Recent achievements for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln community were earned by Anton Angeletti, Ella Benson, Kala Mueller, Donald Becker, Paul Black and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Crops Judging Team.
Honors
Senior computer science and mathematics major Anton Angeletti and his team won two major awards at TreeHacks, the largest collegiate hackathon in the United States, hosted annually at Stanford University. At hackathons, competitors engage in rapid, collaborative engineering to "hack" together a product in a short timespan, and then present their product to judges. Angeletti earned first place in Zoom’s Education Track, one of the eight primary tracks available for competition, as well as Best Use of HeyGen’s Avatar API.
Senior emerging media arts major Ella Benson’s film “Nesting” won Best Narrative Film at the inaugural Cinemorphia Animated Film Festival. Billed as “the Midwest’s Most Surreal Film Festival,” the festival took place Feb. 21 in Kansas City, Kansas. The festival showcases the visionary talent of students who push the boundaries of art, storytelling and technology.
Kala Mueller, director of public interest and pro bono initiatives, is the recipient of the Emerging Leader Award from the Association of American Law Schools Section on Pro Bono and Advancing Justice. The Emerging Leader award recognizes early- to mid-career professionals whose work demonstrates exceptional leadership, innovation and commitment to advancing justice through pro bono and public interest efforts. Mueller was selected for her transformative leadership at Nebraska Law and her growing national impact on access to justice initiatives.
The Crops Judging team placed fourth at the regional North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Crops Contest at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater on Feb. 14. Competing for the Huskers were Maddie Weber, a senior agronomy and agricultural leadership, education and communication major, William Pirak, a sophomore agronomy and plant biology major, Ryan Groff, a sophomore agricultural economics major, and junior agronomy majors Abby Frank, Clinton Turnbull, Alex Banzhaf and Xavier Ettwein. The team coach is Garrett Kuss, a plant biology alumnus and graduate student in the Doctor of Plant Health program.
Appointments
Donald Becker, head of the Department of Biochemistry, and Paul Black, professor of biochemistry and chair emeritus, have been named 2026 Fellows of the Association for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, a distinction recognizing careers defined by scientific discovery, leadership and dedication to the broader research community. They will be honored alongside fellow recipients at the ASBMB annual meeting, March 7–10. Learn more here.
