Recent achievements for the campus community were earned by Christie Asuoha, Dawn O. Braithwaite, Shudipto Dishari, Helen Fagan, David Hage, Michelle Eble-Hankins, Alfred “Bud” Pagel, Z. Ellen Peng, Jordan Redd, Rebecca Roston, Chris Tuan, Lily Wang, Christine Wittich and Katie Wychulis. Details about each achievement are listed below.

Honors

• Christie Asuoha, who received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in studio art from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln School of Art, Art History and Design in August, won Best of Show in the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art Student Showcase 2020. The virtual exhibition of artworks by high school and college students in art and design fields is viewable online.

• Dawn O. Braithwaite, Willa Cather Professor of Communication, has been named a Distinguished Scholar of the National Communication Association, recognizing a lifetime of scholarly achievement in the study of human communication. Braithwaite is a past president of the National Communication Association and earlier received the association’s Becker Award for Distinguished Service in research, teaching and discipline service and the Brommel Award for Family Communication. Braithwaite studies discourse dependent families, dialectics of relating and communication rituals in step- and voluntary families.

• Helen Fagan has been selected as one of the top five finalists for the 2020 Woman of the Year award. The Inspire Awards recognize women in the Lincoln community who have truly excelled, not only in their professional lives, but as leaders and role models. The Inspire Awards will be presented at a luncheon on Sept. 16 at Embassy Suites. Doors open at 11 am with the program starting at 11:30 a.m.

• David Hage, the James Hewett University Professor of Chemistry, has earned the 2021 ACS Award in Chromatography from the American Chemical Society. Recipients are recognized for outstanding contributions to the field of chromatography, with particular consideration given to developments of new methods. He will be honored at the ACS 2021 Spring National Meeting in San Antonio. Hage, whose research in affinity chromatography involves rapidly separating compounds from complex samples, recently joined a national team that is repurposing patented technologies to develop and manufacture a fast-acting COVID-19 antibody test.

• Michelle Eble-Hankins, assistant professor of practice in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction, is the 2020 recipient of the UNO Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award. This general teaching award open to all faculty ranks. The recipient is recognized at the UNO Faculty Honors Convocation, held virtually this year on October 15.

• Alfred “Bud” Pagel, emeritus associate professor of journalism, is the recipient of the Doc Elliott Award that honors a retired University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty member who has exhibited a record of exemplary service, whose caring has made a difference in the lives of students and alumni and who has gone beyond traditional expectations. Pagel’s career at the university has spanned 28 years in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. He taught news courses at the college over the course of his career, holding the positions of Gannett professional lecturer (1982-87), department chairman (1990-95), associate professor of journalism (1988-97) and professor emeritus. He was inducted into the Omaha Press Club Hall of Fame in 2017 and the Nebraska Press Association Hall of Fame in 2006. He has also garnered numerous teaching and service honors over the course of his career. The award will be presented at a later date.

• Jordan Redd, a doctoral horn student in the Glenn Korff School of Music, has been named a first-prize winner in the Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition. It is the second major placement in international competition for Redd, who recently took second place in his category at the 27th annual World Music Competition. The Golden Classical Music Awards International Competition is designed to discover artists of outstanding personality and provide awards that can help to launch international careers. As a first-prize winner, Redd has been invited to perform at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in March 2021.

• Rebecca Roston, associate professor of biochemistry, has received a two-year, $400,000 grant from the Department of Energy’s Office of Science. The funding will allow Roston to test a hypothesis about how and where lipids, which are essential to the maintenance of a membrane involved in photosynthesis, get transported to that membrane. The answers could improve strategies to separate biofuel production from photosynthesis and inform the development of artificial systems that capture solar energy.

• Chris Tuan, professor of civil engineering, received the 2019 Concrete Award for New Technology from the Concrete Promotional Group of Kansas City for implementing conductive concrete in boarding platforms along Kansas City bus routes, keeping those platforms free from ice and snow.

• Lily Wang, professor of architectural engineering, and Z. Ellen Peng, who received a Ph.D. in architectural engineering from Nebraska in 2015, co-authored an article that has been chosen to receive the 2020 ASHA Editor’s Award for the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research – Hearing Section..

• Christine Wittich, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering, is the 2020 recipient of the Olsson Associates Faculty Teaching Excellence Award, which honors a faculty member in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Appointments

• Katie Wychulis was recently named the new Harp instructor at the Glenn Korff School of Music. Read the full story here

Publications

• Shudipto Dishari, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and a team of researchers co-authored an article that is featured in Frontiers in Chemistry’s “Women In Science”.

This column is a regular feature of Nebraska Today. Faculty, staff and students can submit achievements to be considered for this column via email to achievements@unl.edu. For more information, call 402-472-8515.