory, which
studies efficient
ways of transmitting information over noisy
channels without
losing data. Interference-free transmission is
essential for
sending data.
Frederico C.
Ocampo, a Ph.D. candidate in entomology.
Ocampo's research
involves scarab beetles, and his goal is to
improve knowledge of
the evolution of the Hybosoridae, a beetle
family that contains 30
genera worldwide and about 210 species.
It is considered a turf
grass pest in some parts of the United
States.
4 get funding for water initiative
Four University of Nebraska employees are part of a multi-state
team that has recently received funding for the Heartland Regional
Water Quality Coordination Initiative. The initiative coordinates
information from four universities and other resources about
water
quality and the management of agricultural nonpoint source
pollutants. The initiative hopes to make these resources more
accessible to federal, state and local water quality improvement
efforts in EPA Region 7.
The project received funding for
two years from the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and the
Cooperative State Research, Education
and Extension Services.
Individuals involved from NU are DeLynn Hay, extension administrative
program leader; Richard Koelsch, livestock bioenvironmental engineer;
Charles Wortmann, nutrient management specialist; and Julie S.
Paschold, extension assistant.
Cassman named outstanding alumnus
Kenneth G. Cassman, professor and head of the Department of
Agronomy and Horticulture, was named the 2003 Outstanding Alumnus
from the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources
at the
University of Hawaii.
Cassman was recognized for his
contributions to research in
crop ecology and nutrient cycling, and
for his involvement in
international agricultural development. At
the awards banquet
in April, Cassman made a presentation on
"Agricultural Development
and World Peace."
Hawks endows chair in business ethics,
leadership
The Howard Hawks Chair in Business Ethics and
Leadership at
the UNL College of Business Administration has been
established
at the University of Nebraska Foundation.
William L. Gardner III, director of doctoral programs at the
University of Mississippi's College of Business Administration
and
a management scholar, will be the first to occupy the newly
endowed
chair.
Howard Hawks, chairman and CEO of Omaha-based
Tenaska Inc.,
said establishment of the chair on the Lincoln campus
concludes
discussions that began four years ago before more recent
corporate
scandals and major ethical issues began appearing on the
national
business scene.
"These recent events
only reinforce and highlight the
importance of highly ethical
conduct in business," he said.
Hawks is a University
of Nebraska graduate with bachelor's
and master's degrees in
business administration from UNL and
the University of Nebraska at
Omaha, respectively. He serves
on the University of Nebraska Board
of Regents.
"The Hawks Chair has allowed us to attract
a highly respected
ethics and leadership expert to the College of
Business Administration
and advances our objective of becoming one
of the nation's top
business schools," said Cynthia Milligan,
dean of the UNL
College of Business Administration.
Gardner, the Michael S. Starnes professor of management at
Mississippi, will assume his new position this fall.
Gardner's expertise in impression management and the ethical
implications of leadership aligns with work being pursued in
the
UNL College of Business Administration in the field of authentic
leadership, as well as provides an overlapping synergy between
the
Center for Business, Ethics, and Society and the Gallup Leadership
Institute.
Hixson-Lied board OKs allocations
The Hixson-Lied
Advisory Board, created to review requests
for funding support from
income of the Hixson-Lied endowment
to benefit the Hixson-Lied
College of Fine and Performing Arts
and its affiliates, approved
two program proposals at its April
24 meeting:
· Support over two years for the Mary Riepma Ross Media
Arts Center Film/Video Showcase, to bring artists and others
involved in cinema and video to Nebraska for retrospectives of
their work and to make personal appearances to discuss their
work
with audiences.
· One-time allocation to help
support the Hixson-Lied
College of Fine and Performing Arts 10th
Anniversary Celebration,
which will be this upcoming academic year.
Plans are under way
to mark this anniversary with a yearlong
celebration that will
feature guest performances, lectures and
master classes by invited
visiting artists and scholars, as well as
performances and exhibitions
by students and faculty. The funding
allocated by the board will
provide partial support for these and
other activities related
to the celebration.
New edition of Foster book released
Southern Illinois University Press has released an updated
edition of a book edited by Gwendolyn Audrey Foster, UNL associate
professor of English. Identity and Memory: The Films of Chantal
Akerman features writings by several contributors, including
Foster, that discuss the feminist and avant-garde filmmaker.
The
updated edition features a new preface by Foster with updated
filmography and bibliography.
Shanks, students earn women's studies
honors
The Women's Studies Graduate Reception and Awards
Ceremony
honored Lela Knox Shanks with the Melba Cope Community
Associate
in Women's Studies award for 2003. The event was held May
1.
Shanks is a longtime civil rights activist and Lincoln
resident.
She was active with the Congress of Racial Equality in
Kansas
City, Mo., in the 1960s and held a school in her home for
one
year to protest racial segregation in the public schools.
A national speaker on Alzheimer's disease, she is the author
of
Your Name Is Hughes Hannibal Shanks: A Caregiver's Guide to
Alzheimer's. She also has produced two documentaries on Alzheimer's
disease for public access cable. In 2000 she was named by the
Lincoln Journal Star as one of 100 people who helped build Nebraska
in the 20th century.
The Melba Cope Community Associate in
Women's Studies award
is made possible by Melba Cope, a UNL alumna
who majored in women's
studies. The award recognizes a person whose
accomplishments
and activities have created a better climate for
women in Lincoln.
In addition to the Melba Cope award,
student awards were given.
Undergraduate students Rachel
Peterson and Elizabeth Lefler
and graduate students Hadara
Bar-Nadav and Terceira Berdahl received
the Karen Dunning Women's
Studies Scholarly Paper/Creative Activity
awards.
Erin Teuber received the 2002-2003 Women's Studies Outstanding
Achievement Award, which is given to an undergraduate student
who
has done outstanding work in women's studies at UNL. She
also
received the 2003-2004 Melba Cope Scholarship, which is
given to a
women's studies major with junior class standing who
has
demonstrated outstanding work in women's studies, including
research projects, creative work, contributions to the women's
studies program or community service.
Heidi Cuca named Marketer of the Year
Heidi Cuca, NU
assistant athletic director for marketing,
received the Marketer of
the Year Award from the Lincoln chapter
of the American Marketing
Association at its May 8 Prism Awards
luncheon.
Cuca
is in her second year in this position and has worked
at the
university for 11 years. Under Cuca's leadership, she
and her staff
helped Husker Athletics generate $2.5 million in
corporate
sponsorship revenue this year.
The overall marketing and
promotions philosophy of the Athletic
Marketing office is to
increase attendance and support for all
athletic events by
providing an entertaining collegiate atmosphere.
Cuca's
responsibility spans all areas of marketing; she works
in all areas
from marketing communications to product development.
Her team is
tasked with creating a vibrant game day environment
as well as
promotions for all 23 varsity sports, production of
the Red and
White newsletter, oversight of the activities of
the spirit squad
and mascots, and other programs.
Success has come to the NU
Athletic Marketing office over
the years. In 1998, the NU Athletic
Marketing office was awarded
"Marketing Campaign of the
Year" by the American Marketing
Association. Cuca and her
staff have received many "Citations
for Excellence" and
"Addy" awards sponsored by
the American Advertising
Federation.
Extension
associate wins continuing service award
Arlene Hanna,
extension associate at University of Nebraska
Cooperative Extension
in Lancaster County, received a Continuing
Service Award at the
Ventures in Partnerships annual Spring Awards
Celebration on April
28. The award is VIP's highest honor, given
to individuals who have
shared their excellence for nearly a
decade of service. VIP is a
Lincoln Public Schools program linking
businesses, organizations
and governmental agencies with schools.
Hanna coordinates
the 4-H School Enrichment projects in Lancaster
County, which are
part of the NU Cooperative Extension 4-H Youth
Development program.
She is also co-chair of the Earth Wellness
Festival, a yearlong
school curriculum with a one-day festival
offering fifth graders
hands-on experiences to discover the interdependency
of land,
water, air and living resources.
Lois Mayo, curriculum
specialist for Science at Lincoln Public
Schools, nominated
Hanna.
"Arlene Hanna's understanding of environmental
realities
has led her to spearhead the Earth Wellness Festival each
year
since its inception nine years ago," Mayo said.
"Twenty-seven
thousand fifth-graders know more about the Earth
thanks to this
effort."
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