Recent achievements for the campus community were earned by Cindy Ermus, Kyle Langvardt, Zach Nienhueser, Kendra Ordia, Maegan Stevens-Liska and Ellie Watts.
Honors
Cindy Ermus, Charles and Linda Wilson Professor in the History of Medicine, earned the Urban History Association's Lynn Hollen Lees Book Prize for best book in European urban history published in 2023. Ermus' book, "The Great Plague Scare of 1720: Disaster and Diplomacy in the Eighteenth-Century Atlantic World," explores the Plague of Provence, a major disaster that left in its wake as many as 126,000 deaths, as well as new understandings about the nature of contagion and the best ways to manage its threat. Ermus' study focuses on the social, commercial, and diplomatic impact of the epidemic beyond French borders, examining reactions to this public health crisis from Italy to Great Britain to Spain and the overseas colonies.
Zach Nienhueser, a senior agronomy major in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, received first place in the 2024 Northern Business Unit Intern of the Year Scholarship Awards presented by Helena Agri-Enterprises. Eighteen students from 12 universities participated in the 2024 Helena Northern Business Unit intern class. This scholarship award encourages creativity, innovation and hard work among the intern team and assists with college expenses. Read more.
Kendra Ordia, assistant professor of interior design, was honored with two accolades from the American Society of Interior Designers: the 2024 ASID Educator of the Year Award and being named one of seven to serve as director at large on the ASID National Board of Directors. This ASID Educator of the Year Award recognizes an outstanding design educator who has made an impact on the lives of students and works to advance interior design education through leadership, vision and advocacy. The ASID Board of Directors is the governing body for the society. The board meets quarterly to provide strategic and financial oversight and direction to the CEO who manages the organization on behalf of the board.
Appointments
Maegan Stevens-Liska has been named permanent assistant vice chancellor for global affairs. She has been interim since January 2023 and has served within Global Affairs in various positions since September 2011. She will continue to serve as the campus Senior International Officer and oversee Global Partnerships and Initiatives, the Global Experiences Office, Global Safety and Security, the International Student and Scholar Office, and Programs in English as a Second Language. Her leadership has been instrumental to the university's collaborative global recruitment and enrollment efforts, as well as partnerships and research opportunities with international constituencies. Read more about Stevens-Liska in her interim announcement.
Kristen Olson, Leland J. and Dorothy H. Olson professor of sociology and director of the Bureau of Sociological Research, chaired a committee that planned and hosted a workshop Sept. 25-26 in Washington, D.C., "Future Directions for Social and Behavioral Science Methodologies in the Next Decade," for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. The workshop gathered a broad group of experts to explore methodological and analytical innovations in the social and behavioral sciences, focusing discussions on future needs and methodological frontiers that are expected to benefit more than one discipline. Spanning the full data lifecycle, the workshop considered developments in artificial intelligence, machine learning, spatial analysis, causal modeling, survey methods, and the utilization of various data sources for social, behavioral, and economic research. The workshop was sponsored and conducted for the Methodology, Measurement, and Statistics Program, an interdisciplinary program in the Directorate for Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences at the National Science Foundation.
Ellie Watts has been selected as the next director of the Food Processing Center at Nebraska. She will begin her new role Oct. 14. Watts, a graduate of the UNL’s Food Science and Technology Department, has held a variety of roles within Nebraska’s food manufacturing and food processing sector. Over her 20-year career, she has held product development positions with TreeHouse Foods, Rembrandt Foods and ConAgra Brands. Most recently, she was the Director of Research and Development at ConAgra Brands. Read more.
Publications
Kyle Langvardt, professor in the College of Law, recently published the book "Media and Society after Technological Disruption," which has been published by Cambridge University Press. Along with his co-author, former Nebraska Law professor Gus Hurwitz, Langvardt brings together sixteen scholars in law, media, technology and history to consider how the internet has reshaped the media landscape and the social institutions built upon it. The book explores the breakdown of trust in the media, changes in the law of defamation and privacy, challenges of online content moderation, and financial viability for journalistic enterprises in the internet age. Langvardt also recently published an article, "Moody v. NetChoice is a Blow to Silicon Valley’s Litigation Strategy," in Lawfare. In the article, Langvardt and co-author Professor Alan Rozenshtein, break down the Supreme Court's decision in Moody v. NetChoice. This case involved First Amendment challenges to statutes in Florida and Texas that regulate social media platforms' content moderation practices.
