Recent achievements for the campus community were earned by Dawn O. Braithwaite, Elizabeth Conley, Megan Franklin, Kurt Geisinger, Ted Hamann, Neeta Kantamneni, Luqi Li, Samantha McConaughy, Barney McCoy, Mitchell Montgomery, Nathan Peterson, Karley Powell, Cecile Renfro, Ben Samuelson, Richard Sutton and Rosana Ybarra.
Faculty/staff
Dawn O. Braithwaite, Willa Cather Professor and chair of communication studies, was honored through the creation of the inaugural Dawn O. Braithwaite Award for Qualitative Research. The honor was first presented during the annual meeting of the Central States Communications Association. The award was created by the Interpersonal and Family Communications Interest Group. A panel session was also presented in Braithwaite’s honor.
Elizabeth Conley, research technologist for agronomy and horticulture, was awarded the President’s Citation by the Horticulture Club and Pi Alpha Xi, the national honor society for horticulture. The award was presented in recognition of Conley’s outstanding service in the field of horticulture.
Kurt Geisinger, director of the Buros Center for Testing and professor of educational psychology, has been elected a fellow of the International Association of Applied Psychology. The rank of fellow is the highest level of membership in the association. The honor is reserved for individuals who have made substantial contributions to applied psychology. Geisinger will receive a certificate for the honor during the closing ceremony at the 29th International Congress of Applied Psychology in Montreal, Canada in June.
Ted Hamann, professor of teaching, learning and teacher education, is part of a binational team that will be recognized April 16 for work to identify and transform the conditions of schooling for thousands of transnationally mobile children and youth. Hamann and colleagues will be presented with the Henry T. Trueba Award from Division G of the American Educational Research Association. The honor will be presented April 16 during the association’s annual conference in New York City. The Trueba Award recognizes a scholar or group which has made distinguished contributions leading to the transformation of the social contexts of education. Hamann and other members of the research team have published more than 30 scholarly articles, book chapters and a book over the course of their 20-year collaboration. Other team members are Víctor Zúñiga, professor, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico; and Juan Sánchez García, research director at Nuevo León’s Institute for Research, Innovation and Postgraduate Education.
Neeta Kantamneni, associate professor in educational psychology, has received the 2017-18 Fritz and Linn Kuder Early Career Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions to Counseling Psychology. Awarded by the the Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17) of the American Psychological Association, the award honors distinguished scientific contributions by an early career psychologist to counseling psychology. Kantamneni will be honored at the Division 17 business meeting Aug. 11 at the 2018 APA Conference in San Francisco.
Barney McCoy, professor of broadcasting, has received an Award of Excellence from the Broadcast Education Association’s Festival of Media Arts. The documentary division award is for, ““Black Jack Pershing: Love and War,” a film on which McCoy served as director and producer. The documentary tells the story of Gen. John J. Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I. Pershing was the only active duty six-star general in U.S. history. He also taught at the University of Nebraska.
Mitchell Montgomery, a research technologist for agronomy and horticulture, received the Presidential Award for Excellence at the Nebraska Crop Improvement Association conference, held Jan. 15-17 in Lincoln. The award recognizes individuals who have made special contributions to the Nebraska seed industry.
Richard Sutton, professor of agronomy and horticulture received the 2018 Excellence in Research and Creative Work Award: Senior Level during the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture awards luncheon in Blacksburg, Virginia, on March 25. The award honors a faculty member’s outstanding, innovative and noteworthy research and/or creative activity related to the landscape architecture discipline.
Students
Megan Franklin, a senior horticulture major, was awarded the Martin Massengale Outstanding Senior Award during the recent agronomy and horticulture awards banquet. The award honors Massengale, the president and chancellor emeritus and founding director of the Center for Grassland Studies and Foundation Distinguished Professor. Massengale has recently begun his transition into retirement after more than four decades at the university.
Luqi Li, agronomy doctoral student, received the Pi Alpha Xi Scholarship during the recent agronomy and horticulture awards banquet. Li’s research involves the ecology and genetics of yellow nutsedge in an attempt to understand more about the genetic diversity of the species, optimizing herbicide control strategy and evaluating its competitiveness against cool-season turf grass.
Samantha McConaughy, agronomy doctoral student, was selected as one of 18 recipients of the 2018 Future Leaders in Science Award.
Nathan Peterson, a junior agronomy major, received the Agronomy Club Outstanding Student Member award during the recent agronomy and horticulture awards banquet. Peterson was selected because of his willingness to step in and help whenever needed. He will be a committee chairman next year and a key person in leading the club.
Karley Powell, a senior in the College of Journalism and Mass Communication, received the 2018 Ruth Edelman Public Relations Student Society of America Award. The honor includes a $1,500 prize and a three-month paid internship at the Edelman office in New York City. The Ruth Edelman PRSSA award is one of two awards given by the agency each year. It honors students who demonstrate women’s leadership, women’s studies and/or contributions in the field to promote women’s issues.
Cecile Renfro, a senior plant biology major, received the Range Club Trail Box Award during the recent agronomy and horticulture awards banquet. The Trail Boss award recognizes a club member who has demonstrated significant participation and contributions to the Range Club.
Mitchell (Ben) Samuelson, an agronomy and horticulture master’s student, was honored with the Agronomy and Horticulture Graduate Student Association Outstanding Member Award during the recent agronomy and horticulture awards banquet. The award recognized Samuelson’s proactive attitude, leadership, involvement and valuable contributions to the organization and the department.
Rosana Ybarra, a third-year Master of Fine Arts student, received the first Nebraska Innovation Studio Residency Award from the School of Art, Art History and Design. The award covers a one-year alumni membership to Nebraska Innovation Studio at Nebraska Innovation Campus, and additional materials. Along with serving as an artist-in-residence, Ybarra will also lead three workshops open to Nebraska Innovation Studio members.
This column is a regular Friday feature of Nebraska Today. Faculty, staff and students can submit achievements to be considered for this column via email to achievements@unl.edu. For more information, call 402-472-8515.
