David P. McGill, professor emeritus of agronomy, is the 1998 recipient of the Doc Elliott Award. This award is presented annually by the Nebraska Alumni Association to a retired faculty member "who has gone beyond traditional expectations and whose caring has made a difference in the lives of students and alumni."
During a 33-year career with the university, McGill taught more than 8,000 students as an assistant professor, associate professor and professor in the Department of Agronomy. His appointment included research in plant breeding and crop improvement. In 1963, he added an assignment as assistant to the dean, and in 1977 he helped organize the college's alumni association. McGill was interim department head in 1983-84 while continuing his teaching and student advising activities. And when he retired in 1989, he was asked to prepare an annual newsletter for 1,600 alumni of the department, an activity he continues today.
McGill has been honored with a distinguished teaching awards from the university, Gamma Sigma Delta and the American Society of Agronomy; election as a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy and the Crop Science Society of America; and selection as the Lawrence K. Crowe Outstanding Student Adviser and as NU Agriculture Alumnus of the Year. He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Nebraska and his doctoral degree from Iowa State University.
McGill will receive the Doc Elliott Award at the university's honors convocation, April 3.
-Andrea Cranford, Alumni Association
Jeanne Andelt and Larry Hancock were honored Feb. 28 as recipients of Board of Regents' Kudos awards.
Hancock, supply control supervisor at the division of Continuing Studies Distance Education, has been with the department for 10 years. His unit ships more than 18,000 orders each year throughout the United States and to 136 countries. His unit receives textbooks and printed materials from more than 200 vendors and is responsible for storing and maintaining these materials along with science kits, syllabuses, video/audio tapes and other educational supplies. Hancock and his staff are focused on providing excellent service to distance and independent study students by shipping orders rapidly and accurately.
His nominator states, "Larry works with a diverse group of people, helping them maintain a team attitude, focusing on their strengths and encouraging them to learn and grow....[W]henever I meet with the Shipping and Receiving staff, I am struck by the dedication and commitment of the staff to the serving of students...[T]hey feel that it is this frontline contact that a distance student may use to determine their image of the University of Nebraska. Larry has been key to developing and maintaining this attitude."
Andelt, administrative fiscal coordinator at the Nebraska Forest Service, assists the State Forester in all matters pertaining to budget formulation, business management, and financial accounting for the Nebraska Forest Service. In her 23 years of service, Andelt has become known in her unit for her professionalism and excellence in the quality of her work, her service to students, faculty and staff and to people and agencies outside the university.
"Although the names of the units she has been affiliated with have changed over those years as units were merged and realignments occurred, she has been steadfast in her commitment and service to the area of forestry, fisheries and wildlife," writes her nominator. Andelt always takes enormous pride in her work by showing enthusiasm for her unit, always having a smile on her face and looking for positive outcomes and solutions to difficult situations. States her nominator, "Jeanne is a professional and is an outstanding representative for our unit, for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and for the University of Nebraska. It has been a pleasure for me to work with Jeanne and I consider her a friend as well as a co-worker."
-Allison DeLunger, Public Relations
LaVerne Stetson of Lincoln recently was named Federal Engineer of the Year for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service.
Stetson is an ARS engineer and an adjunct professor in the Department of Biological Systems Engineering. Stetson was one of 27 federal engineers honored by the National Society of Professional Engineers in Arlington, Va., Feb. 26 during National Engineers Week. NSPE annually recognizes outstanding engineers employed by federal agencies.
In Stetson's 36 years at ARS, he developed a national and international reputation for work in electrical safety, electrical standards for agricultural installations and for pioneering work in electrical load management for center pivot irrigation systems.
The Crawford native earned degrees in agriculture engineering from the University of Nebraska.
- Christy Aegerter, IANR news assistant
Eight faculty members and instructors received the first Holling Family Awards for Teaching Excellence March 13.
The awards were presented to outstanding teaching faculty within NU's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, said Don Edwards, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
The awards are made possible by a $3 million gift from the Holling family to the NU Foundation in 1990 in honor of their pioneer parents.
The awards and recipients are:
Bell is associate professor of agricultural leadership, education and communication. The Waverly, Neb., native recently researched change of cultural diversity in student teaching, integrated science in the biology endorsement curriculum, and incorporated technical advances in student learning. He joined the faculty in 1979.
Brink is professor of animal science. He organized a curriculum that offers greater flexibility and more opportunity for elective courses, while eliminating one-third of department courses. He joined Nebraska in 1978.
Higley is a professor of entomology who took distance education to higher levels with new leadership and new master's degree programs for non-residents and working agricultural professionals. He also developed two new undergraduate courses that emphasize essay writing, synthesis and interpretation. He joined Nebraska in 1989.
Klopfenstein, professor of animal science, has a nationally recognized feedlot management program that teaches feedlot operators, animal science faculty and students to make decisions related to production, marketing, business and personnel. Klopfenstein was named the Kermit Wagner Professor of Animal Science in 1988. He joined the faculty in 1965.
Fritz is an assistant professor of agricultural leadership, education and communication for graduate and undergraduate students. She offers a distance education course to students at the Nebraska College for Technical Agriculture and is highly rated by her students. Fritz, who also is director of the Nebraska Human Resources Institute, joined the university in 1994.
Kepler is an instructor of agricultural leadership, education and communication for 240 students. She believes all people have untapped potential and unrecognized strengths, which she helps draw out during a community volunteer service project. The project, which entails more than 4,000 hours, helps students move from concrete thinking into more abstract thinking. She is working on a doctoral degree.
Schacht is assistant professor of agronomy who wants to improve student holistic thinking and problem-solving. Schacht promotes communication among departments and a federal agency. He implemented the new grazing livestock systems major and a grazing workbook. He joined the faculty in 1994.
Ortmann is an instructor in agronomy and animal science. He created a 102-page student workbook for use in a ranch planning course incorporating various departments and a federal agency. The Bancroft native was a journalist for 15 years before switching careers to range management. He earned his B.S and his M.S. from NU and expects to graduate with his doctorate from NU in August.
The recognition program was sponsored by Alpha Zeta, a professional service and honorary agricultural fraternity for men and women.
The awards were established by John Holling and his siblings in honor of their parents, a German-Danish pioneer farm family who settled near Grand Island in the 1870s. John Holling (1887-1988) was a 1912 NU electrical engineering graduate who oversaw naval construction during World War I and later worked for the General Accounting Office. His brother, Gustave, attended the College of Agriculture before farming.
Nominations are made by peers and/or administrators for instructors in CASNR, Cooperative Extension Division or the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture at Curtis. Criteria include innovation, impact and program quality for students.
- Cheryl Alberts, IANR news writer
The Groundwater Foundation's annual Maurice Kremer Groundwater Achievement Award went to University of Nebraska Professor Emeritus Leslie Sheffield.
Sheffield's environmental stewardship was recognized at the 27th annual Nebraska Water Conference in Kearney. The Nebraska Water Conference Council and the University of Nebraska's Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources presented the award.
Sheffield received the award for making a "substantive, lifelong contribution to the conservation and protection of the state's groundwater," said Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District general manager Don Kraus, who chaired the selection committee.
"Les made enormous contributions to the development of center pivot irrigation technology and was dedicated to the value of water and resources education," Kraus said.
The Kremer award is presented annually to individuals who help create a beneficial legacy of groundwater-related service in Nebraska. It has been presented by the Groundwater Foundation since 1986, being named for the late state senator and water leader Maurice Kremer of Aurora in 1990.
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