Recent accomplishments by the campus community were earned by faculty Terry Hejny, Dipra Jha, Roger Kirst, Lorraine Males, Mark Riley and Adrian Wisnicki.
Faculty/Staff
Terry Hejny, director of the Nebraska LEAD Program, was honored with the Agri-Award March 8 at the Triumph of Agriculture Exposition Farm and Ranch Machinery Show in Omaha. The Triumph of Agriculture Exposition established the annual Agri-Award as part of Nebraska’s Centennial Celebration in 1976 to recognize outstanding organizations and individuals that have contributed to the agricultural development in the Midwest. Hejny began his career at Nebraska in 1998 as an educator for Nebraska Extension in Fillmore County specializing in grain marketing and risk management before transitioning to the Cass County Extension office in 2005. Hejny has been director of the Nebraska LEAD Program since 2007. In addition, Hejny is the president of the Nebraska Agricultural Leadership Council.
Dipra Jha, assistant professor of practice in hospitality, restaurant and tourism management, recently traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, to conduct a workshop for tourism executives in that country. Jha’s presentation was part of a professional development series called “Tourism Management Program for Executives,” jointly administered by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce Business School. Executives from the hospitality and tourism sectors, senior government officials and university faculty members attended the event Feb. 15 at the Renaissance Hotel Bangkok. For more information, click here.
Roger Kirst, emeritus professor of law, will receive the Outstanding Legal Educator Award from the Nebraska State Bar Foundation. This award acknowledges momentous contributions to the field of legal education by a legal educator. Kirst was a law professor at Nebraska Law for more than 40 years. During that time, he had an impact on the fields of civil procedure and evidence, both in Nebraska and nationally.
Lorraine Males, an assistant professor in teaching, learning and teacher education, is using eyetracking technology to explore the interactions that occur between teachers and math instructional text and how differences in text influence these interactions. The technology will record where students are looking on the page of text and how they interact with that text. The research is being funded by CPM Educational Program Research Grants for Mathematics Education. Combined with a pilot project last year, CPM has awarded Males $50,453 for the research. Males and preservice teachers Robin King, Lauren Martin and Brett Shaw presented initial findings from the study Feb. 24 at the CPM National Conference in San Francisco. For more information, click here.
Mark Riley, professor and head of biological systems engineering, will be inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. The College of Fellows is comprised of the top 2 percent of medical and biological engineers in the country. Riley was nominated, reviewed and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows for outstanding contributions to biological engineering through development of noninvasive biological measurements and leadership in the profession. A formal induction ceremony will be March 20 during AIMBE’s 2017 annual meeting at the National Academy of Sciences Great Hall in Washington, D.C. For more information, click here.
Adrian Wisnicki, assistant professor of English, won a first runner-up award last week for best data visualization for his multispectral imaging project. The project focuses on recovering manuscripts written by legendary Scottish missionary and explorer David Livingstone, who traveled to colonial Africa three times throughout his life in the late 19th century. Wisnicki’s imaging project concerns Livingstone’s 1870 field diary. The diary is part of a large online archive of which Wisnicki is the director, called Livingstone Online. For more information, click here.
The Jazz Orchestra recently released a CD, “The Good Life: Live at Kimball Hall.” The release features eight tracks recorded live at Kimball Hall between March 10 and April 26, 2016. Six of the tracks include current or former students of the Glenn Korff School of Music. Click here to listen the song “The Good Life.” Nebraska faculty and students featured on the CD include Patrick Brown, Sarah Cosano, Andrew Janak, Bobby Fuson, Nick May, Nick Brady, Russell Zimmer, Mitchell Dunham, Jesse McBee, Hunter Young, Kevin Roark, Derek Molacek, Tate Rittenberger, Bill Mitchell, Amber Thoennes, Lee Heerspink, Sam Adams, Max Stehr, Zach Paris and Cory Davis. For more information on the CD, click here.
Students
Seven students were named International Business Distinguished Scholars at the College of Business Administration on Feb. 23. The cohort-based program consists of international business majors with a minimum 3.6 GPA who wish to increase their international perspective and leadership skills. In addition to coursework, students are required to complete an international internship, study abroad, conduct research, attend workshops, seminars and mentor sessions. They also receive a $5,000 scholarship to participate in a semester abroad program funded by an International Business Advisory Board member. The scholars are: Andrew Arend, Orhun Aygun, Quincey Bernard, Meghan Matt, Joseph Osbron, Keeleigh Thayn and Linyi Zhang. For more information, click here.
This column is a regular Friday feature of Nebraska 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
