The Office of Academic Affairs announced the appointment of four faculty to named professorships that recognize outstanding teaching or research.
Stephen Buhler, professor of English, has been appointed an Aaron Douglas Professor of Teaching Excellence. Cal Garbin, professor of psychology, has been appointed a John Weaver Professor of Teaching Excellence.
John Gibbons, associate professor of philosophy, has been appointed a Susan J. Rosowski Associate Professor. Vinod Variyam, associate professor of computer science and engineering, has been appointed a Susan J. Rosowski Associate Professor.
Weaver or Douglas professorships are awarded to full professors with at least a 40 percent apportionment in teaching who have developed a sustained record of teaching excellence and national visibility for instructional activities/practice. The faculty member elects to be either a Weaver or Douglas professor. The Aaron Douglas Professorship honors NU alumnus Douglas (1899-1979), who was the first African-American to earn a degree in art from NU. Douglas is considered a pre-eminent artist of the Harlem Renaissance movement. The Weaver Professorship honors John E. Weaver (1884-1956). Weaver, an NU faculty member from 1915 to 1952, was a leading expert on grasses, both as natural populations and as crops.
The Susan J. Rosowski Professorship recognizes faculty at the associate professor level who have achieved distinguished records of scholarship or creative activity and who show exceptional promise for future excellence.
The Rosowski Professorship is named in honor of the late Susan J. Rosowski (1942-2004), who at the time of her death was the Adele Hall Distinguished Professor of English at UNL. She established the (Willa) Cather Project, and was general editor for the scholarly edition of Cather's works published by the University of Nebraska Press. Rosowski's work ignited renewed interest in Willa Cather's works.
- Kim Hachiya, University Communications