Feb. 27, 2003

Marjorie Kostelnik has been dean of the UNL College of Human Resources and Family Sciences since November 2000. She will lead the university's newest college, which will combine HRFS with Teachers College, over a three-year transition period. It will focus on families, schools and communities. Photo by Richard Wright.

Kostelnik ready for challenge of combined colleges

By Mary Jane Bruce, University Communications

When Marjorie Kostelnik, dean of the College of Human Resources and Family Sciences, arrived at UNL in November 2000, she never imagined she would be heading up the transition to a new college that focuses on families, schools and communities. If approved, the as-yet-unnamed college would combine Human Resources and Family Sciences and Teachers College. Plans call for Kostelnik to handle the transition over a three-year period.

From a philosophical viewpoint, Kostelnik said the proposed marriage of the two colleges makes sense. For example, she said the mission of the College of Human Resources and Family Sciences is to enhance quality of life, a mission that would be furthered by a partnership with Teachers College. She said both colleges stand to gain from the new structure.

"There's a lot of potential to maintain strengths of programs in both colleges," Kostelnik said. "There's also an opportunity to do some new things and to integrate content that in the end will yield a whole that is greater than the parts. And that is very exciting."

Kostelnik is prepared to take on the challenge of developing the new college. Much of her career has involved the interface of families, schools and the community and the creation of new programs that build on existing strengths with an eye for the future.

Kostelnik, a Pennsylvania native, came to UNL from Michigan State University, where she chaired the Department of Family and Child Ecology and supervised the Child Development Laboratories. While in Michigan, she also helped create a community school within the Lansing public school system that provided a year-round, full service educational experience for children from age 3 through fifth grade. Another project she worked on with the Battle Creek public schools resulted in new policies dealing with discipline and socialization practices. Kostelnik has worked with urban, suburban and rural school districts, helping develop curriculum and discipline policies and providing more than 100 in-service presentations.

Kostelnik said her experience developing and leading new ventures provides valuable insight as she leads the transition to a new college at UNL.

"There are always many legitimate voices and points of view at the table. So during the transition, it's important that faculty, students and stakeholders have a chance to shape what evolves. That can be hard because we have to focus on where we want to go and what we want to achieve. But if we're inclusive and we do good work early, the college will blossom and rise to new heights," Kostelnik said.

The College of Human Resources and Family Sciences has continued to flourish in the two years since Kostelnik took over as dean. A new marketing campaign highlights the college as a place that nurtures the talent in students. Three new majors have been introduced, and the first steps have been taken toward a new building to house the International Quilt Study Center. A national conference on families has grown into an international event, held in Australia and China. Kostelnik credits the departments for many of the accomplishments.

"I believe the job of the dean is to facilitate the work of the faculty and the students," she said. "You provide leadership but at the same time, you take your cues from those who are closest to the work."

Kostelnik is already well on her way to accomplishing another important goal she set for herself when she came to UNL by getting to know Nebraska and its citizens. She frequently travels across the state, speaking to professional groups, meeting with alumni and working with extension educators.

She's also had a chance to explore the state with her husband, David, a professional photographer, and a steady stream of visitors including nieces and nephews from Pennsylvania and Florida. Last summer, they visited Chimney Rock and Ft. Robinson. This summer, the Kostelniks, who are avid canoeists, will try out the Niobrara River with their English cocker spaniel in tow.

Although Nebraskans think of themselves as Midwesterners, Kostelnik sees the state as the place where the nation meets the west, inhabited by citizens who strive toward new horizons and respect the land and the connection between people and resources. She said Nebraskans are excited by ideas, a way of thinking that will help in the transition toward a new college.

"It's easy to get caught up in just trying to make it. But it's important to have some vision, something that you're working toward that's bigger than what you think will happen in the next couple of years," Kostelnik said. "Yes, the current budget climate is bad and it would be nice to be in a much more flush situation. But the essential ingredients are expertise, respect and the willingness to listen to each other. We have those ingredients here. I feel good about that."

Road show draws a crowd UNL's first Big Red Road Show attracted about 1,300 people to the Omaha Civicc Auditorium on Feb. 23 who wanted to learn more about the university. The event was sponsored by the Office of Admissions but showcased booths and information from departments and programs campuswide.
	At left: Ashley Ermel, a senior from Millard North High School, works with news-editorial Professor George Tuck on a page design during the Big Red Road Show.
	Left: James Carr, professor of chemistry, conducts an experiment during the Big Red Road Show. His explosive demonstrations and tie-dyed lab coat made his booth a popular one at the event. Photos by Richard Wright.

3 UNL professors win NU system honors

Three UNL professors have been named winners of the highest academic honors for teaching and research granted by the University of Nebraska central administration.

Stephen W. Ragsdale, professor of biochemistry, and John D. Turner, Cotner professor of religious studies and professor of classics and history, received the Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Awards.

William J. "Jim" Lewis, professor of mathematics and chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, received an Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award.

The awards were announced Feb. 21 by Jay Noren, University of Nebraska executive vice president and provost.

The other honorees were Max A. McFarland, professor of counseling and school psychology at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, who also received an OTICA; and the Department of Political Science at UNK, which received the Universitywide Departmental Teaching Award.

The ORCA recognizes individual faculty members for research and creative activity that is nationally or internationally significant. The OTICA recognizes individual faculty members for sustained records of excellence in teaching. Each of the individual awards is accompanied by a $3,500 grant. The UDTA recognizes a department within the university system that has made a unique and significant contribution to teaching, and carries with it a $25,000 grant to the department.

Ragsdale joined UNL's biochemistry department in 1991 as an associate professor of biochemistry and was named professor in 1996. He received a bachelor of science degree in chemistry and biochemistry in 1979 and a doctorate in biochemistry in 1983, both from the University of Georgia. He did postdoctoral work from 1984-1987 at Case Western Reserve University.

Ragsdale's research interests include enzyme mechanics, metallobiochemistry, bioremediation, microbial physiology and biochemistry, and Redox regulation of gene expression. One of his most recent research highlights has been the discovery of the existence of three metals, nickel, iron and copper, in a cluster in a protein. The discovery was printed in an article in Science magazine in October 2002.

Turner has been a professor at UNL since 1976. He received his bachelor's degree from Dartmouth, degrees from Union Theological Seminary in Virginia, and his doctorate with highest distinction from Duke University. He has been a visiting research professor at Universite Laval in Quebec, Canada, in 1991, 1994 and 1997.

Turner is a scholar in the fields of Gnosticism, early Christianity and neo-Platonism. He is one of few scholars in the world entrusted to translate, publish and interpret the Nag Hammadi codices, which consist of more than 50 texts from the second century A.D. The discovery and translation of the Nag Hammadi library has provided information leading to a major re-evaluation of early Christian history and the nature of Gnosticism.

Lewis came to UNL in 1971 as an assistant professor of mathematics after receiving his bachelor's (1966) and doctoral (1971) degrees in mathematics at Louisiana State University. He was promoted to associate professor in 1976 and professor in 1993. He has been chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics since 1988.

Lewis was co-author of a $10 million National Science Foundation grant that established the Nebraska Math and Science Initiative (1991-98) and co-author of a $1 million Howard Hughes Medical Institute undergraduate biological sciences education grant (1994-97). Most recently, the department was one of eight from 20 leading research universities selected to participate in the Carnegie Initiative on the Doctorate, a national project to review and overhaul doctoral education.

Lewis has often been recognized for his work to increase the number of female students in the math department. He received the 1997 Erasmus Correll Award from the Lincoln-Lancaster Women's Commission and the 1996 Chancellor's Commission on the Status of Women Award. In 1998, the department became the first and only math department to receive a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring in recognition of its success with women students. The department also plans the Nebraska Conference for Undergraduate Women in Mathematics yearly. Lewis also is credited as a driving force behind UNL Math Day, an annual event that brings some 1,000 high school students to campus for mathematics competitions.

Profiles The three UNL professors who won teaching and research honors from central administration will be profiled in articles to come later this spring in the Scarlet.

Conference to draw leading E. coli experts

By IANR News and Publishing

North America's leading E. coli O157:H7 researchers will share their findings and discuss future research needs at a national conference in Lincoln in April.

"E. coli O157:H7 ­ Progress and Challenges" is the theme of the Second Governor's Conference on Ensuring Meat Safety April 7-8 at the Embassy Suites Hotel. UNL scientists on the university's interdisciplinary E. coli research team are organizing the conference.

Researchers, students, educators and beef and food industry representatives from the United States and Canada are expected to attend. The conference will focus on the status of research to quell this potentially deadly bacteria that is the culprit in numerous foodborne illness outbreaks nationwide each year.

The first Governor's Conference on Meat Safety in 1998 also was organized by UNL faculty after the massive recall of E. coli-contaminated ground beef processed at Hudson Foods in Columbus. That meeting outlined the problem and set the research agenda for Nebraska. This one will focus on the scientific findings.

"We've come a long way scientifically in the last five years," said Bob Hutkins, a UNL food scientist and a conference organizer. This conference will give researchers the chance to outline what they've learned, discuss challenges and consider future needs.

"E. coli O157:H7 is not a Nebraska problem, it's a national and global problem," he said. "We wanted to create an opportunity for leading scientists around the country to share their findings."

The conference will feature food, veterinary and animal scientists, microbiologists, a physician and government and industry representatives. Topics include E. coli pathology, epidemiology, genetics, evolution and ecology; pre- and post-harvest control strategies; and discussion of research and training needs to combat this bacteria.

Educating students is one of the goals, Hutkins said. Organizers are waiving the $75 registration fee for all university students who register before March 17. Students also can present their research at a scientific poster session.

The conference will bring together scientists from diverse disciplines and is a chance for students to meet leading researchers from different fields.

"This is a problem that requires an interdisciplinary approach," Hutkins said. "It's not a problem that can be solved by animal scientists, food scientists or microbiologists working alone. That's why this conference features experts from different disciplines sharing ideas, sharing techniques and talking to each other. That's how real progress can be made."

Gov. Mike Johanns and UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman will open the conference at 8:30 a.m. April 7.

The keynote speaker will be Elsa Murano, U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary for food safety. As the highest-ranking USDA official responsible for food safety, Murano will talk about U.S. food safety policy at 1:30 p.m. April 7.

Other presenters include: Brett Finlay, of the University of British Columbia, co-inventor of an experimental vaccine for E. coli; Mike Doyle, from University of Georgia, an authority on E. coli's growth and survival in food; and James Kaper, of the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and Alison O'Brien, of the F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, who are leaders in studies of how the bacteria causes disease.

Three UNL scientists will report findings from five years of interdisciplinary research that emphasized identifying ways to control E. coli on farms to reduce chances of cattle carrying it into processing plants. Food microbiologist Andy Benson will outline his research that revealed differences in O157:H7 populations; veterinary scientist David Smith with present findings on the feedlot epidemiology of this bacteria; and veterinary scientist Rod Moxley will discuss the effectiveness of some control strategies the team tested.

The conference is funded by a USDA food safety grant and the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources and UNL's Department of Food Science and Technology.

To attend The conference costs $75, and registration is due by March 17. More information and registration are available online at <www.ecoliconference.unl.edu> or by calling or e-mailing Pauline Galloway at 472-9751 or <pgalloway2@unl.edu>.