November 13, 2003

New faculty members for 2003 announced

Following is a list of new faculty members at UNL for the 2003-2004 academic year.

College of Architecture

• Nathan Howe, Architecture.
• Raymond McConnell, Architecture.

College of Arts and Sciences

• Shireen Adenwalla, Physics and Astronomy.
• Peter C. Angeletti, Biological Sciences.
• Christopher R. Bilder, Statistics.
• Christian Binek, Physics and Astronomy.
• Thomas Borstelmann, History, Thompson Distinguished Professor of Modern World History.
• Thomas Gannon, English and Ethnic Studies.
• Anisa Kaenjak-Angeletti, Biological Sciences.
• Robert Powers, Chemistry.
• Guy J. Reynolds, English.

College of Business Administration

• William Gardner, Management, Howard L. Hawks Chair in Ethics & Leadership.
• Warren R. Luckner, Finance and Actuarial Science.
• Amit Saini, Marketing.

College of Education and Human Sciences

• Craig Enders, Educational Psychology.
• Jordan R. Green, Special Education and Communication Disorders, Corwin Moore Chair in Communication Disorders.
• Mari Haneda, Teaching, Learning & Teacher Education.
• Michael James, Textiles, Clothing and Design.
• Suzanne E. Kemp, Special Education and Communication Disorders.
• Harriet McLeod, Textiles, Clothing and Design.
• Kristy S.E. Weissling, Special Education and Communication Disorders.

College of Engineering and Technology

• Alisa Gilmore, Computer and Electronics Engineering.
• Chunsheng Liu, Computer & Electronic Engineering.
• Hossein Noureddini, Chemical Engineering.
• William Velander, Chemical Engineering, Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering.
• Lin Wu, Mechanical Engineering.

Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts

• John W. Richmond, School of Music, Director/Chair, School of Music.

Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources

• Jane L. Armstrong, Extension.
• Gregory Bashford, Biological Systems Engineering.
• Donald Becker, Biochemistry.
• Mark E. Burbach, School of Natural Resources.
• Shaorong Chen, Plant Pathology.
• Susanne Hinkley, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences.
• Kayla M. Hinrichs, Northeast Research and Extension Center.
• Ming Kang, Plant Pathology.
• Jackwon Lee, Biochemistry.
• Asit Pattnaik, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences.
• Mark Simmons, Southeast Research and Extension Center.
• Anne Streich, Agronomy and Horticulture.
• Brigitte Tenhumberg, School of Natural Resource Sciences.
• Richard Tyre, School of Natural Resources.
• Chao Mei Zhang, Food Science and Technology.

University Libraries

• Charles Bernholz, Access and Branch Services.
• Nancy Busch, University Libraries. Associate Dean for University Libraries.

Janovy earns Parasitology Mentor Award

John Janovy Jr., Varner professor of biological sciences, was awarded the Clark P. Read Mentorship Award at the national assembly of the American Society of Parasitologists. The award honors a society member periodically for outstanding achievement in mentorship of graduate students.

Janovy is the second UNL parasitologist in two years to earn the award; in 2001, Brent Nickol, professor of parasitology and associate director of the School of Biological Sciences, also earned the major national award.

Janovy received the mentorship award Aug. 4 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, during the group's annual meeting.

"This is actually a sort of lifetime achievement award based on direction of graduate students, and for two individuals from the same institution to get it back to back is virtually unheard of," Janovy said.

Janovy has directed the work of 30 graduate students in his 36-year career, including 12 doctoral candidates.

Founded in 1924, the American Society of Parasitologists is a diverse group of more than 1,500 scientists interested in the study and teaching of parasitology. ASP members have contributed to the development of parasitology and primary research in systematics, medicine, molecular biology, immunology, physiology, ecology and biochemistry.

Johnsgard writes 3 books

Paul Johnsgard, Foundation professor emeritus of the School of Biological Sciences, has had three books published this year, two in September. The two currently published books are Lewis and Clark on the Great Plains: A Natural History (University of Nebraska Press), and Faces of the Great Plains: Prairie Wildlife (University Press of Kansas). Last spring, he published Great Wildlife of the Great Plains, also with the University Press of Kansas.

In October, he was inducted into the Aksarben Court of Honor. He also was recently listed on the "700 famous Nebraskans" list of E.A. Kral.

Cooperative center earns USDA development grant

IANR News Service

A $328,000 rural development grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture will help the Nebraska Cooperative Development Center at UNL continue to assist value-added agricultural cooperatives in rural Nebraska.

The USDA Rural Development Program awarded $6.3 million in competitive rural cooperative development grants to encourage economic development in 20 states. Nebraska received the fifth-highest amount of all recipients.

The grant will help encourage rural cooperative development through projects that provide rural residents with education and technical assistance in starting, marketing and managing cooperatives.

"We are trying to help people go beyond basic production agriculture and find niches and opportunities to allow them to stay in rural Nebraska and add to the overall economy of our state by keeping our people where they want to live," said Lynn Lutgen, a UNL agricultural economist and executive director of the NCDC.

The grant will enable the NCDC to continue funding resources and services such as travel scholarships, feasibility studies, legal counsel, business plan development, market and financial analysis and planning, and other organizational development needs.

The center also will hire additional personnel to guide producers through the basic steps of starting a value-added business.

Carstensen is 2003 NU ARDC employee of the year

Caryl Carstensen is the recipient of the 2003 University of Nebraska Agricultural Research and Development Center Employee of the Year Award. The award is sponsored by the ARDC/Cooperative Extension in Saunders County Social Committee. Candidates were nominated by fellow employees, and scoring forms were then submitted by supervisors, employees and the social committee.

Carstensen, ag research technician at the Swine Research Area at the ARDC, was selected by fellow employees to receive the ARDC Employee of the Year award. Ben Hirschfeld, Dave Andersen, Ed Booth and Deloris Pittman also were nominated for the award.

Nominations for Carstensen said he has excellent qualifications for his position and is a role model to the crew for dependability and punctuality.

In addition to receiving a plaque, Carstensen was also honored with prizes solicited and organized by the Social Committee. This includes: two (one-day) passes to the Champions Club; $50 courtesy of Cedar Ridge Spraying Service; four Henry Doorly Zoo tickets; two 18-hole rounds of golf with cart at the Hilltop Country Club at Wahoo; and recognition on a plaque to be displayed at the ARDC Research and Education Building.

The Agricultural Research and Development Center and Cooperative Extension are divisions of NU's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Conley elected fellow

Dennis Conley, professor of agribusiness in the Department of Agricultural Economics, was elected in June as a Fellow of the International Food and Agribusiness Management Association. Fellow status recognizes members who have demonstrated distinguished achievement in the fields of food and agribusiness management.

Conley has taught classes in agribusiness management, price analysis and finance. His research has focused on risk management, marketing and international trade. He has a courtesy appointment in the College of Business Administration and helps supervise the MBA degree with a specialization in agribusiness.

Conley has been active in IFAMA since 1990, and at UNL since 1988.

Foundation announces allocations

The University of Nebraska Foundation provided $67.5 million to benefit the university's four campuses during the fiscal year that ended June 30. The announcement was made at the foundation's annual meeting on Oct. 24.

A majority of the support aids students, faculty and academic programs. More than $15.7 million was allocated for scholarships, graduate assistantships and fellowships; $24.3 million was provided for academic programs and faculty assistance, including endowed professorships, chairs and faculty fellowship awards.

The foundation provided $3.5 million for research and $22.8 million for campus and building improvements. The university's museums, libraries and arts received more than $1.5 million.

Gifts, bequests and life insurance proceeds to the foundation totaled more than $49.3 million during the 2003 fiscal year. These gifts include expendable funds provided to the university and endowed funds providing perpetual support to the university.

The market value of the foundation's assets at the end of the 2003 fiscal year was $1.015 billion.