Recent achievements for the campus community were earned by Diane Barger, Ken Bartling, Jeffrey Day, Daniel Duncan, Marques Garrett, Tom Larson, Alan Mattingly, Evelyn Mejia, Rachel Schachter, Jamie Reimer Seaman, John Westra, and the UNL Chamber Singers.
Honors
Ken Bartling, a sophomore political science major, was recognized by the Governor of Nebraska as an Admiral for the Great Navy of the State of Nebraska. The Admiralship is one of the highest honors a citizen in Nebraska can earn. Bartling earned this honor partly through his work within the Office of Student Leadership, Involvement and Community Engagement. Specifically, his involvement as the Lead Vote Ambassador for the Husker Vote Coalition. As the Lead Vote Ambassador, he holds a bi-weekly meeting with other members of the group, plans voter registration events across campus that assist students in registering to vote and recruits students to serve as election observers on election day to chronicle data regarding how elections are run from county to county.
Jeffrey L Day, professor of architecture, has been appointed as a director for the National Architectural Accrediting Board. Nominated by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Day joins four other new directors who will be starting their term Oct. 29. Read more here.
Daniel J. Duncan, executive director of Nebraska Innovation Campus, received the Association of University Related Research Parks’ Career Achievement Award at the AURP’s 2022 International Conference Sept. 20. AURP’s Career Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has made their research community a central focus of their career, who has achieved outstanding successes over a substantial period of time and who has received peer recognition for advancing the concept of university research parks and innovation districts.
The Glenn Korff School of Music’s Chamber Singers, under the direction of Marques L.A. Garrett, assistant professor of music in choral activities, won second place in the American Prize national competition in choral performance in the college/university division (larger program) for 2022. In their recorded submission, the Chamber Singers performed “Amazing Grace,” “How Stands the Glass Around?”, “O magnum mysterium,” “O Praise the Lord,” “Rivers of Delight” and “Rock de Cradle, Mary.” Read more about the competition here.
Evelyn Mejia, junior broadcasting and Spanish double major, was selected to participate in the inaugural New York Times Corps. Mejia was one of 20 aspiring journalists chosen from among hundreds of applications nationwide. Mejia is a first-generation American from Norfolk, Nebraska. The New York Times Corps is a program for students from underrepresented groups in journalism. The program pairs students with current Times employees, who serve as advisers offering career-building advice.
Rachel Schachter, associate professor in the Department of Child, Youth and Family Studies, has been named director of the Kit and Dick Schmoker Reading Center in the College of Education and Human Sciences. Schachter has been at Nebraska since 2016. Her research focuses on understanding early childhood teachers’ experiences and how to build from these experiences in order to bring about meaningful changes in practice and improved outcomes for children. Thecenter was founded in 2004 to provide reading and writing tutoring to children in the community. Tutoring is provided by CEHS graduate and undergraduate students, under the direction of university faculty and certified teachers.
Appointments
The Glenn Korff School of Music announced the appointments of three new endowed professors and one endowed chair, effective this fall, following approval by Chancellor Ronnie Green and the Board of Regents. The appointees are: Alan Mattingly as the Glenn Korff Chair of Music; Diane Barger as the Ron and Carol Cope Professor of Music; Jamie Reimer Seaman as the Richard H. Larson Distinguished Professor of Music; Tom Larson as the Steinhart Foundation Distinguished Professor of Music.
John Westra has been selected as the new director of the Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center in Scottsbluff. His appointment will take effect on Sept. 1. Westra joined the university in 2017 as the associate director for the Southeast Research and Extension District and since then, has served in a variety of roles, including program leader for two interdisciplinary teams and professor of agricultural economics. The Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center houses 13 IANR faculty in a wide range of disciplines, most of whom hold joint appointments in research and extension. It is one of three research, extension and education centers across the state, with others located in North Platte and near Ithaca.
