UNL faculty to be honored April 13 at All-University Honors Convocation

            The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will honor top faculty at the All-University Honors Convocation at 2 p.m. April 13 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. The awards will include college distinguished teaching awards, named professorships and awards for teaching, service and research.

            Alexander Sinitskii, assistant professor of chemistry, will be presented with the Harold and Esther Edgerton Junior Faculty Award. The Edgerton Junior Faculty Award is presented each year to honor an outstanding junior faculty member who has demonstrated creative research, extraordinary teaching abilities and academic promise. In addition to his research accomplishments, he maintains a strong dedication to teaching, outreach and mentorship. Sinitskii has developed an active service program in science outreach for prospective undergraduates and high school students, participating in the Chemistry Department's involvement in Lincoln NanoDays, and UNL Chemistry Days.

            Carole Levin, professor of history, will receive the Annis Chaikin Sorensen Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Humanities. Levin joined UNL in 1998 and has served as the director of the Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program since 2007. Her reputation as a scholar of Elizabethan and early Stuart England is one of the highest in the United States and extends internationally. Levin is a proactive mentor of graduate students at UNL and demonstrates her devotion to the success of these students, as well as every student she meets in lectures and conferences.

            UNL will award four Willa Cather/Charles Bessey professorships to full professors with exceptional records of distinguished scholarship or creative activity. The professorships carry stipends of $5,000 and will be awarded to:

• Alexei Gruverman, Charles Bessey Professor of Physics and Astronomy;
• Jordan Stump, Willa Cather Professor of Modern Languages and Literatures;
• Susan Swearer, Willa Cather Professor of Educational Psychology; and
• Mark Walker, Willa Cather Professor of Mathematics.

           Laura White will be named John E. Weaver Professor of English. The award carries a stipend of $5,000 and honors faculty holding the full professor rank and who demonstrate sustained and extraordinary levels of teaching excellence and national visibility for instructional activity and/or practice.

            Rebecca Lai, associate professor of chemistry, will receive the Susan J. Rosowski Professorship, which 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 appointment carries a stipend of $3,000. Lai will also be a recipient of a Distinguished Award for Teaching from the College of Arts and Sciences.

             Three individuals will receive special awards for teaching and service:

• Michael Goff, professor of practice in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, James V. Griesen Chancellor's Award for Exemplary Service to Students;
• John Maag, professor of special education and communication disorders, Donald R. and Mary Lee Swanson Award for Teaching Excellence; and
• Jim Walter, emeritus professor of teaching, learning and teacher education, Louise Pound-George Howard Distinguished Career Award.

            Four UNL faculty will be honored for winning systemwide awards from the University of Nebraska. They include:

• Shane Farritor, professor of mechanical and materials engineering, Innovation, Development and Engagement Award;
• Susan Sheridan, professor of educational psychology, Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award;
• Judy Walker, professor of mathematics, Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award; and
• Donald Weeks, professor of biochemistry, Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award.

            College Distinguished Teaching Awards are $1,000 awards in recognition of consistent excellence in teaching. Winners of the 2014 College Awards for Distinguished Teaching are:

• College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources: Bryan Reiling, associate professor of animal science.
• College of Arts and Sciences: Mark Brittenham, associate professor of mathematics; Sergio Wals, assistant professor of political science; Catherine Johnson, lecturer of modern languages and literatures; Shari Stenberg, associate professor of English; Lai; Petronela Radu, associate professor of mathematics.
• College of Business Administration: Scott Friend, assistant professor of marketing.
• College of Education and Human Sciences: Theresa Catalano, assistant professor of teaching, learning and teacher education; Sheree Moser, assistant professor of practice of child, youth and family studies; Malinda Eccarius, assistant professor of practice of special education and communication disorders.
• College of Engineering: Paul Harmon, associate professor of construction management; Mehrdad Negahban, professor of mechanical and materials engineering.
• Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts: Susan Levine Ourada, associate professor of music.
• College of Law: Adam Thimmesch, assistant professor of law.