Recent achievements for the campus community were earned by Brady Baker, Steven Barlow, Taylor Berry, the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, the Daily Nebraskan Media Group, Rodger Farr, Ashley Garcia, Kolby Grint, Michael Hoff, Rose Hull, Abby Kurth, Richard Leiter, Samantha Teten, Zachary Withers, Sam Wortman and Justin Zoucha.

Faculty/Staff

• Steven Barlow, professor of special education and communication disorders, was recently named a recipient of the Callier Prize. The prize recognizes individuals from around the world for their leadership in diagnosing and treating communication disorders. As part of the award, Barlow will receive $10,000 and present the keynote address at the Callier Prize Conference April 16 in Dallas, Texas.

• Michael Hoff, professor of art history, has received a $52,800 grant from the Merops Foundation to support his continued archaeological research and excavation of the ancient city of Antiochia ad Cragum in Turkey. This is the third grant Hoff has received from the foundation.

• Richard Leiter, director of the Schmid Law Library and professor of law at, was named the 2019 recipient of the Roy M. Mersky Spirit of Law Librarianship Award. The award was created in order to give special recognition to individual law librarians engaged in significant acts of charitable work, community involvement or social service.

• Sam Wortman, assistant professor of environmental horticulture, has received a Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award for his work within the college. The award recognizes outstanding teaching in IANR educational programs, with an emphasis on imaginative and creative curriculum, by faculty who have held their positions for six years or less.

Students

• Brady Baker, Taylor Berry, Rose Hull and Zachary Withers, first-year business graduate students with a specialization in intercollegiate athletics administration, won second place at the National Sports Forum Case Cup Competition in Las Vegas. The team was given 24 hours to create a strategy to increase sales and expand the fan base of the Las Vegas Lights, a new United Soccer League team.

• Ashley Garcia, doctoral student in communication studies, will be awarded the Top Student Paper of the Sports Communication Interest Group by the Central States Communication Association. Garcia will receive the award at the association’s annual conference April 4-6 in Omaha.

• Abby Kurth, a senior music major, was awarded second place in the 2019 North American Vocal Competition. Kurth received the honor out of more than 1,000 student entries, and she was also judged as the highest-scoring female singer in the competition.

• Nebraska’s Intercollegiate Crops Judging Team, composed of undergraduate agronomy students Rodger Farr, Kolby Grint, Samantha Teten and Justin Zoucha, won second place in the four-year division of the Collegiate Crops Contest held March 8 at the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis. Teten also earned fifth place in the event’s individual category.

Department/Unit

• The College of Journalism and Mass Communications took home seven honors at the annual Nebraska ADDY Awards March 9. The event recognizes outstanding advertising campaigns from businesses and agencies across the state.

• The Daily Nebraskan Media Group received 11 awards at the annual College Media Business and Advertising Managers conference on March 2 in La Jolla, California. Among the awards, the group won third place for Best College Media Program out of 92 schools in attendance.

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.