Nebraska Magazine - Fall 2014

Plus

U.S. FOREIGN POLICY WONK / CONFRONTING THE PLAGUE

NEBRASKA Magazine EXCLUSIVELY FOR MEMBERS OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN

Zachary, Schmackary

Cookie Mogul of Times Square

Zachary Schmahl, ’06

Volume 110 / No. 3 / Fall 2014 huskeralum.org

START PLANNING YOUR CELEBRATION DANCE. Nebraska Alumni and alumni association members may receive a special discount on auto insurance!

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Some discounts, coverages, payment plans and features are not available in all states or all GEICO companies. Discount amount varies in some states. One group discount applicable per policy.

Coverage is individual. In New York a premium reduction may be available. GEICO is a registered service mark of Government Employees Insurance Company, Washington, D.C. 20076; a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary. Š 2014 GEICO

INSIDEFALL 4 Alumni Voices 6 University Update 40 Alumni Authors 42 Alumni News 47 Chapters & Affiliates 51 Class Notes & Alumni Profiles Angie Henderson, ’03 Jim Huge, ’63, ’64 Ross Pesek, ’10 Doug Wagner, ’99

Basketball Coach Tim Miles snaps a selfie with the Scarlet Guard Meet and Greet crowd from the Wick Alumni Center balcony Sept. 4.

16 20 26 32

Writing Contest Winners

In “A Soldier Remembers,” 1941 grad Darrel D. Rippeteau recalls his youth military camp and ROTC training and how they provided skills he used throughout his life. Madeline Shomos, class of ’14, finds “More than Familial Fame” when she writes about her sister, Elena, Fulbright and Boren scholar who monitors human trafficking, translates documents and works with English language learners in Albania.

Kim Krhounek, U.S. Foreign Policy Wonk

Kim Krhounek, ’88, has had a front-row seat to history as a foreign service officer in Haiti, the Czech Republic, Egypt and Iraq. Now head of the political section at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, she finds satisfaction in being part of “a whole that is much bigger than what I can be myself.”

Confronting the Plague

Mark Williams has spent 30 years studying one of the most destructive disease outbreaks of modern times: Acquired Immunodeficiency Disease, or AIDS. With scientific research funds dwindling, he’s worried about other emergent diseases that may trigger the next pandemic.

Zachary, Shmackary

When 2006 UNL theater grad Zachary Schmahl landed in the Big Apple in 2008, he had his sight set on an acting career. Today he’s a Broadway success story – as the owner and operator of the city’s favorite $2-million-a-year gourmet cookie business. (Cover photo

by Michaela Dowd.)

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 3

alumnivoices

Fall 2014 n Vol. 110, No. 3

Dear alumni and friends, NEBRASKA Magazine For alumni and friends of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Shelley Zaborowski, ’96, ’00 Interim Executive Director, Nebraska Alumni Association Andrea Wood Cranford, ’71 Editor Move Creative Design Kevin Wright, ’78 Layout and Photography; Class Notes Editor A.T. Greer Advertising Sales Nebraska Magazine (USPS 10970) is published quarterly by the Nebraska Alumni Association, the known office of publication is 1520 R St., Lincoln NE 68508-1651. Alumni association dues are $50.00 annually of which $10.00 is for a subscription to Nebraska Magazine. Periodicals postage is paid at Lincoln Nebraska 68501 and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster send address corrections to: Nebraska Magazine in care of the Nebraska Alumni Association, 1520 R St., Lincoln, NE 68508-1651.

Requests for permission to reprint materials and reader comments are welcome.

Send mail to: Nebraska Magazine Wick Alumni Center 1520 R Street Lincoln, NE 68508-1651 Phone: 402-472-2841 Toll-free: 888-353-1874 E-mail: nebmag@huskeralum.org Website: huskeralum.org Views expressed in Nebraska Magazine do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Nebraska Alumni Association. The alumni association does not discriminate on the basis of gender, age, disability, race, color, religion, marital status, veteran’s status, national or ethnic origin, or sexual orientation.

Alumni Association Staff

Shelley Zaborowski, ’96, ’00, Interim Exec. Dir. Claire Abelbeck, ’09, Director, Digital Comm.

Alex Cerveny, ’13, Alumni/Student Relations Coord.

Andrea Cranford, ’71, Sr. Director, Publications Charles Dorse, Custodian Derek Engelbart, Director, Alumni Relations A.T. Greer, Director, Alumni Development Sarah Haskell, ’09, Assoc. Dir., Alumni Relations Ryan Janousek, Venues/Operations Specialist Wendy Kempcke, Administrative Assistant Carrie Myers, ’03, ’11, Director, Venues Larry Routh, Alumni Career Specialist Viann Schroeder, Special Projects Assistant Deb Schwab, Associate Director, Venues Sarah Smith, ’11, Assoc. Dir., Brand Comm.

Ashley Stone, ’14, Asst. Dir., Student Engagement Andy Washburn, ’00, ’07, Sr. Dir., Operations Judy Weaver, Assistant to the Executive Director Katie Williams, ’03, Director, Alumni Relations Hilary Winter, ’11, Digital Comm. Specialist Kevin Wright, ’78, Director, Design

By now you may know that Diane Mendenhall has returned to the Husker Athletic Department after six successful years as the Nebraska Alumni Association’s executive director. Today, I would like to share with you, our loyal members, a bit about what this means for the association.

Like many of you, we will miss Diane. She was deeply committed to serving the university and the alumni community, as well as our staff. Diane brought a positive attitude and high-energy approach to the office every day. She was an engaging leader, and the NAA team accomplished much during her tenure.

Under Diane’s leadership, the association adopted a university-focused mission and increased collaboration across campus and in the community. Since 2008, the NAA has grown lifetime membership to an all-time high; expanded the chapters and groups program from 59 to nearly 90; and increased Scarlet Guard (student alumni) membership from approximately 100 to more than 1,400 in 2013-14.

During the past six years, the association has introduced new programs to connect and serve alumni, including alumni career services, Football Fridays and the Young Alumni Academy; and helped launch the Nebraska Legends Scholarship Program to recruit more than 600 students to attend UNL in the first three years of the program.

Indeed, the association is riding a wave of positive momentum.

We know progress will continue, in part because of the staff and structure we have in place. Plus, fall is always an exciting time!

Football and volleyball games, reunions and other events bring thousands of alumni back to campus. Connecting with so many of you energizes our staff.

I am honored to serve as interim executive director during this time. The university has been a part of my life for more than two decades. I am a third generation alumna with two degrees from UNL. I began my career at the NAA, serving as the Student Alumni Association (now Scarlet Guard) adviser. During my 18 years with the NAA, I’ve managed various alumni programs and events, and have worked closely with our Executive Board of Directors and Alumni Advisory Council.

My husband, Keith, also works at UNL. We met on campus at Selleck, and many years ago, were engaged near Architecture Hall. Our kids have grown up attending campus events and athletic contests. Our family truly loves Nebraska!

Soon, the NAA Board of Directors (led by Board President Bill Mueller) will conduct the search for a new executive director. We look forward to working with the board throughout this process and ultimately continuing our mission of promoting the aspirations and achievements of the university by engaging our alumni and friends.

We appreciate your continued support during this time of transition, and thank you for membership in the Nebraska Alumni Association. We look forward to serving you in 2014-15.

Sincerely,

2014-2015 NAA EXECUTIVE BOARD Bill Mueller, ’77, ’80, President, Lincoln Erleen Hatfield, ’91, ’96, New York City, N.Y. Bill Nunez, UNL L.G. Searcy, ’82, ’91, Lincoln Joe Selig, ’80, ’87, NU Foundation Judy Terwilliger, ’95, ’98, Lincoln Steve Toomey, ’85, ’89, Lenexa, Kan.

4 FALL 2014

Shelley Zaborowski Interim Executive Director

ALUMNI AWARDS Nebraska Alumni Association Awards Nominations

Nebraska Alumni Association Awards Program The alumni awards program is designed to recognize outstanding alumni, students and former faculty from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in several categories.

Alumni Achievement Award Established in 1974, the Alumni Achievement Award honors alumni who have a record of outstanding achievements in a career and/or civic involvement.

The association seeks to recognize alumni at all stages of their lives and careers, including young alumni.

Outstanding International Alumnus Award Established in 2006, this award honors alumni who were non-U.S. citizens during their attendance at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and who have attained national/international prominence through their efforts in education, sciences, technology, agriculture, the arts, business, humanities, government or other world endeavors.

Alumni Family Tree Award Established in 1995, the Alumni Family Tree Award honors one family per year that has at least three generations of University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduates and at least two family members with a record of outstanding service to the university, the alumni association, their community and/or their profession.

Distinguished Service Award Established in 1940, the Distinguished Service Award recognizes alumni who have a record of distinguished service to the Nebraska Alumni Association and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Shane Osborn Student Leadership Award/Scholarship Established in 2002, this award honors Lieutenant Shane J. Osborn, a UNL Naval ROTC graduate who on April 1, 2001 courageously piloted a U.S. reconnaissance plane to a safe crash landing after it was hit by two Chinese fighters. Subsequently, Lt. Osborn endured an aggressive interrogation and, along with the rest of his crew, eleven days of captivity by the Chinese government.

The award is not limited to students with ROTC involvement. The winner of the award will also receive a scholarship stipend.

Howard and Judy Vann Student Leadership Award/Scholarship Established in 1998, the Howard and Judy Vann Student Leadership Award recognizes undergraduate students who have shown exceptional leadership capabilities through energetic participation in student activities, commendable classroom performance, and the personal integrity, perseverance and sense of honor demonstrated by those who successfully lead their peers. The winner of this award will also receive a scholarship stipend.

Doc Elliott Award Established in 1986 to honor a retired University of Nebraska-Lincoln faculty or staff 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 beyon d traditional expectations. Recipients must be former faculty or staff members of UNL who have been retired at least five years.

Rules: 1. Recipients MUST attend the awards ceremony to receive an award. If a recipient is un able to attend during the year in which they were selected, they may defer to the following year.

2. The fact that an individual has previously received an alumni association award in another category does not preclude him/her from receiving another award.

3. The awards committee will accept nominations from any alumnus, friend or alumni affiliate organization of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

4. The awards committee retains and considers nominations for three years or until selected.

5. If a recipient is deceased, a representative of the family may accept the award.

6. The deadline for submitting nominations is November 1 of each year.

Instructions: 1. Complete the award nomination form. Be sure to indicate for which award you are placing this nomination.

2. Submit a letter of nomination describing the nominee’s accomplishments and why you believe he/she is deserving of the award.

3. Send the completed form and the letter of nomination to:

Alumni Awards, Nebraska Alumni Association,

1520 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68508-1651.

Nominations may also be placed online at huskeralum.org.

Nominators will be notified of their candidate’s status whether or not they are selected for the award. This notification generally happens in December. Only nominees who are chosen to receive an award will be notified of their selection/nomination. huskeralum.org

1520 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68508-1651 NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 5

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

BRACE LABORATORY

107-year-old Building Goes High Tech You can’t judge a book by its cover.

Take, for instance, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s 107-year-old Brace Laboratory.

Originally used for physics instruction, Brace has undergone an $8 million renovation that has made it, in many ways, UNL’s most advanced instructional facility. It now houses four life sciences laboratories, a 186-seat auditorium, four classrooms dedicated to active and collaborative instruction, a Technology Transforming Teaching (T3) classroom and office space for Information Technology Services employees.

Initial users of the renovated space include biological and life sciences, mathematics and business adminis-

tration. Much of the project has been focused on providing collaborative learning spaces to undergraduates.

“Brace is not just an advanced teaching facility in terms of technology,” said Lance C. Pérez, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs.

“Learning spaces have been built purposefully and intentionally to support active learning.”

Those spaces include the four life sciences labs that will be used by biological and life sciences and the four collaborative instruction classrooms to be used for mathematics instruction.

The life sciences labs in Brace include three modern “wet” labs on the first floor and a specialized space on the second floor designed for virtual

Life sciences lab space in remodeled Brace features island work stations that encourage

6 FALL 2014collaboration and interactive learning. (Troy Fedderson | University Communications)

instruction. The four lab spaces are designed with “islands” that allow students to face one another for group work. The College of Business Administration is a primary user of the redesigned 186-seat auditorium.

Office space in Brace allows Information Technology Services to bring its 16-employee Learning and Emerging Technologies team together under one roof. The group provides technology support for classrooms campuswide.

The renovation also included creating general use classroom space; adding restrooms (when built in 1906, Brace only had two restrooms, one each on the first two floors); installing modern heating and cooling systems to replace radiators and window-unit air conditioners; asbestos abatement; repairing and painting of walls; and repair and replacement of floors and ceilings.

Brace is linked to Behlen Laboratory to the west. The project secured the link between the buildings, allowing plans to move forward to expand highsecurity research in Behlen.

– Troy Fedderson, University Communications

NEBRASKA CENTER FOR PREVENTION OF OBESITY DISEASES

$11.3 Million NIH Grant Funds UNL Obesity Research The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has earned an $11.3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to establish a research center focused on understanding nutrition and obesity at the molecular level.

The five-year grant from NIH’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) program will support the Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity Diseases through Dietary Molecules, or NPOD. The COBRE program is funded through the Institutional Development Award Program, which supports health-related research, faculty development and research infrastructure.

Answering molecular-level questions regarding obesity and related diseases is a crucial first step toward curbing this national epidemic. The center builds on UNL’s strength in nutrition and health research.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center collaborates on the center, which aims to establish a community of nationally recognized researchers in nutrition, genetics, biochemistry, food science, immunology and computer science.

The long-term goal is to become a leader in nutrient signaling and the prevention of obesity and obesityrelated diseases, including nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, said center director Janos Zempleni, Willa Cather Professor of molecular nutrition in the Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences.

“This combined focus makes NPOD unique in the U.S. and globally,” he said. “Through this center, we will

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

Janos Zempleni (Craig Chandler | University Communications)

Answering molecular-level questions regarding obesity and related diseases is a crucial first step toward curbing this national epidemic. The center builds on UNL’s strength in nutrition and health research. develop science-based strategies using dietary compounds to improve human health.”

To build research expertise, experienced faculty will mentor early career scientists. The center also is developing a centralized research facility in molecular biology, bioinformatics and biostatistics.

“Obesity is a national health crisis that costs the U.S. hundreds of billions of dollars annually in health care expenses and lost productivity,”

Zempleni said. “Our research will help address these issues.”

This is UNL’s third NIH Center for Biomedical Research Excellence.

The Nebraska Center for Virology was established in 2000 and the Redox Biology Center was launched in 2002.

COBRE programs are managed by the National Institute for General Medical Sciences.

– Gillian Klucas, Research and Economic Development

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 7

UNL EDUCATION ABROAD OFFICE

UNL Joins Initiative to Increase Study-abroad Participation When Jackson Thomas came to UNL, studying abroad was not among his college plans. That changed when UNL’s Education Abroad office provided information on the Deutsch in Deutschland program.

“After being exposed to the program and seeing how incredibly doable it was and how it could fit into my life, major and pocketbook, I took the plunge and opted for a semester in Berlin, Germany,” said Thomas, a senior music major from Carrollton, Mo. “It was truly an experience of a lifetime. ” To show more students that education abroad is possible, UNL has joined forces with more than 300 partners in the Institute of International Education’s Generation Study Abroad initiative. The program is designed to double the number of American students who study abroad by the end of the decade. The initiative is also focused on increasing the diversity of students who study abroad, ensuring quality and removing barriers to participation.

“Regardless of whether they imagine building a life in Beijing or Beatrice, our students need the kinds of global competencies that allow them to move easily across languages, cultures, and national borders,” said Dave Wilson, UNL’s senior international officer and associate vice chancellor for academic affairs.

Nearly 750 undergraduates participate in education abroad opportunities each year. Working through the Generation Study Abroad initiative, UNL hopes to increase that total to 1,000

students.

To achieve the goal, UNL will focus on increasing study-abroad participation by underrepresented groups, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors; firstgeneration students; and veterans.

Education Abroad has also started working with the College of Engineering, holding a study-abroad fair and publicizing an engineering-specific program in Italy. Several other colleges – including Journalism and Mass Communications, Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, and Education and Human Sciences – are collaborating with Education Abroad specifically on the Generation Study Abroad initiative.

Additionally, UNL has made a commitment to help more students seek out and submit competitive applications for national level scholarships for study abroad. That effort included 12 students using Benjamin A. Gilman scholarships for international study this summer.

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

“Study abroad is no longer a luxury geared for wealthy students, and it certainly isn’t tourism,” Wilson said.

“Increasingly, our students, as they look for work, need the kind of global competencies that set them apart in a competitive marketplace, competencies that are best developed through studying, researching, interning or doing service learning abroad. Money is an obstacle for increasing our levels of engagement in these educational opportunities abroad.”

For Thomas, the benefits of education abroad have outweighed the costs.

“To this day, I still find new ways in which I’ve grown through my experiences abroad and, even though it was probably the hardest thing I have

every done, I can honestly say it was the best thing I have ever done.”

– Troy Fedderson, University

Communications

CONNECTION BOX go.unl.edu/ke4o iie.org/generationstudyabroad

8 FALL 2014

Jackson Thomas studied at the Deutsch in Deutschland Institute in Berlin in spring 2013. He described the study-abroad opportunity as an experience of a lifetime. (courtesy photo)

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

UNL physicist Aaron Dominguez leads collaboration involving eight universities to upgrade the Compact Muon Solenoid particle detector, a key component of the world’s largest physics experiment. The illustration shows an event, captured by CMS in 2012, that provides evidence of the Higgs boson. (Craig Chandler | University Communications)

LARGE HADRON COLLIDER

UNL Leads $11.5 Million Particle Detector Project The world’s largest atom smasher has proved invaluable at answering fundamental questions about the nature of the universe, including finding the Higgs boson, but much remains unknown.

A team of University of NebraskaLincoln physicists and collaborators at eight U.S. universities have received a five-year, nearly $11.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to increase the effectiveness of a vital component of the supercollider that made the Higgs discovery possible.

Built by a global collaboration of physicists, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN laboratory in Switzerland propels two high-energy particle beams in opposite directions around a 16.6mile ring of superconducting magnets.

Seeing what happens when the two superfast-moving beams collide gives scientists important insights into the basic building blocks that make up the universe.

The UNL team was part of the multiinstitutional collaboration that built the

original Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment, one of two large particle detector experiments at the Large Hadron Collider. With this new NSF grant, they now lead a large research partnership to upgrade the detector in stages through 2019. Their collaborators are at the University of Kansas, University of Illinois at Chicago, Rutgers University, Cornell University, SUNY Buffalo, Purdue University Calumet, University of Notre Dame and Northeastern University.

“As the accelerator has ramped up in intensity and in energy, our detectors will no longer be able to keep up with the rate of data coming out of the collisions, and they get damaged by radiation present near the collision point,” said UNL physicist Aaron Dominguez, who leads this collaboration. “They have to be replaced and upgraded to improve our sensitivity.”

Capturing images of the explosion requires an enormously powerful digital camera, or pixel detector. UNL’s

role is to build new modules for the pixel detector that will be capable of taking 40 million images a second at a total resolution of more than 120 million pixels. Consumer digital cameras top out at about 12 million pixels. The images are used to create a kind of movie of the particles’ paths in increments of less than 10 millionths of a meter.

“This will be the largest, most precise pixel tracking detector ever built,” Dominguez said. “It should allow us greater sensitivity to see the Higgs boson and to see and discover new forms of matter.”

UNL also is one of seven U.S. CMS Tier-2 sites in the Worldwide Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid that processes and stores the unprecedented volume from this massive research project. This grid combines the computing power of more than 140 independent computer centers in 34 countries to analyze results from the supercollider’s experiments. UNL physicist Ken Bloom is project manager for the U.S. CMS Tier-2 sites and co-coordinator for Tier-2 sites worldwide. The university’s Holland Computing Center provides Nebraska’s supercomputing horsepower for this project.

In addition to Dominguez and Bloom, UNL’s high-energy physics team includes physicists Dan Claes, Ilya Kravchenko and Gregory Snow as well as computer scientist David Swanson, Holland Computing Center director.

“Globally, this is a big deal because it allows us an unprecedented look into the universe that wouldn’t be possible otherwise,” Dominguez said. “It’s also a big deal for Nebraska and UNL to be such an important part of this experiment.”

– Gillian Klucas, Research and Economic Development

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 9

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

E.N. THOMPSON FORUM ON WORLD ISSUES

‘The Creative World’ is 2014-15 Lecture Topic

• Oct. 14, 7 p.m. – Neil Gershenfeld, MIT Media Lab, “How to Make (Almost) Anything,” sponsored by Nebraska Innovation Campus; • Nov. 17, 7 p.m. – British Debate Team, “Are Social Media a Threat to Human Creativity?” sponsored by the UNL Department of Commun ication Studies and the Center for Civic Engagement; • Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m. – Yo-Yo Ma, “Cultural Citizens”; • Feb. 24, 7 p.m. – Milton Chen, George Lucas Educational Foun dation, “Creativity, Curiosity and Learning,” sponsored by the UNL College of Education and Human Sciences; • March 3, 7 p.m. – The Chuck and Linda Wilson Dialogue; Marlo Lewis, Competitive Enterprise Institute; and Gilbert Metcalf, Tufts University; “Cutting Carbon Emissions: Better Environment, Worse Economy?”

Yo-Yo Ma

The E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues at UNL is focusing on “The Creative World” for 20142015, featuring distinguished experts spanning a host of industries including a poet, physicist, educator, economist, multiple scholars and world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma. 10 FALL 2014

The series kicked off Sept. 10 with the Nebraska Governor’s Lecture in the Humanities by award-winning writer, playwright and TED speaker Chris Abani.

The remaining 2014-15 E.N. Thompson Forum lectures:

Tickets for the Yo-Yo Ma lecture are $34 (plus fees, no discounts). A limited quantity of free tickets will be available for UNL students.

All other E.N. Thompson lectures are free to the public, but tickets must be reserved as seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Tickets to fall semester lectures may be reserved at the Lied Center Box Office, 301 N. 12th St., 402472-6265. Spring semester lecture tickets will be available on Jan. 12.

All lectures will take place on CONNECTION BOX the Lied Center enthompson.unl.edu for Performing Arts main stage.

– Carrie Christensen, Lied Center for Performing Arts

CENTER FOR GREAT PLAINS STUDIES

Digitization Project Opens Nebraska Homestead Records Want to know where your pioneering forebears settled?

The Nebraska Homestead Final Certificate Case Files are now digitized and available after a decade of planning, preparing and executing an initiative to bring these records to the public.

The records, amassed by the General Land Office, were used to ensure that those who claimed a portion of the public domain through the Homestead Act of 1862 met the requirements of this law. Forty-five percent of all land in Nebraska was distributed to homesteaders, the highest percentage of all 30 homesteading states.

Twenty-one land offices from Omaha to Chadron served Nebraska land claimants.

The records are documents filed by homesteaders and describe their property improvements, including houses constructed, wells dug, crops

Image of a final homestead certificate from the Lincoln Land Office, signed by President Benjamin Harrison in 1892.

planted, trees cleared and fences built. The case files include records of military service, evidence of naturalization and much more. Family historians and scholars alike have found them exceptionally useful.

This project was made possible through a partnership of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Family Search, Fold3.com, Ancestry.com, the National Archives and Records Administration, and Homestead National Monument of America.

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

Virtually all Homestead Final Certificate Case Files from the 30 homesteading states have survived and are held by the National Archives and Records Administration in Washington, D.C. In the Nebraska series, there are 76,871 files containing more than 1.6 million digital images.

This database can be searched and viewed for free at Homestead National Monument of America near Beatrice, UNL libraries, National Archives and Records Administration research centers nationwide, and Family History Centers at several locations across the country.

– Katie Nieland, Center for Great Plains Studies

CONNECTION BOX familysearch.org/locations/centerlocator nps.gov/home/historyculture/ homesteadrecords.htm

LIED CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS

Korff Gift to Bring Top Broadway Shows to Nebraska The Lied Center for Performing Arts at UNL has received a $4 million gift from the estate of Glenn Korff to help bring top Broadway shows to Nebraska.

The gift establishes the Glenn Korff Broadway Endowment at the University of Nebraska Foundation to forever enhance the Lied Center’s Broadway programming, visiting artists program, commissioned theater projects and more. In honor of Korff’s legacy and support, major Broadway productions at the Lied Center will be part of the newly created Glenn Korff Broadway Series.

The endowment will position the Lied Center to secure the most popular touring shows directly off Broadway, including the most recent Tony Award-winning productions, said Bill Stephan, executive director of the Lied Center.

Korff’s passion for performing arts began on campus as a member of Kosmet Klub, a male musical and comedy ensemble, which he served as a set designer.

“Glenn’s experiences with theater at the university were among his most cherished memories,” Stephan said. “The Lied Center was selected to receive support with the hope that a stellar lineup of Broadway performances might bring students and Nebraskans the same joy and enrichment that his involvement with musical theater brought to his life.”

Korff, who lived in Boulder, Colo., graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1965 with a chemistry major and was a member and past president of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity. He received an MBA in finance from the University of Pennsylvania in 1968 and enjoyed a long career in the area of finance and investments, retiring from Goldman Sachs.

In August 2013, shortly before his death, Korff announced an $8 million gift to the university for the Glenn Korff School of Music at the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts.

– Robb Crouch, University of Nebraska Foundation NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 11

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

PRAIRIE SCHOONER/UNL LIBRARIES

Initiative Helps Open African Poetry Libraries Poetry reading libraries opened in five African countries this fall, thanks to the efforts of the African Poetry Book Fund (APBF); Prairie Schooner, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s literary journal; and UNL Libraries, in conjunction with individuals and organizations in The Gambia, Botswana, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda.

Each library will house contemporary poetry books and journals available to poets and lovers of poetry in these five countries and beyond.

A continuation of APBF’s mission to spread the poetic arts, the African Poetry Library Initiative began as the brainchild of Kwame Dawes, APBF series editor and Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner.

“Too many poets working in Africa today have limited access to contemporary poetry, partly because

12 FALL 2014

of poor distribution by international publishers within Africa and partly because of the cost of books,” Dawes said. “We felt it would be a great idea to establish small poetry libraries in as many places as possible.”

All five libraries have been established through partnerships with writing organizations, arts organizations, existing libraries and influential individuals in the arts from each of the five launch countries, and all have received start-up donations of books collected and sent to them by APBF. Each library contains room for more than 1,500 titles, offers resources for those interested in publishing poems, and will serve as a hub for poets to meet and collaborate, while remaining open to all.

“During my trips to Africa last year,

the enthusiasm for this project was tremendous,” Dawes said. “We’ve boxed and mailed almost 500 books to each of these countries in this first mailing, and will continue to do so each year beyond this.”

While APBF provides book donations, promotion and other support, each library is expected to partner with other worldwide organizations as it

CONNECTION BOX africanpoetrybf.unl.edu/?page_id=1607

works toward achieving self-sufficiency.

Though the five launch libraries are all located in English-speaking regions, APBF hopes to expand into other languages after the project’s first three years.

– Ian Rogers, UNL grad student in English

SHELDON MUSEUM OF ART

Wally Mason to Head Sheldon Wally Mason, director and chief curator of the Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University in Milwaukee, will become director of the Sheldon Museum of Art at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Oct. 15.

Mason was selected to lead the Sheldon, which houses one of the country’s premier collections of American art and is a national leader in developing multidisciplinary approaches to the visual arts, following a national search. He replaces Jorge Daniel Veneciano, who resigned in December to become director of El Museo del Barrio in New York.

“Sheldon is an institution that I have

admired for a long time and the collection represents such a prescient, unique vision. It is a museum that shows us how to live in the present and how the future can be built on tradition,” Mason said. “It has benefited from outstanding leaders who crafted an extraordinary permanent collection and exhibition history.

Mason comes to Lincoln from a unique academic art museum.

Marquette’s Haggerty Museum is the only art museum on a U.S. college campus where art and art history are not part of the curriculum. The Haggerty staff worked successfully to

UNIVERSITY UPDATE engage faculty and students to include the Wally Mason museum as an extension of their classrooms by creating exhibitions that presented a core multidisciplinary approach to the curriculum.

Mason earned a master of fine arts degree at Indiana University. Before joining Marquette in 2007, he directed galleries at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Fla., the University of Idaho and the University of Maine.

– Steve Smith, University Communications

UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA STATE MUSEUM

UNL Scientists Help Identify Tuco-Tucos in Bolivia A research team led by Scott Gardner of the University of NebraskaLincoln has identified four new species of Ctenomys, a genus of gopher-like mammal found throughout much of South America.

Commonly called tuco-tucos, the burrowing rodents range from 7 to 12 inches long and weigh less than a pound. They demonstrate the broad range of biological diversity in the lowlands and central valleys of Bolivia, where all four new species were found.

It is very rare to identify a new species of mammal, said Gardner, director of the H.W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology and a curator for the University of Nebraska State Museum.

“In the current environment of humancaused environmental disturbance and degradation, the discovery of four previously unknown species that are relatively large in size is phenomenal.”

Three of the newly identified animals – Ctenomys erikacuellarae or Erika’s

tuco-tuco; Ctenomys andersoni, or Anderson’s cujuchi; and Ctenomys lessai, or Lessa’s tuco-tuco – were found in an area of high ridges that create deep river valleys in central Bolivia. The fourth new species, Ctenomys yatesi, or Yates’ tuco-tuco, was found in the lowlands of eastern Bolivia.

As many as 65 tuco-tuco species are known to exist throughout South America. With the four new species, there have been a dozen found in Bolivia alone.

Gardner collaborated on the project with curators at the Museum of Southwestern Biology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque and with the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Identification of the new species was the result of National Science Foundation-funded work Gardner began as a graduate student in the 1980s. He was interested in learning

Ctenomys lewisi, a previously known species of tuco-tuco that is similar in appearance to the four new species. (Scott Gardner | University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

more about the parasites that infested tuco-tucos, but first needed to distinguish the rodent species.

“As we went along, it turned out these species were more unique than we realized and we collected more and more as we moved through different places,” Gardner recalled. We could actually tell they were different by looking at their chromosomes and their DNA sequences.”

– Leslie Reed, University Communications

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 13

CAMPUS BRIEFS Appointments n Susan Fritz has been named executive vice president and provost and dean of the Graduate College of the University of Nebraska. n Daniel Schachtman, professor of agronomy and horticulture, is the new director of UNL’s Center for Biotechnology. He succeeds Deb Hamernik, associate dean of IANR’s Agricultural Research Division, who served as interim director since July 1, 2013.

KUDOS n Carole Levin, Willa Cather professor of history and chair of the medieval and Renaissance studies program at UNL, has earned a Fulbright to the University of York to further

Carole Levin

research how first century Celtic queen Boudicca’s leadership affected England’s future queens and her connections to contemporary female political leadership. Levin will spend the spring 2015 semester in York 14 FALL 2014

Aliza Brugger

conducting research and giving workshops and lectures. n Ronnie Green, vice chancellor for the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, was recognized for his administrative leadership at the American Society for Animal Science’s national awards program. He received the ASAS Fellow Award in administration. n Three UNL students earned Presidential Graduate Fellowships from the University of Nebraska for the 2014-2015 academic year. They are: Danielle Haak, natural resources; Jonathon Sikorski, educational psychology; and Trisha Spanbauer, earth and atmospheric sciences. Fellows receive a stipend from the University of Nebraska Foundation to pursue studies full-time. n As leading movie directors from around the world captured top honors at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, two films directed by UNL film studies students were screened. UNL student and aspiring filmmaker Aliza Brugger’s first work as a director, a seven-minute film called “The Pursuit of Happiness,” was among those screened, along with Collin Baker’s eight-minute film, “Over Forgotten Roads.” Brugger and Baker are the first two UNL students to have a film screened at Cannes.

GRANTS n A UNL research team led by evolutionary geneticist Jay Storz has received a $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for continued research into mechanisms of protein evolution. Other members

of the UNL team include associate professor Hideaki Moriyama, a coinvestigator on the grant; and senior research associate Chandrasekhar Natarajan. n Last year, about 550 of Willa Cather’s letters were published in “The Selected Letters of Willa Cather,” co-edited by UNL’s Andrew Jewell. The volume contained only a fraction of the more than 3,000 pieces of correspondence that Jewell and coeditor Janis Stout had uncovered from various archives and collections around the world. Now, thanks to a three-year, $271,980 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, many more will be digitized and put online as part of the Willa Cather Archive, a venture of UNL’s Center for Digital Research in the Humanities. The digital edition of Cather letters is expected to launch in January 2018, when the letters are scheduled to enter the public domain.

BOOKS n The University of Nebraska Press has published a book by Margaret D. Jacobs, Chancellor’s Professor of History at UNL. “A Generation Removed: The Fostering and Adoption of Indigenous Children in the Postwar World” is a powerful blend of history and

Left to right: Hideaki Moriyama, Jay Storz and Chandrasekhar Natarajan.

family stories. Jacobs examines how government authorities in the postWorld War II era removed thousands of American Indian children from their families and placed them in nonIndian foster or adoptive families. By the late 1960s, an estimated 25 to 35 percent of Indian children had been separated from their families. n The words of Abraham Lincoln are the subject of another book recently published by UNP. The final project of the late James A. Rawley, a preeminent historian of the Civil War era and UNL professor emeritus, “A Lincoln Dialogue” cross-examines Lincoln’s major statements, papers and initiatives in light of the comments and criticism of his supporters and detractors. Drawn from letters and newspapers, pamphlets and reports, these statements and responses constitute a unique documentary examination of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency. Rawley’s careful selection and his judicious interweaving of historical analysis and background invite us into the dialogue and allow us to hear the voices of American history in the making.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 15

Nostalgia WINNER, Third Place 2014 Writing contest Darrel D. Rippeteau’s World Wall II experience included a period on the staff of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. Then-Capt. Rippeteau was detailed to the Army Experimental Station at Pine Camp (now Fort Drum) outside of Watertown in upstate New York. The activities of this unit, which were not declassified until 50 years after the war, were the subject of the 2002 book by Philip Gerard, “Secret Soldiers.” Now living in Del Ray Beach, Fla., Rippeteau practiced architecture with Sargent, Webster Crenshaw & Folley in Syracuse, N.Y., retiring as managing partner in 1980, and then became active in efforts to preserve the nearly extinct American chestnut.

A SOLDIER REMEMBERS

By Darrel D. Rippeteau, ’41 An unusual thing about my military service was that it began with a youth-oriented military training program run by the U.S Amy that was little known at the time and is almost lost to history now: the Citizens Military Training Camps, or CMTC. My family’s friends in our local American Legion Post of World War I veterans in my hometown, Clay Center, Neb., encouraged me to sign up for the CMTC. This training took place for one month each summer over four years. As a precursor to the University of Nebraska’s reserve officer training corps (ROTC) and my resulting commission as a 2nd Lt. in the U.S. Army, it was one of the best things that ever happened to me.

My CMTC program began in 1934 at Fort Crook, Omaha, Neb., (later better known as the Offutt Field U.S. Air Force Base). This basic course was all about infantry training and tent living. The following three years, known consecutively as the red, white and blue courses, took place at Fort Snelling in St. Paul, Minn.

For our field artillery training in the red course, we used French-designed guns capable of firing 75-mm (3-inch) diameter shells. At the time, these machines were considered superior because they were more stable and safer to operate. However, they were pulled by horse-drawn equipment dating from World War I. There were six horses per gun and six horses per caisson, which carried the ammunition. During the second summer white course, although we used the same equipment, I had my

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Darrel Rippeteau on his horse, “Battle,” during CMTC at Ft. Snelling, Minn. The World War I French 75-mm guns in the background were horse-drawn.

own horse to ride; he was called Battle.

It is amazing to me now to look back to that time, when Hitler was already raging around Europe, yet we were training with horse-drawn equipment dating from World War I. I completed the full program during the final blue summer, on Aug. 30, 1937.

In the meantime, in the autumn of 1936, I had enrolled at the University of Nebraska and signed up for the ROTC.

The University of Nebraska ROTC annual “Compet,” spring 1937, with the Field Artillery Battery passing in review.

Coincidentally, just as I was arriving, the university had established its first ROTC Field Artillery Battalion. And so, to my delight, I was able to continue in field artillery training.

The equipment I found consisted of the same old French 75mm guns. But by now they had been modernized with systems known as Sperry adapters. These removed the original wood spoke and iron rim wheels and replaced them with large truck wheels with thick rubber tires. Also, they were all drawn by 1.5ton Dodge civilian trucks, painted in the ubiquitous army olive green.

Within the new field artillery battalion, I also volunteered for extra duty. Although unpaid, you could earn further military credits by joining this honorary unit, known as the Cornhusker Battery. We had Saturday drills, extra studies and extra sessions of running the trucks around the countryside out north of the Lincoln East Agricultural College Campus. Extra studies, extra maneuvers, extra credits. It seemed a good deal to me. Little did I know just how valuable this training would prove to be throughout my life.

A sense of optimism pervaded everything we did. We were patriotic, of course. But there was more. The entire underpinning of our training stood on the development of a practical outlook toward problem solving. Perhaps most valuable was learning the skill of how to get organized: how to organize and direct others to carry out your instructions and implement your ideas, how to plan ahead, how to lead others.

One example of this was the ROTC’s training in the use of the army’s command control system known as the Five Paragraph Field Order. Formalized for the first time to the U.S. military in the 1890s, this was a set of five specific areas of information that a commander should impart when communicating instructions to subordinates in the field. This included such specifics as information about

the enemy, or the commander’s best guess from what intelligence was at hand; locations of troops both enemy and friendly; and details about administration and logistical support – the who, what, where, when of the plan for the battle itself. And whether written on dirty notepaper in a foxhole, or while sitting at a desk at battalion HQ, no one had ever seemed to improve on this methodology.

As I went through life, I realized that this discipline could be applied in any field, and in my case architecture. The same tenets would race through my mind as I planned the initiation of our next design project for the governor of New York or our next marketing effort to a local upstate New York jurisdiction wanting to build a new high school. It was always a competition; and I always came prepared with my battle plan. The Five Paragraph Field Order, adapted for civilian use, was never far from my mind.

In 1941, I graduated from the University of Nebraska with a degree in architecture and I received my commission as a 2nd Lt., Field Artillery, U.S. Army. With World War II underway, I was almost immediately ordered onto active duty. It would be another four and a half years before I could commence my career as an architect. v

Rippeteau’s gun crew took first place in the NU ROTC “Compet” on May 27, 1937. These 1897 French 75-mm guns were modified with Sperry adapters for rubber tires.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 17

Profile WINNER, Third place 2014 Writing contest Madeline Shomos completed her undergraduate career at UNL in May with degrees in English and French. During her time at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she enjoyed serving on the Honors Program Student Advisory Board, being a member of Mortar Board National Honors Society and playing the tenor saxophone in the Cornhusker Marching Band. Although she is uncertain what her future career path holds, she will always treasure her UNL experience and education.

More than familial fame

By Madeline Shomos, ’14 With a last name as uncommon as Shomos, I’ve grown accustomed to the question, “Are you Elena’s sister?”

Maybe if it was a little more generic, I could fly under the radar – take classes from the same professors, interact with Honors Program faculty, and even use my NCard to buy a snack from the Union Bookstore without facing the interrogation.

Although, with a sister as distinguished as Elena, why on earth would I want to disassociate myself?

Undeniably, there is a certain bias that accompanies sisterhood, but there is no question that, at the age of 25, Elena Shomos is already a University of Nebraska-Lincoln alumna success story.

Elena graduated in August 2012 with a bachelor of arts degree in international studies and French. Her graduation robe was decorated with honors cords and a medal with white ribbon, indicating high distinction. During her undergraduate career, she made two separate appearances on the university website’s front page: once for her Boren scholarship in 2011 and again in 2013 for her Fulbright Fellowship award.

These accomplishments alone are outstanding. Perhaps equally impressive, however, is the fact that Elena spent the majority of her undergraduate career studying abroad (two years in Italy, a

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semester in France, and a year in Albania) and still managed to be well known on campus. Professors often ask me about her and tell me to pass on their heartfelt salutations. Peers approach me with excitement when they make the connection between the pictures of Elena hanging in the Honors Office and myself.

Even on a campus as large as UNL, I can never go too long without finding somebody who has a positive connection with my sister. Of course, as the victim of my fair share of sibling abuse, I am sometimes surprised to hear, “Oh, I love Elena!” come from the mouth of somebody not biologically obligated to say it.

Before Elena started studying in Albania, I knew very little about the country from which our father’s grandparents emigrated. Inspired by our heritage and her passion for international affairs, Elena took interest in Albania fairly early in her college career. When studying abroad in both Bologna, Italy, and Besançon, France, she sought out connections with Albanian students. She began to learn the language and delve into the culture. She used her Boren scholarship for a study abroad program at the University of Korça in Albania, and started investigating the importance of democratic civic education in the community.

I was fortunate enough to visit my sister for a week during my own study abroad semester in the spring of 2012. Her prowess in interacting and communicating with everybody from taxi drivers to diplomats was astounding. Through her, I learned more about the history of my ancestors, the country from which they came and the Albanian for “thank you” (Falemnderit). I saw the way that passion for a subject can fuel success while simultaneously learning about my own heritage.

With the surging popularity of Google Translate and other technological programs, language skills are increasingly demeaned. Elena puts that notion to rest and uses her skills and abilities in a unique, meaningful and important way. She is continuing her work in Albania, fulfilling her Fulbright contract.

She is also working as an intern at the U.S. State Department, monitoring and combating trafficking in persons. She conducts weekly research and analysis of human trafficking trends throughout the Balkans. She also translates documents, articles and other reports on the matter from Albanian, French, and Italian. When I learned the specifics of my sister’s job (a difficult task because of her humility), I was stunned by the importance of her work.

Our generation is often accused of apathy and selfishness.

During a skill building workshop, Elena Shomos sits with a group of students from the University of Korca.

Elena Shomos (at the podium) talks to the U.S. Ambassador to Albania and others about the importance of democratic citizenship education.

While Elena is certainly not the one in our family who is the best at sharing dessert, she displays her selflessness overseas.

Elena volunteers at EducationUSA where she serves as a Fulbright liaison for Albanian students interested in coming to the United States. She has also helped out at the YWCA in Tirana, distributing pamphlets at the annual walk for breast cancer awareness. Additionally, she frequently volunteers her time to work with English language learners at the American Corner in Tirana. She is busy with work and research, but still uses her time and abilities for the greater good.

Next year, Elena will continue her education at either London School of Economics or Kings College London. She has been accepted into both programs and is in the process of making her decision. I’m the English major of the family, so Elena often sends me writings that need to be edited. I saw application essays for both schools and I am certain that whichever choice she makes, she will use her education to fuel her long-term goals, including aiding Albania in its effort to embrace the idea of western democracy in their post-communist society.

Regarding Elena, the question shouldn’t be “Where is she now?” Even though her current location carries great significance for her academic goals, her professional career and her own self-discovery, a more important question is “Where is she going?” Elena is young, accomplished and full of potential. She will undoubtedly continue to make meaningful contributions to the world.

The question, “Are you Elena’s sister?” can get irritating at times, but not even a well-practiced younger sibling eye roll can disguise the pride that I have in my sister. She has exceeded the fame of family Christmas cards and my mother’s Facebook posts to an extent that I couldn’t have imagined when she began her career at UNL. I am incredibly fortunate to share both her genetics and her undergraduate university. She is most certainly a UNL alumna to watch. You won’t want to miss where she’s going. v

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 19

Kim Krhounek,

By Anthony Flott

U.S. Foreign Policy Wonk

Kim Krhounek (center back), head of the Political Section at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, sat in on the Ukraine negotiations in March 2014 with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (white-haired man on right) and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (directly across from Kerry).

Official photo of the U.S. State Department.

T

he Annie Leibovitz original – a single edition gift from one of the world’s best known photographers – hangs in Kim Krhounek’s Paris office.

There are other pictures on display. Krhounek with President Barack Obama. Krhounek with Michelle Obama. Krhounek with Hillary Clinton (shortly after Krhounek lost the then-first lady in Uzbekistan). Snapshots from two decades as a foreign service officer working around the globe: Haiti, the Czech Republic, Egypt, Iraq.

And now France, for a second tour at the American Embassy in Paris. She’s acting political minister-counselor there, handling senior-level engagement on policy issues between Paris and Washington, and other duties as they arise. When tensions flared between the United States and Russia over Crimea, Krhounek was in Paris helping the countries work

20 FALL 2014

toward peace – Secretary of State John Kerry to her left, Russian Minister Sergei Lavrov to her right.

There’s a picture of that, of course.

“I call it my gallery of photos of important people who don’t know who I am,” Krhounek said with a laugh.

The one with Leibovitz was taken at a 2008 reception in Paris. The 1988 UNL graduate asked if she and colleague Carrie Shirtz could pose with her.

“Let me take it,” replied Leibovitz.

“I have an Annie Leibovitz original,” Krhounek said.

“Someone at the reception was joking with me afterward and said our photo was probably worth a lot of money since it was actually taken by Annie Leibovitz, even if it was on my camera.

It was such a nice gesture on her part. My job definitely brings me into contact with some interesting people.”

A CHANGING WORLD This summer, Krhounek’s travels took her back home, to Omaha, for her 30th high school reunion: Omaha Westside, 1984. Back then, the United States and Soviet Union were titans in the middle of the Cold War. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Krhounek majored in French. She also was among a handful of students who minored in Czech. That’s the root of her family name, but the study seemed somewhat pointless.

“In the 1980s, no one thought we would use it,” Krhounek said.

“It’s not like you could work in the former Soviet Union countries.

That was when they were pretty hard core. It was pretty repressive.

But, she added, “The world changed.”

Krhounek started seeing those changes firsthand even before she graduated, spending a year studying at the University of Bordeaux in France starting in 1987. In high school, she’d spent a month in France visiting a foreign exchange student who had stayed with her family.

“That sparked my interest in the whole international thing,” she said.

A cultural anthropology class at UNL fanned the flames. “I found it fascinating, learning about cultures and immersion and integration,” Krhounek said. “Without being aware of it, those same things cropped up in my entire career. I think that’s really what it takes … a couple of the right classes with the right teachers and something starts going … ‘This is really fascinating … maybe I can do some more with it.’”

She returned from France and graduated from Nebraska as a Superior Scholar (top 3 percent in her class), majoring in French with minors in Czech and international relations (her father, mother and two siblings also are UNL grads). She then earned an M.A. in international studies and a law degree from American University in Washington, D.C., on the way spending a year as a law clerk in the congressional office of Nebraska Rep. Peter Hoagland.

Krhounek joined the Foreign Service – she said more than once she’s been asked if she works for the French Foreign Legion – only after a friend urged her to apply. Actually, the friend completed the application on Krhounek’s behalf. Krhounek relented and passed the written and oral exam. The friend didn’t.

“She got married and has three kids and never left the United States,” Krhounek said of the friend, with whom she remains close.

“It ended up being a good fit. It met the requirements of what I wanted to do with my life, which was travel around and live in different countries, learn different languages and have a different life.”

That she did. She joined the Foreign Service in January 1994.

Her French came in handy at her first post, where she had to learn French Creole as a consular officer at the American Embassy in Haiti (It still comes in handy whenever she’s in New York and gets a ride from a Haitian cabbie). Among Krhounek’s duties in Haiti was serving as a monitor in elections restoring democratic rule in Haiti.

“We had just sent 2,000 U.S. troops into Haiti to restore President Aristide to power. It was a very exciting first assignment,” she said. “My parents were like, ‘You’re going where?’”

From the start – and at each successive post – Krhounek saw history unfold. Some highlights:

“

We had just sent 2,000 U.S. troops into Haiti to restore President Aristide to power. It was a very exciting first assignment,” she said. “My parents were like, ‘You’re going where?’

Famed photographer Annie Leibowitz (center) snapped a selfie in Paris in 2008 with Krhounek (right) and her colleague, Carrie Shirtz.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 21

Czech Republic 1997-1999

Kurdish students pose with Krhounek (first row center) at the “American Corner” library in Erbil, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

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Krhounek analyzed new legislation from the Czech Parliament modernizing communist-era laws related to freedom of information, privacy and human rights protections. Later, she worked with INS and airport officials to successfully investigate several international alien smuggling/illegal employment rings.

It was during this time that she also “lost” Hillary Clinton in Uzbekistan. The first lady’s planned stop at a communist-era hotel came ahead of schedule. Krhounek, just a junior level officer, was the only embassy rep on hand to help. She was told to take Clinton to the top of the hotel on the ninth floor. Krhounek pressed “9” but the elevator instead stopped on the seventh floor. Clinton got off. Krhounek stayed on the elevator and continued – surprisingly – up. There stood the secret service wondering where the first lady was. Krhounek headed back to the seventh floor. There stood Clinton. “She’s not looking happy,” said Krhounek, who told the first lady she could get her to nine, but first they’d have to go back to the lobby, then up. “I think we’ll take the stairs,” said Clinton.

A picture was taken later that day. “I’m totally hiding in the background,” Krhounek said. “They sent me to Uzbekistan and all I did was lose the first lady.”

Egypt 1999-2000

Krhounek was part of a 15-member multinational team that observed and reported on Egyptian and Israeli military compliance with the 1979 Treaty of Peace in designated zones of Sinai and the Israeli border. She led teams composed of American, Egyptian and Israeli members on sensitive aerial reconnaissance by helicopter and ground verification by four-wheel drive vehicles. She also liaised with high-ranking military commanders.

“We thought peace was right around the corner between Israel and Palestine,” Krhounek said. “It was very calm compared to now. The Sinai desert was primarily populated

by Bedouin tribes. I traveled all over Egypt and Israel and the borders with Syria and Lebanon and the Golan Heights. I wouldn’t do that now.”

Washington, D.C. 2000-2002

Krhounek came back stateside, for the first of two stints in Washington, D.C. The state department pulls its officers home regularly after a few tours.

“Washington doesn’t like us to stay overseas too long,” Krhounek said. “They think we go native.” But it helps to see how the sausage gets made.

“Overseas you see how we implement what the foreign policy decisions are,” she said. “In Washington, you see how those decisions are made. It’s an important part of the puzzle.”

Krhounek held a series of posts in her second tour in the Czech Republic, ending at the American Embassy in Prague as director of the American Information Center.

By then, democracy had taken full root.

Krhounek saw a notable difference from past visits.

“Like night and day,” she said.

“I had visited Prague when it was communist for a couple of days with my parents in ’83 and then went back in ’93 just as a tourist again. I was a student traveling around, and that was after communism had fallen. Prague was flooded with foreign investments. It had kind of a boomtown feel to it. You saw this whole generation … a bunch of younger people who couldn’t really remember communism anymore and never had that legacy.

But there was also a bit of backlash. Some of the older generation spent 40 years buying into communism and felt a bit disenfranchised. They figured they would always be taken care of … and then the whole system changed on them. You actually saw how moving to democracy wasn’t perfect for everybody.”

Czech Republic 2001-2006

Krhounek finished as deputy principal officer and had senior-level policy engagement with the Kurdistan Regional Government. “Completely different from anything else I had done,” she said.

“The Kurdish region is an autonomous region with its own army, own police. It’s a secure and stable region. We went up to the Syrian border and visited refugee camps the Kurds set up to host 25,000 refugees, and they were already at 50,000 because the war in Syria keeps growing and growing.”

Iraq 2012-2013

For 20 years, then, she’s had a front-row seat to history.

“I’ve been in long enough that I can participate in some of these things at the very senior level,” Krhounek said.

“You get a chance to see the personal dynamics that sometimes drive some of these decisions. None of it is easy. A lot of it is complicated and a lot of it is trying to find a step-by-step way to move it forward.”

Continued on page 24

Krhounek visited Syrian refugee children at the Domiz refugee camp in Iraq.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 23

BACK IN PARIS Now she’s on her second tour in Paris. She lives in an apartment right next to the Eiffel Tower. At the embassy she is responsible for the 20-person political section that includes two other Nebraskans – Tim Fitzgibbons, a 1993 graduate of Elkhorn Mount Michael, and Bisola Ojikutu, a 1994 Lincoln High grad.

“In a work environment that can sometimes involve very serious, very intense issues, she always maintains a good sense of humor,” Fitzgibbons said, “even when she has to be at the table in a surprise high-stakes four-hour meeting between two world leaders.”

That’s exactly where Krhounek was March 30 – sitting at a crowded table with U.S. Secretary of State Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Lavrov. Russian troops were in the Ukraine.

“We had quite different objectives, I think, going into the meeting,” Krhounek said. “And Secretary of State Kerry kind of kept bringing it back: ‘But what are we going to do with the current situation? What are you willing to commit to? This is what we’re willing to commit to.’

“These are a marathon. It’s not something that gets decided

in a half-hour phone call. You agree to at least a couple benchmarks, meet a couple weeks later and see if that has created enough space … or if you have to kick it up a notch.”

Krhounek, the only embassy representative at the meeting, wrote the U.S. embassy’s official account of the meeting. Over the years, she’s received numerous awards for her work, from her humanitarian efforts in Haiti to her efforts in Iraq. She said she’s most proud of getting to be a part of “a whole that is much bigger than what I can be myself … I find it worthwhile and satisfying because I think it makes a difference.”

Where does she go from here? Single, Krhounek could retire with a partial pension two years from now when she turns 50. If the foreign service were the military, Krhounek’s next bump in rank would be to general. If that promotion to senior foreign service doesn’t happen in the next six years she faces mandatory retirement. Politics would not be an option if that happened. Teaching, perhaps.

Fitzgibbons can see her being promoted. “Absolutely. Her high-quality leadership, as well as the fact that she’s been so successful in so many different environments – Iraq, France, Haiti – show that potential.”

So do the photos on her wall. v

The fun and discovery of foreign travel claimed the attention of Kim Krhounek as she mugged for the camera on a vacation to Machu Picchu in Peru.

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Enter the 2015 Nebraska Magazine Writing Contest and compete for a byline!

The Categories

• Alumni Profiles: Write about a Nebraska grad with an interesting hobby or career.

• Nostalgia Pieces: Tell us about a memorable student activity you participated in at UNL, or write about a favorite professor.

The Prizes Three prizes will be awarded in each category, and the winning articles will be published in Nebraska Magazine.

• 1st Prize: $500 • 2nd Prize: $250 • 3rd Prize: $100

The Details Articles must be 750 to 1,000 words in length, typewritten.

Entry deadline is April 15, 2015. Submit entries, along with the author’s name, address and phone number.

•

• • •

By mail: Magazine Writing Contest, Wick Alumni Center, 1520 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68508-1651.

By e-mail: nebmag@huskeralum.org

By FAX: (402) 472-9289 Online: huskeralum.org/writing-submission

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 25

26 FALL 2014

Confronting the

Plague

By Tom Nugent Mark Williams (M.A. ’79) has spent the past 30 years studying and writing about one of the most destructive disease outbreaks of modern times: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. During his long career as a researcher on social, behavioral and cultural aspects of the illness, he has interviewed thousands of AIDS patients in the United States and Africa. While conducting his studies on the mean streets of low-income neighborhoods in Houston, Miami, Dar es Salaam and half a dozen other cities around the world, this fearless public health investigator has done his best to help combat a disease which has so far killed 40 million people and left 12 million orphans in its wake.

Today his bottom-line message is simple. “Our system for [funding] scientific research is broken,” he said, “and that is very dangerous to public health. Why? Because there are other emergent diseases waiting out there, and we have no idea what they are or when they might trigger the next pandemic.”

M

ost of the time, Mark Williams was able to control his emotions.

As he talked with the dying AIDS patients who lived in the homeless shelters or on the streets of Houston’s wounded inner city, the highly disciplined health researcher was usually able to keep a tight lid on his feelings.

But nothing could have prepared him for the agonizing interview he conducted with a troubled teenager who was drugaddicted, HIV-positive and living on the street.

That interview took place back in the late 1980s, during which Williams asked the homeless boy what might have made his life different.

“He was a cute kid,” Williams told Nebraska Magazine in Miami, where he now teaches public health at Florida

International University. “Anybody would have wanted him for a son. But now he was living on the streets, living hand to mouth.

He was selling sex to survive and to buy drugs. And because he was already HIV-positive, he probably had only a few years to live. I knew he would be dead soon, or in jail somewhere. And so I asked him: ‘What would have changed your life? What would have made a difference?’”

The kid didn’t answer at first.

“He sat there for a minute,” Williams remembered, “and you could tell he was really pondering a response. And then he looked me straight in the eye and he said: ‘A father.’

“And I had to stop the interview. I had to leave the room.

Because, you know, I was about to lose it. And so I said: We’ll wait. We’ll continue this interview tomorrow.”

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 27

Fighting an Invisible Enemy

Williams and his staff in Dar es Salam, Tanzania.

SUFFERING THAT WAS ‘BEYOND WORDS’ The son of a gas station mechanic, Williams, now 60, grew up in small-town Iowa before spending two years (1977-79) as a graduate student in political science at the University of Nebraska.

His childhood was deeply affected, he said, by his mother’s cancer, which left him and his three brothers in the care of their maternal grandmother for several years.

He believes that experience taught him some important lessons about compassion and empathy. But he said he was also shaped by his early life as a member of the Roman Catholic Church in Tipton (population: 3,221), which taught him “faith, hope and charity” – and the importance of caring for those in need.

“My mother [Kathleen “Smokey” Williams] was a wonderful teacher,” he recalled. “We’d go to Mass, and there was this one old woman who would come into the church and she smelled [bad]. Everyone knew it, and kids are gonna say something. But my mother told us: ‘It doesn’t matter what she smells like. When she comes here, she’s the same as you are.’ And she told us that we couldn’t make fun of her.”

After earning an English degree at the University of Iowa (1976), Williams worked briefly for an insurance company in Omaha.

Then he decided that he wanted to learn more about government and politics, and especially about the dynamics of public polling.

Because he now lived in Omaha, he was eligible for in-state tuition at UNL. In the fall of 1977, he arrived in Lincoln and settled into “a tiny efficiency apartment [located] right across the street from the state Capitol.” He also landed a full-time job hauling boxes and managing warehouse shipments at the Russell Stover candy works. “I worked 40 hours a week and went to class in between,” he remembered. “It wasn’t easy ... and I didn’t have a car. It took me 25 minutes to get from work back to the apartment, and I

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After originating among monkeys and chimpanzees in West-Central Africa during the early years of the 20th Century, the virus that causes AIDS soon “jumped the species barrier” and began infecting humans.

The earliest documented case of the disease appeared in the Congo in 1959, and by the mid-1960s the virus had reportedly reached the United States.

The pandemic spread quickly among several high-risk groups, including especially homosexual men and drugusers who injected narcotics into the bloodstream.

An extraordinarily complex pathogen, the AIDS virus can move easily throughout the human immune system due in part to its diminutive size.

Only four-millionths of an inch in length (or about one-twentieth the size of an ordinary E. coli bacterium), HIV can’t be seen except with a high-powered electron microscope.

The AIDS Epidemic: How Big Is It? Take the entire Vietnam War. Multiply the size and scope of it by a factor of 20. Instead of two million Asians and Westerners dead from warfare, think of 40 million dead. Instead of perhaps a quarter of a million Vietnamese and Cambodian orphans created by war, think of 12 million orphans created by a merciless and implacable virus for which no immunization has yet been found.

That’s HIV/AIDS. Think of the gargantuan horror that was World War I, with nine million soldiers dead on the ground and millions more struggling with injuries and ailments caused by that world-changing conflict.

Now multiply World War I by four ... and you will be describing the disease havoc caused by a 35-year-old pandemic that long ago became one of the biggest human tragedies of the modern world.

Dallas Buyers Club:

A Look At the Tragic 1980s Response to HIV/AIDS If you’re like most hardcore movie fans, you probably caught last year’s blockbuster Hollywood hit – “Dallas Buyers Club” – at your local neighborhood Cinemaplex.

And like most, you probably reached for the Kleenex a few times while watching Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto win Academy Awards for their performances as AIDS patients who learned to love and trust each other before eventually dying of the disease.

“Dallas Buyers Club” was a huge critical success, even as it earned about $50 million or so for Focus Features and the two Tinseltown studios that released the film in late 2013.

Interestingly, however, longtime AIDS researcher and public health activist Mark Williams said he did not catch the show – and that he doesn’t intend to, “on purpose.”

Ask him why not, and he’ll politely deflect the question with a few general comments about how he “learned to turn off” his emotions in order to survive the stress of interviewing and advising AIDS

patients on a daily basis. But when he talks about what he witnessed on the streets and in the public health clinics of Houston during the second half of the 1980s, his anger and grief are evident.

“I can tell you that there was also a buyers club started in Houston,” he said quietly, while referring to several key scenes in the film showing how 1980s AIDS patients were forced to smuggle virus-fighting drugs from Mexico into Texas. “In many cases,” he added, “these patients had to try and find medications on their own, since the medical establishment in the U.S. often refused to treat them.

“The way the [U.S.] healthcare system responded to HIV then [in the 1980s] was reprehensible. There were physicians and nurses who would refuse to treat patients; who would refuse to even see patients – and they felt no shame at all in doing it.”

Williams paused to take a deep breath.

“These were people who were supposed to be on the front lines [of healthcare],

remember some very cold walks in the wintertime!”

But he also remembered the excitement he felt as a grad student who was studying both constitutional law and the latest trends in political opinion polling. “For me, the really great thing about UNL was that my years there taught me how to think,” he recalled. “We studied cases at the Supreme Court, and that experience taught me how to build a coherent, logical argument.

“At the same time, I was working as a grad assistant with the head of the Political Science Department, Dr. Susan Welch, and her specialty was opinion polling. So I learned a great deal about statistics and how to analyze survey data. I didn’t know it at the time, of course, but this knowledge would play a key part in my later career as a public health researcher.”

Armed with a brand-new Ph.D. in political science from the University of Iowa (1983), Williams soon found a job teaching the subject at the University of St. Thomas – a small liberal arts college in Houston.

and they weren’t,” he said. In Houston, just like in Dallas, the buyers club grew because the healthcare industry was not responding to the pandemic. And this was also happening in places like New York City.

“People were left to die on gurneys in hospital aisles. They were left because no medical personnel would treat them.”

Having been trained as a public-opinion researcher, Williams became deeply interested in attitudes about a new disease epidemic that by the mid-1980s was making front-page headlines in Houston and elsewhere: HIV/AIDS. He wound up spending the next 12 years (starting in 1987) as a privatesector researcher who worked closely with disease experts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to better understand the behavioral and cultural dynamics that were contributing to the spread of AIDS. “That was a very difficult time for all of us who were working on HIV,” Williams remembered. “We had set up a data center in a low-income area of Houston, and we would often draw blood from people who were members of the gay community there.

And many of the others were prostitutes, or they were druginjecting addicts, homeless people, street people ... and so we were finding hundreds of new AIDS cases.

“And quite often, it was our job to draw blood and then send

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it out for analysis ... and when it came back HIV-positive, it was administration – has a very high opinion of Mark Williams as our job to tell these people that they had the disease, which at a public-health researcher and teacher. Said the Guide last year, that time was basically a death sentence. So it was very difficult. after naming the former UNL grad student to its List of 100 And I remember, very distinctly, just feeling overwhelmed each Great Health Administration Leaders: day, and making a very conscious decision to turn it all off. Just “Dr. Williams has earned an international reputation for his turn off the realization of what we were dealing with. research and scholarship in the area of HIV/AIDS ... and he “Telling these patients they had HIV – it was like saying, has led studies funded by NIH, CDC and other national and ‘You’re going to die.’ And then came the tears, the anger. But international [healthcare] foundations. He’s also a very popular quite often, the reaction you got was beyond words ... just a teacher at FIU.” deep turning inward.”

Having worked on several research studies which explored the Remembering those social and economic conditions tumultuous early days of the that underlie the huge AIDS AIDS epidemic, Williams epidemic in Sub-Saharan When it comes to treating chronic did not mince his words.

Africa (he led the first-ever health conditions, or prevention, or “I do believe that society’s study to show that drug abuse response to the epidemic is a key factor in the spread of education ... you’re basically out of was reprehensible,” he said HIV in Tanzania, for example: luck if you happen to be poor.” quietly during a two-hour http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ interview in his office on pmc/articles/PMC2862568/), the Miami campus of FIU. “We stigmatized the disease; we Williams is convinced that there’s “a clear connection” between stigmatized the people. We did as little as possible to deal with “social injustice” and disease pandemics. the epidemic.

“For millions of people in this country and in the countries “Things improved later, of course, but the world’s initial of Africa,” he warned near the end of the interview, “quality response to AIDS was terrible. And that was simply because it healthcare is still out of reach. Sure, if you’re dying, you can [the disease] was happening to poor people in obscure places – probably get into an emergency room somewhere. But when places like Sub-Saharan Africa and America’s inner cities and gay it comes to treating chronic health conditions, or prevention, neighborhoods and so on. For the most part, it was happening or education ... you’re basically out of luck if you happen to be to people we didn’t like who were living in parts of the cities we poor. didn’t care about.”

“But what we often don’t realize, as a nation, is that social

injustice comes with a price tag. If you start diminishing the MAKING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN public good [in areas such as healthcare] in favor of private ‘SOCIAL JUSTICE’ AND PUBLIC HEALTH good, you’re going to pay a price. And that’s especially true in For Williams, who subsequently spent a dozen years as a healthcare ... because it is in these under-served populations that behavioral science professor at the University of Texas School of the next disease epidemic will probably emerge.”

Public Health and then in 2012 joined the public health faculty Williams said his studies have also documented the fact that at FIU (where he also serves as associate dean of Academic the “continuing decline of funding for research on public health Affairs), America’s dismal response to AIDS has been a deeply in the United States” now poses “a dangerous threat” to all of us. motivating factor in his research on social factors related to the “I’m a hopeful person, an optimist by nature,” he said with disease. a quiet smile. “But I must say I’m troubled by what’s been While authoring more than 150 scientific papers on the happening in recent years to public health research in this subject over the past 20 years, he’s also helped to train dozens of country. Basically, our system for funding that research is graduate students in the basics of public health. “Mark is one of broken, and I think that’s very dangerous to public health. the best teachers of research methods and philosophy I’ve ever “Right now, with the continuing cuts we are seeing in worked with,” said his longtime colleague, University of Texas scientific research and education, you have a situation where so Public Health Professor Michael Ross. many good scientists are spending too much time chasing NIH “He understands that teaching research methods without dollars and the few dollars that are still available out there at the understanding the philosophical arguments behind them is as [research] foundations. Meanwhile, state money for research has different as freeze-dried food is to French cuisine. When students virtually dried up. realize the history and philosophy of science that is behind “This is not good for science and it’s not good for public developing, testing and communicating scientific questions, it health. And we have to begin dealing with this problem, starting becomes gourmet science.” right now – because there are emergent diseases waiting out Like Ross, the authoritative U.S. MHA Guide – which there, and we have no idea what they are or when they might evaluates master’s level academic programs in healthcare trigger the next pandemic. v

“

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Zachar y, Schmackar y

By Tom Nugent When New York City cookie entrepreneur Zachary Schmahl (BA, ’06) landed in the Big Apple in the summer of 2008, he thought he wanted to be a star on Broadway. But life was preparing something else for the former UNL theatre major ... today the hugely successful operator of a $2-million-a-year gourmet cookie business known as “Schmackary’s.”

“Life is a rollercoaster,” said Schmahl when asked to explain his astonishing journey from Broadway wannabe to the Cookie Mogul of Times Square. “You just gotta put your hands up and ride the wave!”

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Zachary Schmahl outside his cookie store in New York City. Photo by Michaela Dowd.

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“

N

ext!”

Zachary Schmahl, 24 years old and grappling with a sudden attack of the jitters, rose to his feet.

Lurching forward, he mounted a flight of steps onto the main stage. Was this really happening? Was he really about to audition for a national touring company production of “A Chorus Line” – one of the most spectacularly successful musicals in the entire history of Broadway?

Yes, this was real. This audition, with several hundred Broadway hopefuls lined up in a hallway at the Actors Equity Building on West 46th Street, was fully underway. And now it was Schmahl’s turn to dance.

It happened in August of 2008, only two weeks after Schmahl arrived in Gotham City and began the incredibly challenging struggle to find work as a stage actor. Like thousands of other would-be actors in the Big Apple, the youthful Lincoln native had come to New York in pursuit of a lifelong dream ... the

Jeff, Zach and Maria Schmahl sample their cookies. Photo by Michaela Dowd.

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shimmering, endlessly beguiling image of himself as a headliner at one of the legendary live theaters in Wonderful Town.

Like most of the others, Schmahl had immediately moved into a tiny apartment – a 400-foot-square mini-pad near Times Square and so small that even the simplest action (opening the refrigerator, flushing the toilet) was like trying to tie a knot inside a matchbox.

Showbiz!

Like the others, Schmahl had spent endless hours asking himself: do I really have what it takes? Again and again, he had tried to calculate the odds against success ... in a world where “unless you have a three-or-four-octave [singing] range and can dance your face off, you’re in for a very tough gig!”

Like most of the others in the audition hall on this summer morning, Schmahl was feeling some intense pressure when he took the stage. As a theatre major at UNL, he’d often been encouraged by acting instructors who’d told him that his singing and dancing skills might just be good enough to cut the mustard in professional musicals – provided he continued to work non-

stop at perfecting them. Schmahl had worked very hard, indeed – and now he was praying that the UNL teachers had been right about his level of talent.

Make no mistake, then: today’s audition was the acid test.

And the challenge was complicated by the fact that Schmahl was struggling with a major sinus infection. For several days, he’d been hacking and sneezing and spitting phlegm like a runaway Yellowstone geyser. But now there was no more time in which to blow his leaking nose.

With a jolt of thrilling adrenalin, he heard the Actors Equity sound system slam into one of the famous musical’s most heart-stopping, high-stepping dance tunes – a rollicking hoofer’s extravaganza full of dizzying leaps and kicks and whirling pirouettes... Go! With his heart in his throat, the dancer soared into his routine. Arms extended and legs kicking harder than those of a Radio City Music Hall Rockette on steroids, he sprang through the limelight toward the stardom that he hoped lay ahead.

And then it happened.

With a stab of inexpressible horror, Zach Schmahl realized the worst: his sinuses were dribbling huge quantities of wet mucous down his chin! Frantic, the Chorus Line dancer fought the temptation to wipe his nose. Onward, he told himself. Ignore it.

Concentrate on the routine.

But it was hopeless. The sinuses were not to be denied.

“That was my first audition in New York,” he remembered years later, “and I flung snot across the stage! And I couldn’t stop thinking, ‘my God, I’ve destroyed my entire career!’”

It was brutal, to say the least. And the results were entirely predictable.

Moments after flinging the renegade phlegm into the stage lights, Schmahl heard one of the producers bellow the single word that every aspiring actor in New York dreads most to hear: “Next!”

Later, of course, after surviving more than 20 such auditions and also winning his fair share of acting jobs, he came to understand that his anxiety over the “snot episode” had been

Schmackary’s Cookies –

A “Dazzling Hit” Throughout Broadway Theater District At the trendy Davenport Theatre on New York City’s W. 45th Street, where the smash-hit musical comedy “Pageant” does a jam-packed business each evening, a veteran company manager named Mark McDaniels was singing the praises of a “fabulous” chocolate-chip cookie known as “the Schmackary.”

“Oh, everybody [in the theater district] goes to Schmackary’s!” sang the ebullient impresario, whose fabled playhouse is located only a few doors down from the Times Square neighborhood cookie palace.

“He [Zachary Schmahl] makes an awesome cookie. They’re fresh-made, and they’re very satisfying.

“You ask anybody in the theater world, and they’ll all tell you the same thing. He’s the next Mrs. Fields!”

Mark McDaniels was right.

During a recent walking survey of the Broadway theater district, one showbiz regular after another waxed eloquent about the “high-quality ingredients” and “subtle, nuanced flavors” of the inimitable

Schmackary.

Example: just up the street from the Davenport at the famed Al Hirschfeld Theatre – where the marquee announced that the critics were raving about “Kinky Boots” – daytime house manager Julie Lui announced: “We go there all the time.

“I love his ‘Maple Bacon’ cookie,” exclaimed Lui, “and I really like the way they warm them up for you. Those cookies are popular all around Broadway, and for a good reason: they’re delicious.”

A few blocks from the Hirschfeld (and not far from the sign that had been scrawled on a chalkboard in front of the Beer Culture Bar: “Thanks for last night – you know who you are!”) ... a ticket-seller at the world-renowned Imperial Theatre gushed happily about the “lip-schmackin’good” confections that are baked daily

by Zach Schmahl and his crew of 26 relentlessly dedicated cookie crafters.

“We order cookies from Schmackary’s all the time,” said the ticket maven, who was pushing $275 premium seats to “Les

Miserables,” the Broadway mega-hit.

“Everybody here loves those cookies, and I’m especially fond of his gluten-free varieties. The only problem is that as soon as they’re delivered, we have to hide them, or they’ll be gone in a heartbeat.

“I don’t know what he puts in them ... but many people along Broadway will tell you these are the best cookies they ever tasted.”

Some of The Great White Way’s biggest stars will readily agree. Among the leading lights who have sampled Zach’s exquisite confections and then raved about them during the past few years are Kristin Chenoweth, the Tony Award-winning singer-actress and star of “Wicked;” Judith Light, a headliner in “Other Desert Cities” and another Tony winner; famed Broadway actress-singer Audra McDonald (“A Raisin in the Sun”); Henry Winkler, the ageless “Fonz” from “Happy Days;” and Neil Patrick Harris, another Tony winner and the star of the TV sitcom blockbuster, “How I Met Your Mother.”

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needless.

“Once you’ve finished your audition and been sent on your way, they forget you,” he said with a sigh. “I’m sure nobody remembered my sinus attack for more than ten seconds.”

PROFESSOR BROWN: ‘ARE YOU A SHAPE-SHIFTER?’ Schmahl grew up in Lincoln as the son of a famed local sportscaster, Jeff Schmahl (BA, ’78) – later the creator of the pioneering “HuskerVision” jumbo-screen TV system – and a hard-working, Cuba-born homemaker, Maria Schmahl, with a proven knack for baking “some of the best-tasting cookies in the entire state of Nebraska.”

From his celebrity father (who left UNL to become the senior associate athletics director at Texas A&M a decade ago and recently retired), Schmahl said he learned a great deal about showmanship – “the art of communicating ideas to others with finesse and power.”

From his dedicated mother, a hugely energetic woman who encouraged him to “take the risks that are essential to succeeding in any endeavor in life,” he learned the “work ethic” that has sustained him through hundreds of 12- and even 18-hour workdays in the fast-paced, hurly-burly world of contemporary New York.

Nicknamed “Zachary, Schmackary” in high school, he had already “fallen in love with the theater at the age of nine,” after catching a touring-company production of the musical “Cats” in Lincoln. Determined to attend college in New York City, he relented at the last minute and agreed to “give UNL a try for one year,” just to see how he liked it.

After arriving on campus in the fall of 2002, he quickly began signing up for acting and directing courses. Within a few months, he said, all thoughts of departing UNL were abandoned, as the university’s award-winning theatre department (now the Johnny Carson School of Theatre & Film) gradually became the center of his life.

“Studying acting at UNL was a wonderfully challenging experience,” he recalled the other day in New York, “and I remember many classes in which I was pushed to the limit as an actor.”

In one of those classes, taught by a hands-on acting instructor – Professor Stan Brown – Schmahl found himself confronting what at first appeared to be an impossible assignment.

“

“He was always challenging us to go outside ourselves and to take on roles that we couldn’t see ourselves playing. And he told us we had to look within in order to be the character, not just play the character. And he would ask us, whenever he challenged us with a difficult role: ‘Can you do it? Are you a shape-shifter?’”

On one particularly harrowing occasion, Schmahl remembered, Professor Brown insisted that he play both an “elderly Hasidic woman” and a “fiery black street-rapper with gold teeth” ... and both during the same class period. Amazed by the assignment, Schmahl was struggling to find his inner “demure Hasidic lady” when the merciless instructor roared at him: “You must learn [as an actor] to become adaptable!”

Little did Zach Schmahl know, right then, that “learning how to adapt to changing circumstances” would soon become “the biggest and most important skill” he would use as a New York City business entrepreneur determined to launch his own business from scratch.

Zach’s dream was to make it big on Broadway, and he has accomplished that dream.”

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‘PING – A LIGHT WENT ON IN MY HEAD’

For about two years following his 2006 graduation from UNL, the kid from Lincoln tried his best to break into TV and film in Los Angeles.

He landed a few small jobs here and there ... but soon discovered that he was taking on more and more acting roles in live theatre – some of which didn’t even pay him for his work.

“Finally, I began to see the light,” he recalled, “and I realized that I needed to be in New York, not Los Angeles, and that I needed to be working in the medium I loved most, which is the live stage.”

After settling into his micro-digs in the fabled “Hell’s Kitchen” section of Manhattan (not far from Times Square), the hopeful actor plunged into the grind of auditions. “I was right off the boat,” he said with a groan, “and the auditioning process is just amazingly tough. I can’t tell you how often you would sit all morning long in a hot, stuffy hallway with dozens of other actors – and then the casting director would breeze by and tell you: ‘Sorry, but we’ve already got all the people we need – thank you for coming to the audition today!’

“Sitting in a hallway all morning ... and you never even got to audition! Or you’d show up prepared to do [sing] 16 bars for a musical, and as soon as you hit the stage they would tell you: ‘We have too many people [auditioning] today – you only get eight bars!’”

Jeff Schmahl

Then, with a sigh of remembered exhaustion: “This city is no joke. This city is hard. And it gets so bad after a while ... really, it gets to where the hardest thing is calling home, where they say, ‘Oh, how was your audition?’ and you say: ‘I don’t even want to talk about it.’”

After a couple of years of banging his head against Broadway’s stone wall, Schmahl decided he needed a break. Starting in early 2010, he took a series of jobs in marketing and PR and did quite well as a wordsmith who used his skills to help sell products, rather than moving audiences to raucous laughter or heartfelt tears.

Meanwhile, he was also discovering a curious fact: his love of baking cookies (first brought to life in his momma’s fragrantsmelling Lincoln kitchen, 20 years before) was becoming an increasingly important refuge from the “whips and scorns” of life in New York City. “I’d always liked cookies,” he remembered.

“Who doesn’t? But more and more, I found that I was looking forward to getting home and baking up a bunch of chocolate chip or maple bacon cookies as a way of relaxing and easing the stress in my life.”

As Schmahl experimented with dozens of different flavors and flours and cooking methods in his tiny apartment oven, he also

Cookie Czar Got Help From Two Great Pals – Mom and Pop When Zach Schmahl decided to take the plunge as a go-for-broke cookie entrepreneur, he knew his “incredibly supportive” parents would back him every step of the way.

An only child who said he feels “very blessed” to have been raised by “two people whose creativity and joy in living are a daily inspiration for me,” Schmahl learned the basics of cookie-crafting in his mom’s busy kitchen.

“She taught me a lot about hard work and integrity,” said the thriving businessman, who launched his fastgrowing cookie-works in his own tiny New York City apartment three years ago. “But she also taught me how to find joy in the small blessings of life – in things like savoring a warm, fragrant cookie on a winter afternoon.”

From his father, former Lincoln sportscaster and UNL “HuskerVision” pioneer Jeff Schmahl, Zach learned “a great deal about the art of planning and then managing a complicated business that depends on effective communication for success.

“My father is such a cool spirit,” added Zach, while explaining how the older man’s knack for creative communications has helped his son come up with several clever marketing ideas for the cookie biz.

“One of the best things about running Schmackary’s these days is that both of my parents are now living in New York and helping with the business,” he said.

My dad often has good advice about planning, and my mom loves to spend the afternoon running around in the kitchen.

“And that’s great – because these days, with more than 40 different flavors of cookies going out the door each week, we need all the help we can get!”

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noticed that more and more of his friends were asking for them.

“People kept telling me, these cookies are absolutely delicious – you should be selling them,” he explained recently. “At first I was skeptical, and I didn’t take them seriously. But then one day I started thinking about it. And I started asking myself: why aren’t you doing the thing you love?

“And all at once: Ping! A light went on in my head and I thought, ‘Okay, I’ll give it a try. Maybe it will bring in a few extra dollars now and then.’”

It did that, and more. And the drumbeat of demand grew ever louder, ever more insistent. Soon Schmahl was thinking about a name for his delightful creations, while also remembering his high school nickname.

Why not call them ... Schmackary’s? And then he began to play around with a marketing slogan: How about “Lip-Schmackin’ Good!”?

The business was growing by leaps and bounds now, as the “friends of friends of friends” called to order cookies by the dozen. And soon a growing number of area businesses – along with some of the nearby Broadway theaters, even – were beginning to order up bucket-loads of Schmackary’s.

On Valentine’s Day 2012, Schmahl took the leap: he was going to launch his own cookie company, full time. And no sooner had he made that bold-hearted decision than the phone rang ... and he was suddenly talking with a manager at New York-based Viacom, the international entertainment giant. “Can you deliver 50 dozen of your terrific cookies and get them to us the day after tomorrow?” asked the caller. “We want to treat everybody at Viacom!”

The rest, as they say, is cookie history. Zach Schmahl sold $1 million worth of cookies in his first full year of business. Last year he doubled that sales total, while also opening his first store, at 362 W. 45th Street, only a few blocks from Times Square.

Today he has 26 employees and plans to open two more stores in New York City within the next few months – and the days of baking the dessert treats in his little apartment oven are long gone.

“The key thing about Zach is that he really loves what he’s doing,” said the cookie entrepreneur’s top lieutenant and CONNECTION BOX “right-hand gal,” Brittany Bartlett.

“We work some long, hard days, schmackarys.com believe me, but we don’t mind because our hearts are behind Schmackary’s 100 percent.”

Like Brittany, Zach’s proud father is quick to point out that his son is a remarkably self-reliant and courageous young man who actually did quite well as an actor, before deciding that he’d rather make and sell Broadway’s best-tasting cookies.

“It was obvious at a very young age that Zach was an intelligent, inquisitive and creative individual,” said Jeff

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Schmahl. “And I really want to stress that word ‘individual’ – as he has always carried himself with a confidence that is indeed rare.

“Zach is a caring, passionate and creative person who thrives on challenge and is rarely afraid to take risks, and he believes deeply in his ability to find a way to succeed. Acting was a perfect outlet as it showed off his creativity and talent, while also demonstrating his courage to perform in front of an audience.

“Zach’s dream was to make it big on Broadway, and he has accomplished that dream – albeit in a different way than he had envisioned.”

Ask Zach Schmahl to explain his remarkable marketing success as the entrepreneurial magician who built a fast-growing cookie empire almost out of thin air and he’ll tell you that the secret ingredients were “a willingness to do lots of hard work” ... along with “a willingness to take a few risks, while respecting both our customers and our employees to an extraordinary degree.”

He also credits the “core values of Nebraska,” which are very much at work in his thriving enterprise these days. “When people come into Schmackary’s, they can’t believe how well they’re treated,” he said with one of his signature pop-eyed grins.

“They can’t believe that we show them so much respect, and that we’re deeply interested in them as human beings and not just as customers.”

Then, with a smile of warm nostalgia as he recalled his nourishing roots in the heart of Huskerland: “Nebraska taught me how to respect myself and other people. And UNL helped me learn how to be creative and adaptable.

“The willingness to take a risk, and to put yourself on the line for a concept you believe in, and to work hard to make it all happen – what is that?

“It’s Nebraska, that’s what it is!” v

Tradition and Quality SINCE 1917

Ninety-seven years. That kind of tradition does not happen by chance. The Dairy Store at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln is extremely proud to serve alumni, family and friends our very best ice creams, cheeses

and confections – always made with premium ingredients.

The next time you’re on East Campus, stop by to discover or perhaps rediscover the best way to get a taste of Husker pride.

Department of Food Science and Technology I The Food Processing Center Located at 38th & Holdrege on East Campus I 402.472.2828 I marketplace.unl.edu/dairystore The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is an equal opportunity educator and employer with a comprehensive plan for diversity. ©2014, The Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska. All rights reserved.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 39

The Wheeling Year:

Pioneering History on Two Continents

A Poet’s Field Book University of Nebraska Press, 2014, (cloth) $14.95

An Autobiography

www.nebraskapress.unl.edu

Ted Ted Kooser sees a Kooser writer’s workbooks as ’68

the stepping-stones on which a poet makes his way across the stream of experience toward a poem. Because those wobbly stones are only inches above the quotidian rush, what’s jotted there has an immediacy that is intimate and close to life. Kooser, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a former U.S. poet laureate, has filled scores of workbooks. “The Wheeling Year” offers a sequence of contemplative prose observations about nature, place and time arranged according to the calendar year.

Written by one of America’s most beloved poets, this book is published in the year in which Kooser turns 75, with 60 years of workbooks stretching behind him.

ALUMNI AUTHORS 40 FALL 2014

Bruce F. Pauley

’61

Potomac Books, 2014, (cloth) $37.95 potomacbooksinc.com

Bruce F. Pauley draws on his family and personal history to tell a story that examines the lives of Volga Germans during the 18th century, the pioneering experiences of his family in late 19th century Nebraska, and the dramatic transformations influencing the history profession during the second half of the 20th century. “Pioneering History on Two Continents” provides an intimate look at the shifting approaches to the historian’s craft during a volatile period of world history, with an emphasis on 20th century Central European political, social and diplomatic developments. It also examines the greater sweep of history through the author’s firsthand experiences as well as those of his ancestors, who participated in these global currents through their migration from Germany to the steppes of Russia to the Great Plains of the United States.

In Reach University of Nebraska Press, 2014, (paper) $18.95 www.nebraskapress.unl.edu

In writing both rich and evocative, Pamela Carter Joern conjures Pamela the small plains town of Carter Joern Reach, Nebraska, where ’70 residents are stuck tight in the tension between loneliness and the risks of relationships. With insight, wry humor and deep compassion, Joern renders a cast of recurring characters engaged in battles public and private, epic and mundane: a husband and wife find themselves the center of a local scandal; a widow yearns for companionship, but on her own terms; a father and son struggle with their broken relationship; a man longs for escape from a community’s limited view of love; a boy’s misguided attempt to protect his brother results in a senseless tragedy. In the town of Reach, where there is hope and hardship, connections may happen in surprising ways or lie achingly beyond grasp.

Not to be Forgiven

Then What Happened Papa

A Novel

CreateSpace, 2014, (paper) $19.95 www.amazon.com

Hugo House, 2013, (paper) $17.95 www.HugoHousePublishers.com

Nancy Mayborn Peterson ’56

World War II deeply impacts the Greggory family in Hiram’s Spring, Nebraska. Seventeen-year-old Danny is sent to fight Germans in North Africa.

Ten-year-old Sis Greggory is left to deal with fear, blackouts, rationing, scrap-metal drives and friends who are suddenly “aliens.” Tending the family Victory garden, she encounters Horst, a German inmate of the local Prisoner of War Camp. Sis is sure all Germans are monsters, yet Horst is warm and funny. But is he friend or foe?

Before the war is over, the lives of Sis, Danny and Horst are forever changed.

“Then What Happened Papa” is a story about the generation that came to age in World War II, as well as the personal story of a man whose childhood on a Nebraska farm during the Great Dillard H. Gates Depression shaped his future as a researcher, ’52, ’53 educator and international rangeland and agriculture consultant. With humor and maybe a few controversial thoughts, this book reflects both universal themes and cultural uniqueness among people worldwide. It takes you to Iraq, Africa, China, Russia, Australia and other locations spanning the globe.

A Spoonful of Dirt

Where We’ve Managed Somehow To Be

Gennesaret Press, 2014, (paper), $11.95 www.GennesaretPress.com

WSC Press, 2014, (paper) www.wsc.edu/wscpress

Charles Peek

’64, ’66, ’71

Charles Peek’s first chapbook of poetry celebrates the momentary pleasures and triumphs that keep us alive on our perilous journey through all stages of life. A retired University of Nebraska at Kearney English professor, Peek selected poems from those he has written over the better part of six decades, drawing from experiences with his family, his childhood and the Sandhills.

Joel Schnoor ’84

Johnny Stevens is a ten-year-old boy living on a farm near Polk City, Iowa, in the 1870s. He works hard with his siblings on the farm, but he’s frustrated that he has not had any real adventures. When he’s not doing chores, he would rather go fishing down at the creek with his best friend, Sam, than do anything else.

Little does he realize that his adventures are just around the corner. Based on writings and letters from the author’s great-grandfather, this book is the first of a series.

Show US YOUR TALENT Featured books are not sold or distributed through the Nebraska Alumni Association. Publishing information is provided to help consumers locate the title through local booksellers or online retailers unless otherwise noted.

To be considered for inclusion in Alumni Authors, send a complimentary copy of a book published in the last year and a description of its contents to: Alumni Authors Editor, 1520 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68508-1651 Please include the author’s full name, class year, current mailing and e-mail addresses and telephone number.

The author must have attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 41

New Alumni Advisory Council Members Named

NEWS

Football Friday and Husker Huddles Go on the Road Join the Nebraska Alumni Association, Husker Sports Network and Husker Athletics at Football Friday and Husker Huddles before the Northwestern and Wisconsin football games on the road this fall.

Football Friday in Chicago, sponsored by the NAA

Football Friday in Madison, sponsored by the NAA

• •

• •

•

• •

• •

•

WHEN: Friday, Oct. 17, 5 p.m.

WHERE: John Barleycorn, 149 W. Kinzie Street, downtown Chicago COST: FREE Live broadcast of Sports Nightly, great giveaways, special guests, games and Husker spirit Food and drink specials available

WHEN: Friday, Nov. 14, 5 p.m.

WHERE: Essen Haus, 514 East Wilson Street COST: FREE Live broadcast of Sports Nightly, great giveaways, special guests, games and Husker spirit Food and drink specials available

Husker Huddle in Chicago, presented by Huskers Athletic Fund

Husker Huddle in Madison, presented by Huskers Athletic Fund

• WHEN: Saturday, Oct. 18, 3-5:30 p.m. (kickoff 6:30 p.m.)

• WHERE: Double Tree by Hilton Conference Center, 9599 Skokie Blvd., Skokie, Ill. • FEATURING: Dueling pianos, face painting, Husker Spirit Squad, Nebraska dignitaries, special guest appearances by former Husker football players Mitch Krenk, Eric Warfield and Kris Brown • COST: $35 per person • REGISTRATION: Call 800-8-BIG-RED or visit huskersathleticfund. com/events

• •

•

•

42 FALL 2014

WHEN: Saturday, Nov. 15, time TBD WHERE: Union South, 1308 W. Dayton St., Madison (UW campus) FEATURING: Live music, Cornhusker Marching Band and Spirit Squad, giveaways, kids’ activities and more COST: TBD

The Nebraska Alumni Association is pleased to welcome four new members to the Alumni Advisory Council. New members are: Damon Barry, ’00, Westminster, Colo.; Megan Dreyer, ’03, Lincoln; Kendra Eberhart, ’79, Peoria, Ariz.; Greg Johnson, ’89, ’93, Denver; and Emily Murtaugh, Scarlet Guard representative.

Alumni retiring from the council include: Cathy Alley, ’88, ’91, Lincoln; Mark Carney, ’14 , Scarlet Guard representative; Jisella Dolan ’98, ’01, Omaha; Phil Gosch, ’91, Denver; Ted Harris, ’97, Denver; and Bill Munn, ’90, ’94, Denver. We thank them for their combined 20 years of dedicated service to the university and the alumni association.

The Alumni Advisory Council serves the UNL chancellor and the Nebraska Alumni Association in an advisory capacity, and members are ambassadors for UNL in their respective communities. AAC members represent all UNL colleges and a wide range of class years, geographic communities and business professions.

Council members meet twice annually on campus to be briefed on issues facing the university, to experience firsthand the programs of the campus and the alumni association, and to lend their advice from an alumni perspective. v

NEWS A New Name, A Renewed Focus This fall, in collaboration with celebrating 15 years of women’s programming through Cather Circle, the Nebraska Alumni Association has announced that the program will now be known as the Nebraska Women’s Leadership Network.

The new name reflects the achievements and aspirations of the current membership and addresses the group’s goal of building a worldwide network of women helping one another.

In conjunction with the name change, the program is now offering additional monthly programs that include, but are not limited to, professional development workshops, educational speakers and networking receptions. With the help of sponsors such as Baylor Evnen, who hosts the Cather Circle Speaker Series, the program can bring in high-level speakers and presentations.

“We envision the Nebraska Women’s Leadership Network as the premiere program for students who are looking for a connection to alumnae to help them at the beginning of their career journey,” said Sarah Haskell, associate director of alumni relations. “For alumnae, it provides an opportunity

to connect with one another, enhance their professional networks and pay lessons learned forward to current students while giving back to their university.”

The fall 2014 conference attracted more than 100 women across the country, from Hawaii to New York City.

Highlights of the conference were the 15th Anniversary Celebration Dinner where founding members and past chairs of the program were honored, and keynote speaker, Brigid Schulte, Washington Post reporter and New York Times best-selling author of “OVERWHELMED: Work, Love and Play When No one has the Time.” She was the second speaker in the Baylor Evnen Cather Circle Speaker Series.

The conference also featured a career continuum panel with members Kris Malkoski, Kristen Otterson, Becky Perrett and Shawntell Kroese; breakout sessions on mentorship and effective communication; and a Q&A with Cindy McCaffrey, retired Google marketing executive and UNL graduate.

For more information about the program or to inquire about becoming a member, please contact Haskell at shaskell@huskeralum.org. v

NAA Communications Team Adds Social Media Manager Hilary Winter, a 2011 UNL journalism grad from Papillion, has joined the Nebraska Alumni Association staff as a digital communications specialist. She is responsible for managing and growing the NAA’s social media networks and assisting with other digital communications efforts.

She also provides online marketing support for alumni chapters and affiliate groups.

Winter most recently served as the primary media relations contact for the nationally prominent Nebraska volleyball and track and field teams. She joined the Athletic Department as an assistant media relations director in August of 2011, after previously serving as a graduate intern. v

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 43

NEWS Student Alumni Board 1978

Oozeball 1980s

Happy 40th Student Alumni!

For the past 40 years, the Nebraska Alumni Association has been helping achieve the goals and aspirations of the university by way of its student alumni group.

The journey began in 1973 when, after polling the student body to assess their knowledge of what the alumni association was and what it did, Jack Miller, NAA’s Executive Vice President, and staff determined a student board was needed to not only provide and encourage student programming, but to also increase awareness and cooperation among students, faculty and alumni. Organizations were asked to recommend students to serve on the board, and in September 1974 under Miller’s direction, the eight-member “Student Alumni Board” was founded.

Less than a week after she took over as SAB’s adviser, NAA staff member Carole Reno took three of the eight board members to a national student alumni conference at Iowa State University – a conference students still attend today called CASE ASAP (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, Affiliated Student Advancement Programs).

Upon discovering more than 100 institutions had student alumni associations, Reno and students returned with a number of programming ideas, including: 44 FALL 2014

• Red Carpet Days: SAB members welcomed NU Regents Scholarship recipients and

parents to campus for tours and

informal meetings with UNL

student service representatives.

• Dinner for 12 Strangers: Alumni

hosted informal dinners for

students and faculty with similar interests.

• Freshman Packets: SAB provided

informational packets to incoming freshmen, which included a calendar, campus map and

college handbook.

• Senior Yearbook: Replacing the

discontinued Cornhusker year book, SAB produced and sold

this $4 book that contained senior pictures and informal

campus photos obtained through

a SAB-sponsored photo contest.

approximately 60 members. Before calling the Wick Alumni Center home in 1984, SAA hosted a mud volleyball tournament, known as the “oozeball” tournament, in a muddy lot where the Holling Garden now stands. Other SAA activities through the 1990s and early 2000s included shoveling snow for the elderly, a semi-formal wine-and-cheese party for UNL seniors, “Adopt-A-Block” in the Haymarket and the Student Enhancement Fund, which allowed SAA members to distribute funds to other student organizations seeking to make a difference on campus.

While those activities no longer exist, Alumni Masters Week and Homecoming are two longstanding events with student alumni association support. Since 1964, Alumni Masters Week has brought outstanding alumni to campus to help students realize how their education can be applied to their future career(s) through a mixture of Since 1974, the student alumni classroom presentations and student group has greatly evolved. In 1980, SAB changed its name to the “Student lunches as well as a Masters panel and dessert reception.

Alumni Association” and grew to The Student Alumni Association began its involvement in Homecoming by coordinating a Wallyball tournament and hosting a pep rally. In 1997, SAA replaced the Wallyball tournament with a Fun Run, and the group continues to host Scarlet Guard Board of Directors 2014-15 the Pep Rally and Jester

NEWS SAA Scavenger Hunt 2003

students today. alumni tomorrow. HUSKERS FOREVER. competition where students compete to win the title of Jester – Nebraska’s biggest fan.

In 2006, SAA changed formats from a “closed” membership organization requiring a rigorous application and selection process to an “open” group, accepting any student who wanted to be involved. While the leadership of the organization remained selective, the idea was to make SAA activities inclusive of all students who wanted to have the “student alumni” experience.

The organization’s named changed once again in 2008 when SAA was rebranded “Scarlet Guard” and charged with protecting UNL’s legacy.

In 2009, Diane Mendenhall, then NAA’s Executive Director, charged SG with one primary task – grow. Focusing on recruitment and membership, SG increased from 99 members in 2009 to more than 1,400 at the end of spring 2014.

Other accomplishments of the organization since 1974: • More than 300 board members

and nine advisers, including

Carole Reno, Barb Wright-Chollet,

Beth Olson Brase, Shelley Moses

Zaborowski, Anna Pressler, Chris

Andersen, Amy Castro, Jenny

Green and current adviser Ashley Stone.

• 1998: SAA won “Most

Outstanding Organization” at the

ASAP District 6 Conference.

• 1999: SAA played host to the ASAP District 6 Conference with the theme “Painting the 21st Century Red.” • 2000: SAA won “Most Outstanding Program” for the Student Enhancement Fund at the ASAP District 6 Conference.

• 2014: SG won “Best Twitter Account” at the CASE ASAP District 6 Conference.

• 2014: SG won the “Outstanding Commitment to Recruitment” through UNL’s Student Impact Awards.

• 2014: 51 SG members have been recognized as Official Tradition Keepers, an achievement earned by completing 50 traditions in the Cornhusker Compass customizable “yearbook” introduced in 2009.

The student group officially celebrated its 40th anniversary in September and continues to create the ultimate Husker experience for students through a number of networking, mentoring and social events throughout the year. This year’s schedule includes the Ultimate Cornhusker Compass Competition, an Amazing Race-style, cross-campus competition; Dodgeball in Memorial Stadium; and Backpacks and Briefcases, providing students with tips, tricks and resources to maximize their college experience and launch their careers.

While many memories have been captured since 1974, the impact of the organization and its legacy are most obvious in a quote from a former SAB president:

As a mother of six children and a Navy wife who moved often, I have had an interesting career over the years. But when I reflect on what prepared me for my various jobs, it is the leadership development that I experienced during my years as a member of SAB. From interviewing potential students for SAB, planning and promoting an event, running meetings, developing budgets, observing the talented Alumni Association staff who served as role models, and working with the wonderful alumni who came back for reunions, the experience prepared me well for jobs with non-profits, jobs in marketing and public relations, and certainly my current job as Headmistress of Roseleaf Academy. Seven years ago, I founded the only girls’ school in eastern North Carolina to ensure not only academic excellence but leadership development for young middle school girls. It’s a great way to pass on many of the things I learned 38 years ago as a member of SAB at UNL. Lori Rosenlof Drake, ’80

To learn more about Scarlet Guard, UNL’s student alumni association, please visit the website. v

CONNECTION BOX huskeralum.org/sg NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 45

Time to Sign Up for Postcards of Pride

NEWS

Encourage prospective students to attend UNL by sharing your favorite campus memories and life lessons through Postcards of Pride.

A joint effort between the NAA and the UNL Office of Admissions, the Postcards of Pride program is a volunteer effort to help recruit the next generation of students to the University of NebraskaLincoln.

During the academic year (October to April), volunteers are given a list of prospective students, along with the appropriate amount of NU postcards. The students are high school seniors who have applied, been admitted, and are making their college choice from a small number of colleges and universities. Volunteers are asked to write a short message to these students.

CONNECTION BOX Research shows that correspondence like this can play a huskeralum.org/postcards huge role in a prospective student’s choice. Last year, approximately 500 students attending UNL had received a postcard through Postcards of Pride.

If you would like to be part of that effort this year, visit the NAA website to sign up. v

Young Alumni Academy to Kick Off Third Year A new class of Young Alumni Academy members returns to campus this month to explore areas of their alma mater that are new and different. Led by A.T. Greer of the Nebraska Alumni Association, the group gathers monthly for networking, socializing, tours and presentations.

The goal is for the class to have fun as they learn more about each other as well as the university. There will also be cameo appearances by Chancellor Harvey Perlman and other leaders around campus as well as members of the past two YAA classes.

The 2014-2015 YAA Schedule: October 23 Orientation with the Chancellor November 13 Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources December 11 Athletics January 15 University Museum/Planetarium February 12 Research and Economic Development with Vice Chancellor

Prem Paul March 5 NAA/University of Nebraska Foundation/Office of Admissions April 16 Student Affairs with Stan Campbell May 14 Nebraska Innovation Campus with Dan Duncan and Kate Engel Watch for a photo and listing of the new members in the winter issue of Nebraska Magazine. v

Families enjoyed “visitors” from the Lincoln Children’s Zoo, Lincoln Children’s Museum and University of Nebraska State Museum at Football Friday Sept. 5.

46 FALL 2014

ALUMNI

CHAPTERS & AFFILIATES

Also recognized at the 2014 CORNYs were the alumni chapters that fund Nebraska Legends Scholarships.

Chapters Earn Honors at the CORNYs The Nebraska Alumni Association’s Volunteer Leadership Conference kicked off Sept. 4 with the presentation of the 2014 CORNY awards. The Nashville Huskers were named Chapter of the Year and the Gateway Huskers of St. Louis earned Newcomer of the Year honors.

Other winners included:

Award of Excellence – Leadership Small market – Big Mac Alumni Large market – ROTC & Military Affiliate Award of Excellence – Membership Small Market – Nashville Huskers Large Market – Bay Area Huskers Award of Excellence – Programming Small market – Hoosiers for Huskers Large market – NYC Huskers

Huskers in Huntsville Enjoy Picnics and Watch Parties The Ditto Landing Pavilion overlooking the Tennessee River was the place for 27 Alabama Nebraskans to be on May 31. Thanks to all the alumni and friends who donated money to pay for the pavilion rental.

The group chowed down on Valentino’s pizza and Runzas and won

door prizes. Joel Williamsen brought a copy of his book, “Barrelhouse Boys,” as one of the prizes. Set in Lincoln in 1894, it is a “must read” for all Nebraskans according to chapter leader John Matras.

This fall, area alumni and friends will once again gather for watch parties.

Check the Alabama Nebraskans Facebook page for watch site updates. The chapter appreciates the couples who hosted the watch sites last year – John and Cathy Matras and Darin and Melanie A fellow Husker visiting from Nebraska delivered Runzas and Geiger. v Valentino’s pizza for the annual Alabama Nebraskans picnic in May.

Award of Excellence – Communications Small market – Upstate New Yorkers for Nebraska Large market – Washington Cornhuskers Award of Excellence – Scholarship Small market – (Tie) Tampa Bay Huskers, Las Vegas Nebraskans Large market – Siouxland Huskers

ROTC Pre-game Pancake Feed Open to the Public The ROTC and Military Affiliate will host a pancake feed Nov. 1 at the Pershing Military and Naval Science Building before the Nebraska/Purdue football game. The event is open to the public, and will be used to raise funds for the affiliate’s scholarship.

A short business meeting for members of the affiliate will be held prior to the fundraiser for the election of officers.

Watch the huskeralum.org events calendar for updates. The ROTC and Military Affiliate has awarded scholarships to nine cadets and midshipmen since the group’s inception in 2010. v

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 47

ALUMNI

CHAPTERS & AFFILIATES Hoosiers for Huskers Hold Taste of Nebraska On Aug. 23, the Indianapolis area alumni chapter held another successful Taste of Nebraska, hosted once again by chapter members Sue and Dick Tempero at their home. The food was plentiful, including Runzas, Fairbury hot dogs and hamburgers with Misty’s seasoning salt.

This marked the fourth annual gathering. “Traditions” and “Growing the Chapter” were the themes, and chapter officers spoke on the importance of both. The first chapter scholarship recipient, Katie Mellott, currently in her senior at UNL, has thrived as Cornhusker. Keeping

This group of Nebraska alumni and fans enjoyed a Taste of Nebraska at the home of Hoosiers for Huskers members Sue and Dick Tempero in August.

Nebraska traditions alive in part by supporting future generations is a primary chapter goal. The chapter awarded two scholarships this year: one ($1,000) for incoming freshman Gabrielle Perez, daughter of Heather Perez, Hoosiers webmaster/ communications officer, and one ($500) for returning student Jaci John.

The Hoosiers for Huskers have more than 275 Facebook members as well a large e-mail distribution list. The officers, however, believe there

is room and opportunity for growth.

Business cards are being printed for chapter members to distribute as they encounter fellow Nebraskans who are not aware or not already a part of the group.

The first football watch party of the season was held Aug. 30 at Fox and Hound in Indianapolis. The room is permanently decorated with Nebraska gear and has plenty of Big Red spirit when filled with Cornhusker fans. v

Alumni Affiliate OLLI Marks Milestone The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute is celebrating 10 years as part of the University of NebraskaLincoln this year.

In 2004, OLLI had about 200 members. Today OLLI is a strong and vibrant group of nearly 1,200 individuals over age 50 who love to learn and agree that “curiosity never retires.”

OLLI’s course lineup during the 2014-2015 academic year is especially strong with many new offerings, special events and travel opportunities. Fall Term 2, which begins Oct. 27, will continue to feature OLLI’s 2014-2015 theme “1965-1975: Decade of Transformation.” Courses supporting this theme, like the majority of OLLI courses, meet once weekly for six weeks. With no homework and no grades, OLLI is about learning for learning’s sake.

New Fall Term 2 courses associated with the Decade of Transformation include “Words of War: Major Fiction and Nonfiction of the Vietnam War.” This course will look at the raw, disturbing, unsettling and yet vital stories that were written about Vietnam by the individuals who fought it and reported it.

48 FALL 2014

Another course linked with Vietnam is “The Vietnam War on the Big Screen.” Attendees will view and discuss movies born of the Vietnam era including: “The Deer Hunter,” “Apocalypse Now,” “Coming Home,” “Born on the Fourth of July” and “Platoon.”

The next course switches gears from Vietnam to women’s liberation. “Writings from the Women’s Movement of the 1960s and 1970s” will take a look at some of the major books that propelled and defined modern feminism. The works of authors such as Betty Friedan, Susan Brownmiller, Bella Abzug, Gloria Steinem and others will be read and discussed.

And who can forget “The Sexual Revolution of the 1960s”? This course will explore “free love” along with new forms of sex therapy researched by the Kinsey group, and Masters and Johnson.

To learn more, join OLLI CONNECTION BOX (NAA members joining OLLI olli.unl.edu for the first time receive a $10 olli@unl.edu discount), or register for classes, 402-472-6265 visit the website. v

ALUMNI

CHAPTERS & AFFILIATES

The San Diego Huskers enjoyed a summer social.

From Book Awards to Picnics and Sporting Events San Diego alumni have enjoyed a variety of events over the past few months, including a July 27 outing to the Del Mar racetrack and an Aug. 24 summer social.

In addition, the chapter presented its annual University

of Nebraska Book Award at Point Loma High School in San Diego for the 18th consecutive year. Point Loma junior Cooper Bates was the recipient of “The Scholarly Edition of My Antonia,” presented by chapter member Tom Hedges. v

Upstate New Yorkers Host Founders’ Day The Upstate New Yorkers for Nebraska alumni chapter held its third annual Founders’ Day event May 31 near Rochester, N.Y., with approximately 35 fans in attendance to hear special guest and Husker alum Richard (Rich) Glover.

A Nebraska defensive standout at middle guard from 1970 to 1972 and winner of the 1972 Outland and Lombardi trophies winner, Glover said the reason legendary Defensive Coordinator Monte Kiffin offered the New Jersey native a scholarship was because he was ‘always in the frame’ when Kiffin reviewed film of his high school team. Glover’s story was one of hustle, dedication, a vision for his life, and the will to fight through when the odds were steep.

The event also featured a catered meal and a silent auction with an array of Husker items. This was the second of the chapter’s three Founder’s Day events in which a former Nebraska player was a guest speaker. The 2012 event hosted David White, outside linebacker (1989-1992).

The Upstate New Yorkers Founders’ Day event featured Husker alum Richard Glover as guest speaker.

During the evening, chapter leadership was elected for the 2014-2015 year. Jessica Walcott Murray will serve as president; Candy Ingwersen, secretary; Jessica Wells, treasurer; Brian Sharp, watch party coordinator; Paul Campbell, special events coordinator; and Jesse Edwards, social media coordinator.

To learn more about Upstate New Yorkers for Nebraska and its activities, contact the chapter at upstatenyfornebraska@ gmail.com or visit the chapter online at huskeralum.org/ upstatenewyorkers. v NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 49

CLASSNOTES 1935

n Lorraine Swanson Mott of Gainesville, Fla., celebrated her 102nd birthday this summer and remains healthy and active at The Village, a retirement center where she lives.

1939

Howard Wiegers, a former professor in the School of Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, noted his 99th birthday July 20 in Lincoln.

1947

Cecilia Cather of Lincoln marked her 90th birthday July 10.

■ Dick and Jacquie Chapin of Lincoln celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary July 30.

1948

Ernestine Elwonger of Lincoln celebrated her 90th birthday May 25. n Ken Nix of Palo Alto, Calif.,

turned 90 on June 6.

News/Weddings/Births/Deaths

their 50th wedding anniversary June 29.

n Bob and n Idonna Florell, ’53,

Lincoln, noted their 60th wedding anniversary Aug. 1.

1951

n Loyd Fischer of Lincoln

celebrated his 94th birthday Aug. 23.

Joe Hageman, Lincoln, celebrated his 90th birthday Aug. 27.

Roscoe and Leona Shields of Lincoln marked 65 years of marriage June 7.

1952

Clinton and Beverly Hoover, ’55, of Lincoln celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary Aug. 1.

1953

n William and Deanna Barnds of Galesburg, Ill., observed 50 FALL 2014

n Thomas V. Kaspar of Omaha

was elected president of the National Association of State Farm Agents.

Lloyd and Sally Gowin of Lincoln noted their 60th wedding anniversary June 5.

n Thomas J. Fitchett has joined the new Lincoln law firm Endacott, Peetz & Timmer, as an of-counsel member.

1956

Dave and Maxine Roberts of Schuyler celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Aug. 24.

n Hugh and n Marilyn Waechter Barnard, ’58, of Grand Rapids, Mich., noted 50 years of marriage July 18. n Kenneth N. and n Kathleen

Thomazin Johnson, ’56, of Columbus celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary July 6.

Nancy Mayborn Peterson, Centennial, Colo., has had her first historical novel, “Not to be Forgiven,” published. The work depicts the home front in Hiram’s Spring, Neb., during World War II, and has won the Top Hand Award for the best adult mainstream novel in the 2014 Colorado Authors’ League’s annual competition.

■

1957

Barry and Irene Moore of Lincoln celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary June 12. n Arvel and Carol Pohlman

1949

1963

Witte, Rolling Hills, Calif., celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary June 28.

1958

n Tom and n Mary Witty, ’54,

Lincoln, noted their 60th wedding anniversary Aug. 22.

1959

n Jerry and n Helen Sellentin, ’69, of Lincoln celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary June 20.

1962

Bill and Edythe Cascini of Lincoln marked 65 years of marriage Aug. 3.

Edward and n Lola Triska Schall of York celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary June 13.

n Janet K. Poley, professor

1964

n Ken and Maureen Foley Hake

of Lincoln celebrated 50 years of marriage June 20.

Chuck and ■ Janet Swanson Matzke of Lincoln marked a half-century of marriage June 28.

Bob and Mary Grenz Rogge of Lincoln observed their 50th wedding anniversary May 31.

n Charles P. and n Cathie Harris McConnell, of Fresno, Calif., observed 50 years of marriage Aug. 22. n William L. Mersch of Aurora

retired in July after 50 years of service as an attorney. Mersch was a partner with the firm of Whitney, Newman, Mersch and Otto in Aurora.

Larry and Linda Volland of Lincoln celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary June 22.

1968

Robert and Roberta Frerichs of Lincoln celebrated wedding anniversary number 50 on April 18.

Curt and Mary Sederburg of Lincoln noted 60 years of marriage Aug. 8.

1965

n Marvin E. Criswell, former

professor of civil and environmental engineering and associate department head at Colorado State University, was named the 2014 Outstanding Advisor by Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society. The Estes Park, Colo., resident was honored for his contributions to students and collegiate chapters as an engineering faculty member.

1971

n Dennis Biehl, Lexington, has joined Mid-Continent Properties of Omaha as a sales associate.

Linda Hansel has retired as the executive secretary at Lincoln Public Schools. n Gary and Gloria Oxley of

Lincoln celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Aug. 16.

Maurice and Carolyn Stohlmann Lange of Hallam celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Aug. 2. n Georgianne Mastera has been

elected to the board of directors of the Seniors Foundation in Lincoln.

n Robert G. Travnicek, Gulfport,

Miss., had a street named in his honor in January.

1966

Don and Betty Jisa of Lincoln marked 50 years of marriage Aug. 31.

■ Indicates Alumni Association Life Member

emeritus in the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has been selected the recipient of the 2014 OLC (Online Learning Consortium) Bourne Outstanding Achievement Award in Online Education.

■

Dennis and Ida Siedel of Valparaiso marked their 50th wedding anniversary Aug. 22.

Leonard and Jan Selk Stehlik of Dorchester observed 50 years of marriage Aug. 22. n Floyd Tesmer, a former

professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, serves on the Bailey Family Foundation scholarship committee, providing financial assistance toward tuition to aspiring students.

Tesmer lives in Glen Allen, Va.

Indicates Alumni Association Annual Member

By Kelly J. Riibe, ’03

Alumni Profile ’03

Busy Does Not Begin to Describe Angie Henderson

UNL alumna Angie Henderson has accumulated a variety of job titles since graduating in 2003. She is a personal trainer, strength coach, triathlon instructor and event director.

“I need to learn to say no,” acknowledged the Emerson, Neb., native.

By mornings and evenings, Henderson trains clients. During afternoons and weekends, she coaches triathletes and plans races ranging from 2Ks to marathons.

She credits her time on campus with leading her down this very active path. During her undergraduate years, Henderson studied sports psychology with Wesley Sime at UNL. “Working with Dr. Sime there was one of the best things I could have ever done,” said the former Abel Hall resident.

Sime introduced Henderson to the “Play It Smart” program, which resulted in her moving to Houston to work with kids in inner-city high schools. She was employed as an academic coach.

“You’re basically the guidance counselor just for them,” explained Henderson, who helped varsity football players make it to graduation.

Henderson also had a second job, as a personal trainer, during this period. Her psychology degree helped her relate well to others and gain clients. She began training full-time and joined her current employer, West U Fitness, seven years ago. Her workout sessions are 30 minutes and similar to a cross fitness style, but with more monitoring.

“My job is to warm them up, work them out and send them on their way,” said the former Campus Rec lifeguard.

All sessions take place in a studio, which offers a more intimate environment than a corporate gym. Equipment is minimal, and consists of a few weights, three treadmills and an elliptical machine. Ropes, balls and bands are also in use.

Henderson explained that her “primary talent focus is group training;” however, no client is the same. She works with people ranging from youth soccer players to 70-year-olds. She sees clients who have never worked out before, some who are pregnant and others who race professionally.

“I may see 25 people between the hours of 5 a.m, and 10 a.m.,” said Henderson, who minored in nutritional studies.

Henderson also became a certified triathlon coach eight years ago.

Initially she instructed beginners, but has progressed to working with athletes looking to earn their pro card.

Henderson coaches for events ranging from sprint courses to the Ironman.

She provides expertise for all legs of a triathlon, which include biking, swimming and running.

“Cycling is my passion,” admits Henderson who placed first, in her age group, at the Omaha Triathlon three years ago.

Upon entering the fitness industry, Henderson got interested in organizing racing events. She owns her own company, Limitless Race Productions, and also finds work as a consultant.

“Endurance events have really taken off in the last decade,” explained Henderson who plans 15-20 events

annually.

She recently put on a run for approximately 10,000 people in The Woodlands, Texas. It involved a 2K, 5K, half-marathon and full marathon.

The event was a success but also had some drama.

“We were literally about 30 hours out from the start of our race and we had no medals,” said Henderson.

The medals had been pre-ordered but were stuck in customs. Henderson explained that participants need their medals to showcase their achievement. The feedback can be harsh if someone crosses the finish line and does not receive their hardware.

Thankfully, through a chain of networking Henderson got her plea to a Texas senator, and he helped get the medals released in time.

“Without medals, your event can tank itself,” Henderson said. “That means next year, good luck filling out those registrations.”

In another incident, Henderson remembered working on a triathlon with a strong pro field vying for a large cash prize. During the event a lead kayak went the wrong way and took some swimmers 100 meters offcourse. Henderson clarified that it is a competitor’s job to know the route.

The winner did not follow the kayak, and won by approximately ten seconds. This caused some controversy, as the runner-up felt he would have won if not for being misled.

Continued on Page 52 NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 51

CLASSNOTES busy does not begin Continued from Page 51 While no medals and a rogue kayak can hurt an event, the threat of injury is something else Henderson must always be ready to handle.

“We’ve been so blessed to not have any deaths,” said Henderson, who broke her pelvis in a cycling collision during her first Ironman competition but came back six months later to finish Ironman Texas in 11 hours 58 minutes.

Henderson recalled working at the Kemah Triathlon, where a lead swimmer exited the water with a sliced foot. As the race progressed, more than 30 participants came to shore with cuts. Henderson waded out to investigate, and discovered a shell-encrusted teapot that was immediately discarded. However, its first victim had a season ending injury consisting of over 40 stitches to his foot.

Despite occasional pain and stress, Henderson’s career allows her to give back to causes that are close to her heart. She coordinated “The Child Advocates Superhero Family Fun Run” last year, at Houston’s CityCentre, and raised around $50,000.

Henderson can also say she literally fell in love with work. She met her fiance, Austin Parker, at her Wednesday night cycling class. He is an elite status athlete and enjoys participating in events that Henderson plans. Despite this shared bond, Parker kept racing out of his proposal. Instead, he popped the question on a mountaintop.

“The only thing, endurance-wise, that it required was that we hike 4,000 feet,” Henderson explained.

Now, on top of all her duties, Henderson is planning a wedding for October. However, she’s not worried.

“I’m the most relaxed bride you could probably ever imagine,” Henderson laughed. She is already committed to planning a 5K one week before getting married. v

1972

n Tom Broad, community rela-

tions manager at Memorial Hermann Northeast Hospital in Humble, Texas, received the 2014 Spirit of the Chamber award, given each year to one volunteer of the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce.

He lives in Kingwood.

Linda Sabatka, communications supervisor at Tabitha, an elder care facility in Lincoln, was honored for 30 years service at the annual LIVE Celebration in May.

1973

n William H. McCartney has

retired from USAA in San Antonio after almost 16 years as a senior vice president in the law department and has joined Regulatory Advice & Consulting LLC as managing director. He and his wife, Christine Miller, ’72, have relocated to their ranch near Burnet, Texas.

n Michael J. Tavlin was elected

to the board of directors for the Sheldon Art Association in Lincoln.

1974

Stephen D. Andersen has qualified for Million Dollar Round Table, an exclusive forum of the world’s most successful life insurance and financial service professionals. Andersen is employed by Midlands Financial of Lincoln, and has been a qualifying member for 41 years.

Lynne Anderson, Lincoln, has retired after 39 years of teaching in Waverly schools.

Steve Burham, co-founder of Lincoln construction company Dickey & Burham Inc., has retired after 27 years with the firm. n Steve Keist completed 37

years in the practice of law in September. Keist has a firm in Glendale, Ariz., and is a past president of the West Maricopa County Bar Association, founder and director of Christian Legal Aid of Arizona and the Arizona Justice Center.

52 FALL 2014

1975

n Terri Marti has retired after 39 years of teaching special education in the Lincoln Public Schools. n Ann Thober, Lincoln, has

retired from Norris Public Schools.

n Timothy Wentz, associate

professor of construction management at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was installed as treasurer of ASHRAE at its 2014 Annual Conference. ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning) is a building technology society with more 50,000 members worldwide.

1976

Gary Dubas is the managing principal in the Omaha office of TSP Inc., a regional architecture, engineering and planning company.

Gail Swiggart, Lincoln, retired earlier this year after 38 years of teaching, the past 28 with Waverly District 145.

1977

Dennis Adams of Lincoln retired from the Nebraska Forest Service after 41 years. n R. Samuel Bryant, founder

of Bryant Cosmetic Surgery in Lincoln, saw his company receive the 2014 Best of Lincoln Award in Cosmetic Surgeons.

Larry Heyen, a financial adviser in the Lincoln office of Waddell and Reed, was named to that company’s Circle of Champions for the seventh time.

1978

Penny Hamilton, Granby, Colo., was one of several authors contributing to the international book, “Absent Aviators,” published in September.

She also provided the cover shot for the work.

■

n Doug Hammerseng, vice presi-

dent of sales for GLS Companies in Minneapolis, has been elected to the city council of

By Kristine Jacobson, ’94

Alumni Profile ’63, ’64

Success Spurred

by Devaney Years Jim Huge

In the early 1960s, there was no Sea of Red. No consecutive sellouts.

No tunnel walk. Not even a winning season for the Huskers.

That was the scene when Jim Huge started playing football for the Huskers in 1958. But, during his senior year in college, it all changed.

A new coach by the name of Bob Devaney was hired.

It was the beginning of a new legacy that is called Nebraska football, and Jim Huge said, humbly, that he is grateful for “being able to play a very, very, very, very small part in turning the Nebraska football program around.”

His time on the Nebraska football team and with Bob Devaney helped him launch a successful career as a radio broadcaster, teacher, principal and leadership consultant.

“It was marvelous,” Huge said of the Devaney years. “When Devaney came in, it was like the clouds were lifted.”

He said Devaney met with each of the players individually to discover their strengths.

“He taught me to find out about students’ strengths and to build on that,” Huge said, which he remembered when he later became a teacher and school administrator.

The Huskers went 9-2 during Huge’s senior season in 1962 and earned a trip to the Gotham Bowl at Yankee Stadium in New York, where they beat the Miami Hurricanes.

It was the first of 40 consecutive winning seasons at Nebraska.

Huge, who graduated from Holdrege High School, also played basketball for the Huskers. He was a guard for the Huskers and lettered for Coach

Jerry Bush’s squad in 1961 and 1963.

In addition to his athletic endeavors at UNL, Huge also excelled academically.

He maintained a 3.8 GPA and was named an Academic All American in 1962. He also earned three Academic All-Big Eight honors, was the first-ever three-time academic all-conference selection and was a member of the Innocent’s Society.

Huge said academics were important in his family. His mother only had the opportunity to attend school through eighth grade, and she wanted to ensure her three sons had opportunities that she didn’t.

“If you got home with anything other than an A, you got a long conversation,” Huge said of his mother.

Huge majored in chemistry and math, eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in those areas and a master’s degree in educational leadership from UNL. After graduating from UNL, he taught science and math in the Lincoln Public Schools, quickly moving his way up to assistant principal and then principal. At the same time, he stayed connected with the Huskers by working as a sportscaster for the Cornhusker Football Radio Network for 14 years.

Early in his career, he accepted a principal job at a high school in Manhattan, Kan., where they asked him if he would be able to cheer for Kansas State.

“I will wear a purple coat, but it will always have a red lining,” Huge said he told them jokingly.

He dream job of being principal at Lincoln East High School eventually opened up, and he got the job. He was the second principal to lead the new high school.

It was a time of tremendous growth at Lincoln East, and the new school started excelling in sports, academics and extra-curricular activities under Huge’s leadership. Huge said he had an amazing team to work with at Lincoln East and will always have fond memories of his time there.

“It was a wonderful time and the right combination of people,” he said.

For the past 35 years Huge has traveled the world, serving as a consultant to schools, corporations and small businesses in all 50 states, Canada, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America and the Middle East with his business, Jim Huge & Associates.

He has worked as a mentor for governing boards, chief executives and executive teams, including coaching the vice president of marketing at Disney theme parks in Orlando. He works with teams and leaders to help them identify and build on strengths, discover leadership style, manage time, coach future leaders and motivate employees.

Continued on Page 54 NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 53

CLASSNOTES success spurred Continued from Page 53

recognizes leadership, initiative and accomplishment in banking regulatory compliance management.

Huge now lives in Reno, Nev., with his wife, Laura. He has two children, son Todd Huge, an attorney in Seattle, and daughter Joni, a nurse in high-risk pregnancies also in the Seattle area. He has three grandchildren.

Huge also enjoys his work as chairman of the Harry and Reba Huge Foundation, which was started by his brother (Harry), a successful attorney. The foundation offers scholarships to top scholars attending Nebraska Wesleyan University and the College of Charleston in South Carolina. The foundation also offers the Dorothy Vorderstrasse Huge Scholarship for young women in Thayer and Nuckolls counties in Nebraska.

This scholarship is in honor of Huge’s mother, Dorothy, who “believed education was more than a means to further one’s own opportunities; it’s a means to grow them for others.”

In addition to the financial awards the scholarships offer mentoring from the Huge family, and the lessons Jim Huge learned from Bob Devaney many years ago live on. v

Hanover, Minn., for a four-year term.

Andrew Schultz, Lincoln, is the author of “Saints and Heroes,” a novel that explores Scottish history and the idea that ordinary people can have a lasting impact if they remain true to their beliefs.

1979

n Mark Hesser of Lincoln has been appointed president of Pinnacle Bancorp, having served as executive vice president and Pinnacle Bank Nebraska charter president the previous 10 years. n Bryan Slone has been hired

to an of-counsel position with the Omaha law office of Koley Jessen, where he will lead the firm’s tax practice group and conduct a government affairs practice. In addition, Slone has joined the College of Business Administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as the first executive in residence in the School of Accountancy.

1980

n John R. Auers is executive

vice president of Turner, Mason 54 FALL 2014

& Company, having been recently promoted at the Dallasbased international energy consulting firm. n Linus Behne, La Vista, noted

his 25th year of employment with Union Pacific Railroad.

n Jeffery T. Peetz, a Lincoln

attorney, has formed a new law firm, Endacott, Peetz & Timmer, with colleagues Kent E. Endacott and Patrick D. Timmer.

Doug Weishahn has been promoted to vice president at Union Bank & Trust of Lincoln.

1981

Larry French, Webster, N.H., has had his latest book, “Frog Town: Portrait of a French Canadian Parish in New England,” published by University Press of America. n Daniel Otten, founder of Min-

nesota Community Bancshares Inc., has been elected CEO and chairman of Farmers State Bank of Hartland, Minn.

Daniel Soto, chief compliance officer at the Ally Financial Inc. office in Charlotte, N.C., received the 2014 American Bankers Association Distinguished Service Award, which

1982

n Carmen Shively, a designer at Paul Daniels Interiors of Lincoln, was honored for her award-winning designs at the 2014 ASID Awards dinner for the Nebraska/Iowan chapter.

1985

n Carol Marshall of Santa

Barbara, Calif., senior security consultant, was named manager of the Los Angeles regional office of TorchStone Global, an elite consulting firm specializing in comprehensive and strategic security solutions.

1986

1983

Anne M. Breitkreutz, Fort Calhoun, has joined the Omaha law firm of Dornan, Lustgarten & Troia PC LLO as a partner.

n Darla McAlexander Peterson

Eric Dixon is a senior project manager in the Lincoln office of JEO Consulting Group, an Omaha-based architecture, engineering and planning firm.

Karen Gustin of Ameritas in Lincoln has been promoted to senior vice president of group distribution. of Arvada, Colo., has accepted the position of talent acquisition specialist with Ball Corp. in Broomfield, Colo.

Dave Ridder has been named a senior vice president for American National Bank of Omaha, a wholly owned subsidiary of American National Corp.

Phyllis Webb, a financial adviser in the Lincoln office of Waddell and Reed, was named to that company’s Circle of Champions for the eighth time.

1984

n Regina Edwards has been

voted in as the new CEO of the Arizona YWCA Metropolitan Phoenix. Edwards is the YWCA’s current director of development and has served as the YWCA board chair.

Sara Ewerth has retired after 32 years of teaching at Pyrtle and Beattie Elementary Schools in Lincoln. n Charles Hildebrand retired in

August after 17 years as an information technology specialist with Iowa Public Television.

Hildebrand lives in Johnston, Iowa.

Chris Knust is vice president and financial adviser at Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. in Omaha.

n Stephen J. Henning, Pacific

Palisades, Calif., was recently honored by the Los Angeles Business Journal for corporate leadership. A founding partner of the national law firm of Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman, he also serves in leadership positions for several non-profit organizations.

Julia Kappenman, a Lincoln artist, had her work shown at the Agora Gallery in New York City this summer. The exhibition was titled “The Substance of Form.”

Robert “Rocky” Rentfro is a surgeon at the Lincoln Orthopaedic Center.

Terry Young of Ameritas of Lincoln has been promoted to vice president of corporate development.

■

1987

Robb D. Bunde, a founding shareholder in the Pittsburgh, Pa., law firm Bunde, Gillotti, Mulroy & Schultz P.C., was named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for a seventh year by Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Magazine. n Kent E. Endacott, a Lincoln

lawyer, has formed a new law firm, Endacott, Peetz & Timmer, with attorneys Jeffery T. Peetz and Patrick D. Timmer.

CLASSNOTES Mike Mitten is the director of sales and a member of the executive management team for All Makes Office Equipment Co. in Omaha. n Heidi Hoins Mortensen was

promoted to senior vice president, strategic change manager at Robert W. Baird & Co., a global financial services firm headquartered in Milwaukee.

n Rob Mortensen is vice

president, global relationship management for UMB Fund Services in Milwaukee.

n Barbara Pickering has been

promoted to the rank of full professor in the School of Communication at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Pickering has also been selected to serve as an administrative fellow in the Office of Academic and Student Affairs.

n C. Rocky White of Colorado

Springs, Colo., has been promoted to market medical director of the southern Colorado region for Kaiser Permanente.

He and his wife, n Debbie, ’86, celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary this summer.

1988

Ryan Downs, Springfield, was one of two individuals honored

by FarmHouse International Fraternity with the FarmHouse Foundation’s Philanthropy Laureate Award, which honors those who have made significant financial and service contributions to the Foundation.

Downs is chief executive officer of Proxibid Inc., the world’s leading provider of live webcast auctions.

Melanie Whittamore-Montzios has been installed as president of the 2014-2015 Lincoln Rotary #14.

1989

John Arrigo has been elected executive vice president of West Gate Bank of Lincoln. n Marsha Edquist, Omaha, is a

teacher in the Millard (Neb.) Public School system.

John Gessert has been installed as treasurer for the 2014-2015 Lincoln Rotary #14. Gessert is vice president and senior trust officer at Union Bank & Trust of Lincoln.

Lyn Wineman, president and chief strategist for KidGlov, an advertising and marketing firm located in Lincoln, was honored with the Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award by the Lincoln American Marketing Association at the 2014 AMA Prism Awards.

1990

Michelle Holliday, a financial adviser in the Lincoln office of Waddell and Reed, was named to that company’s Circle of Champions for the eighth time.

Joni Sundquist has been promoted to senior vice president of the Nebraska Bankers Association in Lincoln.

Theresa Yaw is the director of marketing for Baldwin Filters in Kearney.

1991

■ Lance D. Nielsen is the supervisor of music for the Lincoln Public Schools.

Tom Nussrallah is the president of E & A Consulting Group Inc., a planning and engineering firm headquartered in Omaha.

When Matthew Boring, ’11, marketing and sales manager for the Lied Center for Performing Arts was in Europe in July helping to coordinate a Midwest honor choir conducted by UNL Choral Studies Director Pete Eklund, he ran into some Huskers in Paris. From left to right in the photo are: Boring; Mark Borer, ’76; William Neubauer, UNL student; and Kevin Palu, ’14.

n Sara Skretta has joined the

University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s College of Education and Human Sciences as the director of professional experiences.

n Dan Svehla has been hired by

Union Bank and Trust of Lincoln as senior vice president and head of the retail division.

1992

n David M. Hohman is an at-

torney with the Omaha law firm Fitzgerald Schorr, where he practices corporate and business law.

Steve Kathol, Gretna, is the chief executive officer and president of The Schemmer

Associates, a national architecture, engineering and planning firm headquartered in Omaha.

Kevin Kelch was promoted to vice president within the retirement plan services department of Union Bank & Trust, in their Omaha branch.

Brad Konen of Bennington has been promoted to executive vice president with American National Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of American National Corp., which serves the Omaha/Council Bluffs area.

Kevin Svec has been named a senior vice president for American National Bank of Omaha, a wholly owned subsidiary of American National Corp.

1993

Jason Bombeck, Lincoln, has been elected a partner in the BKD LLC Nebraska offices.

BKD is a national financial service firm. n Traci List Kalnins has opened

a new business, Catalyst Behavioral Health, in Lincoln.

She specializes in sports concussion evaluation and baseline testing.

Craig Meier has been promoted to chief executive officer at Medical Solutions of Omaha, a national travel nursing company.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 55

CLASSNOTES 1994

Terry Connealy has been named senior vice president of national mortgage development for Mutual of Omaha Bank. n Cara Catlett Putman of La-

fayette, Ind., recently had her 20th book, “Where Treetops Glisten,” released. An attorney, Putman also homeschools her four children and teaches business law and related classes to graduate students at Purdue University’s Krannert School of Management.

Candice Toombs, Bennet, research nurse coordinator at the Southeast Nebraska Cancer Center in Lincoln, has gained Certified Clinical Research Professional certification.

1995

Steve Mitchell of Elkhorn is president of Arbor Bank, a community bank with locations in Nebraska and Iowa.

John L. Sweeney, Lincoln, is a mathematics teacher at Papillion-LaVista High School in Papillion, where he teaches precalculus and calculus.

Jason Nichelson, Ashland, is the sales manager for the Greenwood office of KZValve, as the result of a recent promotion.

Kelly Wieseler of Ameritas of Lincoln has been elected to senior vice president, group chief actuary and underwriting.

1997

■

1996

Sheila Brugger has joined Garner Industries as chief financial officer. The company specializes in plastic injection molding of small to medium sized parts in addition to precision machining of metal and plastics.

Adam Kirshenbaum has returned to the Omaha-based legal firm Baird Holm LLP, where he’ll focus on corporate, real estate and lending transactions.

Eileen Korth of Blair has been promoted to president of Jackson-Jackson and Associates, an Omaha architecture company.

■ Andy V. Frahm is a director of portfolio management at First National Wealth Management of Lincoln.

Chris Harnly of Gretna is a project manager at Lund-Ross Constructors in Omaha. n Kiersten Hill has been elected

vice president of the 20142015 Lincoln Rotary #14.

Doug Holle has been promoted to transportation engineering group leader in the Lincoln office of The Schemmer Associates, a national architecture, engineering and planning firm. n Jessica Kennedy of Lincoln

has been accepted into the doctorate program for Interdisciplinary Leadership at Creighton University.

Christy Puev has been honored with the 2014 AAF Lincoln Medal Award, which is bestowed by the American Advertising Federation of Lincoln for major contributions to the advertising community. Puev is the media director at Minnow Project.

Patrick D. Timmer of Lincoln has joined fellow attorneys Kent E. Endacott and Jeffery T. Peetz in the formation of a new firm, Endacott, Peetz & Timmer.

Dave Nuckolls’ (second from right) work as producer of the Opening Ceremonies at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games (Nebraska Magazine, summer 2014), earned the 1986 UNL grad the right to be on the other side of the camera for a change when the production garnered a PrimeTime Creative Emmy Award nomination in the Outstanding Special Class Program category. In all, the Opening Ceremonies garnered four nominations.

56 FALL 2014

John Fulwider has been elected sergeant-at-arms for the 20142015 Lincoln Rotary #14.

James T. Minor is the deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C. Minor has been selected by the White House to provide overall leadership and administration for discretionary and formula grants available for postsecondary institutions as well as other federal programs that promote equal access to and excellence in postsecondary education.

Michael Placke has joined Olsson Associates as a senior engineer in the company’s water research team in Lincoln.

Olsson is a national engineering and design firm.

Bronson Riley, director of clinical research at the Southeast Nebraska Cancer Center in Lincoln, has obtained Certified Clinical Research Professional certification.

Scott M. Vogt, Omaha, has been appointed regional general counsel and vice president for CBSHOME Real Estate, HomeServices of Nebraska and Nebraska Land Title and Abstract.

David Wellsandt is now a partner with Mitchell & Associates Inc., an Omaha area real estate appraisal company.

1999

Tina Udell of Ameritas of Lincoln has been promoted to vice president and managing director of Ameritas Investment Partners and Ameritas Funding Inc.

■ Vladimir Oulianov of Woods Bros. Realty in Lincoln has been named one of America’s top real estate professionals by REAL Trends and as advertised

by The Wall Street Journal. He was ranked 97th out of 1,000 agents noted by the article.

1998

2000

Jeremiah Baumfalk represented Lincoln Vision Center at the annual educational conference of the American Academy of Orthokeratology and Myopia Control in Chicago. Baumfalk is an optometrist with Lincoln Vision Center.

Brian Andersen has been named a first vice president for American National Bank of Omaha, a wholly owned subsidiary of American National Corp.

Jaclyn Baxa has earned human resource certification as recognized by the Lincoln Human Resource Management Association.

By anthony flott

Alumni Profile ’10

a sheep in wolf’s clothing Ross Pesek

Berenice Rodriguez was working with fake papers under someone else’s identity — and barely spoke the country’s language.

And she wasn’t even a she.

Rodriguez was a man. But he was making $16 an hour — about 160 pesos — as Rodriguez. “A ton of money,” he said in a downtown Omaha coffee shop.

Those who hired him knew he wasn’t Rodriguez, but couldn’t find anyone else to do his work. The real Berenice Rodriguez didn’t care, either.

“She was on board,” fake Rodriguez said.

Heard this story before?

Think again. “Rodriguez” was white American lawyer Ross Pesek, who while still a college student worked — illegally — in Mexico City, teaching English to Mexican attorneys and accountants. He taught at a large international law firm and at a major corporation with contracts around the world.

“Everybody wants to know English,” Pesek said.

Today, Pesek still works with Hispanic clients, but not teaching them English. Rather, the 2010 University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Law graduate is the first and last line of legal defense for many of Omaha’s Hispanic immigrants. Sometimes that’s for pay as an associate attorney at Dornan, Lustgarten and Troia. But it’s just as often for gratis through a free legal clinic he established in 2010 at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in South Omaha.

As in Mexico, his services are in demand.

“They have been abused by the legal community,” Pesek said of immigrants. Some lawyers take their money and don’t get work done. Where can the immigrants complain? “They’re prime for being taken advantage of,” Pesek said. “Some of that has been cleaned up.

“But there are wolves, too.”

Since founding the clinic, Pesek has provided approximately 800 consultations, usually seeing four to eight clients during his two hours at the church every Monday. He’s seen as many as 26 clients in one sitting.

There’s never been an evening when no one showed.

Many times Pesek dispenses advice over small claims — perhaps a dispute over a dog bite or car accident. Or he might help complete a birth certificate or explain how the legal system works. Other cases are more serious — someone is charged with a crime or faces deportation. He’s helped more than 100 immigrants attain legal immigration status.

The 6-foot-4 former basketball standout with Czech roots and a blonde crewcut stands out among his mostly brown-skinned clients. But they trust him.

And why not? Pesek, baptized Catholic almost four years ago, sees many of them Sundays as a fellow parishioner at Our Lady of Guadalupe.

He was attending church there even

before he was an attorney. He’s been to their quinceañeras. He serves on the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, helps organize networking breakfasts for Latino professionals, and even was the only non-Latino judge during the Mrs. El Salvador 2013 pageant. And through Matters on Tomorrow, a nonprofit, he provides five “True Potential” scholarships for DACA or “Dream Act” Immigrants to attend Nebraska and Iowa community colleges.

“I know how I can speak to them and talk to them,” Pesek said.

No habla Espanol That wasn’t always the case.

“I was a terrible Spanish student,” Pesek said.

At Central Community College in Columbus, Neb., where Pesek played basketball for two years after starring at Millard South High School, Pesek passed Spanish only with help from his Mexico-born-and-raised girlfriend Karen Corral. She was there learning English. Five years later, Pesek and Corral still were dating — and he still knew little Spanish. So when Corral was offered a one-year assignment in Mexico City with her new employer, Deloitte, Pesek decided to tag along — after the two were married — and finally learn her native tongue.

Only problem was he had just

Continued on Page 58 NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 57

CLASSNOTES aContinued sheep in wolf’s clothing from Page 57 finished his first year at UNL’s College of Law — and had two years to go. Pesek, who had begun his UNL studies after earning a bachelor’s degree at Wayne State College, asked Associate Dean Glenda Pierce if he could take a one-year hiatus.

Oh, and by the way, could she hold his full-tuition scholarship for him?

“My friends thought I was crazy,” Pesek said. “My family thought I was crazy. The first year of law school is hyper-competitive and I had been successful.

Everybody thought it was a really bad idea.”

Pierce held his scholarship.

“The college supported me big time in that,” Pesek said. “Dean Pierce, I’ve said thank you to her a lot of times. I don’t know if she knows how much” (she helped).

In Mexico City Pesek took Spanish classes six hours a day for three months. After about five months he was comfortable enough to challenge the taxi drivers who tried overcharging him.

He and Karen returned to Lincoln and Pesek finished his studies, graduating with distinction, 12th in his class.

What next? During summers while at UNL Pesek had been a law clerk at Kutak Rock (2008) and Baylor, Evnen, Curtiss, Grimit, & Witt (2009). The money was great — much better than what he’d earned delivering pizzas the three previous years.

But big-time corporate law wasn’t appealing.

“I wanted to help somebody,” he said. “And I knew I had the tools of being bilingual, to speak Spanish and help immigrants.

He joined Dornan, Lustgarten and Troia and since has been lead counsel in criminal, immigration and serious accident/injury matters and in federal and state jury trials. He’s secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements for injured clients.

The 29-year-old’s work is getting noticed. The Nebraska State Bar Association named him Outstanding Young Lawyer in 2013. This year, the Nebraska Alumni Association presented him with an Early Achiever Award and Central Community College named him one of its Outstanding Alumni.

Some, though, don’t like to hear about his work.

They might laugh when Pesek tells them of his work in Mexico City, but not when they hear of others doing similarly here.

“It’s a double standard,” he said.

Pesek sees the other side of the story on Mondays at Our Lady of Guadalupe. Pesek understands not just their words, but their lives.

So does Berenice Rodriguez. v

58 FALL 2014

Kam Draper has been presented the John Ganly Excellence in Sales Award by the ReferenceUSA division of Infogroup, a data and marketing services company headquartered in Papillion.

George Langelett, professor of economics at South Dakota State University in Brookings, has published his first book, “How Do I Keep My Employees Motivated?” n Mandy Monson has been

promoted to assistant vice president-commercial lending at Union Bank & Trust of Lincoln.

Jeremy Stanbary, St. Paul, Minn., founder and executive director of Open Window Theatre, was presented with a 2014 Leading with Faith Award by Archbishop John Nienstedt of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

Andrew E. Waite has joined Executive Wealth Management of Lincoln as a wealth manager.

2001

Chris Van Long, Gretna, has been elected a partner in the Nebraska offices of BKD LLP. Michael Olson has joined the faculty at Southern Illinois University (Carbondale) School of Medicine as an assistant professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology.

Randa Zalman has been rehired

by Redstone, the Omaha-based advertising agency, as chief strategy officer.

2002

Ben Hanelt, Albuquerque, N.M., has been written up in Wired magazine for his work with crickets that are driven to suicide by horsehair worms.

Hanelt is a research assistant professor at the University of New Mexico in Santa Fe. Jeremy Kester, a financial adviser in the Lincoln office of Waddell and Reed, was named to that company’s Circle of Champions for the sixth time.

2003

Mike Kowalke is a part of the spine team at the Lincoln Orthopaedic Center, where he is a physician’s assistant.

Brooke Ortner is an account manager in the Omaha office of marketing communications company Swanson Russell.

Patty Ryberg, an assistant professor of biology at Park University in Parkville, Mo., has been awarded a $168,091 research grant from the National Science Foundation for work on her “Antarctic Paleobotany: Permian Floral Characteristics in a Sedimentary Setting” project.

2004

Matt Clay is the managing officer of the credit card department at Union Bank & Trust of Lincoln as the result of a recent promotion.

Jeffrey Helphrey, King of Prussia, Pa., manager of the Horsham office of regional accounting company Wouch, Maloney & Co. LLP, was recently installed as a director of the Montgomery County Estate Planning Council (MCEPC).

Shelly Kalin has been named an account manager in the Omaha office of All Makes Office Equipment Co. Bryan Knapp has joined the business development team at Darland Construction Co. in Omaha.

Jon Mooberry has been hired as senior design engineer in the Lincoln office of JEO Consulting Group, an architecture, engineering and planning company based in Omaha.

Nate Poppema has returned to manage the Loveland, Colo., office of regional accounting firm Kennedy and Coe LLC. Steven Wirth has been added to the team of dentists at Optimal Dental PC in Lincoln.

By Jennifer Higgins, ’96

Alumni Profiles ’99

From Combat to Campus to Community, Serving with Compassion Doug Wagner

Soldiers respect him.

Children adore him.

And he is considered a hero by many.

Maj. Doug Wagner of Lincoln insists that he is just an average guy, but those who know him, know better.

Born in Sarasota, Fla., Wagner moved to Nebraska in 1977 and graduated from Lincoln Southeast High School in 1982. He served in the U.S. Army for four years, traveling to Oklahoma, New Mexico and Germany. Wagner moved back to Lincoln in 1986 and got married a year later. His wife Angie gave birth to their first child, a son, in 1989, the same year he joined the Army National Guard. In 1990, he earned his associate’s degree in architectural drafting from Southeast Community College.

The 49-year-old said he first joined the military for financial reasons.

“Originally, I did it because there was no other way for me to go to college,” Wagner said.

His father had just suffered a heart attack, so his parents were not able to give him any financial assistance.

“When I got off active duty, I was married and happy to be starting a family,” he said. “But I started missing the camaraderie and being with guys of the same mind set.

It’s not the money that keeps you

coming back, it’s the people and the friendships you develop.”

Wagner was commissioned into the Army National Guard in 1991.

The Wagners’ second son was born in 1994. Along the way, Wagner has served two tours in Iraq, joined a hurricane aid mission in the Honduras and helped with security forces missions on American soil.

He began working for business services at the University of NebraskaLincoln in 1988 and transitioned to parking services in 1992. Wagner was named parking enforcement supervisor in 1994, a title he still holds today. In 1992, he decided to go back to school part-time and earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial education in 1999. Wagner said the university has been very supportive of his military obligations.

“They have my back when I’m gone,” he said.

Like many Americans, Wagner was deeply affected by the events of Sept.

11, 2001.

“When 9-11 hit, I had an even stronger sense of patriotism,” he said.

“I wanted to feel like I was part of the solution.”

In 2004, Wagner was on duty at Offutt Air Force Base when he learned that his friend had been killed in Fallujah. He said it was difficult hearing about so many young soldiers

being killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“As you get promoted within the military, you find yourself in a mentor role,” Wagner said.

He joined the fight on foreign soil the following year. Wagner served his first tour in Iraq from July 2005 to August 2006 and his second tour from July 2010 to July 2011.

After returning from his first tour, he volunteered to be a member of the military honors team for military funerals.

“It truly is an honor to give the family this final appreciation from the military,” Wagner said.

He continues to be a member of the military honors team and has presented flags at about 90 funerals in Nebraska. He also is an active member of the Combat Vets Motorcycle Association.

“There are just some things a government can’t do for a vet that we try to do,” Wagner said. “We have fundraisers that can help vets pay for things like apartments and furniture.”

He helps military families in other ways too. For several years, Wagner has volunteered to suit up as Santa Claus during the Christmas party for the National Guard’s Family Readiness Group.

“It is a civilian group connected to the National Guard that helps families while soldiers are deployed,” he said.

Continued on Page 60 NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 59

CLASSNOTES from combat to campus Continued from Page 59 “They come up with ways to keep the military group tightknit.”

Wagner has had a positive impact on many youths in another way. An Eagle Scout himself, he has served as a Scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts since 1988. Both of his sons have followed in his footsteps and have become Eagle Scouts as well.

Serving in the Army National Guard until last summer, Wagner has since joined the Army Reserves. He is currently a logistics major with the 103rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command unit.

“It’s a good occupation and I know I’m good at what I do,” Wagner said.

The military has been a good fit for him and his family.

Wagner’s career path made it possible him to go to college, and now it is helping both of his sons attend college, too. v

2005

Mark Kommers, Kansas City, Mo., is a surgical consultant for CONMED in their sports tissue and biologic division.

Blake Schulz has joined the Faegre Baker Daniels’ Indianapolis office as an associate in the real estate practice, where he will handle a range of commercial real estate transactions. Prior to joining Faegre Baker Daniels, Schulz was counsel and real estate manager at ITT Educational Services Inc. in Carmel, Ind. Darci Venem has been added to the Lincoln-based ENT Nebraska and The Physician Network, where she will serve as an audiologist.

Sarah Wischhof has been hired as director of marketing and special events for the United Way of Lincoln and Lancaster County.

2006

Dan Boler has been named assistant vice president of American National Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of American National Corp., which serves the Omaha/Council Bluffs area.

60 FALL 2014

Nathan Krug recently completed a Sports Medicine Fellowship at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita Family Medicine Residency Program at Via Christi in Wichita.

Alan Marble was recently appointed president of Missouri Southern State University in Joplin.

Kelli J. Watson has joined the Omaha law firm Fitzgerald Schorr, where she specializes in estate planning and administration and business planning and real estate.

Tom Whiteing, a financial adviser for Renaissance Financial in Omaha, has won the top award of Securian Financial Services Inc. and been promoted within the firm. He was the 2013 Gold Managing Director of the Year for the role he played in growing the company.

Ryan Wittmann is loan operations officer at Union Bank & Trust of Lincoln, the result of a recent promotion.

2007

n Andrew Lacy is the news and

Trisha Caffrey was promoted to audit manager at Seim Johnson LLP, an Omaha-based accounting company.

sports director at Huskeradio in North Platte and the voice of the North Platte High School Bulldogs.

James Mowitz is a commercial loan officer at Pinnacle Bank’s 14th and N Streets branch in Lincoln.

Tony McTaggart is an agent with HOME Real Estate of Lincoln.

Michael J. Smith II is a partner and shareholder with the Omaha accounting firm McFarlin & Brokke PC. Nicholas Tomsen recently completed his residency at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita Family Residency Program at Via Christi in Wichita.

2009

Adam Austin, Bennington, has been promoted to consulting manager with the Omaha accounting firm Seim Johnson LLP. Jessica Simons has been hired by marketing communications agency Swanson Russell as a marketing coordinator in their Omaha office.

2010

Larry Bradley, Omaha, was honored by being the head dancer at the August Pow Wow at the Indian Center in Lincoln.

Jordan Moehlenhoff has been promoted to business banking officer by the board of directors for West Gate Bank of Lincoln.

2011

Jay Beyer was selected as one of the recipients of the 2014 Alice Buffett Outstanding Teacher Awards, given in recognition of skilled and dedicated teachers in the Omaha Public Schools. Beyer teaches third grade at Wilson Focus School.

Wade Hilligoss is a public relations writer with Swanson Russell, a Lincoln-based marketing communications firm.

Brett Sundberg has been elected loan officer, commercial lending and residential construction lending, at West Gate Bank of Lincoln.

2012

Chynna Hardy has joined All Makes Office Equipment Co. of Omaha as a designer/project manager.

■ Becca Hurst has joined the Lincoln printing company Cornerstone Print & Marketing as marketing specialist.

Amanda Kermoade has been elected loan officer, commercial lending and residential construction lending, at West Gate Bank of Lincoln.

Micah Kreikemeier, Rosharon, Texas, is a civil engineer with LJA Engineering in Houston, where he works on land development.

2013

■ Kelly Jefferson has been hired by marketing communications firm Swanson Russell as an account coordinator in their Omaha office.

Kyle King has been hired by Perrigo Animal Health of Omaha, where he is a project engineer responsible for maximizing and improving efficiency at the plant.

Matthew Penner, Beatrice, is a sales associate with Mid-Continent Properties of Omaha.

Josh Willnerd has been welcomed to the Pratt, Kan., office of Kennedy and Coe LLC as an intern for the regional accounting firm.

CLASSNOTES 2014

BIRTHS

Benjamin Wheeler-Harsh and

Caitlin Bales has been hired

by Bulu Box of Lincoln as chief technology officer.

n Jennifer Adams, ’02, July 5.

Songho Hong is employed by the Korean Insurance Development Institute, which offers statistical analysis of the Korean insurance market. The company is located in Seoul.

Justin Morrow, ’02, and Cortney Neemann, Jan. 23. The couple lives in Omaha.

■

■ Jordan Seaman started her first teaching job in August with the Bennington Elementary School where she teaches third grade.

WEDDINGS

n Frederic M. Stiner, Jr., ’76,

and Alice F. O’Brien, Jan. 4.

The couple lives in Newark, Del.

The couple lives in Cuenca, Ecuador.

Jeremy Hamann, ’10, and Jane Farrar, May 25. The couple lives in Austin, Texas.

Aaron Rouse and Kassandra Braaten, ’11, May 10. The couple lives in Lincoln.

Andrew Rasmussen, ’11, and Melanie Fichthorn, ’13, June 6.

The couple lives in Lincoln.

Micah Kreikemeier, ’12, and Alexa Staehr, June 29. The couple lives in Rosharon, Texas.

M. Milligan, July 26. The couple lives in La Vista.

Brian Steinert, ’12, and Alyssa Gubser, Sept. 7, 2013. The couple lives in Englewood, Colo.

Jack Lutzi, ’92, and n Tami Terryberry Shkolnick, ’92, May 1.

The couple lives in Lincoln.

Elijah Aden, ’13, and Noelle Hernandez, ’11, May 31. The couple lives Lincoln.

n Linus Behne, ’80, and Shawn

Chris and Leslie Strong Styskal, ’90, their fourth child, first daughter, Elizabeth, May 22.

The family lives in Genoa.

■ Dan, ’03, and Michelle Hennings, their second child, a daughter, Kaitlyn Marie, May 13. The family lives in Chicago.

n Brent, ’05, and n Jamie Thurman-Taylor, ’07, their first child, a son, Connor James, April 10, 2013. The family lives in Overland Park, Kan.

Matt and Rochelle McBride Maynard, ’06, their first daughter, second child, Emilia Lincoln, June 19. The family lives in Danbury, Iowa.

Andrew and ■ Mauree Haage, ’12, their second child, second son, Ivan Jeremy, May 1. The family lives in Oskaloosa, Iowa.

DEATHS

George H. Murphy, ’37, Sacramento, Calif., Feb. 10.

Barbara Deputron Selim, ’37, Moody, Maine, Jan. 20.

Velda Benda Anderson, ’38, Lincoln, Jan. 3.

Pauline Bowen Burns, ’39, Omaha, June 8.

Caroline Thompson Taylor, ’40, Lincoln, May 20.

Gordon L. Jones, ’41, Tucson, Ariz., Feb. 24.

Jackson F. Lee, ’41, Farmington, N.M., June 10.

John R. Gates, ’42, Hopatcong, N.J., Feb. 9.

Lauren D. Lampert, ’42, Springfield, Va., July 1.

L. Dwight Cherry, ’43, Lincoln, June 5.

Virginia Clarke Johnson, ’43, Norman, Okla., July 22.

Robert B. McClurkin, ’43, Grand Island, June 11.

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2:01 PM NEBRASKA8/24/12 MAGAZINE 61

CLASSNOTES Marvin L. Wilkinson, ’43, Hot Springs, S.D., May 19.

Wilbur C. Summers, ’49, Columbus, July 3.

Frank A. Smith, ’52, Lincoln, Feb. 19.

Ernie D. Rockenbach, ’58, Lincoln, May 20.

Gordon W. Neal, ’44, Claremont, Calif., April 23.

Harold M. Anderson, ’50, Northglenn, Colo., July 8.

Philip W. Vrana, ’52, Hastings, March 29.

William H. Ashley, ’59, Omaha, June 30.

Ann Ahern Stevens, ’44, Hartington, June 26.

Wanda Young Cochran, ’50, Fort Wayne, Ind., May 22.

Louise Cook Watson, ’52, Kearney, May 21.

Joseph M. Hart, ’59, Columbus, Ohio, June 18.

Mary Stuart Gregory, ’45, Woodland, Calif., Nov. 25, 2013.

Raymond G. Ebmeier, ’50, Carmi, Ill., July 13.

Ted C. Cannon, ’53, Scottsbluff, June 27.

Jack B. Kidder, ’59, Riverview, Fla., July 10.

Charlotte Filter Nametz, ’45, Grand Haven, Mich., May 27.

Donald C. Erwin, ’50, Riverside, Calif., Feb. 22.

Shirley Posson Craig, ’53, Tryon, N.C., Feb. 9.

James L. Mohatt, ’59, Yeagertown, Pa., Feb. 20.

Edna Huttenmaier Spitz, ’46, San Francisco, Nov. 28, 2013.

Kenneth G. Hiatt, ’50, Chesapeake, Va., May 23.

John F. Kahle, ’53, Flagstaff, Ariz., July 30.

Vincent R. Abrahamson, ’60, Sierra Vista, Ariz., May 17.

Marylee Stauf Hays, ’47, Spring, Texas, July 5.

Lloyd L. Johnson, ’50, Lincoln, June 6.

Robert D. Mueller, ’53, Lincoln, Aug. 4.

James O. Ballantyne, ’60, Independence, Mo., July 5.

Virginia Green Melin, ’47, St. Paul, Minn., June 12.

Milton C. Lastovica, ’50, La Vista, June 25.

Joseph R. Edwards, ’54, Lincoln, July 12.

Linda Willard Cotts, ’60, Fort Belvoir, Va., May 31.

Richard D. Sack, ’47, Louisville, May 24.

Daniel B. Lutz, ’50, Lincoln, July 21.

Louis K. Gauger, ’54, McCook, July 11.

James T. Feather, ’60, Davis, Calif., July 19.

John W. Ervin, ’48, Golden, Colo., Feb. 23.

B. R. Newcomer, ’50, York, June 10.

Mary C. Johnson, ’54, Fremont, May 28, 2013.

Allen L. Riibe, ’60, Benbrook, Texas, March 31.

Leon I. Folb, ’48, Flossmoor, Ill., Sept. 28, 2013.

J. Morton Porter, ’50, Omaha, June 3.

William A. Johnson, ’54, Fremont, July 22.

Dale E. Schnackel, ’60, Omaha, June 3.

Marjorie Benson Loring, ’48, Kansas City, Mo., May 2.

Stanley L. Portsche, ’50, Lincoln, March 31.

Neala Odell Lubberstedt, ’54, Lexington, July 24.

Sarah A. Wengert, ’60, Omaha, Aug. 10.

Donnie Wageman Lutes, ’48, Springfield, Ore., March 12, 2013.

Sally Hartz Schroeder, ’50, Dallas, Ore., May 15.

I.K. Lukens, ’54, Phoenix, Jan. 8, 2013.

Dean L. Linscott, ’61, Ithaca, N.Y., July 19.

Frederick H. Simpson, ’50, Omaha, June 28.

Shirley Underhill Wallen, ’54, Syracuse, June 22.

Harold D. Parish, ’61, Lemoyne, May 29.

Robert G. Steinhoff, ’50, Santa Fe, N.M., April 4.

Thane Weeks, ’54, Sutton, May 18.

Barbara Blum Peterson, ’61, Springfield, Ore., May 21.

Harlan L. Watson, ’50, Kearney, June 24.

Jean Steffen Bilstrom, ’55, Boulder, Colo., May 22.

William A. Roehl, ’61, Missoula, Mont., Feb. 24.

William B. Wenk, ’50, Indian Wells, Calif., Feb. 13.

Charles H. Calcaterra, ’55, Lincoln, Aug. 7.

Thomas H. Tinkham, ’61, Lincoln, June 15.

Jean Sampson Wenke, ’50, Jber, Alaska, June 6.

J. Arthur Curtiss, ’55, Lincoln, May 29.

Earl J. Witthoff, ’61, Lincoln, Feb. 16.

Raymond C. Buresh, ’51, Denver, Feb. 15.

Frederic L. Goudge, ’55, Maryville, Mo., June 3.

Donald L. Reinhold, ’62, Lincoln, May 20.

Mary C. Dye Baker, ’51, Manhattan Beach, Calif., July 1, 2013.

Virginia McPeck Rosenau, ’56, York, June 22.

Ralph O. Canaday, ’63, Lakewood, Colo., Feb. 20.

Linda Buthman Bedwell, ’57, Hopkins, Minn., July 21.

Larry R. Hayne, ’63, Lincoln, June 2.

Victor P. Musil, ’57, Rockwall, Texas, March 31.

William C. Barr, ’64, Tilden, May 24.

Elaine Barker Stauber, ’57, Seguin, Texas, June 9, 2013.

Gunars J. Dombrovskis, ’64, Sierra Vista, Ariz., July 6.

Howard R. Berkenstock, ’58, Gulf Shores, Ala., March 10.

Ray S. Preston, ’64, Omaha, April 13.

Leo I. George, ’58, Cape Coral, Fla., Aug. 9.

Dale D. Rathe, ’64, Lincoln, June 5.

Dean A. Glock, ’58, Omaha, June 6.

Theron D. Carlson, ’65, Montrose, Colo., May 30.

Mary Forney Peterson, ’58, Columbus, July 16.

Waldon N. McNaught, ’65, Eagle, June 11.

Paul W. Schoenleber, ’48, Reno, Nev., May 15.

Audrey Wallace Smock, ’48, Lincoln, May 29.

Elinor Anderson Van Steenburg, ’48, Santa Ana, Calif., June 17.

Henry E. Duling, ’49, NaperviIle, Ill., July 26.

Roy D. Farris, ’49, Bennington, July 10.

Leslie W. Jochens, ’49, Denver, May 18.

Robert W. Koehler, ’49, Omaha, May 27.

Marjorie Reynolds Kopf, ’49, Lincoln, July 10.

Walter E. Long, ’49, Hastings, June 30.

Charles E. Moyer, ’49, Wood River, June 1.

Rosalie Mitchell Paul, ’49, Dorchester, June 9.

Thomas M. Sherman, ’49, Center, May 25.

William F. Spikes, ’49, Johnston, Iowa, July 11.

62 FALL 2014

Dean E. Erickson, ’51, Carol Stream, Ill., Aug. 1, 2013.

Rudolph R. Hraban, ’51, Billings, Mont., June 24.

Robert C. Rupert, ’51, Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., Jan. 12.

Robert H. Vollmer, ’51, Tualatin, Ore., April 8.

Rachel Kirkpatrick, ’52, Durango, Colo., July 22.

Dorothy Nordgren O’Hanlon, ’52, Vallejo, Calif., July 11, 2013.

CLASSNOTES Kenneth C. Osborn, ’65, Shoreline, Wash., July 28.

Gary F. Hatfield, ’72, Wahoo, May 13.

Mark N. Ecklund, ’77, Plattsmouth, June 28.

Rhonda Joekel Sharp, ’87, Omaha, May 15.

Clark S. Will, ’65, Lincoln, July 13.

Dorothy Johnson Kratzer, ’72, Lincoln, June 3.

Margaret A. Moffatt, ’72, Omaha, July 27, 2013.

Douglas D. Damoude, ’78, Lincoln, May 30.

Julie Connot Rice, ’89, Grand Island, March 10.

Shirley McVicker Marsh ’78, Lincoln, June 8.

Joanne Allen, ’92, Lincoln, June 23.

Marilyn Peterson Paulson, ’78, Lincoln, May 15.

Rachel A. Streit, ’95, Omaha, June 14.

Naomi Kaye Hull, ’79, Lincoln, July 5.

Linda M. Dierks, ’97, Omaha, July 2.

Mary Rice Schueths, ’79, Lincoln, July 2.

Paul D. Hill, ’00, Smithshire, Ill., June 25.

John J. Brennan, ’80, Lamberton, Minn., March 25.

Harmon O. Conner, ’02, Lincoln, May 17.

Corliss G. Young, ’80, Lincoln, April 30.

Lance M. Shrader, ’09, Ravenna, June 19.

Guy J. Hugunin, ’81, Placitas, N.M., June 9, 2013.

Edward R. Abplanalp, ’10, East Peoria, Ill., June 6.

Maurice C. Egan, ’82, Denton, March 31.

Kassandra L. Hoefler, ’11, Firth, May 17.

Morris W. Sergent, ’82, Arnold, Md., Dec. 30, 2013.

Chad A. Spencer, ’11, Grand Island, April 20, 2013.

Calvin C. Dierking, ’66, Everett, Wash., July 11.

Aldine Porter Turner, ’66, Sun City West, Ariz., May 28.

Lorraine L. Haack, ’67, Nebraska City, Aug. 6.

Marlyn C. Low, ’67, Norfolk, April 24.

Stanley J. Siefkes, ’67, Phoenix, April 4.

Darryl J. Gless, ’68, Chapel Hill, N.C., June 10.

Herbert H. Kaiman, ’68, Omaha, July 11.

Paul J. Plummer, ’68, Denton, Texas, Feb. 20.

Howard D. Rickel, ’68, Houston, May 1.

James B. Abel, ’69, Colorado Springs, Colo., June 28.

James A. Beltzer, ’69, Silverthorne, Colo., July 25.

Roger H. Hanson, ’69, Kearney, April 18.

James A. Young, ’69, Lincoln, July 9.

Constance Johnson Bower, ’70, Clifton, Colo., June 14.

Lucille Koehler Rosenow, ’70, Lincoln, June 11.

Joyce Eisenhauer Schwisow, ’70, Topeka, Kan., May 17.

Steven T. Swihart, ’72, Denver, July 9.

Richard D. Eye, ’73, Colorado Springs, Colo., Aug. 1.

Harold W. Horner, ’73, Schuyler, Aug. 4.

Nancy Campbell Wright, ’73, Winter Haven, Fla., May 9.

Gregory K. Nicklas, ’74, Hickman, May 29.

David Feder, ’75, Plattsmouth, June 2.

Donald D. Yoder, ’75, Dayton, Ohio, April 14.

Kenneth P. Beeman, ’76, Shelby, July 13.

Elaine Monaghan Munoz, ’76, Ciudad Bugambilias, Jalisco, Mexico, June 21.

Vernon A. Teply, ’76, Winter Park, Fla., May 13, 2013.

Floyd G. Trew, ’76, Wellfleet, May 19.

Mary Gifford Daake, ’77, Kearney, May 27.

Christopher L. Ingrim, ’83, Belton, Texas, June 21.

Douglas G. Cook, ’84, Lincoln, Aug. 1.

James P. Krueger, ’86, Cheyenne, Wyo., Aug. 20, 2013.

Bryan R. Bedke, ’87, Lincoln, June 17.

FACULTY DEATHS

James G. Kendrick, professor emeritus of agricultural economics, Lincoln, Aug. 8.

Ralph R. Marlette, ’52, professor emeritus of civil engineering, Lincoln, Aug. 11.

CLASS NOTEPAD Tell us what’s happening! Send news about yourself or fellow Nebraska alumni to:

Dwight M. Warak, ’70, Omaha, June 15.

Mail:

Clarence F. Frazier, ’71, Jacksonville, Fla., Feb. 7.

Online: huskeralum.org

Class Notes Editor, Nebraska Magazine, Wick Alumni Center,1520 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68508-1651

E-mail: kwright@huskeralum.org

Galen L. Johnson, ’71, Lincoln, May 31.

All notes received will be considered for publication according to the following schedule: Spring Issue: January 15

Summer Issue: April 15

Betty Schuette Loos, ’71, Lincoln, Jan. 10.

Fall Issue:

Winter Issue:

Carol Stark Rinke, ’71, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Aug. 7.

July 15

October 15

Items submitted after these dates will be published in later issues.

Nancy Siel Steinkruger, ’71, Cambridge, July 15.

Harold L. Bohner, ’72, Nine Mile Falls, Wash., March 29.

Linda Green Brackins-Willett, ’72, Pasadena, Calif., July 29, 2013.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 63

N E B R A S K A

A lu m n i A s s o c i at i o n

Wick Alumni Center 1520 R Street Lincoln, NE 68508-1651

2 015

Registration is now open to all alumni and friends for the Nebraska Alumni Association’s bucket-list trip to the Masters, April 8 -11, 2015.

Enjoy this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with alumni from UNL and other BCS schools.

For trip details or to register, visit huskeralum.org.

64 FALL 2014