Husband-wife team to Sweden with prestigious fellowships

A recently married couple who received postgraduate degrees in architectural engineering from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln last month will soon be headed to Sweden for a year under prestigious fellowships.

Steven Ryherd, a native of Ankeny, Iowa, who received a master's degree, was awarded a Fulbright U.S. Student scholarship by the U.S. Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board, and will pursue graduate studies in acoustics at the Chalmers Institute of Technology in Goteborg. The Chalmers Institute is one of Europe's premier centers for acoustics research. Ryherd, who also earned his bachelor's degree in architectural engineering from UNL, was president and vice-president of student chapters of the Acoustical Society of America and the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineering. He is the son of Bob and Vicky Ryherd of Ankeny.

Erica Bowden Ryherd, a native of Goddard, Kan., received her doctoral degree last month and will use the 2006-07 F.V. Hunt Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to undertake a research program in the Department of Environmental Medicine at the Sahlgrenska Academy of Goteborg University. The subject of her research will be "Establishing a hospital soundscape through qualitative and quantitative observation." She earned her bachelor's degree at Kansas State University. She is the daughter of Rick and Sue Bowden of Topeka, Kan.

The Ryherds were married June 3 and will leave for Sweden in late June.

Congress established the Fulbright program in 1946. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and is the country's largest international exchange program for graduate studies, advanced research and teaching.

The Hunt fellowship is granted each year to a member of the Acoustical Society of America who has recently received his or her doctorate, or will receive the degree during the year of the fellowship. The recipient is that individual who, through personal qualifications and a proposed research topic, is judged to exhibit the highest potential for benefiting any aspect of the science of sound and promoting its usefulness to society.

CONTACTS: Steven Ryherd;
Ashley Washburn, Communications Specialist, Engineering, (402) 472-0451; and
Lily Wang, Asst. Professor, Architectural Engineering, (402) 554-2065