Recent accomplishments earned by members of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln community include Christopher Bilder, Parks Coble, Jennine Capo Crucet, Kwame Dawes, Suat Irmak, Prem Paul and Zora Murff.
Faculty and staff
Christopher Bilder, professor of statistics, was named a Fellow of the American Statistical Association during the group’s Joint Statistical Meetings on Aug. 2. The award cited Bilder for his influential contributions in categorical data analysis and group testing methods; leadership in the field of statistics education, including the innovative use of computer technology; and service to the university and American Statistical Association. A member of UNL’s Department of Statistics has earned the honor in each of the last three years. Others receiving the award include Bert Clarke in 2014 and Erin Blankenship in 2015. Walt Stroup was also named a fellow of the association in 2008. For more information on the honor, click here.
Parks Coble, professor of history, recently completed a Stanford University Hoover Institution Visiting Scholar Research Fellowship. The grant allowed Coble to access the Hoover Institution Archives to research hyperinflation and the collapse of Chiang Kai-shek’s China in 1949. The collapse assisted in the Communist Party of China to take power. The Hoover Institution Archives is a collection of original documents spanning modern history and was established in 1919 by President Herbert Hoover. For more information, click here.
A book by Jennine Capo Crucet, assistant professor of ethnic studies, was named an “Essential American Book” by Time magazine. The fictional book, “Make Your Home Among Strangers,” is about a Cuban immigrant family struggling after divorce. For more information on the Time list, click here.
Kwame Dawes, professor of English and editor of Prairie Schooner, helped with work to establish an index of contemporary African poetry during an Aug. 3 Ford Foundation research conference in New York City. The conference, “African Poetry Today: A Celebration and Reading,” was hosted by Dawes and Elizabeth Alexander, director of the Ford Foundation’s Creativity and Free Expression program. For more information, click here.
Suat Irmak, professor of biological systems engineering, received recognition for his refereed publications at the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers annual meeting in Orlando in July. He received two Educational Aids Blue Ribbon awards for his publications, “Basic Soil and Water Resources and Irrigation Engineering/Agricultural Water Management and Related Terminology” and “Spacial and Temporal Corn Evapotranspiration Across Nebraska.” For more information, click here.
Prem Paul, vice chancellor for research and economic development, was recently appointed to the National Academy of Inventors’ Board of Directors. Founded in 2010, the National Academy of Inventors is a nonprofit organization that aims to enhance the visibility of academic innovation and benefit society via the application of its membership’s inventions. UNL is one of the five inaugural sustaining member institutions of the National Academy of Inventors. For more information on Paul, click here.
Students
Zora Murff, a photography graduate student, has been selected as a recipient of an Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life/Joy of Giving Something, Inc. $2,000 fellowship award. Thanks to a grant from the Joy of Giving Something Foundation, each year Imagining America awards scholarships to students at member campuses who actively serve their local communities through programs in photography or media arts. In addition to the tuition scholarship, recipients commit to engaging in a yearlong exchange that will result in a collaborative media project. Prior to coming to UNL, Murff created “Corrections,” a community-engaged project focusing on youth in the juvenile justice system. This summer, Murff began making connections with two prison re-entry programs in Lincoln: Released and Restored and Charity Autos. Released and Restored provides inmates and ex-offenders in Nebraska with the tools and support systems needed for learning how to live productive lives in their communities. Their focus is on building employability skills such as interviewing skills, writing resumes and cover letters and building a job history. For more information on Murff, click here.
This column is a regular Friday feature of UNL Today. Faculty, staff and students can submit their achievements to be considered for this column via email to achievements@unl.edu. For more information, call 402-472-8515.
