The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts welcomes the following new faculty this fall. Watch our website at arts.unl.edu for additional faculty announcements.
Robert Ladislas Derr is Professor and Director of the School of Art, Art History & Design. He began his tenure on July 1. He came to UNL from The Ohio State University, where he was associate professor of art, undergraduate chair and photography area coordinator.
Derr received his Master of Fine Arts in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design, and his Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from the Art Academy of Cincinnati.
He began as a teaching assistant at Rhode Island School of Design and became a photography instructor in 2002. From 2002-2004, he was assistant professor of photography/digital media at Stephen F. Austin State University before becoming assistant professor of art at The Ohio State University in 2004. He became associate professor in 2010.
In his own work, Derr translates the world around him through visual manifestations that leave viewers with a sideway glance. For Derr, life is a performance that sets the stage for his making. Exhibitions and performances of his work have been held worldwide including the Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Mendel Art Gallery, Schirn Kunsthalle, Wexner Center for the Arts and Irish Film Institute, among others.
His awards include the Urbana Public Arts Commission, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and Ohio Arts Council. Some of the permanent collections holding his work include Loyola University Museum of Art, Miami-Dade Public Library and Indiana University Art Museum.
Joshua Lowe is assistant professor of practice in graphic design. He is a former art director in both advertising agency and in-house design settings, with an emphasis in storytelling and identity.
He received his M.F.A. in visual communications and design from Purdue University and his B.A. in graphic design from Grace College in Winona Lake, Indiana.
Since 2008, he was the art director for Purdue Convocations, where he had the lead role in the design and production of print, identity, environmental, multimedia, TV, radio and web design for one of the oldest collegiate performing arts presenters in the U.S. He has also been a visiting instructor and guest lecturer at Purdue.
Prior to 2008, he was the art director at The Alpha Group Advertising Agency in Asheville, North Carolina, from 2005-2008. He has also done freelance design since 2001.
Greg Simon is assistant professor of music composition (concert, jazz and commercial). He was previously on the composition faculty at Concordia University of Ann Arbor and the Brevard Music Center. Simon is a composer and jazz trumpeter from California, by way of Oregon and Colorado. His work draws its inspiration from jazz, funk, Balinese Gamelan, abstract expressionism, Chilean folk song and a thousand ever-changing fascinations.
His works have been performed by ensembles and performers around the country, including Alarm Will Sound, the Fifth House Ensemble, the Playground Ensemble of Denver and the California All-State Symphonic Band. He has presented work at conferences for the American Band College, the College Band Directors’ National Association, the World Saxophone Congress and the North American Saxophone Alliance, as well as being featured in radio and digital broadcasts from Pendulum New Music and WFMT.
He won the Brehm Prize in Choral Composition from the University of Michigan, the POLYPHONOS competition from the Esoterics and was the winner of the TorQ Percussion Quartet’s first annual Composition Competition. He has also received recognition for his work from the Pacific Chorale, the Fifth House Ensemble, and CBDNA, among others.
Simon holds a D.M.A. from the University of Michigan, an M.M. from the University of Colorado and a B.A. from the University of Puget Sound.
In addition to the above faculty, William Hatcher is the Earl "Pete" Jenkins Endowed Visiting Choral Artist in the Glenn Korff School of Music. He will be working with the UNL Chamber Singers. Hatcher is Professor Emeritus of Music at the University of Iowa.
Hatcher received his Bachelor of Music Education and Master of Music degrees from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. For more on Hatcher, visit http://go.unl.edu/f73x.
Christopher F. Irvin will be a lecturer in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film teaching new media courses. He comes to the University of Nebraska from Michigan State University, where he was an instructional designer in IT Services: Teaching and Learning Technology and was previously a creative producer and designer. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Michigan State and his Master of Fine Arts from The Art Institute of Boston.
Brenda Davis will be a Lecturer in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film, teaching scene design. Davis is a set designer with a Bachelor of Arts in theater from Loyola University in Chicago and a Master of Fine Arts from the Yale School of Drama. She has done set design work for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Yale Repertory Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre and Goodman Theater, among others.
Christine Duncan is the new Costume Manager in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. She comes to the University of Nebraska from Morehead State University (Ky.), where she was the costume shop supervisor and instructor of theatre. She has a Master of Fine Arts degree from Ohio University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in theater from Bethel College.