UNL faculty to be recognized during Honors Convocation

UNL will honor top faculty at the All-University Honors Convocation at 2 p.m. April 12 at the Lied Center for Performing Arts. The awards will include college distinguished teaching awards, named professorships and awards for teaching, service and research.

Katrina Jagodinsky, assistant professor of history, and Amanda Ramer-Tait, assistant professor of food science and technology, will be presented with the Harold and Esther Edgerton Junior Faculty Award. The award is presented each year to an outstanding junior faculty member who has demonstrated creative research, extraordinary teaching abilities and academic promise.

Thomas Borstelmann, E.N. and Katherine Thompson Professor of Modern World History, will receive the Annis Chaikin Sorensen Award for Outstanding Teaching in the Humanities. This award recognizes creative activities related to teaching in the humanities.

UNL will award two 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 Stephen DiMagno, Willa Cather Professor of Chemistry; and Sebastian Elbaum, Charles Bessey Professor of Computer Science and Engineering.

Robert Brooke, professor of English, 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 who demonstrate sustained and extraordinary levels of teaching excellence and national visibility for instructional activity and/or practice.

Concetta DiRusso, professor of biochemistry and Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science, will be named a George Holmes University Professor, which recognizes faculty who demonstrate an extraordinary level of scholarly or creative achievement and clear potential for continuing major accomplishments that enhance the reputation of the University of Nebraska.

Five people 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 and will be given to Jinsong Huang, associate professor of mechanical and materials engineering; Matthew Jockers, associate professor of English; Ming Li, associate professor of psychology; Roland Vegso, associate professor of English; and Jun Wang, associate professor of Earth and atmospheric sciences.

Three individuals will receive special awards for teaching and service:

> Jake Kirkland Jr., senior career adviser in Career Services, James V. Griesen Chancellor's Award for Exemplary Service to Students. This award recognizes individuals who go beyond the performance of their assigned work, devoting extra time and effort serving the needs of students.

> Jenelle Reeves, associate professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education, Donald R. and Mary Lee Swanson Award for Teaching Excellence. This award honors exemplary teaching and awards the recipient $12,500.

> Evelyn Jacobson, professor of German and chair of modern languages and literatures, James O'Hanlon Academic Leader Award. This award honors an academic leader who has demonstrated exceptional abilities to lead, serve, inspire and collaborate on the academic goals of the university.

Three people will receive the Louise Pound-George Howard Distinguished Career Award, which recognizes those whose career at UNL has made an exceptional contribution to the university community.

They are Lloyd Ambrosius, Samuel Clark Waugh Distinguished Professor of International Relations and Professor of History; Patricia Crews, Willa Cather Professor of Textiles and founding director emeritus of the International Quilt Study Center and Museum of Department of Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design; and James Specht, Francis and Dorothy Haskins Professor in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.

Four people and one department will be honored for winning systemwide awards from the University of Nebraska. They are Michael Epstein, William Barkley Professor of Special Education and director of the Center for Child and Family Well-Being, Innovation, Development and Engagement Award (IDEA); Stephen Reichenbach, professor of computer science and engineering, Innovation, Development and Engagement Award (IDEA); Charles Wood, Lewis Lehr/3M University Professor and director of the Nebraska Center for Virology, Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award (ORCA); Martha Mamo, soil science professor in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award  (OTICA); and the Department of Entomology, University-wide Department Teaching Award (UDTA).

College Distinguished Teaching Awards are $1,000 awards in recognition of consistent excellence in teaching. Winners of the 2015 College Awards for Distinguished Teaching are:

> College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources: Dennis Conley, professor of agricultural economics;

> College of Architecture: Brian Kelly, assistant professor of architecture;

> College of Arts and Sciences: Mark Anderson, associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences; Peter Capuano, assistant professor of English; Allan Donsig, associate professor of mathematics; Iker Gonzalez-Allende, associate professor of modern languages and literature; Marilyne Stains, assistant professor of chemistry; Stacey Waite, assistant professor of English;

> College of Business Administration: Scott Seavey, assistant professor of accountancy;

> College of Education and Human Sciences: Lauren Gatti, assistant professor of teaching, learning and teacher education; Soo-Young Hong, assistant professor of child, youth and family studies; Kent Mann, associate professor of practice of educational administration;

> College of Engineering: Aemal Khattak, associate professor of civil engineering, John Barton, professor of mechanical and materials engineering;

> Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts: Karen Kunc, Willa Cather Professor of art and art history.