The Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor has announced Jeffery O’Brien, director of technology for the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts, as recipient of the Exceptional Excellence Award for 2023.

Established in 2019 as an initiative to celebrate the work of staff in support of faculty, this award recognizes a member of university staff, nominated by a faculty member, who has shown extraordinary support to a faculty member, exceeding their job expectations and contributing to the success of the faculty member’s teaching and/or research.

O’Brien has recorded, engineered, and mixed hundreds of performances in the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts; many of those recordings serving as documentation of faculty’s creative work.

“When I was completing work on a feature movie, I approached Jeff with the crazy notion that he and I should mix the film despite not having a purpose-built facility on campus,” said Richard Endacott, professor of cinema in the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. “Not only did Jeff agree and mix the film — he devised a method that allowed us to mix the film in 5.1 audio surround. Jeff’s role was essential in the production of that project, and completing the film was a significant part of the creative work that led to my promotion to professor.”

A Husker alumnus, O’Brien received his Master of Fine Arts in theatre from the college in which he now serves others. As director of technology, he has played an integral role in helping plan the emerging media arts curriculum, as well as ensuring the center’s students and faculty have access to a wide range of emerging technologies.

Full time staff who support faculty are eligible for the Exceptional Excellence Award. Nominations can be submitted online by faculty.