Lincoln (Neb.) - Dec. 6, 2000 - Susan Rosowski, Adele Hall distinguished professor of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will give the address at UNL commencement exercises Dec. 16 at Bob Devaney Sports Center.
Interim Chancellor Harvey Perlman will preside over the ceremony, which begins at 9:30 a.m. Approximately 1,100 students will receive degrees.
Dr. Charles Mebus will be recognized with an honorary doctor of science degree. During a nearly 40-year career as a veterinary researcher, Mebus contributed immeasurably to the body of knowledge surrounding viral diseases in cattle and swine - knowledge that also has applications to treatments for similar diseases in humans.
Rosowski is an internationally known scholar and a gifted teacher. Although she is best known for her work on the writings of Willa Cather, Rosowski is also a leading authority on women writers and particularly their significance to western American literature.
She is the author of "Birthing a Nation: Gender, Creativity and the West in American Literature," as well as many monographs and essays on Cather and women's literature. Rosowski has also edited a number of books, including "Approaches to Teaching Willa Cather's 'My Antonia'." She is also general editor of the Cather Scholarly Edition (eight titles) and editor-in-chief of Cather Studies.
Rosowski earned her bachelor's degree at Whittier (Calif.) College and her master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Arizona in Tucson.
From 1965 to 1977, Mebus was a professor of veterinary science at NU, where he discovered a viral agent that causes gastrointestinal disease in calves. The discovery led to identification of the rotavirus, a new family of viruses.
A calf rotavirus vaccine developed by Mebus and his colleagues was patented and licensed to Norden Laboratories, now part of Pfizer. The vaccine helped Norden develop into a leading veterinary biologics company, was one of the first patent licenses for NU and a major contributor of royalty income for the university.
After leaving the university in 1977, he became a research leader at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Plum Island Foreign Animal Disease Research Center, a high-security research center in New York. He retired in 1995 as assistant director of the facility. Mebus earned his doctor of veterinary medicine degree at Cornell University and master's and doctoral degrees at Kansas State University in the field of veterinary pathology.
A drop-off area for graduates and mobility-restricted guests will be
available on the south side of Devaney Center. Special seating will be
reserved for disabled guests. Sign language interpreters for hearing
impaired individuals will be provided on screen by HuskerVision. Reserved
seats for guests who are ambulatory restricted will be available in the
north and south sides of the arena. Guests in wheelchairs will be seated
on the northeast corner of the arena floor. Golf carts will available on
the ramps on the exterior north and south sides of the Devaney Center to
assist disabled guests entering and leaving the building. There is no
admission charge.
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For questions regarding these releases, contact:
tsimons1@unl.edu
(402) 472-8514, Fax: (402) 472-7825