Nebraska Magazine Spring 2017 Issue

NEBRASKA Magazine FOR ALUMNI, FAMILY, FRIENDS AND FANS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN

Up Close Personal & As Ronnie Green digs in to his new post as the 20th chancellor, his ag background will prove fruitful as he strives for record growth.

Story on page 20

Volume 113 / No.1 / Spring 2017 / huskeralum.org NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 1

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

Shelley Zaborowski, ’96, ’00 Executive Director, Nebraska Alumni Association Kirstin Swanson Wilder, ’89 Editor-in-Chief Charley Morris Graphic Designer Kevin Wright, ’78 Layout and Class Notes Editor Jenny Chapin Ad 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 annually of which $10 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.

Spring 2017 n Vol. 113, No. 1

To the 171,000 Alums Who Have Never Seen This Magazine Welcome to your first-ever issue of Nebraska Magazine.

If you’re wondering why you haven’t seen this publication, it is because you are not a member of the Nebraska Alumni Association. So why are you receiving it now?

Because we want you to be better informed about, and more engaged with, your alma mater. We need all our alumni to be informed advocates for our beloved university.

This quarterly publication will be arriving in your mailbox once each academic year. If you are a duespaying member of the alumni association you will continue to receive four magazines each year as part of your membership benefits.

We want you to know that your university is doing some amazing things and you should be proud of your alma mater regardless of how long it has been since you set foot in Lincoln. With a plethora of media coming at you from many angles, be assured this is one place you can get the facts on what is happening at Nebraska and be informed about the issues that affect our university. We’ll share the latest news, points of pride and we like to have a little fun, too.

This year we will be putting resources toward making our magazine more engaging by giving it a fresh, new look and addressing more timely topics under the leadership of our new editorin-chief, Kirstin Swanson Wilder — a UNL journalism grad and Lincoln native.

To that end, we’ve recently solidified our magazine’s mission statement and hope you will take some time to read this issue. If you’d like to receive all four issues of this magazine yearly, all you need to do is join our 25,000-member strong alumni association for this benefit (and many more). We’d love to welcome you to our family.

Alumni Association Staff Shelley Zaborowski, ’96, ’00, Executive Director Stephen Boggs, ’12, Venues Coordinator Jenny Chapin, Director, Business and Alumni Relations Charles Dorse, Custodian Derek Engelbart, Associate Executive Director,

Alumni Relations Jane Epley, ’77, Projects Assistant Brooke Goedert, ’14, Venues Management/Event Specialist Jordan Gonzales, Assistant Director, Student Programs Hanna Hoffman, ’16, Alumni Relations and Programs Coordinator Sarah Haskell, ’09, ’16, Director, Alumni Engagement Ryan Janousek, Venues Management/Operations Specialist Wendy Kempcke, Administrative Assistant Michael Mahnken, ’13, Venues Coordinator Jessica Marshall, ’11, Director, Written Communications Tracy Moore, Executive Assistant Charley Morris, Graphic Design Specialist Carrie Myers, ’03, ’11, Director, Alumni Engagement and Outreach Heather Rempe, ’03, Assistant Director, Digital Communications Larry Routh, Alumni Career Specialist Viann Schroeder, Alumni Campus Tours Deb Schwab, Associate Director, Venues Andy Washburn, ’00, ’07, Associate Executive Director, Operations Kirstin Wilder, ’89, Director, Publications Katie Williams, ’03, Senior Director, Marketing Communications Hilary Winter, ’11, Associate Director, Digital Strategy/PR Kevin Wright, ’78, Director, Design

Shelley Zaborowski Executive Director

MISSION STATEMENT Nebraska Magazine shall strive to continue the tradition of critical thinking that our readers — a diverse group of alumni, faculty, staff, students, and friends with a myriad of interests and beliefs — embraced during their years in Lincoln at the University of Nebraska. Through thoughtfully selected words and images, we aim to advance the university’s future and its goals by engaging our readers’ intellect and emotions.

The quarterly publication aspires to add value and interest to our readers’ lives through stories that reflect not only the intellectual, cultural, and social life of the university but also relevant national or global issues as seen through a Nebraska lens. The magazine aims to foster feelings of pride and connection with our diverse and ever-evolving readership, moving readers to remain intellectually engaged with dear ‘ole Nebraska U.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 3

alumnivoices A Message from President Hank Bounds

I

’m writing this message hours after joining an impressive group of UNL students for a special event to celebrate their academic achievements.

The event honored members of our William H. Thompson Scholars Learning Community, or “Thompson Scholars” as they’re known on campus.

Many of these students are the first in their families to attend college, and they have big dreams about their futures.

As I spoke with these promising young people, surrounded by proud family members and UNL staff, I was reminded yet again of the fundamental reason the University of Nebraska exists: To transform the lives of students and all those we serve, across the state of Nebraska and beyond.

I’ve heard presentations by worldclass faculty members who are changing the way we think about national security, health care and early childhood education. I’ve toured the fields of scientists who are driving agricultural innovation. I’ve met with dedicated staff who support our students in myriad ways. And I’ve talked with countless students — Nebraska’s future teachers, nurses and doctors, farmers and ranchers, business leaders and entrepreneurs — whose University of Nebraska education is laying a foundation for a lifetime of learning and success.

I can tell you this. Your university is doing what it was created to do.

The University of Nebraska has served the needs of the state and its people for almost 150 years, and today the state’s economic strength and quality of life has never been more closely tied to the work of its public university. Consider, for example, that the entire NU system is a $3.9 billion annual economic engine — a remarkable 6-to-1 return on the state’s investment. We produce 10,000 new graduates each year and support one of every 36 Nebraska jobs.

And that’s to say nothing of the many ways we impact the state that can’t be quantified, like Husker athletic events that connect Nebraskans of all walks of life, scholarly activities led by our faculty that enrich knowledge in our communities, and the doors we open for young people — like our Thompson Scholars — to harness the power of education to change their lives.

We’re able to do these things in part because of the support and engagement of our alumni. I am grateful for the extended University of Nebraska family and I hope you’ll continue to be our ambassadors, sharing the stories of the good work we’re doing with your families, friends and coworkers.

Your engagement now is especially important.

No doubt you have read news coverage of the fiscal challenges facing the state of Nebraska. State funds make up two-thirds of our operating budget, so any economic downturn in our state necessarily affects the university.

We’ll continue to be disciplined with our budget, although I have been candid with the university community that difficult decisions are ahead. Of course we are working very closely with policymakers to continue the long and successful partnership between the state and its university that has served students and our citizens so effectively.

My message to them — and all Nebraskans — is that we’re focused on the long-term success and competitiveness of our state and the University of Nebraska. We are on an impressive trajectory and we are well positioned to do even more to grow our state and impact lives here and around the world. I have no doubt that the best days of the university are ahead of us, a credit to the support of partners like you.

Thank you again for all that you do for the University of Nebraska.

We’ll continue to be disciplined with our budget.

4 SPRING 2017

Hank Bounds President, University of Nebraska

INSIDESPRING

Brian Stauffer

15 28 38 43

©2016 Ben Enos

Country music star Brad Paisley performed a free concert in the lot north of Memorial Stadium in October, dedicating his show to the late Nebraska punter Sam Foltz.

More than 5,000 fans packed the area for Paisley’s Country Nation College Tour.

15 Photographs, 15 Curators Faculty, staff and students were asked to curate a photo exhibit at Sheldon Museum of Art. Each participant chose a single work from the collection of 3,000 images and gave a personal response.

Masters in Their Fields Eight of Nebraska’s prized alumni returned to campus to share their exceptional career-success stories, encourage current students and take a trip down memory lane.

“The Voice” contestant Hannah Huston (’13), who was featured on the October cover of Nebraska Magazine, attended homecoming events last fall and judged the NAA’s campus jester competition.

The Call of the Corn Novelist and 1986 graduate Ad Hudler takes us on the fictional journey of a middle-aged New Yorker in search of something. Read Part 1 of this novella which will continue to play out in subsequent issues.

Nebraska @ 150

As the state celebrates its sesquicentennial, take a look at where Nebraska and its flagship university have complemented one another beyond the boundaries of the UNL campus.

8 University Update 9 75 Years of Love 18 Maxwell Arboretum

46 Judge Arlen Beam 48 Alumni News 53 Class Notes

Pete Souza/White House

Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach Tyronn Lue (’98) and his NBA Championship team were invited to the White House on Nov. 10 by President Barack Obama.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 5

1937Generosity has no end date.

Ed Cornish was among the first to establish a scholarship fund at the University of Nebraska. Merely a year later, he passed away. But through his endowed scholarship fund, his generosity has lived on, and has helped generations of students follow their dreams.

Let your generosity live on long after you’re gone. Speak with a member of the University of Nebraska Foundation’s gift planning team to learn how. visit us at nufoundation.org/giftplanning or call us at 800-432-3216.

6 SPRING 2017

themailbag Get ‘Em While They’re Young

2016-17 NAA EXECUTIVE BOARD

I signed up my nieces and nephews for the Future Huskers mailings. My two 8-yearold nephews from Arizona have told their parents they are going to school in Lincoln and living with me! LOL ... I live in North Platte. I think your marketing is working!

L.G. Searcy, ’82, ’91, President, Lincoln Erleen Hatfield, ’91, ’96, New York, N.Y. Duane Kristensen, ’76, ’78, Minden Douglas Law, ’83, Omaha Bill Nunez, UNL Joe Selig, ’80, ’87, NU Foundation Judy Terwilliger, ’95, ’98, Lincoln

Margo Hirschfeld / Class of 1976

2016-17 Alumni advisory council

Great news! Be sure to tell them to pack a coat and boots, the first winter may be a little rough for them.

Damon Barry, ’00, Denver Stephanie Bolli, ’89, Omaha AnnMarie Bosshamer, ’92, Amherst Roger Breed, ’71, ’77, Omaha Scott Bunz, ’94, Omaha James Cahow, ’01, New York John Clarke, ’74, Mitchell, S.D. Eric Crouch, ’01, Omaha Stephen Davis, ’93, Milwaukee, Wis. Daniel Dawes, ’06, Mableton, Ga. Megan Dreyer, ’03, Lincoln Kendra Eberhart, ’79, Peoria, Ariz.

Kyle Gilster, ’94, ’97, Falls Church, Va. Rick Grady, ’98, ’98, ’04, New Albany, Ohio Randy Haas, ’73, Lincoln BJ Hansen, ’06, Omaha JLynn Hausmann, ’04, Beverly Hills, Calif.

Pam Hemann, ’70, Pasadena, Calif.

Troy Heuermann, ’92, St. Paul, Minn.

Greg Johnson, ’89, ’93, Denver Lauren Kintner, ’92, Papillion Desi Luckey-Rohling, ’81, Edgerton, Wis. Marilyn Moore, ’71, ’74, Lincoln Laura Mussman, ’82, ’03, Omaha Gregory Newport, ’76, Lincoln Winston Ostergard, ’10, Lincoln Kristen Otterson, ’05, Chicago Kim Robak, ’77, ’85, Lincoln

Loving Love

Thank you for the wonderful calendar of drawings by Jeff Siedlik. I chose Love Library to paint as it is the source of my most precious memories of the university.

It is where I went to escape the fun of the sorority house when I needed to study for my degree. It was at Love where I fell in love with my hubby of now 60 years. It was Love Library where I worked at the circulation desk to help put him through his last year of NU dental school and where we ate almost every lunch together that last year. And it is where our NU graduate children meet us when we all come back for reunions. This view epitomizes “Dear ’ole Nebraska U” for us.

Thank you for all you do that has helped keep our memories and loyalty alive all of these years.

Party People

Louise Meldrum Anderson / Class of 1958 Buffalo, Wyoming

Turn of the Century

Kevin Schneider, ’85, ’88, Raymond Jane Schuchardt, ’74, Elgin Robert Scott, ’94, Lincoln Christine Scudder Kemper, ’87, Kansas City

Your artwork is magnificent and we think you really should make painting more than just a hobby.

Stephanie Taylor, ’99, ’02, Franklin, Tenn.

Dale Tutt, ’88, Wichita, Kan. Renee Wessels, ’82, Omaha Joyce Yen, ’95, Seattle

HOW TO CONNECT huskeralum.org facebook.com/UNLalumni

Dr. Routh to the Rescue

Thanks to career counselor Dr. Larry Routh for taking time to meet with me. I wanted to let him know that I have accepted a job offer at Cerner in Kansas City and will be starting at the beginning of January in their operations department. I’m very excited to make the move and couldn’t have done it without the advice of Dr. Routh.

@NebraskaAlumni

Joseph Sughroue / Class of 2015

@NebraskaAlumni

We’re so glad you found Larry’s coaching helpful. He is available to meet with alumni and friends seeking career advice in person, via phone or Skype.

huskeralum.org/linkedin alumni@huskeralum.org

Thank you so very much for all of your help with the Joan Liekhus 80th birthday party. Throughout the process Deb Schwab was a pleasure to work with. She has a very engaging personality and her “can do” attitude was most reassuring during the pressure of party activities. Her assistance on the party day with last minute needs was immensely appreciated.

I will definitely recommend Champions Club to my friends and associates.

Theresa Dowling / Class of 1986 Consider hosting your next event with us and you too can work with Deb!

I’m sure the alumni association will treasure this Senior Class Book of 1900. I could not bring myself to throw this away. I was very happy to see that you would be able to add this to the collection of graduating class books.

Hope you enjoy reading it.

Richard Pollifrone, Scottsdale We loved poring through this piece of history, particularly reading the advertisements, including one for the Lincoln Dental College when three years of tuition cost a mere $176 and an ad for Dr. Shoemaker’s Private Hospital and Bath Parlors at 11th and L streets in Lincoln with “special attention given to all diseases of women and the nervous system.”

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 7

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Troy Fedderson/University Communication

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

Graduate assistant Jessica Lanctot prepares items in the Huskers Helping Huskers Pantry+.

The pantry offers food, other necessities, housing assistance and financial counseling to students.

Campus Expands Student Food Pantry The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is expanding upon a national trend of establishing food pantries on college campuses. On Jan. 9, Nebraska’s Office of Student Affairs launched Huskers Helping Huskers Pantry+ in a quiet, third-floor corner of the Nebraska Union. The new facility, managed by the university’s Student Money Management Center, offers food, hygiene and other necessities alongside housing assistance and financial counseling — all for free — to Nebraska students in need of help.

The concept builds upon successes of Nebraska’s Open Shelf student pantry, which was launched in 2013 through a partnership between Student Affairs and the university’s Lutheran Center.

“There is nothing more sad than watching a student suffer, especially when it comes to issues like hunger and not having a place to live,” said Juan Franco, vice chancellor for student affairs. “Huskers Helping Huskers is going to be much more than just a food pantry. It will provide comprehensive services to help those students struggling financially.”

In 2013, Nebraska was one of 50 universities that had created a food pantry and were part of the College and University Food Bank Alliance.

Today, more than 400 universities are members.

“Student poverty has long been something we joke about, casually 8 SPRING 2017

talking about things like how students eat ramen noodles,” said Adam White, pastor of the Lutheran Center. “But, in recent years, it has become a problem that universities have started taking seriously.”

The Lutheran Center partners with the university to provide space for the current campus food pantry. White said the pantry has served about 200 students annually, with a slight increase in recent use.

“When I told a colleague that Nebraska has started a food pantry, it brought him to tears,” White said.

“Then he talked about how he had to live in his car when he went to school here in 1979. Student poverty certainly is not a new issue. But, it is great to see the university take a hard look at how to address it and help people who are at risk.”

Results from a December 2015 student survey led to the university’s expansion of its pantry program. In the survey, which sought input on the cost of attending school, 2.7 percent of 1,791 students reported that they do not have anywhere to live during summer and school breaks. When polled about food, nearly 29 percent of respondents expressed at least occasional worries about having enough food to eat and 10 percent said they could rarely or never afford to eat balanced meals.

“We were surprised by the number

of students who reported they did not have enough money for food at the end of each month,” said Megan Scherling, program coordinator for the Student Money Management Center. “Those results were the catalyst for us to rethink and expand the services offered through our food pantry.”

Scherling oversees the pantry operations with help from a graduate student, an undergraduate intern and other student volunteers.

Along with food, toiletries and other necessities, student workers will provide information on housing options. Brochures and other printed materials on where to go for assistance are also available. Students who use the pantry can explore services offered by the Student Money Management Center — which range from one-on-one financial counseling sessions to online resources.

“We’ve assisted students with financial troubles in the past, but now we’ll have an added resource of being able to walk them upstairs and give them immediate assistance,” Scherling said. “Hopefully, by expanding the pantry and moving it into the Nebraska Union, we’ll increase awareness of it and get more students the important resources they need to succeed.”

Franco said Open Shelf will continue to operate in the Lutheran Center until the new pantry is full established.

—Troy Fedderson, University Communication

ALL BOOKED UP

Love Library Marks 75 Years

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

In the late 19th century, students paid $10 for their college education — a $5 fee entrance fee and a $5 processing fee for graduation.

That money paid for the books in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s first library, a resource Lincoln historian Jim McKee (’63) said students were “discouraged to use.”

Since its start in 1870, UNL’s library has shifted from a faculty-focused center to a principal student resource. It’s also grown from a single room to the four-story Don L. Love Memorial Library, a building that celebrated its 75th anniversary with a special presentation in December.

McKee said the library’s roots lie in a period of transformation at the university. At the time of the library’s founding, UNL was “entering a period of time where we had the best faculty imaginable and the best programs available, all for the best students at the University of Nebraska,” McKee said.

But at the beginning, the library wasn’t one of the resources available to students. Only the faculty had keys to the room, and without any organization or posted hours, faculty wrote to administration that the library existed “either for ornament or for sole use of the faculty.”

Don Love was part of changing the culture, McKee said.

With an $850,000 donation to UNL, Love financed the construction of the new library building.

In 1941, the building’s cornerstone was laid, and the Daily Nebraskan reported that “short essays by Peterson, Teeter and Barkley praising Mr. Love’s philanthropy will be placed inside the cornerstone before cement is poured.”

The laying of the cornerstone marked a new period in the university’s focus on students, and the building has since given more to students than Love likely could have imagined.

The library has adapted to advancements in technology and the changing needs of students, and seeing it grow as an institution has been a privilege, community engagement librarian Joanie Barnes said.

The juxtaposition of the new Adele Hall Learning Commons makes the celebration of the library’s 75-year-old history even more poignant, Barnes said.

“We’ve got a 75-year anniversary, and we have a one-year anniversary,” Barnes said. “It’s like we’re looking back at a legacy and looking forward to a future.”

(Daily Nebraskan reporter Elizabeth Rembert is a sophomore from Hartington, Neb. She studies journalism, Arabic and Russian with dreams of becoming a foreign correspondent covering Middle Eastern politics and conflicts. Her favorite book is “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”)

Archives and Special Collections/UNL Libraries

by Elizabeth Rembert | Daily Nebraskan

The exhibit, “75th Anniversary of Love Library’s Cornerstone,” features photos — like this one from 1942 — that were taken during the building of the library seven decades ago.

Did You Know ...

• Don L. Love died in 1940 and left $850,000 in his will to build a new library on the University of Nebraska campus. It was planned to be the largest and most expensive building on campus.

• Short essays praising Love’s philanthropy, written by friends and business associates of Love, were placed

inside the cornerstone before the cement was poured.

• Due to the onset of World War II, when construction was completed, Love Library became home to about 300-400 Air Corps Training Unit members in 1943 instead of being used as the library. Love Library opened to students in 1945 and was finally dedicated as a library in 1947.

• The library used to have a pneumatic tube and special conveyor to speed up the process of getting books from the stacks to the students.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 9

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Head to Honda of Lincoln to take advantage of exciting offers on a new Honda during the Dream Garage Sales Event.

Turn your garage into the garage of your dreams with a great deal on a new Honda. Find your specials below.

HondaofLincoln.com/NAA-specials

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For a full listing of member benefits visit HondaofLincoln.com/NAA Honda of Lincoln • (402) 437-1300 • 2770 Yankee Hill Rd Lincoln, NE 68516

MONEY MATTERS

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

$40 million

Project Aims to Help Schools Diagnose, Manage Concussions

Center will unite strengths in agriculture, medicine The Nebraska Food for Health Center, a more than $40 million initiative to improve the lives of people around the world, has been launched at the University of Nebraska. University funding of the center includes $19.8 million over five years and $20.5 million from private donations. Gifts from the Jeff Raikes and Bill Gates foundations provide startup funds for equipment needs and operational priorities. Of the remaining $15.5 million needed in private donations, $12 million will provide permanently endowed support, and $3.5 million will support anticipated research space.

$20 million Diseases of aging and brain health to be studied UNL is among nine institutions in four states that will use a $20 million National Institutes of Health grant to develop early career researchers and expand resources needed to support clinical/translational research around the region. The grant will be particularly focused on expanding knowledge about approaches needed to address diseases of aging and brain health.

$15 million Project aims to improve child welfare workforce UNL is leading a $15 million research effort to strengthen the nation’s child welfare agency workforce and improve children’s lives. The university is launching the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development with a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families-Children’s Bureau.

Nebraska’s Center on Children, Families and the Law will receive the $15 million grant over five years.

$13.75 million Consortium to develop roadway safety upgrades in four states The Mid-America Transportation Center, a consortium of academic institutions led by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will lead a five-year, $13.75 million federally funded research center to improve transportation safety in Nebraska and neighboring states, with an emphasis on challenges facing rural areas and underserved communities.

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

With concussion awareness at an all-time high, school personnel are increasingly responsible for supporting students’ recovery.

Scott Napolitano, assistant professor of practice in educational psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has earned a $1.1 million grant Assistant professor Scott Napolitano has earned a $1.1 million grant to to develop evidence-based training that will help train future school psychologists in schools diagnose and manage cases of concussion concussion management. and mild traumatic brain injury in students.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the five-year project will launch a concussion management specialization in the university’s school psychology graduate program. About 20 students will be recruited through the project, which provides funding for tuition and living stipends.

The new specialization, among the first of its kind in the U.S., aims to address a key issue in the field: the national and local shortage of practicing school psychologists trained in concussion management.

Addressing that shortage may also help schools comply with recent state legislation on concussion management, including the 2014 “Return to Learn” provision of the Nebraska Concussion Awareness Act. The provision requires schools to assess symptoms and needs for students with concussions, and design plans to support academic adjustments.

However, concussion management is a new field, and many schools want more information and tools to better serve students, according to Napolitano.

“Now schools have to start monitoring and evaluating students with concussions, and using new tests and instruments,” Napolitano said. “The whole essence of this grant is to train personnel to meet that need and help students have a more successful recovery and maintain academic success.”

Students in the specialization will gain practical experience during a nine-month externship with Lincoln Public Schools’ concussion management team clinics.

Napolitano envisions developing a train-the-trainer program to meet concussion management needs on a national scale. His project includes an evaluation component to assess best practices for training school psychologists in concussion management — which also includes feedback from schools and students who receive services.

As researchers discover more about what works best for students recovering from concussions — which account for 70 to 90 percent of mild traumatic brain injuries — they face the challenge of getting information to school personnel.

The current project can help bridge that gap by training a new generation of school psychologists, Napolitano said.

“My ultimate goal is that there will be psychologists who are trained in evidencebased concussion assessment and management in every school in the country,” he said. “There’s such a need for people who have actual evidence-based training and know how to interpret and read new literature because the field is changing so fast.”

—Alyssa Amen/University Communication

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 11

A D V E RT I S E M E N T

NEBRASKAAUTHORS Featured books by Nebraska alumni, faculty and staff

THE DUST ROSE LIKE SMOKE

SMOKE THE DONKEY

In 1876 Lakota and Cheyenne warriors annihilated Custer’s Seventh Cavalry on the Little Bighorn. Three years later and half a world away, Zulu warriors wiped out a British force at Isandlwana in South Africa. “The Dust Rose Like Smoke” compares these encounters and analyzes them within the broader context of nineteenth-century global imperialism.

“ ‘Smoke the Donkey’ is a story about two American heroes and their surprising friendship — Semper Fidelis at its finest.

Smoke steals all of our hearts.”

—Gary Sinise, actor, humanitarian and founder of the Gary Sinise Foundation

James O. Gump

Cate Folsom

SHRINK-PROOF YOUR LIFE Peter Allman

Most of us are creatures of habit. Unfortunately some habits — specifically our thinking patterns — can be unhealthy. Psychotherapist Peter Allman shares conversations with counseling clients that show practical approaches, helpful metaphors, and proven methods that train the mind to achieve better mental health and resiliency through life’s greatest challenges and experience more love, purpose and joy.

LIFE ISN’T ALWAYS A BREEZE A SUPPORTIVE JOURNAL FOR ALL TEENS WHOSE LIVES ARE AFFECTED BY CANCER

Written by Pam Ganz, ms

LIFE ISN’T ALWAYS A BREEZE Pam Ganz, MS

This book provides an outlet for teens to express and explore the multitude of emotions that are experienced as they journey through living with a cancer diagnosis. This supportive journal helps teens communicate their feelings, seek answers to questions and concerns, while helping to develop and strengthen healthy coping strategies.

12 SPRING 2017

BASIC BUSINESS Lou Schultz

Improve your business by regularly gathering ideas to continually increase your success.

Proven activities from around the world have been tailored for realistic small business application. A self-help source, “Basic Business” presents 150 tutorials divided into five subjects: leadership, strategy, process, marketing and culture.

SECRETS FROM MY GRANDMA’S GARDEN Don Eversoll

As if Eversoll mixed his own blood with the ink on each page, this little jewel offers unique insight into successfully growing heirloom vegetables. As a “weekend Husker farm-kid,” Don draws inspiration from his part-Indian grandmother, a disciple of age-old, and now-popular varieties, to reveal proven methods. don_eversoll@comcast.net

NEBRASKETBALL

RODEO NEBRASKA

10 MINUTES OF INSANITY

Winner of the 2016 Nebraska Book Award — Nonfiction (Current Biography)

Photographing 82 rodeo events in 62 separate locations, Mark Harris artistically captured the competition, the rural crowds, the bone-crushing falls and all things connected with rodeo. The book’s underlying message is that rodeo is more than a sport; it’s a culture. National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore calls the book “A captivating tribute to rodeo like no other.”

Johnny tells the story of the first 25 years of his life and how 10 minutes of insanity just about ruined his career.

It’s an in-depth look at what it takes to overcome all odds no matter how bleak.

Scott Winter

“Anyone valuing the lessons derived from hard work, diligence and persistence during adversity will enjoy this book.”

— J. Kemper Campbell, Lincoln Journal Star

Mark Harris

Johnny Rodgers

To learn more or order your copy go to www.10minutesofinsanity.com.

?

LIFE ISN’T ALWAYS A DAY AT THE BEACH Pam Ganz, MS

This book is designed to meet the needs of all children affected by a cancer diagnosis. The book is written in a user-friendly format and each page is colorfully illustrated by local artist and educator, Tobi Scofield. The book encourages expression of feelings, concerns, fears, questions, hopes and dreams.

BE A DAD!

YOUR BOOK HERE

Jim Hild

Your Name Here

“Be a Dad!” is Hild’s response to the lack of focus by fathers. Based on his own experiences from the birth of his children to their toddler years, Hild’s straightforward, humorous discussion of Dadhood guides men through the commitment they’ve made to their children, their partners and themselves.

Looking to advertise your book in the next edition of Nebraska Magazine?

Contact Jenny Chapin at jchapin@huskeralum.org or (402) 472-8915.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 13

The Sesquicentennial Commemorative Medallion.

In Celebration of 150 years of Nebraska Statehood.

This is your opportunity to own a piece of Nebraska history.

1 oz. silver $150

1 oz. silver with 24k. gold ďŹ nish $250

Set of 5 bronze $100

These commemorative medallions are approved by the Nebraska Sesquicentennial Commission and offered through the Nebraska 150 Foundation. The medallion features the ofďŹ cial logo and seal representing the celebration of 150 years of statehood.

Purchase yours today at: ne150.org/medallions To direct order by check: Just add 10% to the total to cover tax and shipping.

Mail to: The Nebraska 150 Foundation 215 Centennial Mall South, Suite 514 Lincoln, NE 68508

The Nebraska Sesquicentennial Commemorative Medallion is an official Legacy Project of the Nebraska Sesquicentennial Commission and the Nebraska 150 Foundation. Proceeds of the initiative will support underwriting for events and projects in honor of the 150th year of statehood throughout the year of 2017.

Picture This

Kitchen Table Series by Carrie Mae Weems

Fifteen faculty, staff and students were invited to curate an exhibition drawn from Sheldon Museum of Art’s permanent holdings of nearly 3,000 photographs. Each participant offered a personal response to the image selected. The exhibit, which runs through May 7, features photographs by 1925 College of Engineering graduate Harold Edgerton, as well as Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange among others.

“15 Photographs, 15 Curators” underscores Sheldon’s mission as a teaching museum by presenting multiple perspectives on the collection. A selected few appear on the following pages.

“I was moved by this image in so many ways. It reminded me of my childhood. It reminded me of wanting to grow up and be like the strong African-American women who surrounded me in my church and community. They were well dressed, committed to community, and worked hard. Having a strong work ethic wasn’t an option — it was the default.”

Selected by Charlie Foster Interim Assistant to the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Office of Academic Success and Intercultural Services NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 15

Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California by Dorothea Lange

Joinery, Coloma, California by Stanley Truman

“I love trees at all stages of their existence, including the beauty of natural wooden logs in manmade structures. I would like to be in the place where this picture was taken.”

Selected by Shane Farritor (Class of 1992) Lederer Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering College of Engineering Founder, Nebraska Innovation Studio

“There is a quality to this photo that grabs my attention and makes it difficult for me to look away. It instantly evokes feelings of concern for those experiencing desperation, poverty and vulnerability.”

Selected by Pablo Morales Head Coach, Women’s Swimming Athletics

“I’m drawn to Frank Gohlke’s sharp, precise rendering of textures, surfaces, forms and light — and in this photograph, the vantage point. Being a native of the Midwest, I know places like this.”

Selected by Carrie Morgan (Class Curator of Academic Programs Sheldon Museum of Art

Landscape—Grain Elevator and Lightning Flash, Lamesa, Texas

by Frank Gohlke

of 1996)

Kathleen Kelly by Judy Dater

Wes Fesler Kicking a Football by Harold Edgerton

“I can see 1/10,000 of a second. I am witness to the decisive moment.”

“I’m struck by the photograph’s suggestion that history repeats itself.”

Selected by Richard Associate Professor University Libraries

Selected by Michelle Waite (Class of 2009) Assistant to the Chancellor for Community Relations Office of the Chancellor

Graham (Class of 1998)

“The photo is stimulating because it invites us to ponder the spatial relationships and how the pieces fit together. It also is thought provoking because it makes us wonder about the optical techniques that were used in its production.”

Selected by David J. Sellmyer George Holmes University Professor of Physics Director, Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience Director, Nebraska Nanoscale Facility: National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure

Robert Morris 134-7

by Alan Cohen

I

t’s not often that an undergraduate student makes a permanent change for an institution. In 1936, undergraduate Jack Fischer successfully pressed University of Nebraska regents to apply for funding from the federal Public Works Administration to build the Nebraska Union. And in 1966, undergraduate David Doeschot wrote a letter urging the preservation of a large area of East Campus, and renaming the landscape in honor of Earl G. Maxwell, an important horticulturalist and advocate for trees.

“I was told he (Maxwell) walked the campus grounds at least weekly, observing the trees and other plantings. He had a different perspective — a tree perspective,” Doeschot says.

Doeschot, then a senior horticulture and agricultural education major, was president of the university’s student Horticulture and Forestry Club. His letter, written in May 1966, noted the number and variety of plantings in the area, many planted by Maxwell. And, he added, the area was used heavily by students for research on unique plants, and for respite from campus life.

Doeschot, and the club, hoped the area could be dedicated during Arbor Day 1967.

Fifty years later, Doeschot, now a semiretired cattle breeder who raises Braunvieh cattle at his home place near Hickman, Neb., is proud that the letter pushed the university to preserve the spot. The university was erecting new buildings on East Campus, including what’s now called the Hardin Center at the corner of 33rd and

Sugar Maple 18 SPRING 2017

Holdrege, and C.Y. Thompson Library. Both buildings displaced trees, including many historic trees planted by horticulturist and university leader Charles Bessey and those planted by Maxwell. Doeschot and others were concerned about those losses, and they hoped to prevent more. The ability to honor Maxwell was a bonus, he said. Doeschot was mentored by Dermot Coyne, who was a faculty member in horticulture. In addition to being a brilliant plant breeder, Coyne was a humanitarian and had an eye for history and art. Doeschot said Coyne planted the seed of the idea for the Horticulture and Forestry Club (which Coyne had revitalized) to spearhead an effort to save Maxwell’s trees and preserve the area.

The letter caught the attention of Joe Young, horticulture department chair, who passed it up the line to Elvin Frolik, dean of the College of Agriculture. Frolik’s endorsement moved it to NU Chancellor Clifford Hardin, who gave it his nod. Joe Soshnik, who at the time was corporation secretary to the Board of Regents went to bat to win the regents’ approval. “Soshnik was a realist,” Doeschot said. “He liked the idea of setting aside the area and

Bottlebrush Buckeye

even though it didn’t involve a building, it had appeal.” It also apparently cost the university very little financially, always a winning idea.

The regents approved the proposal in June 1967, and eventually the area was dedicated formally as part of the university’s centennial year in 1969.

Doeschot has long held a love for trees.

He remembers being about six and helping his father plant trees with “Bessey Nursery” labels on their home place more than 65 years ago. He planted trees as part of 4-H conservation camp activities and laments the loss of historic trees at the former Nebraska State Fairgrounds.

He met Earl Maxwell just once, after Doeschot had written the letter supporting the arboretum. Doeschot remembers little about Maxwell, other than his advanced age. But he admired Maxwell’s love of the campus.

Maxwell developed a plan for the entire East Campus landscape, but the document was lost in a fire, Doeschot said. A few years ago, Doeschot found, in his own files, a copy of a long-forgotten letter that Maxwell had written to Minnesota horticulturist

Rouge Cardinal

Rhododendron

Archives and Special Collections, UNL Libraries

Tree-mendous Anniversary The Friends of Maxwell Arboretum will host a free public event May 16 celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Earl G. Maxwell Arboretum. The event will occur on UNL’s East Campus and will include a reception, tree planting and a talk

by George Briggs, a former director of the Nebraska Statewide Arboretum and now executive director of the North Carolina Arboretum.

Kiwanis members, from left, A.D. Stoesz, Cyril Bish and Earl G. Maxwell plant trees as part of an Arbor Day celebration in 1965.

Harold Pallett and had sent to him soon after Doeschot penned the Horticulture and Forestry Club letter. In the letter, Maxwell wrote of some of his plans.

Doeschot gave the letter to the Nebraska Forest Service’s Community Forestry and Sustainable Landscapes Program, noting it was perhaps the only recreation of Maxwell’s original thoughts and provides information about the original trees in the arboretum.

As he has aged, Doeschot has refined an interest in history, which has sweetened his memory of the time and also made him proud of his role in saving important and historic plantings.

“I think that in 1966 the historical perspective even then motivated me.

Maxwell had worked more than 30 years earlier. We are a prairie state, which Maxwell recognized, but he searched worldwide for plants that were compatible. He had an entire ecosystems interest and viewpoint. So many people have no knowledge of who he was, or even of the arboretum.”

Thanks to David Doeschot, Maxwell’s work remains a part of the university’s living history.

—Kim Hachiya

Cottonwood

Common Lilac

Who Was Earl G. Maxwell?

A native of Indiana, Earl G. Maxwell (1884-1966) earned a master’s from the University of Nebraska in 1915 and established himself in Nebraska as a plants man with primary interest in trees.

He taught at the University from 191517, and then became the first Extension Agent for Douglas County, a position he held for 12 years.

From 1934 to his retirement in 1952 he was the State Extension Forester, overseeing programs through which more than 20 million trees were distributed and planted throughout Nebraska.

Maxwell was intensely interested in finding trees and shrubs that would thrive in Nebraska’s varied and sometimes harsh climate. He planted more than 100 species of trees on UNL’s East Campus, which served as his trial garden. Wilbur (Bud) Dasenbrock, former director of UNL’s Landscape Services, notes that many of the oldest trees on East Campus were planted

by Maxwell.

All biographies of Maxwell note his love of poetry and his propensity to recite poems from memory, notably those by Indiana poet James Whitcomb Riley.

Maxwell died in 1966 at age 84.

Bald Cypress

T

he Maxwell Arboretum exhibits both native and exotic species, herbaceous perennial gardens as well as woody plants. Special collections focus on hostas and irises, oaks, maples, horsechestnuts, viburnums, vines, lilacs, rhododendrons, and deciduous conifers.

A prairie area showcases native grasses. The five-acre arboretum lies between the 35th Street and 40th Street entrances to East Campus off of Holdrege Street and extends north to Center Street.

600 acres

make up the Botanical Gardens and Arboretum on both campuses, including

7,000 trees 324 acres of green space

35 miles

of paved sidewalks

Viburnum Carlesii

Doublefile Viburnum NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 19

Ronnie Green’s Circuitous Route to Academics

By Charlyne Berens

F

arm boy by birth. Geneticist and teacher by design. Higher ed administrator by persuasion. Chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln because the moon and stars aligned.

Green has been chancellor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln since May. He’s excited about and engaged with the job, but it was not something he always planned to do. In fact, it took some convincing to get him even to apply.

“It’s been an amazing journey,” Green said. He’s been able to use his expertise in genetics, in academia, in government and in industry — then apply what he learned in every sector to leading Nebraska’s flagship university.

“Ronnie has a wonderful portfolio of experiences to prepare him to lead a land grant institution,” said Steve Waller, dean of the NU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. “It’s not just an academic philosophy. It’s more of a lifestyle.”

Green’s first 10 months on the job haven’t been without its provocations. Amidst the football players kneeling during the national anthem to the budget cuts being imposed by the state legislature and the United States president tightening up the borders, there have been many topics for the new chancellor to address. He has done so with a thoughtful wisdom befitting the state’s flagship university campus.

“The demonstration by our studentathletes represents the fact that we are an inclusive university; one that welcomes diverse views. The diversity in our thoughts and opinions is what leads to productive discourse,” Green said after the September football controversy.

His message was much the same after President Donald Trump’s executive order banning entry into the United States by citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries.

Along with four NU leaders Green stated, “Our diversity is what makes the University of Nebraska an outstanding institution of higher learning. Universities like ours have a proud history of serving as talent magnets, where the best minds come to the table to solve the world’s biggest challenges. Today those challenges are great ... these demand the world’s best thinking. Now, more than ever, we must be more inclusive, not less.

And universities should lead the way.”

AGRICULTURAL ROOTS But long before all of this, there was a boy named Ronnie who grew up on a fullscale beef cattle farm in Virginia. His father also worked a full-time job at the General Electric plant nearby, so farming was a family endeavor.

“When it was light, we worked,” Green said. “ALL. THE. TIME.” His interest in agriculture and farm animals took him to college at Virginia Tech, where he thought he’d study to be a veterinarian. Instead, he double majored in agricultural economics and animal science, then earned a master’s in animal genetics from Colorado State and a Ph.D. in the same field from Nebraska.

The lifestyle has developed over a lifetime, starting on the farm at the southern end of Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. “My sister and I grew up in a work intensive environment,” he says in his southern cadence of drawn-out vowels. “We didn’t participate in high school athletics because we had full-time work to do.”

The first in his family to go to college, Green thinks his original inclination to be a veterinarian was inspired by a series of books James Herriot wrote in the 1970s about his experiences as a British veterinarian.

“I had a romantic view of what it was to be a vet,” Green said. Once he got into his course work at Virginia Tech, though, he realized it was not the career he wanted after all. Instead, he thought about putting his ag econ major to work as an agricultural banker.

But his animal science faculty mentors, Andy Swiger and A.L. “Ike” Eller, told him, “We’ve been watching you since you were a 4-H and FFA kid and think you’re really interested in genetics.” Green pondered that suggestion, changed his mind about banking

and headed for Colorado State University to earn a master’s in animal genetics.

During the last semester of his M.S. program, Green got to teach a class and loved it. “That really lit my fire,” he said.

From Colorado State, he headed straight to UNL to pursue a Ph.D. When he finished in 1988, he was off to join the faculty at Texas Tech where his assignment was to revive the school’s animal genetics program.

“My goal was to be the best college professor in the world in beef cattle genetics,” Green said. “I had a chance to mold students and make a difference in the world. It was very important to me to have an impact on the ground.”

And he did. Chuck Schroeder, now the executive director of the Rural Futures Institute at Nebraska, has known Green for at least 30 years and remembers crossing paths with him at various stages of his academic career. “He was respected as both a talented researcher and one of the most gifted teachers in the animal science realm,” Schroeder said.

After six years at Texas Tech, Green returned to Colorado State. “I thought I’d died and gone to heaven,” Green said about his position on the genetics faculty. He thought he’d stay there until he was ready to retire.

But six years later, the situation was a bit too routine. “I was becoming a little complacent,” he said. And when a group of beef industry leaders asked him to be part of their start-up in Denver, developing a model to brand and supply all the beef for the Safeway food store chain, Green latched onto the new challenge.

FROM ACADEMIA TO INDUSTRY Future Beef opened a $120 million facility one month before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The bottom fell out of the markets, and the company was bankrupt within a year. “I was CEO at the end,” Green said, leading the company’s dissolution in a way that would do the most to protect the company’s 900 employees and stakeholders.

“We did it ethically and right instead of just walking away from people,” Green said.

Leading a startup and managing a bankruptcy in quick succession were not things he’d been trained to do, Green said, but the experience was invaluable. “I call it my hard-knocks MBA,” he said.

At that point, Green was 41-years-old. He and his wife, Jane, had four kids. And he had

“I was 16 years old when this photo was taken in July 1977 in Harrisonburg, Va. It was when the Angus heifer I am pictured with was named the reserve champion of the Virginia Junior Angus Breeders show. This was an activity (showing Angus breeding cattle all over the eastern U.S.) that I was deeply involved in for 10 years while in 4-H and FFA programs.”

—Ronnie Green

THE GOODS ON GREEN Full name

Ronald David Green — “but I’ve always been Ronnie”

Born

June 17, 1961 in Roanoke, Va.

Married

Aug. 2, 1986 at First Plymouth Church in Lincoln to Jane O. Pauley originally from Harvard, Neb.

Education

B.S., Virginia Tech (1983) M.S., Colorado State (1985) Ph.D., UNL (1988)

Passions

Education; fairness and equity; family; faith; music

Favorite quote

“Of those to whom much has been given, even more is required.” Luke 12:48

Hero

Abraham Lincoln

Favorite movie “Schindler’s List”

Favorite music

A mix of Broadway: “Les Miserables,” “Wicked,” but also Keith Urban, Josh Groban and John Denver

Hobby

Musical performance; agriculture broadly writ

Favorite activity on a free day

Riding a tractor, doing something productive with land NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 21

no job.

He was building an ag consulting business when he got the offer to lead a USDA research program that included sequencing the genome for all food animal species, a project that appealed to his commitment to do science that would make a difference on the ground. Once the project was almost complete, Green accepted Pfizer’s 2008 offer to help build a commercial technology out of what had been developed in the public domain.

ON TO HIGHER ED ADMIN Just two years later, Green got a letter telling him he had been nominated to be the vice chancellor of Nebraska’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, headquartered on the university’s East Campus. He didn’t exactly jump at the chance. “I just didn’t pay any attention to it,” Green said. He didn’t think he was qualified for higher education administration.

And the timing seemed wrong.

Then he got another letter — and some phone calls. His nominators were persistent.

They even got then-Chancellor Harvey Perlman to call and ask him to consider applying for the IANR position. Green said, “I was flattered, but I’d never been an academic administrator.”

Furthermore, he said, “I was on a faculty for 13 years, but had been out of academia for a decade. I couldn’t imagine the IANR faculty being excited about someone coming in at that level without educational administration experience.”

Green finally agreed to an initial interview and then was named a finalist.

Before his official campus visit, he said to Jane, “What am I going to do in the interview when we all realize I’m wasting their time?”

But early into his three days of meetings with various campus constituencies, “I knew I was supposed to be here,” he said.

The path became obvious from then on, and he took over as vice chancellor in July 2010.

His influence was felt immediately, Waller said. “The optimism he has and his confidence in our collective ability to pursue some audacious goals really was stimulating.”

Marjorie Kostelnik, dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences, agreed that Green brought to NU an attitude of growth, an aspirational focus. “He has a deep faith in people; that really comes through,” she said. “But he backs that up with a very keen intellect,” a lot of hard work and a gift for organization and followthrough.

Green hustles around campus frequently — and at a fast clip in order to keep his busy schedule on track.

22 SPRING 2017

“I see myself as a servant, not a director.”

Green’s office is located on the second floor of the Canfield administration building. Here he meets with Joe Selig, senior VP for UNL development at the Nebraska Foundation.

While Green was at IANR, the Institute acquired private support for dozens of faculty chairs. It raised money in record time for a new Veterinary Diagnostics building. It renovated a number of other buildings on the university’s East Campus.

And it grew enrollment in its programs and increased its tenure track faculty ranks by 72 new positions — a record increase of 27 percent.

“He raised the self-respect and expectations for excellence both within and outside the University of Nebraska in the agriculture realm,” Schroeder said. “That was an historic accomplishment.”

But Waller adds, “If you say to him, ‘Look what you’ve accomplished,’ he’ll say, ‘Look what we have accomplished.’ It’s not about him.”

Green himself says, “I see myself as a servant, not a director. I really believe in servant leadership with every ounce of my being.”

The reluctant administrator had led the Institute to a new pace of development and improvement. And then the moon and the stars began to align.

UP NEXT: CHANCELLOR’S OFFICE Several years ago, Perlman let it be known he was approaching retirement, and he suggested to Green that he should apply for the chancellorship when it would come open. Again, Green said he wasn’t the right person, didn’t have the breadth

of understanding of the full range of the academy.

“And besides, I don’t know anything about athletics,” he said. Green thought someone leading a Division I school needed experience handling big-time athletics.

Moon and stars drew closer together in July 2015 when Green agreed to serve a year as interim senior vice chancellor for academic affairs, responsible for not just IANR but the entire university at Lincoln.

Reluctant at first, Green said, “Once I got into the dual role, it was easy to see where the impacts could be. I started thinking about all nine academic colleges, not only those that were under the IANR umbrella. I could see what was going well, what needed optimizing.”

That year helped persuade him to be a candidate for the school’s top spot when Perlman said he would retire at the end of the 2015-16 school year. Last May, Green took over as chancellor.

He’s still a bit in awe. The job, he said, is “like having 1.9 million bosses.” He realizes what a big impact the university’s teaching, research and extension program have on the state: “Knowing you can help guide that is almost surreal.”

Not quite a year into Green’s leadership, Waller was enthusiastic. “He’ll continue the momentum Harvey created,” Waller said, and the entire university will experience what IANR experienced under Green’s leadership. And then, Waller said, “We all win.”

UNL CHANCELLORS Allen R. Benton (1871-76) Edmund Burke Fairfield (1876-82) Irving Manatt (1884-88) Charles Edwin Bessey (1888-91) James Hulme Canfield (1891-95) George Edwin MacLean (1895-99) Elisha Andrews (1900-08) Samuel Avery (1908-27) Edgar A. Burnett (1927-38) Chauncey Samuel Boucher (1938-46) Reuben G. Gustavson (1946-53) Clifford M. Hardin (1954-68) Joseph Soshnik (1968-71) James Zumberge (1972-75) Roy Young (1976-80) Martin A. Massengale (1981-94) Graham Spanier (1994-96) James Moeser (1996-2000) Harvey Perlman (2000-16) Ronnie D. Green (2016-present)

Green emphasizes smart growth The chancellor has set out ambitious goals which he aims to attain by 2025 To make its mark in the Big Ten, the nation and the world, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln must grow intelligently and distinguish itself from other conference institutions, Chancellor Ronnie Green said at his inaugural State of the University address last fall.

“As we mature into the Big Ten, it’s not all about size.

It’s about being distinctive in what we do,” he said.

During his 60-minute address, Green drew a picture of the university in the year 2025: 35 percent larger, with 35,000 students; a doubling of research expenditures to $600 million per year; and increasing diversity of students and faculty from other states, other nations and an increasing array of socioeconomic, racial and ethnic backgrounds.

While it remains important to recruit more students to the flagship campus of the University of Nebraska system, Green also called for significant increases in retention and graduation rates among students.

He wants to see first-year retention rates grow from the current 83 percent to 90 percent and to move from the current graduation rate of 67 percent in six years to more than 80 percent in four years.

“That’s a win for the state of Nebraska, for bringing talent here in the form of high-caliber students, who will hopefully stay,” he said.

35K 30K 35K

100%

Enrollment Rates

Graduation Rates 100% 75%

25K 30K 75% 20K 25K 20K

2005

2015

2025

2005

2015

2025

Research Expenditures

50%

50%

2005

2015

2025

2005

2015

2025

Economic Impact to the State

$600M $400M $600M

$3B

$200M $400M

$2B $3B

$200M0 0

$2B 2005

2015

2025

2005

2015

2025

24 SPRING 2017

2015

2025

2015Chancellor’s 2025 Office Source:

People Person

R

onnie Green loves college students ­— teaching them, mentoring them, helping them make the most of their talent. But one reason he said he wasn’t sure he should become the guy in charge of those students’ entire university was that he had never paid close attention to big-time athletics. His education in that regard got a kick-start four months into his term as chancellor.

Last September, three NU football players knelt, instead of stood, during the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” before the Huskers’ game at Northwestern. The players said their action was intended to draw attention to the negative racial climate in the nation.

Welcome to a place where sports meets politics meets higher ed, Chancellor Green.

Some Nebraskans wanted the players off the team. Some supported the players’ symbolic expression. Green and Hank Bounds, president of the Nebraska university system, both defended the student athletes’ right to protest.

Green said students’ right to express their opinions is “foundational” to America’s commitment to free expression. “They did it in a respectful way to make the statement.

Then they defended it,” he said of the football players. “They were accountable to the team and to the public.”

But Green is aware of the conflict between what some saw as disrespect for the nation and the constitutional guarantees in the First Amendment. “I wish it was easy,” Green said of dealing with the conflicting values.

“But,” he added, “that’s what a university is: a place for free ideas and expression” — by students as well as faculty and administrators.

At a Big Ten, Research I university, athletics and research and innovation are all vital, but the students are always first in his mind, Green said. “Thousands of students learn here. Their experience changes their lives.”

Green cherishes his contact with those students. When he was vice chancellor at the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, “he wanted as much engagement as his calendar would allow — sometimes

“

He wanted as much engagement as his calendar would allow.

more,” said Steve Waller, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

He interacts easily with students, faculty and staff, donors and custodians and landscape workers. On his way to Memorial Stadium before a football game, he stops to visit with anyone who recognizes him and wants to chat, comfortable with the folks in line at the gate and the ones making their way to private skyboxes.

Marjorie Kostelnik said that friendliness and accessibility are among the things she appreciates about Green: “He really listens to everybody. … And that’s not a veneer,” she said. “It’s genuine.”

Kostelnik is dean of the College of Education and Human Sciences, part of which is under the IANR umbrella, and also served as interim vice chancellor for academic affairs during fall semester 2016. Having worked with Green in both settings, she said he was the same warm, friendly person no matter what the title in front of his name.

Potential NU athletes got a taste of that warm personality last fall when Green hustled to the sidelines before home football games to talk one-on-one with the high school kids — and their parents — then nearly ran back to the chancellor’s skybox to watch the game with his family and some longtime university supporters.

Current students get a taste of that personality — as well as the chancellor’s deep voice and the remnants of his Virginia accent — when Green makes one of his frequent appearances as a guest speaker in university classes and at meetings of student organizations. Or in individual conversations.

Maci Lienemann Mueller, a 2016 animal science grad, said Green was a mentor to her and countless other students when he headed IANR. “His support and guidance have been key to my success,” she said.

She’s now earning a master’s in animal genetics at the University of California-Davis.

All that interaction with students and faculty, fellow administrators and the people of the state feeds into the chancellor’s strategy to make Nebraska “a bigger and bolder university.” ­—Charlyne Berens

Jan. 27, 2017 University of Nebraska-Lincoln community: Good morning to you all.

Over the past few months, you’ve likely become aware of the state of Nebraska’s budget challenges.

The challenges are real, and we are working diligently with our elected officials to mitigate adverse effects on the University of Nebraska, which contributes so much to our state and beyond as an economic engine. In fact, we know that the University of Nebraska-Lincoln alone contributes more than $2 billion annually to the state economy.

We have also been working internally with our collective University of Nebraska-Lincoln administrative leadership team to ensure we understand the landscape and the best options for not only managing with restricted resources, but for continuing to deliver on our mission in such an environment. I can assure you that our priority will be protecting the academic integrity and excellence of the university, and I recognize that much has been done here already to create an effective and efficient organization.

We remain steadfast and committed to our priority of growth as well, and we will leverage the unprecedented momentum and energy that is integral to our university community. I am as enthusiastic today about the future of Nebraska as I was on day one of my chancellorship. The passion, dedication and talent you devote to our land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach at Nebraska’s flagship university runs deep, and I know that any challenges will not dampen that commitment or our ability to pursue our goals.

Thank you for all you do for the university.

Because your understanding and knowledge of the situation will be imperative for our ongoing progress, I promise to keep you updated on an ongoing basis.

Our trajectory has never been more positive.

I’m confident we will lead through this in a way that leverages our momentum and makes our instructional, research, and extension engagement programs stronger than ever.

—Steve Waller

Ronnie D. Green, Chancellor NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 25

Finding Love in a Feedlot

O

nce upon a time, Block and Bridle held its annual summer conference in Canada. Headed to Guelph, Ontario, for the event, Ronnie Green and a fraternity brother from Virginia Tech stopped to visit some universities along the way since they both planned to do graduate work after finishing their senior year.

At Michigan State, the staff invited them to join a group of Block and Bridle members from Nebraska who also were visiting. Among those students was Jane Pauley of Harvard, Neb., a recent agricultural honors graduate in the UNL College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. First stop on the tour: the Michigan State feedlot.

“We literally met in a feedlot at Michigan State in 1982,” Ronnie says.

No one remembers seeing lightning strike or hearing the sound of swelling violins, but the young man from Virginia and the young woman from Nebraska, presidents of their respective chapters of the animal husbandry student organization, definitely remember meeting that day.

Three years later, Ronnie Green came to Lincoln to pursue a Ph.D. in animal genetics at NU. In the meantime, Jane Pauley had completed a master’s degree in ag economics and was a faculty member in Cooperative Extension. Through a program called Managing for Tomorrow, she was offering financial management help to farmers suffering through the ag crisis of the 1980s and had pioneered the now 30-year-old Women in Agriculture program.

Jane’s roots in Nebraska ran long and deep. Her dad earned a degree at NU, then raised row crops, feeder cattle and sheep on a farm near Harvard. Jane attended her first Husker football game in her mother’s womb.

At NU on a Regent’s Scholarship, she was in the ag honors program. “By the time I was a senior,” she said, “I realized I was really interested in agricultural economics,” so she

continued on and earned a master’s in that field.

Then Ronnie showed up in Lincoln, and a mutual friend set them up on a blind date.

They went to a Lee Greenwood concert at the Nebraska State Fair during Ronnie’s first week as a UNL graduate student.

If there were violins in the background this time, Greenwood’s music drowned them out.

But “it was apparent from that first night that we were meant to be together,” Ronnie says with a turn of phrase worthy of a fairy tale.

They were married a year later in Lincoln’s iconic First Plymouth Church, complete with the man now known as the “singing chancellor” serenading his bride with “Up

related to agriculture, serving as the staff director of the Colorado Integrated Resource Management Program for the ranching industry. They loved living in Colorado where their fourth child was born.

But in 2003, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture asked Ronnie to lead a national research program in animal production and genetics, Jane was not eager to move their children, now first through ninth graders, to the Washington, D.C., area.

She suggested they re-root themselves in Nebraska instead.

Jane’s dad had just died, so the Greens bought a home in nearby Sutton so Jane could help her mother keep the farm going — and so the Green children could attend school in a small town. Ronnie was going to be on the road a lot anyway, so instead of commuting in D.C. traffic, he flew from Nebraska to wherever he needed to be.

“Some people in Sutton thought was with the CIA because he was Green he gone so much,” Jane said, but both she and Ronnie were comfortable with the arrangement because Jane and the kids were close to family and “a whole community of people to help us,” she said.

But then the next chapter brought them full circle. Ronnie became UNL’s Harlan Vice Chancellor of IANR and NU vice president for agriculture and natural resources in 2010.

At the time, the two Green sons were already students at UNL, but the Green daughters were 11th and 8th graders at Sutton. In 2012, after daughter Kelli graduated from Sutton High School, the Greens moved permanently to Lincoln.

While the family had liked living in Sutton,

“Some people in Sutton thought he was with the CIA because he was gone so much.”

— Jane

Where We Belong” from the soundtrack of the era’s hit movie “An Officer and a Gentleman.”

When Ronnie finished the Ph.D. in 1988, he wanted to teach, but university faculty positions in his field were few and far between. He accepted an offer from Texas Tech to rebuild the school’s genetics program, and the Greens set off for Lubbock.

“Jane cried all the way across Kansas and Oklahoma,” Ronnie said. “She thought I was dragging her to a foreign land.” Jane doesn’t remember weeping through the entire 13-hour drive, but she does know she wasn’t excited about leaving The Good Life. “I was pregnant with our first child. It was the middle of Husker football season. I’d never lived away from Nebraska,” she said. “Had I known then how far away from family that would feel when we had little ones, I’d have been more concerned,” she said.

The couple’s first three children were born in Texas. When Justin, the first, was a few years old, Jane took a job at the Texas A&M experiment station and extension facility near Lubbock, working jointly for a cotton breeder and an extension economist.

And when Ronnie joined the faculty at Colorado State, Jane continued to find work

Jane Pauley and Ronnie’s Green’s official engagement photo circa 1986.

The Green’s four children, clockwise from top left, Justin, Nate, Regan and Kelli are, or will be in the case of Regan, UNL graduates.

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Ronnie and Jane were happy to return to Lincoln where their story started — if we consider that brief encounter in the Michigan feedlot to be merely the foreword.

After 30 years of marriage, they still find plenty to talk about, Jane said.

Partly because she herself has degrees in agriculture, she’s always stayed very connected to what her husband does. And “he downloads on me” about the highs and lows of his work. They consider themselves partners and best friends.

Besides, having four children has given them plenty to talk about over the years.

“I give him my version of where I think the kids are,” Jane said, “then he gives me his version. … He’s intuitive about what they need.”

The three older children are all NU alums; the youngest is a current student at Nebraska.

Justin, 28, a political science and history major, is news editor at AXIOS, a start-up news source in Washington, D.C. He previously held leadership positions for Independent Journal Review, another online political news outlet and the Washington Examiner.

Nate, 26, will graduate in May from the NU College of Law and holds an undergrad degree in business administration from UNL. He has interned with Hausmann Construction of Lincoln and plans to join the company full-time next summer in the in-house counsel’s office.

Kelli, 23, graduated last spring from

the College of Journalism and Mass Communications with an advertising and global studies major. She plans to enroll this fall in divinity school to study for the ministry and is working for a non-profit through Sheridan Lutheran Church in the meantime.

Regan, 20, is a sophomore at Nebraska, majoring in Human Development and Family Science, a major she says will give her “lots of options” for a career. True to her family roots, she hopes to return to rural Nebraska following graduation.

The Greens also have a 4-year-old granddaughter, Charlotte, Justin’s daughter with Hannah Hyslop, whom the Greens think of as their fifth child. Hannah is also a UNL graduate in dietetics and is now pursuing a master’s degree in education.

The extended family will gather to see Ronnie officially installed as chancellor on April 6. Although neither Ronnie nor Jane’s parents are still living, the couple said their parents would be thrilled to see the opportunity their children have been given to serve.

Jane said she thinks it makes sense for Ronnie to have returned to the university. His position means “he’s connected to Nebraska and also to IANR and UNL.” That relationship to a land-grant school and to agriculture is “very grounding for both of us,” Jane said. “It helps us remember who we are.”

And if they really get nostalgic, it’s only a few miles from their home in Lincoln to the nearest feedlot.

Cue the violins!

—Charlyne Berens

Jane and Ronnie Green host the chancellor’s tailgate event in the Lied Center for Performing Arts before every home football game.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Charlyne Berens taught in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications from 1990 to 2014 and also served as associate dean from 2010 to 2014. She holds a Ph.D. in political science from UNL. Today she is putting her experience as a teacher and administrator to work with OLLI, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

She teaches classes for retired people who are as interested in learning as college students are, but who also remember playing with hula hoops, watching the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and getting their news from Walter Cronkite.

ABOUT THE PHOTOGRAPHER Craig Chandler is the director of photography for the University and insists he has “the best job on campus, photographing the incredible people, places, events and discoveries that make up the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.”

He says behind every door is a terrific story waiting to be photographed. A Husker convert, he’s been on campus since 2008 after a career in photojournalism which started during his undergraduate days at Kansas State. While he doesn’t remember watching the Beatles on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” he does have many memories of using that stuff called “film.”

MASTERS IN THEIR FIELDS A young veterinarian who already owns two clinics, a former student-athlete with four degrees from UNL and one of the authors of the Affordable Care Act were some of Nebraska’s prized alumni who returned to campus last fall to tell their tales, encourage today’s students and take a trip down memory lane. Their careers are impressive and they aren’t shy about touting the solid education they received in Lincoln. They are the 2016 Alumni Masters and they make us all look good.

To learn more about the 2016 Alumni Masters, including video interviews, visit huskeralum.org Photos: Craig Chandler/University Communication

28 SPRING 2017

S R S

MARGARET HOLMAN

MARK CHRONISTER

JENNAFER GLAESEMANN

JULIE URIBE

LEA ANN JOHNSON

BRUCE CARPENTER

DANIEL DAWES

FRAUKE HACHTMANN

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 29

30 SPRING 2017

BRUCE CARPENTER COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE When architect Bruce Carpenter (’79) was a college student he would find inspiration at the Sheldon Museum of Art. “The Sheldon was directly across the green from the College of Architecture. I would always be inspired in some way by taking a brief walk through the exhibitions; and the quality of the space provided an ongoing learning experience,” he said. Currently, Carpenter is a senior VP with HDR, an architectural, engineering and consulting firm in Omaha. His career is distinguished by contributions to the Joslyn Art Museum, Holland Performing Arts Center and Lauritzen Gardens. He has been instrumental in the creation of numerous performing arts centers, museums, parks, entertainment venues, community centers, hospitals and other public spaces.

JULIE URIBE HIXSON-LIED COLLEGE OF FINE AND PERFORMING ARTS Emmy Award-winning TV producer Julie Uribe (’84) says the highlight of her three decades in Hollywood was “transitioning to different phases in my career such as from performer to writer/producer, from producer to television executive.” “Although the Emmy was a great moment,” she admits. The Lincoln native is transitioning yet again, having recently moved back to her hometown to be with her aging parents and into the role of adjunct professor at UNL. Uribe recalls the impact that Dr. William Morgan had on her collegiate days spent primarily in the Temple building.

“He was tough on me from day one and never let up. As my acting teacher and director, he always pushed me to be the best I could be. Compliments didn’t come often, but when he gave one, it meant the world to me,” she said.

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LEA ANN JOHNSON COLLEGE OF EDUCATION AND HUMAN SCIENCES Lea Ann Johnson (’83, ’90) is director of the Lincoln Community Learning Centers Initiative, but she started at UNL as a broadcasting major because she dreamed of doing interviews on Soldier Field in Chicago. “I changed majors a lot,” she confessed. “You must recognize that your degree does not dictate your career path. Find what you’re passionate about and let it be your guide,” she says. Johnson found her passion while working in youth care at Cedars Home for Children in the late ’70s. “I knew I was being called to change my major from journalism to education. I became passionate about helping children and families who were vulnerable and often overwhelmed with the complexities of life,” she says.

FRAUKE HACHTMANN ATHLETICS Germany-native Frauke Hachtmann (’94, ’97, ’00, ’10) was a full-scholarship, student-athlete on the women’s tennis team and is now a professor and associate dean in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. She readily admits, “it’s a bit unusual to have four degrees from the same institution but it really worked for me because they are all in different areas of study. I used what I learned as part of my bachelor and master degrees in my role as media coordinator for the Nebraska Athletic Department. The MBA combined with a PhD in educational studies provide me with tools that I use in my current job every day, specifically when building budgets, managing staff, working with young faculty on professional development, and assessing student learning outcomes.”

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MARGARET HOLMAN COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AND MASS COMMUNICATIONS Fundraising consultant Margaret M. Holman (’73) runs her own firm in New York City and previously led the fundraising and communications activities for the ASPCA, one of the largest humane societies in the world. She has raised more than $150 million for clients in the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy. Holman remains grateful for her Nebraska education. “All of my training at UNL allowed me to successfully move to where the opportunities were offered. The best advice I have to give is to remain flexible, opportunistic and continue to learn,” she says. She fondly recalls football Saturdays as some of her favorite campus memories “with that sea of red, lots of red beer, Runzas and great Bob Devaney football,” she enthuses.

JENNAFER GLAESEMANN COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND NATURAL RESOURCES Dr. Jennafer Glaesemann (’07) was savvy enough to buy two veterinary clinics a few years out of school. “I’m in control of my own financial future with all debts paid off in 10 years,” she explains. She is proud of her state education and implores students and alums to not “let anyone tell you that because you just went to a land-grant university you don’t have what it takes to excel in your field.” Dr. Glaesemann — whose clinics are in Beatrice and Pickrell, Neb. ­— says she has been blessed in her career path and wants to help other early-career veterinarians reach their practice ownership goals. While serving on national committees and local community boards, she is developing a nonprofit organization which promotes recent graduate practice ownership and provides the resources and support to make such dreams possible.

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MARK CHRONISTER COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Mark Chronister (’73) has spent most of his career serving financial services and higher education institutions with PricewaterhouseCoopers where he worked for 34 years. Many of those years were as the managing partner in the Minneapolis office. He is currently a partner at Templeton Laird and is the chairman of the board of directors for the University of Nebraska Foundation. To his 20-year-old self, Chronister would implore, “Life is a journey to discover who you are and an opportunity to discover who you can be. Disappointment along with people who disappoint you and whom you may disappoint are part of the learning process. Reflect on what you can learn and move on. You need to accept and love yourself for who you are before you can expect anyone else to accept and love you.”

DANIEL DAWES COLLEGE OF LAW Attorney Daniel E. Dawes (’06) is a nationally recognized leader in healthcare law and policy. He was an instrumental figure in shaping the Affordable Care Act and founded and chaired the largest advocacy group focused on developing comprehensive legislation to reform the health care system. With a new regime now in place in Washington, Dawes admits, “I am terrified about the idea of it (ObamaCare) being reformed.” While attorneys may get a bum rap, Dawes insists that during his career he has repeatedly found that “successful lawyers are innovative, diligent, resourceful and open to new ideas. Being a lawyer is a calling for those who have a passion for justice — who want to be game changers in our society. This takes a creative and strategic mind.”

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A NOVELLA

•

PART 1 OF 4

Laura Finds a Traveling Companion

BY AD HUDLER

Illustration by Brian Stauffer

t

he first time Laura Blockenzeit saw Safety Man was on the return flight from Omaha, where she had gone, back home, to bury her father. She was thumbing through the Ozone Mall catalog when she found his picture and description: Today’s roads are too dangerous to drive alone. Play it safe with Safety Man! Made to look like a 190-pound man but actually weighs just six pounds!

Safety Man had salt-and-pepper hair and wore aviator dark glasses and a baseball cap, though Laura would later discover those extra personal touches were

not included in the price. He had the beard shadow of a traveling salesman you might see Sunday afternoon at the mall. His face, made of flesh-tone rubber, made him look like the Ken doll Laura had used with her Barbies when she was little. The oddest feature of Safety Man, in Laura’s opinion, was that he was legless; Safety Man was to be propped up in the seat like a big bag of dog food, belted of course, for optimum realism.

Laura’s husband, Ty, a Kodak executive who was shepherding the company’s fading presence in Asia, thought it strange — but Laura defended Safety Man:

>>> NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 39

THE CALL OF THE CORN

“You’re gone all the time,” she told him. “The kids are grown and gone. … I need the protection.”

“What you need to do is go to work,” he said. “Find a job. Mine’s gonna disappear sooner than later.”

They’d moved to Rochester after graduating from the University of Nebraska. Ty had taken an entry-level job in the accounting department at Kodak headquarters, back in its heyday. Up and up he climbed, over the years, as their three children grew from toddler to teen to graduate, and Laura immersed herself in the fulltime duties of motherhood.

Being a parent reminded Laura of her summers lifeguarding and giving swimming lessons at the pool near her house in Blair. The job was like treading water in the deep-end, watching the children as they jumped, at first, from the low springboard, then graduating to the more-perilous high dive … and you were there to help them every time, just in case they couldn’t quite make it to pool’s edge, always looking, always alert, always treading until one day they were gone, and you saw yourself, really saw yourself for the first time in years and you realized that, finally, you could stop treading water, climb out of the pool, dry off and take stock of who you’d become. This is when you looked at your husband, fully scrutinizing him for the fist time in years, and asked yourself: “Okay … what happens now?

Do I want 30 more years with this guy — or do I want out?”

“No one wants to hire a middle-aged mom with no work experience,” she said.

“You’ve got your PR degree,” Ty said.

“Which I’ve never used. I have no skills, Ty.” Ty, who had been looking in the fridge for something but found nothing, closed the door and turned to his wife.

“Is this some sort of rebellion?” he asked.

“Hmm?” “Your rubber friend. Is this a midlife crisis thing?”

“No more than your new Mercedes was, Ty. And the private trainer. And the braces.”

“Touche.”

Safety Man occupied the passenger seat of Laura’s Lexus SUV. She bought him a pair of wire-frame Ray-Ban sunglasses. On his head she put a Kansas City Royals baseball cap, spotted with grease and sweat, that her father had worn every Saturday to cut the grass. At a garage sale she found for him a worn leather jacket.

And though he had had The New York Times tucked under his arm in the catalog picture, Laura outfitted Safety Man with a copy of Outside magazine. She periodically replaced these with travel-related titles that featured places she’d never been. They had taken so few vacations over the years, mainly because Ty traveled for work, and there was so much she hadn’t seen.

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Laura began to feel as if she were having an affair because she lied every time she was with him. She lied to the motorists who passed her, to the computerized camera that scanned her in the carpool lane. For the first time in her life, Laura was deceiving everyone around her, and each day she risked getting caught.

Laura had started wearing more skirts and sandals with no hose, she got a shorter haircut and new dark glasses.

She abandoned her volunteer duties and began to make more car errands, as many as she could. Instead of telephoning a store to see if they had a certain brand of 400-thread count bed sheets she would simply drop in, on the other side of the city, and inquire in person.

One evening, Ty suggested they go out for sushi.

When he started to unbuckle Safety Man from the seat, Laura quickly suggested they take his car instead.

“He can sit in the goddamn back seat,” Ty said. “It’s a stupid doll, Laura.”

Ty told her he was sick of hearing jokes from his friends about Laura’s blow-up sex doll. In reality — and Laura would never tell her husband this because she knew he could not understand — Safety Man had no genitals, not even imagined. Laura would never tell a lover her deepest secrets, and in the solitude of syrupy traffic, Laura told Safety Man everything, sometimes without speaking. Still, at rare times Laura did wonder what kind of lover this creation of hers would be. She wondered what his voice would sound like and listened for it on the radio and at cocktail parties. She wondered what he would order for dinner at the Venetian Grill and where he would take her on vacation. She wondered what kind of tattoo he would choose for his arm, if any, and what kind of music would stir him.

Would he like to kiss? How much would he laugh?

Certainly more than Ty. Laura gave Safety Man a lei from a Hawaiian party she attended at the club. She put a bandage on his chin, as if he had cut himself shaving. When she bought Ty an Italian midnight-blue silk jacket for his birthday she unwrapped it immediately after getting to the car because it better fit the personality of her traveling companion, which, she admitted to herself, she most likely knew when she picked it out.

One day during the Christmas shopping season, seven months after Safety Man’s arrival, Laura could not find her Lexus in the parking lot at Eastview Mall. She walked the length of the A lot and B lot, pressing the panic button on her key ring, but heard nothing.

“Did you leave the keys in it?” Ty asked that night.

“No!” she lied. “I’m not stupid.”

“You haven’t been yourself lately. That’s all I’ll say,” he said, shaking his head, raising his hands in the air in surrender.

She watched him as he returned his attention to his

A N O V E L L A • PA R T 1 O F 4

iPad. It was obvious he was working on the crossword; he was gently biting one side of his lower lip, as he did when deep in thought. Laura used to think this was an endearing trait. So why did this same action now annoy her?

Something’s wrong with … all this, she thought.

Things were out of sync. They were out of sync. Ty was winding down a career as his company continued to dissolve like a lozenge on the tongue. He’d had time to ponder and mentally prepare for his big downshift: retirement. He seemed at peace with it. He was ready to play golf whenever he wanted, and to escape to Naples during the snows of January and February.

She, conversely, had had no downshift. When Alex, her baby, left home for SUNY Binghamton it was akin to running out of gas on the thruway. One minute she was zipping along at 70 miles per hour, a master of physics, overpowering time and distance … distractions aplenty … and then, after a convulsion or two in the starving engine, she coasted down to 60 … 50 …20… and she came to stop on the side of the road, bewildered by and somewhat in awe of the all-toosudden stillness and quiet.

Ty set down his iPad to reach into his pocket for his chirping phone.

It was the Monroe County Sheriff’s office; they’d found the car, abandoned and fine, just blocks away from the mall. Probably some stupid kids, the deputy said. We’ll bring it by.

An hour later, the doorbell rang. Laura opened the door to find a young sheriff’s deputy. Safety Man sat on his forearm, like a ventriloquist’s dummy.

“Your little friend’s okay,” he said, smiling.

Frowning, Laura carefully took Safety Man from his arms.

Ty had gotten up and walked over to the door. He shook his head, rolling his eyes, when he saw Safety Man. “It’s my daughter’s,” he said.

“No it’s not!” Laura said. “Don’t lie! He’s mine! …

Thank you. Can I have the keys?”

She carried Safety Man out to the Lexus, buckled him into place, then walked around the car and got into the driver’s seat. Ty and the deputy watched as Laura drove away, disappearing down Mill Woods Lane.

She drove for an hour, then stopped to fill with gas.

Where was she? Somewhere south of Buffalo?

She got into the car again, drove little more than a block, then pulled over.

Laura picked up her phone and engaged the GPS. “Hello, Siri,” she said. “How are you tonight?”

“I am fine. Thank you for asking. What can I do for you?”

“I want to go somewhere.”

“Okay. I can help you with that. Where would you like to go?”

“I … don’t know.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t help you with that. Is there any place you want to go?”

Grasping the steering wheel at 10 and 2 o’clock, just as she’d always done, Laura gave a deep sigh.

Where was she going?

Where did she need to go?

No. Where did she want to go?

It had been a very long time since she could think of only her desires.

One kid in graduate school, another married, the third well into his first year of undergrad.

And Ty …

“Where would you like to go tonight?” Siri asked.

From afar, Laura watched a woman and small child cross the busy thoroughfare. The woman pulled the reluctant boy’s arm taut, hurrying to get him across; traffic was heavy and fast.

Just as Laura was wondering if she should pick them up and offer a ride, an old green Ford pickup pulled onto the shoulder of the road. They seemed to know the driver and climbed into the truck. There were some bales of hay in the bed, and a pair of muddy wading boots pushed, upside down, into the space between the cab and bed. Farmers, Laura thought.

She watched the red taillights grow smaller and more faint as the truck vanished on the horizon.

Laura must have said something out loud because at that point Siri asked her, “What was that again? I didn’t hear you.”

Laura realized she was still wearing her sunglasses, although the sun had set more than an hour ago. She took them off, folded shut the temples and set them on Safety Man’s lap.

“Nebraska,” Laura said, turning on her blinker to re-enter the roadway.

“Take me to Lincoln, Nebraska.” ... … to be continued in the June issue of Nebraska Magazine.

Ad Hudler is a 1986 graduate of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. During college he wrote for the Daily Nebraskan and the Omaha World-Herald. He went on to work as a reporter at the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times and the News-Press in Fort Myers, Fla. He is the author of four best-selling novels. His third novel, “Man of the House” is a largely autobiographical sequel to “Househusband.” He’s been known to return to Lincoln and bury himself at Love Library in order to focus on his writing while crashing at the home of his beloved college professor — Bud Pagel. Hudler lives in Nashville with his wife, Carol.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 41

UNL Graduate’s “Nebraska Experience” Leads to a World of Opportunities… and Back to his Roots

“Growing up on a farm in central Nebraska, I learned how to work and how to problem solve. That’s probably a big part of being successful at Nestle Purina, along with my education. A combination of the two have prepared me for what I’m doing now.”

F

or many young Nebraskans, getting a sound, university-based education is the gateway to a successful career. For one UNL graduate, an animal science degree, his desire to learn, and loyalty to his company offered opportunities that took him all over the world – and back to his home state.

Dan Neil’s 15-years at Nestle Purina have landed him at the Nestle Corporate Office in Switzerland, managing supply chains in China, and as a director in the company’s St. Louis headquarters. But the Lexington native says Nebraska remains at the top of his list for best places to grow his career and his family. After spending years working for the company outside the state, Neil moved to Lincoln in 2014 to become Logistics Manager at Nestle Purina’s factory in Crete.

“My wife and I both went to school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. We liked experiencing life in other places, but we decided our family would be better off back in Lincoln. We missed it a lot since we left.”

Neil’s journey back to Nebraska started not long after graduating from UNL in 1996. After spending time buying commodities in Omaha and working on his family farm, he took his first job with Ralston Purina in Davenport, Iowa, as an assistant manager in a dry pet food factory. During this time, Nestle acquired Purina Pet Care, which subsequently led to a new opportunity in Clinton, Iowa, and six years in the Crete factory. From 2010 to 2014, he worked in Purina Pet Care’s corporate office in St. Louis. As his opportunities grew within the company, Neil realized he could have all he wanted right here at home.

Throughout the past two years in his new role as Logistics Manager, Neil and his wife have cut their

daily commutes significantly, connected with reliable and affordable child daycare through UNL’s student newspaper, and helped form strong community connections for their two children.

“It’s just the people mostly; the family element of things, and the relationships I’ve created at work and with my family in Lincoln. We love being here. The cost of living is less, the commute and traffic are better, and the people are wonderful.”

“I’m glad I’ve had experiences working overseas and across the United States, but those places weren’t home. It’s great to be back in Nebraska, where great opportunities have merged with a great quality of life.”

The Nebraska Alumni Association supports student recruitment, scholarships and alumni engagement with the help of its 24,000 members. Nebraska’s Department of Economic Development (DED) is committed to working with leaders across the state and the Nebraska Department of Labor to retain and bring talented Nebraskans into the state’s workforce. For the latest information about high-wage, high-demand and high-skill jobs available in Nebraska, please visit h3.ne.gov/H3/.

For additional assistance regarding opportunities in Nebraska’s workforce, contact Allison Hatch, DED Talent Attraction Coordinator at 402-471-3368 or Allison.hatch@nebraska.gov. For Nestle Purina career information please visit nestlepurinacareers.com.

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

The University and the State Enjoy a Partnership for the Ages As the great state of Nebraska marks its 150th birthday this year ­— its sesquicentennial for you wordsmiths — it is worth noting that the university was chartered a mere two years later in 1869.

The state and its land-grant university have complemented each other and grown to serve Nebraskans beyond the boundaries of the UNL campus.

There are many notable places to visit on the Lincoln campus, but there are also hidden gems the university has acquired and developed throughout the state. Much of the land has been donated by university patrons to preserve its integrity for future generations. We highlight a few of our favorites here.

—Jane Epley

Behlen Observatory

The department of physics and astronomy owns and operates the Behlen Observatory near Mead which boasts a 30-inch SchmidtCassegrain telescope that is primarily used for undergraduate education. The observatory was dedicated in 1993 with donations from Walter Behlen, founder of Behlen Manufacturing and a patron of the sciences.

It is open to the public several nights a year.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 43

Trailside Museum of Natural History

The museum is located at Fort Robinson State Park and housed in one of the original buildings. The area is known worldwide for its geological data and fossil vertebrates, many of which are displayed in museums around the globe. One of the most famous exhibits unearthed in the area is “Clash of the Titans.� More than 10,000 years ago two bull mammoths got into a fight, interlocking their broken tusks. Exhaustion from their struggle to free themselves caused one to eventually fall, dragging down the other as well. Both perished, forever joined together in battle. The exhibit allows visitors to see how the two were found in 1962 by a University of Nebraska senior leading a State Museum crew in search of ancient mammals. The museum also houses an art gallery.

Cedar Point Biological Station

Cedar Point Biological Station is a field research facility and experimental classroom. Each summer the University of Nebraska School of Biological Sciences offers eight to 10 courses for students.

The station sits near diverse aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems where 340plus bird species have been observed.

Originally homesteaded by Dr. S.P. Gainsforth, and named Cedar Point Ranch, much of the land was sold to the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District to build Kingsley Dam and form Lake McConaughy. The family also gifted the Girl Scouts a campsite in 1949. When the camp closed, the land was returned to the family. In 1974, the university began negotiations to lease the old camp and convert it to the field station. In 2000 the Gainsforths donated the remaining land to the university.

Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture

Located in Curtis, the college offers students an education in agricultural fields. Its mission statement declares: the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture is devoted to a statewide mission of preparing students for successful careers in agriculture, veterinary technology, food and related industries. The college provides open access to innovative technical education resulting in associate degrees, certificates, diplomas and other credentials. The college is growing and has added the opportunity to enroll in the UNL Bachelor of Applied Science degree while remaining on the Curtis campus.

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Barta Brothers Ranch

The ranch has been used for many research projects focusing on long-term grazing systems, ecology of the sandhills and, most recently, major research on the native prairie chicken.

The 6,000-acre ranch was acquired from brothers Jim and Clifford Barta in 1996. The brothers requested the homestead serve as a model ranch to conduct research and demonstrations relevant to the needs of sandhills ranchers.

Training for students, conservationists and representatives of federal and state agencies is conducted here. The facilities include a headquarters building, dormitory-type living quarters, a lab and a weather station.

Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park

Ashfall Fossil Beds is a joint project of the University of Nebraska State Museum and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. The Hubbard Rhino Barn covers the fossil beds which are a perfect example of natural selection. Walkways provide views of the actual dig and showcase plant and animal life from 12 million years ago which perished as a result of a volcano in Idaho that spread a blanket of ash over the area. The animals ate the ash covered grasses which damaged their lungs and caused their death. Preserved perfectly as they died, the site has revealed complete skeletons as well as the seeds of native grasses and trees.

Horning State Farm

Horning State Farm is the ideal place to find plants and trees native to Nebraska and ones most likely to thrive in its climate. The farm is comprised of 240 acres of native woodland and planted areas of trees and grasses. The species of trees include Austrian pine, Rocky Mountain juniper, eastern red cedar and honeysuckle, among others.

Challenge Course

The campus recreation department has built a challenge course for groups who want to develop leadership skills while also finding opportunities for personal growth, development and self-discovery. Athletic teams, corporate groups and youth groups have benefited from learning to work together to master the obstacle course. The course consists of the Alpine Tower and Double Tree Diamond. Campus recreation also rents equipment for hiking, biking, climbing, skiing, water sports and more.

Nebraska Extension Field Office

Research Sites

Research and Extension Centers NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 45

Judging From Reliable

By Charlyne Berens

A

Judge Arlen Beam Class of 1951

46 SPRING 2017

good lawyer could probably

argue successfully that Arlen Beam was meant to be a judge.

“He has a judge’s disposition,” said Charley Thone, former governor of Nebraska and the man who recommended Beam for the federal bench.

Judge William Riley, currently chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, agreed: “He has the disposition to be fair, to listen to all sides and to decide a case based on the facts presented and the law. He does that without exception.”

But had it not been for the Korean War, Beam, 87, now a senior judge on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, might have spent his career selling hybrid corn seed. Beam grew up in tiny Stapleton in Nebraska’s Sandhills. A Regents Scholarship clinched his decision to attend UNL where he earned an agronomy major, an animal husbandry minor and an agricultural journalism certificate.

He graduated in spring 1951, received his ROTC commission in the U.S. Army and married Betty Fletcher. He was called up that fall and left for Korea in early 1952. It was in Korea that “I made my big mistake,” Beam said with a smile. Any officer could represent an enlisted man in one of the special courts martial, and the first soldier he represented was acquitted, “so I got requests to represent more people with some regularity.”

Beam found he liked legal work, so when he returned home, he enrolled in the NU College of Law in 1953. He worked nearly full time to supplement the GI Bill’s $95 a month, but classes, homework and his job meant he barely saw his family. By the end of the school year, “I knew I had to do something else, so I fell back on my agronomy degree.”

A job with Steckley Hybrid Corn Co. sent the family to Iowa for a year and then to Illinois. In 1958, he returned to Lincoln to be a regional sales manager and supervise advertising and public relations for Steckley.

When the company consolidated with another firm, Beam was offered a position in Iowa. The Beams’ oldest son was in school by then, and the family didn’t want to leave Lincoln. So Beam looked into returning to law school.

He said the administrators at the law college “thought I had some aptitude for law,” so back to school he went, graduating in 1965.

He spent the next 17 years litigating with law firms in Lincoln.

Beam and Thone had known each other

Sources, Arlen Beam Made the Right Career Choice in college and had kept up their acquaintance. “He was a dedicated attorney with an excellent reputation,” Thone said. Thone remembered that reputation when he was governor. “Someone from the U.S. Justice Department called” in 1981, Thone said, “and asked for three names to be considered for the Federal District Court. I gave him three: Arlen Beam, C.A. Beam and Clarence Arlen Beam. “I’m serious,” Thone said. “He was my unanimous choice.”

Beam’s first response was no, thank you.

He was doing well in private practice, and he liked his work. But additional encouragement from Thone and others convinced Beam to allow his name to be forwarded to President Ronald Reagan. Beam’s nomination was approved in a matter of weeks, and he joined the U.S. District Court for the State of Nebraska, in its Omaha office, in January 1982.

Being on the trial bench was like going to college all over again, he said. “It’s just fascinating the things you learn. I found out you could make oil wells go down and then go laterally. I once heard from the two acknowledged top experts in the hearing capabilities of older people. I found out how you tanned

Judge Beam Remembers When ...

Arlen Beam earned his undergrad degree in agronomy — with a little extra education on the side: “I enjoyed the College of Agriculture,” he said, “and the chance to dip my toe in the water at the J School,” where he earned an ag journalism certificate. He recalled some memorable moments from his college years in the late 1940s and early ’50s.

cowhides and turned them into leather.”

Beam loved the job and was named chief judge of the court in 1986. But in 1987, Governor Thone asked Beam to consider a nomination to a prestigious seat on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Again, Beam demurred. But he finally agreed and in 1987 the Senate confirmed his appointment.

Federal District Courts are trial courts, hearing cases and handing down decisions.

Circuit Courts hear appeals, reviewing the decisions of lower courts in light of the Constitution and laws. Every judge reads briefs for about 25 cases each month, Beam said.

“You’re reading all the time.”

Furthermore, circuit court judges have a lot of responsibility, he said: “As a district judge, you know if you make a mistake the Circuit Court or Supreme Court will straighten it out.” But because the Supreme Court hears only a small percentage of the cases appealed to it, “the circuit courts are the last stop for the vast majority of people.”

The Whitewater cases that involved Bill Clinton’s connections in Arkansas, a state within the Eighth Circuit, were among the highest profile cases Beam has heard. He also was part of the panel that heard Paula

Jones v. William Jefferson Clinton. “We dealt with some interesting separation of powers issues in those,” Beam said.

Judge Riley joined the Eighth Circuit when Beam took senior status in 2001 and said he was grateful for the mentoring Beam offered.

Riley also appreciates Beam’s continued hard work — the senior judge estimates he works about 80 percent as much as he used to — and help with administrative matters.

“He’s been a go-to person,” Riley said.

Beam said he still finds the law fascinating “because you deal with people and their problems.” And being able to work in Nebraska and raise his five sons here has been an extra benefit. “The people of Nebraska are the genuine article,” Beam said. “If they tell you they’ll do something, they’re going to get it done. If they say something is so, it probably is.”

Jerry Sellentin, retired executive director of the Nebraska Council of School Administrators, has known Beam for decades and thinks the judge himself exemplifies that Nebraska spirit. Beam has a passion for the law, is dedicated to the legal profession and works hard. “In my opinion,” Sellentin said, “Judge Beam is the real deal.”

There’s Snow Place Like Nebraska

There was the Christmas holiday in 1950 where “it snowed a ton” in Stapleton, Beam said, and he couldn’t leave as planned for the return trip to Lincoln and first-semester finals — scheduled in those days for the weeks right after the break. He caught a lift in a light plane “to get to Highway 30 and catch a bus to Lincoln,” but he missed his exam in organic chemistry. He went to see his professor, Dr. Norman Cromwell, “hat in hand and explained why I hadn’t been there to take the final,” hoping he’d be allowed to take the test despite being late. While Beam held his breath, Cromwell took a look at his grade book, then said, “You’ve done really well on all the quizzes. We can forego the final.” And Beam exhaled happily.

Korean War Ends Journalism Career

Although he majored in agronomy, Beam also took journalism classes as an undergrad.

During his final semester before graduation, he put his reporting and photography skills to work at the Nebraska Farmer. And he continued to work for the magazine and its publisher, Glen Buck, during the summer of 1951. “They sent me out with a car and a Speed Graphic camera to travel the state and write farm features for the magazine,” the judge said. He was enjoying his work as an ag journalist, but then history caught up with him.

The Korean War was underway, and Beam was assigned to the Far East Command. “That ended my journalism career,” he said with a wry smile.

Student Meets Expert Witness

Beam remembers the professor who taught his Feeds and Feeding course, Dr. John Matsushima. The judge said he did well in the course, but he didn’t think he had really built a personal relationship with the teacher. Years later, though, Beam was litigating a case involving a cattle feedlot, and who should show up as an expert witness for the other side but Dr. Matsushima. “When I got up to examine him,” Beam said, “I told him, ‘We need to inform the jury we have met before,’ ” thinking he’d have to reintroduce himself and remind Mastushima he’d been his former student. On the contrary, the expert witness told the courtroom, “Oh, yes, Mr. Beam. I remember you. You were one of my very best students.”

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 47

CHAPTER AND AFFILIATE PROFILE

Nashville Chapter in Tune with Nebraska As a marketing manager, Emily Fay’s Husker passion and business savvy were the perfect combination which spurred her to create the Nashville Huskers chapter in 2011. As the chapter leader, she’s able to channel her love for the Huskers and marketingknow-how toward the chapter’s growth.

And, she says, it has exceeded her expectations.

Q: Why Nashville?

I was working in Omaha and didn’t care for what I was doing. My best friend was living in Nashville, and she said, “I don’t know anybody here. Move here.” I think she was joking, but I did.

I moved on a whim. I didn’t have a job.

I knew I’d be staying on her couch until I got a job. It was a leap of faith, but this summer will be 10 years.

Q: How did you start the group?

After my first year in Nashville I wanted to watch Nebraska football games with people. I missed the camaraderie as I found myself listening to games on internet radio by myself. For the Virginia Tech game in 2009 I organized a watch party. I stalked people on Facebook and messaged others telling them,“We’re meeting here. If you want to join great. Don’t think I’m crazy!”

I had 20 people say they’d be there, and we ended up hosting 80 fans that day. It snowballed and just kept going.

After a couple of years, I thought it was time to become an official chapter.

This season we averaged about 150 48 SPRING 2017

NEWS

Emily Fay, right, president of the Nashville Huskers, along with members Sue Ogg and Eric Coble, sporting the chapter’s scarves during the Music City Bowl festivities.

fans per week [at the watch parties], from the first season where we averaged 50 per week.

Q. What have you gained from being a chapter leader?

It has definitely exceeded my expectations. The job I was in before this was for a marketing company, but I wasn’t doing as much marketing as I wanted to. So, I referred to the chapter as my marketing side project. I got to funnel my energy toward the Nashville Huskers and try new things. It has been a guinea pig for testing marketing ideas that I don’t necessarily get to do in my everyday job.

I’ve continued to learn and grow and expand and more doors have opened up than I realized. I’m also on the board of the Nashville American Marketing Association, and I’m launching a new special interest group in entertainment and sports marketing.

Q. How has the chapter made an impact on the university?

We raised close to $10,000 for the Nebraska Legends Scholarship Fund through the sale of 650 Nashville Huskers scarves during the Music City Bowl activities. For the past several

years, we have given multiple scholarships to the Legends program, which has been great. It was so cool to walk around and see people wearing these scarves and running up to us to ask if we had any left.

We also met a lot of people who didn’t know we were there. Our Facebook page saw a huge bump in traffic once the game was announced. We also reached our 100th watch party and had our 10,000th fan at a watch party, so it was an exciting year all around.

Q. What does Nebraska mean to you?

I am originally from Loveland, Colo., but was brainwashed from a small age to be a Husker. My mom is from Lincoln and my dad is from Fremont, Neb. During the Music City Bowl it was very cool to see friends whom I met in Nebraska. We stay connected so it was great to see them in my town. Nebraska feels like a community. It feels like a family, like home. Having people from Nebraska, which is my second home, come out here and visit is a little slice of Lincoln in Nashville.

—Jessica Marshall

Find Your Husker Friends T

he alumni association supports more than 70 chapters across the United States and 18 international contacts. Each group is its own entity and connects with its members in a myriad of ways and with a myriad of events. Many chapters raise funds for scholarships, which are then bestowed on incoming freshman from the chapter’s area. Groups coordinate watch parties for Husker sporting events, as well as foster networking for job connections, and generally enjoy wearing the color red. For a complete list visit huskeralum.org (click on the “Groups & Chapters” tab). If you don’t see a chapter in your area, maybe you are just the person to start one. We’ve got the tools to help you every step of the way. Here are some highlights from groups across the country.

Washington Cornhuskers (Seattle) The group staffs five watch sites for football games, from Bellingham to Olympia, with two in Seattle and one in Bremerton. More than 2,000 fans enjoy raffle prizes, T-shirts and Nebraska camaraderie and they respond with donations of food and school supplies for their communities.

The org’s in-season newsletter reaches 360 fans.

CONTACT: info@wacornhuskers.com wacornhuskers.com Coloradans for Nebraska (Denver/Front Range) Since 1913 Coloradans for Nebraska has prided itself in helping students with higher education. The group has provided 10-25, $1,500 scholarships annually in the past 10 years. The chapter holds many types of activities outside of football season including wine tastings, golf tournaments, nights at the local professional sporting teams, Big Red Send Off and more.

CONTACT: Wendy Frenzel wendy@Co4NU.com co4nu.com Chicagoans for Nebraska (Chicago) The 1,400 members seek to create a local community of Husker fans through various social, volunteer, and professional networking opportunities. The org hosts a Husker Kickoff Party before the football season begins, complete with Runzas, and sets up watch sites throughout the area (the largest attracts more than 200 fans on a gameday). The group also raises scholarship funds to be awarded to Chicago-area high school seniors heading to UNL. CONTACT: Benjamin Crowder benjicrowder@gmail.com chicagobigred.com North Texas Nebraskans (Dallas, Fort Worth) This chapter hosts a football kick-off in midAugust complete with guest speakers, raffle prizes and Nebraska-centric foods. The group’s largest events are weekly watch site parties at

four locations across Dallas-Fort Worth. All sites have a volunteer representative with halftime raffles and Husker merchandise for sale. More than 1,000 Nebraskans make up the North Texas mailing list.

CONTACT: Jill Simpson president@northtexasnebraskans.com northtexasnebraskans.com NYC Huskers (New York City) A biennial Taste of Nebraska is scheduled for Saturday, April 8, with all-you-can-eat Runzas, Valentino’s, and other Nebraska delicacies. On March 4, the group is also hosting its annual Chili Cook-Off, complete with cinnamon rolls.

And, of course, the group hosts the popular football watch parties.

CONTACT: Kelli Donnelly kelli.donnelly@gmail.com nychuskers.com South Florida Huskers (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach) The org, which got its start in 2007, recently created an endowed scholarship to be awarded annually to a Floridian attending UNL. Football watch parties for the group’s 300 members are also a popular activity each fall.

CONTACT: Courtney Urbanek southflhuskers@gmail.com southfloridahuskers.com Californians for Nebraska (Southern California) Founded in 1903, this group hosts an annual picnic, complete with Runzas, and if you want them even fresher you can travel with the group to a Nebraska home football game. The annual migration had its inaugural voyage in 1963. The group boasts 500 households in its membership and has contributed more than $200,000 to UNL scholarships for members’ children.

CONTACT: Kent Wiedel calhusker@hotmail.com cal4ne.com

GOOD FOR YOU. Are you taking advantage of your membership benefits?

Free career coaching

Local and national discounts

Football ticket lottery

Arts and athletic ticket pre-sales

Stronger connections

Request tickets to the football games you want by completing the form on page 52.

Review the full list of membership benefits at huskeralum.org/ membership-benefits

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 49

A Family Wirth Honoring sion course in Ulysses, she enrolled in In the late 1890s, George McGowen Lincoln and graduated with a degree in left his family’s Butler County farm to education in 1939. She took a teachenroll in a surveying class at the Uniing job at the School for the Blind in versity of Nebraska. He thus began his Nebraska City. family’s history with the university that stretches to four generations.

There she fell in love with Ted Wirth, To honor this dedication to learning a local farmer who had taken a two-year across generations, the McGowen-Wirth NU Farmers Short Course. Her little family has been selected as ther winner sister Kathleen (now 94) was excited of the 2017 Alumni Family Tree Award to study art there and started in 1940. to be bestowed in May. She met Ted’s brother AWARDS BANQUET More than 30 memAustin and the McGowbers of the extended en-Wirth clan was born.

The annual Alumni Awards Banquet will honor 30 McGowen-Wirth family Kathleen and Austin individuals at its spring soiree. married in 1942 and have received more Accomplished alumni, promising students and a Austin remained farmthan 40 undergraduretired faculty member will be ing, she commuted ate, graduate and lauded. The award winners are from Nebraska City professional degrees chosen by a selection committee of UNL alumni until she graduated in from the university from across the country.

1944 with a degree in spread across nearly all Thursday, May 4 education — as valeUniversity of Nebraska Nebraska Innovation Campus Cocktails, followed by dinner dictorian of her class. colleges. George’s and award presentations Years later she earned descendants have had distinguished careers a master’s degree in in medicine and health sciences, techtextiles, clothing and design under the nology, higher education, agriculture, University’s “Project Retrieve” for nonlaw, business and teaching. traditional women students.

After the war, Charlotte and Ted had The path began in a modest white farmhouse in Ulysses where George’s five children, Austin and Kathleen, six. oldest child, Charlotte, was determined They imbued the 11 “double cousins” to go to college despite the Great with a passion for learning, a deterDepression. After taking an NU extenmination to excel, a fierce work ethic

and a commitment to service. All knew from birth that they would attend NU. Because it was the family norm, all were expected to get top grades while participating in everything from the student newspaper to Greek organizations and honor societies. UNL was also an important employer for this generation of Wirths.

In addition to their B.A.’s, cumulatively this generation acquired 18 graduate or professional degrees at NU and elsewhere.

The fourth generation to attend UNL continued the family tradition with outstanding academic and leadership records. By 2016, 12 members of this generation had earned one or more degrees from NU. Today this generation includes 2 PhDs, 2 MDs, 1 DDS and 1 JD from UNL and elsewhere.

If one thing besides academic excellence distinguishes this family, it is a strong legacy of service through programs like the McGowen-Wirth Fellowship at IANR, mentoring today’s students and serving as role models.

George would be so proud of what he started.

—Eileen Wirth

NEWS

Dexter and Pebbles (October)

Cornhusker Critters All pets ­— furry, scaly, slimy or feathered — are eligible for our monthly contest.

Winners are featured on our social media channels. To enter, visit huskeralum.org.

Herbie (December)

Maya (January) Henry (November)

50 SPRING 2017

THINGS TO DO Your Nebraska Alumni Association aims to engage with alums across all age groups and all locations. To that end, we host hundreds of events each year. Here are some of the fun affairs we have coming up in spring. For information on any of these, visit our website at huskeralum.org or call us at (402) 472-2841.

Husker Tailgate at the Frisco College Baseball Classic March 4 Frisco, Texas

Join the NAA and fellow Husker fans for a baseball tailgate before the Huskers play the Arkansas Razorbacks. The Huskers will also face the Arizona Wildcats and Oklahoma State Cowboys during the tournament that runs March 3-5.

Nebraska Women’s Leadership Network Spring Conference March 30 Lincoln Alumnae and students come together bi-annually to foster mentoring relationships and professional development. The spring conference theme is “Pushing Outside Your Comfort Zone.” To join and register, visit huskeralum.org/NWLN. (NAA membership perk.)

Hire Big Ten Plus: Virtual Career Fair April 12 Looking to make your next career move?

Companies across the country are looking to hire students and alumni from Big Ten universities. This virtual recruiting platform and talent community is set up for jobseekers, prospective graduate students, academic institutions, and employers to leverage the power of technology in order to accomplish their professional and academic goals. Join the online event at careereco.com.

Nebraska Football Spring Game April 15 Memorial Stadium, Lincoln NAA members are welcome to join us before and after the game at the Nebraska Champions Club. Be watching your email inbox for details on how to request passes for your family.

ROTC Spring Banquet April 20 Lincoln Reconnect with fellow ROTC and military alumni and meet the soon-to-be-commissioned class of cadets and midshipmen to be reviewed by Chancellor Ronnie Green.

GOOD FOR THE U. We’re grateful for your help in supporting the university we all love. You play a crucial part in shaping the next generation of Husker alumni and strengthening the impact of the university on the state—and the world.

Other ways to help:

Support student recruitment and retention Future Huskers Registration Deadline May 1 Register your children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews and we’ll send them a back-to-school gift every August and a special greeting in their birthday month.

(NAA membership perk.)

Football Ticket Lottery Deadline May 1 This is the last day to request singlegame football tickets through the alumni association. Be sure to enter our members-only ticket lottery by completing a request form. Look for the form in this magazine or complete the online form at huskeralum.org/fmo.

(NAA membership perk.)

Burr-Fedde and Friends Reunion June 10 East Campus, Lincoln Anyone who called Burr or Fedde halls home during their college days are invited to return to Lincoln for a reunion and to see the changes happening on East Campus.

Tap into volunteering, mentoring and professional development opportunities

Reconnect and give back to your college or favorite campus organization

To learn about how you can become more involved, visit huskeralum.org/ volunteer

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 51

2017 FOOTBALL TICKET REQUEST FORM PROCEDURE AND DEADLINES Please complete and return the form below by May 1 to be included in the football ticket lottery. Tickets are limited to one game and two to eight tickets per household, with priority going to life members with donations, then life members, then annual members of the Nebraska Alumni Association. Involvement and service moves you to the top of your priority group. Completion and submission of this form constitutes an application for tickets. Members agree to purchase tickets for a single game for any game ranked below.

TICKET REQUESTS Mark your preferences for home and away games on the form below. If your name is chosen to receive tickets, your credit card will be charged and you will receive mail or email confirmation by June 1. The actual per ticket price will match university single-game tickets prices plus a $10 handling fee per order. Home tickets will be available for pickup at the Wick Alumni Center the week of the game, or at the stadium will-call window on game day beginning three hours prior to kickoff. Away game tickets will be shipped via FedEx for a $25 charge, sent seven to 10 days before each away game.

Name_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Preferred phone #__________________________________ Member ID # (See your magazine mailing label – directly across from your name)__________________ Email Address ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please charge my credit card: AmEx Discover

MasterCard

VISA (No checks please)

Credit card #______________________________________________ Exp. date_________________________________________________

OPTIONAL - I’m attending with the following group (if applicable): Chapter Migration (chapter name)___________________________ College / Campus event ___________________________________ Mark the group’s designated game as #1 priority.

Membership/Giving Status: (You must be a member) Life Member + Donor Life Member Paying Life Member Annual Member

*Additional Tax-Deductible Donation to Elevate Priority $__________________________

If I am awarded tickets in the lottery process, I agree to purchase tickets for a single game as ranked below. I understand my card will be charged on or around July 1, and tickets are non-refundable.

(Signature)_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2017 NEBRASKA FOOTBALL TICKET PRIORITY SELECTION Indicate quantity (maximum of two tickets) and rank your game preferences with 1 being your top choice: Home games in boldface.

Price

Game Date Quantity

Rank _____

_____

2

4

6

2

8 $75 $ TBD

_____

2

4

_____

2

4

6

8 $60

Arkansas State

Sat., Sept. 2

@ Oregon**

Sat., Sept. 9

Northern Illinois

Sat., Sept. 16

$65 Rutgers

Sat., Sept. 23

_____

2

$110 Wisconsin**

Sat., Oct. 7

_____

2

$135

Sat., Oct. 14

_____

2

4

Ohio State**

$75 Northwestern

Sat., Nov. 4

_____

2

$ TBD

@ Minnesota

Sat., Nov. 11

_____

2

$ TBD

@ Penn State

Sat., Nov. 18

_____

2

$80

Iowa

Fri., Nov. 24

4

*Additional gifts to elevate ticket priority are 80% tax-deductible

INVOLVEMENT and SERVICE (if any) Young Alumni Academy Postcards of Pride Volunteer Huskers for Higher Education Nebraska Women’s Leadership Network Alumni Awards Committee Alumni Advisory Council Travel Program Participant Former Board Member (Chapter, Affiliate or Association) Affiliate/Chapter Member__________________________ Reunion Attendee________________________________ Other _________________________________________ Other _________________________________________ Other _________________________________________ Other _________________________________________ Send form with credit card info (no checks please) postmarked by May 1, to: Nebraska Alumni Association, ATTN.: Football Tickets, 1520 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68508-1651

**Life Members Only

4NAA17•FMO 52 SPRING 2017

CLASSNOTES 1950

n Marian Andersen of Omaha was the 2016 Sower Award honoree, bestowed annually to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the public understanding of the humanities in Nebraska.

Andersen has served as cofounding chair and is an active board member for Nebraska Shakespeare.

News/Weddings/Births/Deaths

celebration hosted by their four children.

1965

n Ronald Griesse and n Judy

Ostiguy-Griesse, ’66, marked their 50th wedding anniversary with a trip to Vienna in May.

1967

were honored by the Omaha Press Club as the 150th “Face on the Floor” and roasted for their considerable contributions to universities and other causes.

n Jim Specht was the 2016 Public Service to Agriculture Award recipient from the Nebraska Agribusiness Club in November. Dr. Specht, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln emeriti professor is internationally recognized for his work in modern plant biology and genetics for soybean improvement.

1954

1969

1953

n Bill and n Ruth Scott, ’51,

n Charles E. Wright, a retired

Lincoln attorney, has written “Law at Little Big Horn: Due Process Denied,” which outlines the unconstitutional nature of Custer’s actions at the famous battle.

1956

n Ted and Laurie (Delores) Kes-

sner of Lincoln celebrated 60 years of marriage on June 17.

1962 ■ Mylon

E. Filkins, a partner in Bakersfield (Calif.) Veterinary Hospitals since 1966, retired Feb. 1, 2016. Mylon and wife ■ Pat, ’64, celebrated their 54th anniversary on July 1 and have four children and 10 grandchildren. Filkins and his wife are active members of Californians for Nebraska and enjoy returning to campus for Husker football and FarmHouse gatherings.

1964

n Larry and n Georgia Merriam

Donovan, ’66, noted a half century of marriage July 16.

Residents of Blaine, Wash., Larry is a retired professional football coach and Georgia is a painter and art activist.

n Norm and n Emily Schlaht

n Dick Campbell was presented the 2016 Kiwanis Club of Lincoln-Lincoln Center Award for Distinguished Service. Campbell is the owner of Campbell’s Nurseries and Garden Centers in Lincoln.

Stuart Frohm received the best photograph award for the second consecutive year at the ArtFest55 competition at the Creative 360 Gallery in Midland, Mich.

Robert Gingery, a vascular surgeon at Alameda (California) Hospital, was the recipient of the 2016 Kate Creedon Award, presented by the Alameda Hospital Foundation in recognition of contributions to the hospital and community.

1970

Victor Bohuslavsky, Lincoln, received the 2016 Public Service to Agriculture Award from the Nebraska Agribusiness Club in November. Bohuslavsky is executive director of the Nebraska Soybean Board.

1971

n Dennis Gengenbach of Smithfield, was elected secretary/ treasurer for the Nebraska Corn Board.

Rosenberg, ’66, of Irvine, Calif., marked their 50th wedding anniversary June 3, with a

■ Indicates Alumni Association Life Member

■

1972

n Gene Herbek was named Pathologist of the Year by the College of American Pathologists for his tireless efforts in advancing the specialty of pathology, clinical partners, patients and the public. Dr. Herbek is the medical director of the Methodist Women’s Hospital laboratory and the Transfusion and Coagulation Services for the Pathology Center at Methodist Hospital.

1974

Stephen Berens, a photographer and artist from Los Angeles, has been traveling the country photographing Civil War battlefields and 1960s counterculture sites for a new artistic project that merges landscapes from both eras.

1975

Paul Mendlik, former chief financial officer of West Corporation, was inducted into the University of NebraskaLincoln School of Accountancy Hall of Fame. Mendlik lives in Waterloo.

1976 ■ Dave

Madsen, chair of mass communications and assistant professor at Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, was elected to serve as co-chair of the Research Committee for the Small Programs Interest Group and as section editor for the Small Programs Interest Group newsletter for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.

Monica Vickers of Florence, Ariz., was selected as a finalist for the book excellence award for her title “My Extraordinary Life.” Her work was chosen from among hundreds of international entries.

1977

n Steven Ahlers, Bettendorf, Iowa, retired from John Deere as a business manager after more than 38 years of service. He and wife Patti will be pursuing their hobbies of golf,

travel and family time with their three children and seven grandchildren. n John Kelly Korky retired as professor emeritus at Montclair State University, N.J. after 35 years of service. A resident of Long Valley, the former NU assistant track coach (1972-78) coached field events and was part of two Big 8 championship teams. n William J. Mueller and n Kim

M. Robak of Mueller Robak, a lobbying firm in Lincoln, have been named to the 2017 edition of “The Best Lawyers in America” in the field of government relations law. This marks the ninth consecutive year for inclusion in “Best Lawyers” for the husband and wife team.

1978

n William A. Hamilton was inducted into the Nebraska Aviation Hall of Fame in January.

Hamilton and wife Penny, ’78, have served general aviation in Nebraska, Colorado, North and South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming for a quarter century. As a member of the Nebraska Aeronautics Commission, he was instrumental in increasing funding for the unique practice of state-owned navigational and weather systems.

1979

n Wes Janssen retired after a 37-year career in dentistry in Syracuse.

1980

n Dennis Ernest of Gering was the recipient of the 2016 Alumni of the Year Award from the University of Nebraska Panhandle Alumni Chapter.

1981

n Lynnette Kelly, Washington, D.C., has been named a Freda Johnson Trailblazing Woman in Public Finance for 2016.

The award recognizes women for outstanding commitment to public finance and is sponsored by the Northeast Women in Public Finance. Kelly is the

Indicates Alumni Association Annual Member NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 53

CLASSNOTES executive director of the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

Bob Michaud was welcomed by Q2 Holdings as chief security officer and will oversee IT audit, risk and compliance matters for the company.

1982

n Cindy Cammack is director

of admissions at Peru (Neb.) State College, a position she assumed Feb. 1, 2016.

1983

Randy Essex received the 2016 Burl Osborne Award for Editorial Leadership for a series of columns concerning immigrants in his community. The honor, bestowed annually by the American Society of News Editors, recognizes editorial writing that makes a difference in a community. Essex is publisher and editor of the Glenwood Springs (Colo.) Post Independent. n Kathleen Kennedy of Greeley is chair of the Nebraska Career Education and Innovation Foundation of Nebraska. Kennedy teaches FACS at Central Valley Schools. n Valery Rogers Wachter, Lin-

coln, is a founding member of the Bryan Health Art Committee and director of the Bryan Art Gallery.

1984

n Phil Cahoy was inducted into

the University of Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame in September 2016. The Grand Island orthopedic surgeon was a 10time All-American gymnast and four-time individual champion, as well as a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic team.

Julie Kendall, a professor of management at Rutgers University-Camden, N.J., along with her husband, Kenneth, also a professor of management in the Rutgers School of Business, was inducted into the PhD Project Hall of Fame in November. The honor was bestowed for their commitment 54 SPRING 2017

to championing diversity in higher education and “to recognize a select few who have inspired many.”

1985

Keith Schell is the manager of parts and rotable sales division for Duncan Aviation in Lincoln.

1986

n Pat Edwards, vice president and general manager of the Burns & McDonnell Phoenix office, was selected as one of the Phoenix Business Journal’s 2016 Most Admired Leaders.

This recognition celebrates executives who demonstrate leadership, values, vision and innovation throughout the Phoenix business community.

1988

David Merrell, St. Edward, was reelected chairman of the Nebraska Corn Board.

Tim Scheer of St. Paul continues to serve as past-chairman of the board for the Nebraska Corn Board.

1989

Mark Gross of Los Angeles is a writer for the CBS sitcom “Man With a Plan.”

1990

Greg Andersen was selected as chief executive officer for the Omaha advertising agency Bailey Lauerman.

Kelly Brunkhorst, director of orchestras at Wichita State University, conducted the firsttime production of Handel’s “Messiah” in which audience participation was strongly encouraged.

1991

Tammy Kielian, professor in the University of Nebraska Medical Center Department of Pathology and Microbiology, has been named the 11th UNMC Scientist Laureate, the highest honor UNMC bestows on researchers.

Andy McLane has been added to the Five Nines staff as a field engineer in the Lincoln

office. Five Nines offers IT solutions for Nebraska-based businesses.

■ Lance

Nielsen was inducted into the Nebraska Music Educators Association Hall of Fame in November. He has taught music for 26 years in Kimball, Norris, and Lincoln as well as Doane University in Crete before being appointed supervisor of music for Lincoln Public Schools.

Jennifer Stoltenberg, an educator at Sheridan Elementary School in Lincoln, was named the Teacher of the Month for November, an honor given by Lincoln East Rotary Club and U.S. Bank.

1992

Kristine Gale of Bassett works part-time for the Nebraska Community Foundation.

■ Leon

Korte, a long-time accounting professor at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion, has been honored with the Distinguished Service Award from that institution’s Division of Accounting & Finance.

n Scott H. Sinkular was promoted to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army in 2016 and assigned to the U.S. Army War College in Carlisle, Pa., where he is completing his master’s degree in strategic studies.

Susan Thaden, president and CEO of Client Resources, has been added to the board of directors of the Omaha Community Foundation.

1993

Jody Lamp was a co-author of “A History of Nebraska Agriculture: 150 Years of Working the Land,” which will be released

by The History Press in conjunction with the sesquicentennial of the state of Nebraska.

1994

Jen Landis was promoted to vice president/creative director at the Lincoln advertising agency KidGlov.

Tony Manna, Papillion, won his record-tying sixth Sandhills Matchgame Bowling title in October. Manna was an All-American and the 1994 National Collegiate Player of the Year while competing for the Cornhuskers.

1995

Erin Jelinek teaches sixth-grade social studies and math at St. Joseph School in Atkinson. n Brian Vaske of New York City is chairman of the board and CEO of ITI, a technology solutions company he founded in 1999 and recently moved its headquarters to One World Trade Center in Manhattan.

1996

Justin Firestone has joined the Omaha law firm Baird Holm where his background in computer science is put to good use.

Angeline Lavin, a financial adviser at RBC Wealth Management in Sioux Falls, S.D., received a service award from the University of South Dakota Division of Accounting & Finance. Lavin was an instructor at USD for 18 years before entering private practice.

Jeanette Moeller of Fort Calhoun has been added to the Premier Bank team as senior vice president and chief financial officer.

1997

Ann Constantino was selected chief executive officer for the Children’s Respite Care Center in Omaha.

1998

Kristin Hensley, one half of the Los Angeles-based Internet comedy duo IMomSoHard, returned to Lincoln for two performances in October. Hensley, along with partner Jen Smedley, are Nebraska-born mothers who have become popular by commenting on the laughable vagaries of motherhood.

BY LESLIE REED/UNIVERSITY COMMUNICATION

Alumni Profile ’85

Undergrad Work Put Alumna on ‘Genius’ Award Path Rebecca Richards-Kortum Last fall 23 people were named 2016 MacArthur Foundation Fellows including bioengineer Rebecca Richards-Kortum, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate. RichardsKortum, now 52 and at Rice University, was recognized with the so-called “genius” award for her innovative work to deliver low-cost medical technology to Third World countries.

The MacArthur is the latest accolade in a career of achievement. In 2008, Richards-Kortum was the first woman from Rice and the youngest member to be admitted to the National Academy of Engineering. She holds Rice’s highest academic rank of university professor and directs the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering and the Institute of Global Health.

Recently, she led development of a new form of fiber optic endoscopy

After growing up in Grand Island, Richards-Kortum came to the university expecting to become a math and science teacher, but her professors soon directed her to another path. She earned a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics from Nebraska in 1985, then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she earned a master’s degree in physics in 1987 and a doctorate in medical physics in 1990. *** Q: Did you have specific experiences while attending Nebraska that helped set you on the path to your career?

“I am so grateful for the wonderful education I received in the university’s physics department. It is so important to continue investing in science education.” that could improve early detection of cancer and precancerous lesions. After visiting a hospital in Malawi in 2005, where she saw broken and unusable equipment because of the unreliable power supply, Richards-Kortum became inspired to use her engineering skills to change what she saw.

She is a marathon runner and mother of six, including two daughters adopted from Ethiopia. Her husband, Philip Kortum, also is a Nebraska alumnus.

There weren’t a lot of role models for scientists and engineers, especially for women. I went to college planning to major in education and thinking that I would teach high school math and science. I was inspired by my freshman physics teacher, Paul Burrow.

He was one of the best teachers I’ve ever met. He showed me what good teaching meant. During my sophomore year, I visited the office of physics department chair David Sellmyer. That visit changed my life.

Rebecca Richards-Kortum

Q: You conducted research with Sellmyer while you were still an undergraduate.

How did that come to be arranged?

I was a first generation college student and I didn’t even know there was a thing called “research.” Dr. Sellmyer went out of his way to offer me a spot in his lab. I am forever grateful — ­ it really did change my life.

Q: You graduated high school in Grand Island. Did your Nebraska upbringing play a role in the formation of your belief that all the world’s people deserve access to health innovation?

My parents taught me the importance of working hard, but also of standing up for what you believe in. I am grateful to have grown up in a community that shared these values — especially the idea that nothing is out of reach if you work hard enough.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 55

CLASSNOTES Greg Walter, assistant professor of art at Dickinson State University (N.D.), presented his works in a September exhibit titled “Missouri Valley Gold: Recent Landscape Paintings of the Missouri Valley River Watershed.”

1999

Joe Pawlowski is an architectural designer and project leader with the Bemidji, Minn., architecture firm Karvkko P.A. Corbin Popp was co-creator of “A Very Electric Christmas,” a production by Lightwire Theater, held at the Winspear Opera House in Dallas. In addition to his dance and performance skills, Popp is a dentist in Avon, Colo.

2000

Patrick Finnegan has been promoted to vice president/ account director in the Lincoln office of marketing communications company Swanson Russell.

Nicholas Phillips, an associate professor of piano at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, has released “Impressions,” an album that features solo piano music composed in the last decade.

Katie Ripa has joined KidGlov, the Lincoln advertising agency, as account director.

2001

Ryan Sallans, a nationally known public speaker, diversity trainer and author specializing in workplace issues that affect the transgender community, was the special guest at the Transgender Day of Remembrance in November 2016, in Springfield, Mo. Jeff Kulhanek of Lincoln has become a certified shareholder in The Schemmer Associates where he is employed as a mechanical engineer.

56 SPRING 2017

2002

Betsy Booren, McClean, Va., has taken a position as senior policy adviser for OFW Law, a Washington, D.C. area legal firm.

David Lockwood is the chief investment officer in the Lincoln office of Assurity Life Insurance Company. n Travis Teetor, an anesthesi-

ologist at Boys Town National Research Hospital in Omaha, was named the 2016 Nebraska Medical Association’s Young Physician of the Year.

2003

Lisa Hansen of Omaha has been hired as a gift buyer at Borsheims Fine Jewelry & Gifts.

Tony Holmquist, associate professor of art at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., was selected as Featured Scholar for 2016-17 for his work in developing processes with art materials that are less toxic.

John Kelly, founder of Kelly Law Team in Phoenix, was named a 2017 Rising Star by Super Lawyers magazine.

2004

Christian Bohnenstengel, director of keyboard studies at Southern Utah University in Cedar City, Utah, performed several piano selections for the Orchestra of Southern Utah’s 20th annual fall recital series in September.

Anthony Hohn was named the 2016 Young Attorney of the Year by the South Dakota Bar Association. He is a partner at Davenport, Evans, Hurwitz & Smith in Sioux Falls.

Jason McIntosh, an attorney with the international law firm of Vinson & Elkin in Houston, was recently promoted to partner.

2005

Janny Crotty works from her home in Auburn by providing training and technical assistance for the Nebraska Community Foundation.

Michaela Hahn has been selected principal at Culler Middle School in Lincoln.

Holm, where his practice will consist primarily of commercial litigation.

Adam Krueger is the newest member of the Omaha Sports Insider team of KMTV.

Ann Hunter-Pirtle is the executive director of the new nonprofit organization, Stand For Schools, created to advocate for public education in Nebraska.

2006

Jason M. Ball has been selected president/CEO of the Sioux Falls, S.D., Chamber of Commerce.

Kelli Donnelly was promoted to vice president of content operations at ION Media Networks in New York City.

Carrie Johnson has become a shareholder in the Denver office of the national law firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, where she specializes in contractual, securities, fraud and breach of fiduciary issues.

Jessica MacKichan was recognized by the Specialty Equipment Association for its 2016 “35 Under 35” list of emerging automotive aftermarket leaders. MacKichan is the creative manager at Speedway Motors, a Lincoln-based manufacturer, distributor and retailer of specialty automotive products.

Laura Parn will assume duties as principal of Duello Elementary School in Wentzville, Mo., on July 1.

Robert “Bud” Synhorst was named executive director of The Alpaca Owners Association headquartered in Lincoln.

2007

Jessie Graff, Calabasas, Calif., finished fifth overall in the NBC-TV series “American Ninja Warrior.” The former Husker pole vaulter became the first woman to ever complete stage one of the challenge.

Ryan Holt is now a partner in the Nashville, Tenn., law firm Sherrard Roe Voigt & Harbison.

2009

■ Nicholas

Buda was welcomed to the Omaha law firm Baird

2010

Matt Maw, a business education and technology teacher at Lincoln East High School, was one of two recipients of the 2016-17 Nebraska Association of Retired School Personnel Active Educator Scholarships.

Kevin Wenninghoff, a structural engineer in the Omaha office of The Schemmer Associates, has become a certified shareholder in that architecture/engineering firm.

2011

Seth Davison is assistant vice president in the agricultural lending division of Union Bank & Trust in Lincoln as a result of a recent promotion.

Jeff Kanger, Lincoln, was promoted to executive vice president of First State Bank Nebraska, which serves southeast Nebraska.

Melanie Kirk has joined the Lincoln law firm Johnson Flodman Guenzel & Widger and will specialize in family law.

Karinne Kulwicki is a physician’s assistant at Tri Valley Health Systems in Cambridge.

Casey Mills was promoted to public relations, social media strategist in the Lincoln office of Swanson Russell, a Nebraska-based marketing communications firm.

Keenan Price studied ongoing research projects such as radio tracking, cheetah conservation, and ecosystem management as well as the design of school and community programs in Namibia during the summer of 2016. Price, a jungle keeper at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo

BY KELLY RIIBE, ’03

Alumni Profile ’02

fulfilling her space dream

Teresa Sindelar Many children are fascinated by the stars and space, however University of Nebraska alumna Teresa Sindelar took that fascination and catapulted it into a successful career with NASA at Space Center Houston.

“I used to climb out of my window and sit on the roof, much to my mother’s dismay, to look at stars,” recalled the Omaha native.

Sindelar graduated in 2002 with a geology degree. She got her first taste of space at age 11 thanks to astronaut Thomas Stafford. He was signing autographs at Borsheims jewelry store, while Sindelar shopped nearby with her mother. They noticed a crowd and got in line to meet the Apollo 10 commander.

“He orbited the moon and is just amazing,” said Sindelar, who received a signed picture of Stafford that currently sits on her desk at NASA. “It reminds me of where I came from.”

During their encounter, Sindelar’s mother was able to talk with Stafford.

She explained her daughter’s desire to attend space camp, but the only options appeared to be on the coasts.

Stafford recommended the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kan. Sindelar begged her mother to attend, and went there as a camper for multiple summers. She described Cosmosphere as her “happy place.”

From 1998 to 2010 she was employed

Teresa Sindelar

there as either a counselor, intern or full-time staffer.

“It is arguably the most comprehensive space history museum in the United States and in my opinion it’s the best,” said Sindelar who was in charge of campers, oversaw staff, wrote curriculum and kept space simulators in working order as the Camp Programs Manager.

Soviet and USA hardware is on display at the Cosmosphere, and they offer numerous space camps and educational programs. Campers are typically middle-schoolers, however children from kindergarten through 11th grade can attend. Kids are given opportunities to take flying lessons in actual planes, work with robots and train like astronauts. Sindelar earned a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Wichita State while working in this fun environment.

Currently Sindelar is an environmental health systems crew instructor for WYLE, a long-standing government contractor for NASA. Her team is responsible for training astronauts on Earth. They teach them about the environmental hardware inside the space station, and also how to obtain water, air and surface samples. They support them in simulations for routine days in space, and also for emergency situations such as fires, toxic releases or rapid depressurization.

All of the science courses Sindelar took at UNL have proven to be invaluable when talking with professionals

at NASA. Sindelar is able to fall back on her undergraduate learning when it comes to working in labs and analyzing issues from scientific perspectives.

“Astronauts and doctors are really, really smart people, so if you don’t know what you are talking about, they will see right through you. It goes a long way with your credibility,” stated the former Pound Hall resident.

Field trips were an enjoyable part of Sindelar’s degree program. She recalled going to the Utah Canyon Lands for a Stratigraphy course, which involved the study of rock layers. Students traveled to see what was believed to be a massive crater.

Professor David Harwood had Sindelar keep her eyes closed while hiking the end of the trail because he wanted her to be surprised. It was an unforgettable moment.

“As far as the eyes could see was this huge structure where they thought a meteorite came and impacted the Earth,” said Sindelar. “It was awesome.”

Even the college’s foreign-language requirement came in handy. Sindelar took two years of Russian, which has been helpful for communicating with Russian crew members.

“It is surprising how much of it comes back. I must have had really good instructors at UNL,” explained the mother of three.

While teaching is a main focus for Sindelar at NASA, she also gets to participate in some schooling of

Continued on next page

CLASSNOTES fulfilling her space dream Continued from previous page her own. She has experienced weightlessness via a reduced gravity training flight. Her team did push-ups in lunar gravity and bounced on foam rocks in martian gravity during their session.

“You could not help but have fun,” Sindelar said and then admitted to doing a flip in mid-air at zero gravity.

Another perk is meeting famous people from the space community including Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon, and Jim Lovell who commanded multiple moon missions. In addition, Sindelar encounters every member of the current astronaut corps because her teachings are required training to fly in space.

Despite all her success, it is not likely that Sindelar will ever travel the galaxy.

“It smells up there,” laughed Sindelar before turning serious and admitting her hope that those she trains will make it to space, and dedicate an orbit in her honor. “I like knowing that I taught them what to do ... so in a way I kind of feel like I will be up there with them.”

BIRTHS

n Austin, ’07, and n Elyse Weaver, ’08, their third child,

second son, Charlie Chester, April 7. The family lives in Lincoln.

John, ’08, and Reannon Morris, their third child, second son, Everett John, May 29. The family lives in Denver.

Scott, ’11, and Gessica Ackman, their second child, first son, Porter Paul, April 11. The family lives in Columbus.

Cornhusker Kiddos

If you are an NU alumnus and want to showcase your bundle of joy (newborn to age 1) dressed in Big Red attire, send a color JPEG to kwright@huskeralum.org

Charlie Chester Weaver Everett John Morris

Porter Paul Ackman 58 SPRING 2017

and Aquarium took the graduate course in pursuit of his master’s degree from Miami (Ohio) University’s Global Field Program.

Sondra Schreiber is the director of global health at Des Moines University, a position she started in November 2016.

Matthew Wells joined Renaissance Financial of Omaha as a registered representative and investment adviser representative of Securian Financial Services.

2012

Rex Burkhead, running back with the NFL Cincinnati Bengals, chose to wear the logo for the Team Jack Foundation in December when the league permitted players to sport the causes they support on their uniforms and shoes. Team Jack is named in honor of 11-yearold Nebraskan Jack Hoffman, who continues to battle brain cancer.

Amber Vlasnik, a math instructional coach at Lincoln High in Lincoln was named the 2017 Nebraska Teacher of the Year.

2014

■ Michelle

Baker was recently promoted to account executive with the Sacramento, Calif.based public affairs firm Lucas Public Affairs.

Kelly Stenka has joined Legacy Retirement Communities of Lincoln as the marketing specialist.

Craig Torgerson was added to the staff of Lincoln-based Huffman Engineering where he is a control systems engineer.

2015

Kelly Schnoor has been chosen as agriculture editor for the Norfolk Daily News.

Lisa Lord Shifflet is a member of the McCook law firm Mousel, Brooks, Schneider & Mustion.

2016

Sunny Eighmy was named interim vice president for advancement at Central College in Pella, Iowa.

Veronica Guzman has been hired as the bilingual admissions coordinator for Wayne State College John Kosch is the music teacher for grades 4-12 in Elm Creek.

Bryan Timperley is the 5th and 6th grade band teacher at Dell Rapids Middle School in Dell Rapids, S.D.

WEDDINGS

n Mike Furrow, ’69, and n Janis

Erickson, ’71, Sept. 24. The couple lives in Lincoln.

n Thomas L. Broad, ’72, and John Denton, April 8. The couple lives in Kingwood, Texas. n Elliott Bottorf, ’06, and Brittany Kennedy, Oct. 15. The couple lives in Elkhorn.

■ Donnie

Butler, ’08, and ■ Erin Bivens, ’13, Sept. 24. The couple lives in Lincoln.

Matthew Marx and n Mary Katelyn Exstrom, ’13, May 28.

The couple lives in Lincoln.

Ryan Ray, ’13, and Becca Gerschefske, ’13, Sept. 5, 2015. The couple lives in Broken Arrow, Okla.

CLASSNOTES DEATHS

Archives and Special Collections, UNL Libraries

Charlotte Mae Kramer, 82, who served as an administrative assistant and travel coordinator for the Nebraska Alumni Association for 25 years, died Nov. 18, in Lincoln.

Kramer was born June 29, 1934, in North Platte to Floyd and Leona Torske Dale, and was married to Gelbert W. Kramer, who preceded her in death.

At her retirement, the association established the Charlotte Kramer Foreign Study Scholarship, presented annually to a UNL student Charlotte Kramer for use on a university-approved study abroad program.

Known for her strong will and keen wit, she enjoyed working with alumni, friends and groups on tours and reunions and treasured the opportunity for foreign travel.

Keith W. Prichard, 87, a longtime professor in the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, died Oct. 23 in Roanoke, Va. Prichard taught curriculum and instruction in the former Teacher’s College from 1967 until his retirement in 1995.

Prichard was born in Putnam County, Ind., on Jan. 25, 1929. He was the son of the late Cedric Thomas Prichard and Alice Clara Heavin Keith Prichard Prichard. He served in the U.S. Army from 1952-54.

A lifelong educator, Pritchard was a graduate of Indiana University. He held a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York, and earned his doctorate at Harvard University in 1961. He served as a professor of sociology at Wake Forest University and Nebraska, and an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia.

He was an author of several books and articles, among them, “Black Student’s Guide to College Success.”

Prichard was honored as Professor of the Year in 1966 at Wake Forest University. Later, he received the same honor at Nebraska. He had many interests and hobbies including painting, gardening and horses. Prior to moving to Hardy, Va., he lived in Lexington, Ky., and worked for the worldfamous stable Overbrook Farm. He was a prolific reader with a special interest in European history. Prichard was a mentor to many students, many of whom still kept in contact with him throughout his life.

Mildred Prochaska Stone, ’38, Kearney, Oct. 17, 2016.

Alice Nemec Bewersdorf, ’39, Omaha, Nov. 22, 2016.

Raymond J. Mlinar, ’39, Greeley, Nov. 8, 2016.

Beatrice Sommer, ’39, Omaha, March 31, 2016.

Dorothy McClelland Leigh, ’40, Omaha, Sept. 7, 2016.

Harold F. Borman, ’41, Lincoln, Dec. 23, 2016.

Paul W. Deck, ’41, Sioux City, Iowa, Aug. 31, 2016.

Marian Bremers McGee, ’41, Denver, Oct. 7, 2016.

Marie Donnelly Phillips, ’41, Los Angeles, Dec. 10, 2009 Kathryn McNamara Von Seggern, ’41, Omaha, Aug. 15, 2016.

Floyd W. Hansmire, ’42, Fairbury, Nov. 10, 2016.

Cleo Blackledge Harding, ’42, Hemet, Calif., Nov. 3, 2016.

Phyllis Shaw Jones, ’42, Tucson, Ariz., Nov. 25, 2016.

James L. Lipsey, ’42, Tucson, Ariz., Oct. 7, 2016.

Opal Thomas Larson, ’43, Lincoln, Sept. 7, 2016.

Stephen G. Wiles, ’43, Conroe, Texas, Nov. 14, 2016.

Dorothy Olson Ericson, ’44, Ava, Ill., Dec. 22, 2016.

Elizabeth Hohf Frank, ’44, Chicago, Sept. 30, 2016.

Shirley A. Newcomb, ’44, Moscow, Idaho, Oct. 16, 2016.

Ernest B. Smethers, ’44, Beatrice, Dec. 15, 2016.

Dorothy Reilly Blaich, ’45, Clearwater, Fla., Sept. 10, 2016.

Mary Lou Holtz Branch, ’45, Scottsdale, Ariz., Oct. 4, 2016.

Marion Rapp Fuller-Nelson, ’45, Arnold, Oct. 11, 2016.

Mary Richards Reed, ’46, Minneapolis, April 13, 2016.

Rogene Carlson Shoup, ’46, Central City, Oct. 31, 2016.

Mary Colburn Commers, ’47, Lincoln, Sept. 20, 2016.

Elmer R. Farley, ’47, Lewisburg, Tenn., Nov. 6, 2016.

Marvin U. Hendrix, ’47, Lincoln, Oct. 31, 2016.

Dessamore Gross Hillman, ’47, Valley Forge, Penn., July 29, 2016.

Mark A. Keller, ’47, Columbus, Aug. 13, 2016.

Max L. Lovejoy, ’47, Horse Shoe, N.C., Aug. 21, 2016.

Sally Shirley Parks, ’47, Okoboji, Iowa, Oct. 10, 2016.

Dean L. Petersen, ’47, Bennet, Aug. 23, 2016.

Arlin I. Schoemaker, ’47, Sun City, Ariz., Oct. 28, 2016.

Kathleen Hayes Sherman, ’47, Davenport, Iowa, Dec. 4, 2016.

Donald C. Farber, ’48, New York, July 31, 2016.

Richard G. Folda, ’48, Schuyler, Nov. 26, 2016.

Rebanis Frankforter Gloye, ’48, Atascadero, Calif., Oct. 10, 2016.

Fred B. Greusel, ’48, Overland Park, Kan., Nov. 18, 2016.

Fran W. Hunt, ’48, Cozad, Aug. 19, 2016.

Eileen Grotrian Kennedy, ’48, Lincoln, Aug. 17, 2016.

David K. Petersen, ’48, Eldorado Springs, Colo., July 30, 2016.

Thomas L. Thompson, ’48, Lincoln, Aug. 9, 2016.

Loren M. Toohey, ’48, Pflugerville, Texas, Nov. 19, 2016.

Theodore R. Von Fange, ’48, Utica, May 29, 2016.

James H. Carmel, ’49, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., July 30, 2016.

Roger L. Crossgrove, ’49, Storrs Mansfield, Conn., Dec. 14, 2016.

Joanne Kurtz Dunaway, ’49, Omaha, Nov. 30, 2016.

Dawson C. Easter, ’49, Sacramento, Calif., May 29, 2016.

David Fredricks, ’49, Omaha, Nov. 10, 2016.

Royce N. Harper, ’49, Lincoln, Sept.

12, 2016.

Maurice B. Johnson, ’49, Gretna, Sept. 17, 2016.

Roy C. Neumann, ’49, Sugar Land, Texas, Oct. 5, 2016.

James S. Taylor, ’49, Topeka, Kan., July 7, 2016.

Kenneth J. Torczon, ’49, Columbus, Sept. 7, 2016.

Bill B. Witmer, ’49, Webster, S.D., Oct. 18, 2016.

John J. Blake, ’50, Galesburg, Ill., Nov. 5, 2016.

Shelly A. Bulin, ’50, Independence, Mo., Oct. 13, 2016.

Ellen Darlington Busch, ’50, Midland, Texas, Feb. 28, 2016.

Calvin Gloor, ’50, Fullerton, Dec. 10, 2016.

Sue Holland-Keller, ’50, Lincoln, Sept. 24, 2016.

Derald L. Lembrich, ’50, Lincoln, Dec. 4, 2016.

John M. McCormick, ’50, Lincoln, Oct. 25, 2016.

Philip C. Sprague, ’50, Lincoln, Nov. 9, 2016.

Ruth Tonry Veverka, ’50, Skaneateles, N.Y., Oct. 10, 2016.

Carol Higgins Baldwin, ’51, Beatrice, Sept. 5, 2016.

Oneda Jones Dillon, ’51, Omaha, Jan. 18, 2016.

Elmer D. Eberspacher, ’51, Milford, April 16, 2016.

Harry M. Freeman, ’51, Omaha, Sept. 27, 2016.

James R. Grant, ’51, Wheaton, Ill., Nov. 8, 2016.

William E. Hancock, ’51, Carson City, Nev., Aug. 20, 2016.

Benjamin C. Hull, ’51, Omaha, Dec. 5, 2016.

Joseph C. Kratky, ’51, Columbus, Oct. 31, 2016.

Kenneth A. Legg, ’51, Olathe, Kan., May 7, 2016.

Neal E. McClymonds, ’51, Prescott, Ariz., March 18, 2016.

Marcia George Ochsner, ’51, Omaha, Oct. 23, 2016.

Pauline Christensen Plantz, ’51, Fremont, June 10, 2016.

Marilyn Doolittle Rand, ’51, Fort Collins, Colo., Oct. 5, 2016.

Jeanette Schweser Schwartzkopf, ’51, Atascadero, Calif., May 6, 2016.

Frances McKie Sharpe, ’51, Shawnee, Kan., April 4, 2016.

Lee D. Stauffer, ’51, St. Paul, Minn., July 21, 2016.

Eli Zietz, ’51, Lincoln, Oct. 6, 2016.

Harlan G. Barker, ’52, Holdrege, Oct. 4, 2016.

Mary Martison Engdahl, ’52, Omaha, Aug. 16, 2016.

Carol Schepman Hendrickson, ’52, Holdrege, Sept. 15, 2016.

Jerry J. Johnson, ’52, Chadron, Aug. 29, 2016.

Lucille Anderson Lienemann, ’52, Omaha, Aug. 25, 2016.

Clark A. Mueller, ’52, Gainesville, Fla., Sept. 19, 2016.

Kathryn Newhouse Northway, ’52, Beulah, Mich., Oct. 21, 2016.

Thomas G. Nuss, ’52, Lincoln, Sept.

16, 2016.

Mary Crabill Patterson, ’52, Sioux City, Iowa, Nov. 11, 2016.

Norma Schick Reinke, ’52, Ashland, Nov. 12, 2016.

Elsie Hughes Swanson, ’52, Rochester, Minn., Aug. 12, 2016.

Duane W. Acklie, ’53, Lincoln, Sept. 17, 2016.

William H. Adams, ’53, Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 9, 2016.

Ramona Laun Heins, ’53, Kearney, Oct. 23, 2016.

Sally A. Kjelson, ’53, Omaha, Oct. 22, 2016.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 59

CLASSNOTES Janet Glock Mills, ’53, Lincoln, Oct. 13, 2016.

Thorwald L. Nelson, ’53, Kansas City, April 9, 2016.

Melvin A. Williams, ’53, Lead, S.D., Nov. 6, 2016.

Hugo T. Heermann, ’54, Lincoln, Nov. 20, 2016.

John T. Warren, ’54, Manhattan, Kan., Oct. 5, 2016.

Darrel D. Campbell, ’55, Omaha, Aug. 26, 2016.

Eldon R. Cook, ’55, Federal Way, Wash., Dec. 4, 2016.

Alden L. Johnson, ’55, Lincoln, Nov. 17, 2016.

Fern Miller Nilson, ’55, Aurora, Dec. 23, 2016.

Mary Muelhaupt Overbey, ’55, Austin, Texas, Aug. 21, 2016.

Jack B. Rogers, ’55, Pasadena, Calif., July 14, 2016.

Burdette R. Schoen, ’55, Lincoln, Dec. 7, 2016.

Lavern P. Sorensen, ’55, Lincoln, Dec. 17, 2016.

Margaret Smith Sorensen, ’55, Grand Island, Nov. 18, 2016.

Julie Reynolds Steenburg, ’55, Stuart, Fla., Sept. 28, 2016.

Richard L. Welsh, ’55, Columbus, Ohio, June 25, 2016.

Charles W. Yaeger, ’55, Pleasant Dale, July 26, 2016.

Robert L. Davis, ’56, Sedalia, Mo., Oct. 26, 2016.

F. Parker Geesen, ’56, Phoenix, Oct. 14, 2016.

William B. Myers, ’56, Mountain Home, Ark., Oct. 8, 2016.

Eugene F. Cotter, ’57, Lincoln, Dec. 7, 2016.

Donald R. Dickinson, ’57, Omaha, Sept. 2, 2016.

James K. Feese, ’57, Hopkins, Minn., Dec. 2, 2016.

Sam S. Jensen, ’57, Minneapolis, Sept. 17, 2016.

Elbert H. Loewenstein, ’57, Kearney, Nov. 13, 2016.

John C. Morrow, ’57, Huron, Ohio, Oct. 2, 2016.

Jerry N. Rounsavell, ’57, Irvine, Calif., July 23, 2016.

James L. Smith, ’57, Springfield, Oct. 9, 2016.

Charles W. Falls, ’58, Lincoln, Nov. 6, 2016.

Wendell P. Frantz, ’58, Lincoln, Nov. 8, 2016.

Earl W. Gettman, ’58, Lincoln, Oct. 2, 2016.

Robert L. Hans, ’58, Lincoln, Dec. 17, 2016.

David E. Hughes, ’58, Lincoln, Nov. 13, 2016.

Orleatha Fiala Kane, ’58, Sun Lakes, Ariz., Aug. 20, 2016.

Bruce L. McCorkindale, ’58, Huntington Beach, Calif., Feb. 19, 2016.

Gary E. Reimers, ’58, Burleson, Texas, Sept. 1, 2016.

60 SPRING 2017

Carroll R. Sawin, ’58, Topeka, Kan., Aug. 20, 2016.

Francis J. Shaughnessy, ’58, Hastings, Dec. 5, 2016.

Kenneth E. Shibata, ’58, Carroll, Iowa, Oct. 30, 2016.

Sara Kirkman Welsh, ’58, Lincoln, Nov. 3, 2016.

Roy Aksamit, ’59, West Des Moines, Iowa, Aug. 12, 2016.

Philip E. Melmer, ’59, Minneapolis, April 7, 2016.

Richard H. Moses, ’59, Falls City, Dec. 8, 2016.

Joyce Magidson Pocras, ’59, Lincoln, Oct. 3, 2016.

Raymond L. Weilage, ’59, Newbury Park, Calif., Nov. 7, 2016.

Ralph R. Anderson, ’60, Kearney, Aug. 30, 2016.

C. Michael Cowan, ’60, Lincoln, Nov. 9, 2016.

Mari Watts Crispin, ’60, Vancouver, Wash., Dec. 22, 2016.

Vernon C. Feye, ’60, Fremont, Nov. 29, 2016.

Clarence J. Garrison, ’60, Philomath, Ore., Sept. 29, 2016.

John F. Gishpert, ’60, Denver, Sept.

4, 2016.

Clinton C. Johannes, ’60, Richland, Oct. 27, 2016.

Kathryn Schoubourg Johnson, ’60, Kailua Kona, Hawaii Sept. 23, 2016.

Dale C. Sweeney, ’60, Jacksonville, Fla., Oct. 1, 2016.

Paul W. Toms, ’60, York, Sept. 11, 2016.

Max L. Houser, ’61, Fairbury, Sept. 29, 2016.

David T. Lumbard, ’61, San Rafael, Calif., Oct. 21, 2016.

Douglas D. Sjogren, ’61, Fort Collins, Colo., July 1, 2016.

Jerry L. Wagner, ’61, Kingwood, Texas, Nov. 26, 2016.

James S. Belden, ’62, Lincoln, Oct. 16, 2016.

Jerold W. Dragoo, ’62, Chesterfield, Mo., April 8, 2016.

Thomas F. Jones, ’62, Central City, Sept. 26, 2016.

Lowell E. Minert, ’62, Dunning, Sept. 29, 2016.

Robert E. Peterson, ’62, Elkhorn, Sept. 13, 2016.

David G. Sever, ’62, Anchorage, Oct. 9, 2016.

Jean Barney Talley, ’62, Friend, Nov. 7, 2016.

Glenn H. Wheeler, ’62, Marsland, Oct. 19, 2016.

Valerie Vavak Witte, ’62, Yutan, Aug. 16, 2016.

Robert L. Clarke, ’63, Saint Clair Shores, Mich., May 31, 2016.

Juanita Johnson Felch, ’63, Prior Lake, Minn., Nov. 2, 2016.

Roger A. Jacobs, ’63, Woodland Park, Colo., Sept. 1, 2016.

Joel D. Lundak, ’63, Nebraska City, Oct. 9, 2016.

Charles E. Wahl, ’63, Lincoln, Oct. 6, 2016.

H. R. Dodson, ’64, Lincoln, Oct. 26, 2016.

Alvin J. Luppen, ’64, Marysville, Kan., Aug. 5, 2016.

Rodney D. Peterson, ’64, Fort Myers, Fla., May 29, 2016.

Sharon Ross Smidt, ’64, North Platte, Oct. 19, 2016.

Edward W. Eboch, ’65, Chandler, Ariz., July 12, 2016.

Douglas E. Gaeth, ’65, Newtonville, Mass., Sept. 4, 2016.

Jerald D. Gross, ’65, Motley, Minn., Nov. 11, 2016.

Leslie I. Hamburger, ’65, Hastings, Aug. 22, 2016.

Henry J. Hinrichs, ’65, Lincoln, Oct. 26, 2016.

Donavon D. Leighton, ’65, Winside, Oct. 12, 2016.

John G. Liakos, ’65, Omaha, Sept. 27, 2016.

Judith Smith Perkins, ’65, Milwaukee, Sept. 9, 2016.

Maynard K. Smidt, ’65, North Platte, Oct. 29, 2016.

Robert E. Whitten, ’65, Joplin, Mo., Dec. 15, 2016.

Randall L. Acher, ’66, Lincoln, Oct. 6, 2016.

John B. Adams, ’66, Greeley, Colo., Dec. 12, 2016.

Donn K. Bieber, ’66, Lincoln, Sept. 6, 2016.

Judith Proffit Doose, ’66, Gretna, Oct. 6, 2016.

Keith F. Kasselder, ’66, Hudson, Wyo., Oct. 23, 2016.

Iris J. Lindell, ’66, Grand Island, Aug. 20, 2016.

John M. Murphy, ’66, Firth, Oct. 24, 2016.

Terrence A. O’Brien, ’66, Wahoo, Aug. 20, 2016.

Michael J. Prokop, ’66, Fremont, Dec. 5, 2016.

Audrey Baker Rider, ’66, Enid, Okla., Dec. 20, 2016.

Morris F. Huelle, ’67, Lincoln, Oct. 25, 2016.

Milton R. Johnson, ’67, Scottsbluff, Aug. 29, 2016.

Larry N. Rhodes, ’67, Lincoln, Sept. 25, 2016.

David M. Tuite, ’67, Omaha, Sept. 30, 2016.

James M. Walters, ’67, Atlanta, Sept. 12, 2016.

Russell E. Weber, ’67, Alexandria, Va., Oct. 5, 2016.

Bryce A. Bartu, ’68, Grand Island, Nov. 6, 2016.

Joe W. Dodd, ’68, Omaha, Nov. 1, 2016.

James F. Gerou, ’68, Delmar, N.Y., Oct. 22, 2016.

Thomas L. Hedges, ’68, San Diego, Oct. 4, 2016.

Judy Besecker Lewis, ’68, Rogers, Ark., Aug. 25, 2016.

Patricia Mazanec Mahar, ’68, Orange City, Fla., Dec. 6, 2016.

Patrick H. Murphy, ’68, Fremont, Oct. 22, 2016.

Denese Handschuh Stalnaker, ’68, Omaha, Nov. 12, 2016.

Donna L. West, ’68, Lincoln, Dec. 1, 2016.

Anne M. Aita, ’69, Omaha, Dec. 19, 2016.

David L. Anderson, ’69, Dannebrog, Dec. 19, 2016.

David H. Bunnell, ’69, San Francisco, Oct. 18, 2016.

Loree Gerdes Bykerk, ’69, Omaha, Nov. 30, 2016.

David W. Erbach, ’69, Bowling Green, Ky., Sept. 18, 2016.

Lloyd J. Gildersleeve, ’69, Lincoln, Aug. 18, 2016.

Charles F. Hamsa, ’69, Cedar Park, Texas, Nov. 28, 2016.

Theodore Jacob, ’69, Palo Alto, Calif., Aug. 22, 2016.

Roger S. Keetle, ’69, Lincoln, Oct. 20, 2016.

Annalee Rantapaa Larson, ’69, Northfield, Minn., Sept. 9, 2016.

Steve J. Riggert, ’69, Elkhorn, Sept. 15, 2016.

Jerry A. Wallin, ’69, Fort Collins, Colo., Nov. 30, 2016.

Nancy Johnson Winkelmann, ’69, Charlottesville, Va., Nov. 5, 2016.

Thomas C. Hadwick, ’70, Lincoln, Dec. 21, 2016.

Janette M. Harms, ’70, Fairbury, Dec. 9, 2016.

Donald A. Holm, ’70, Lincoln, Nov. 28, 2016.

Joseph M. Norbeck, ’70, Stanwood, Mich., Aug. 24, 2016.

Milton D. Rafferty, ’70, Springfield, Mo., Oct. 1, 2016.

Buddy L. Steinshouer, ’70, Holdrege, Oct. 9, 2016.

John T. Aalborg, ’71, Lincoln, Nov. 10, 2016.

Dennis D. Bartels, ’71, Lincoln, Sept. 26, 2016.

Freda Watson Bennett, ’71, Elgin, Aug. 28, 2016.

Jeanette M. Dolezal, ’71, Greenville, N.C., Aug. 15, 2016.

Barbara Diesing Loften, ’71, Denver, Colo., Feb. 19, 2016.

Carl R. Mackerer, ’71, Pennington, N.J., Sept. 16, 2016.

John J. Mann, ’71, La Jolla, Calif., Aug. 30, 2016.

Geraldine Meduna Sladky, ’71, Lincoln, Sept. 20, 2016.

Elmer W. Sphon, ’71, Lincoln, Oct. 30, 2016.

Edward L. Stephens, ’71, Omaha, Aug. 25, 2016.

Andres Tontegode, ’71, Omaha, Oct. 10, 2016.

Charles D. Barringer, ’72, Fairbury, Dec. 8, 2016.

Ronnie R. Billings, ’72, Valentine, June 4, 2016.

David R. Erickson, ’72, Alvo, Sept. 1, 2016.

William R. Fulton, ’72, Crete, Nov. 2, 2016.

CLASSNOTES Robert L. Hoback, ’72, Utica, Aug. 27, 2016.

Aletia Berkemeier Nissen, ’72, Lincoln, Sept. 30, 2016.

April Crossgrove Sampson, ’72, Lincoln, Sept. 7, 2016.

Raymond C. Woods, ’72, Omaha, Sept. 29, 2016.

Allan D. Feit, ’73, Barneston, Nov. 26, 2016.

Beth Gillilan Heckathorn, ’73, Papillion, July 14, 2016.

Lloyd W. Kelly, ’73, Grand Island, Oct. 2, 2016.

James P. Mannix, ’73, O’Fallon, Ill., Feb. 24, 2016.

James M. McNeil, ’73, Eagle, Colo., Aug. 15, 2016.

Roger E. Story, ’73, Grand Island, Nov. 21, 2016.

Delsie Beethe Woltemath, ’73, Lincoln, Aug. 18, 2016.

Sue Paulson Buckham, ’74, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Dec. 6, 2016.

Jacquelyn A. Dorsey, ’74, Omaha, Nov. 23, 2016.

Dennis W. Hendrickson, ’74, Omaha, Nov. 8, 2016.

Randy J. Kramer, ’74, Stapleton, Oct. 4, 2016.

Glenn D. Pflum, ’74, Denver, April 10, 2016.

Debra Walker Campbell, ’75, Denton, Nov. 26, 2016.

Stephen M. Eveans, ’75, Omaha, Oct. 25, 2016.

William C. Lansford, ’75, Arlington, Texas, Aug. 22, 2016.

Blain I. Condreay, ’76, Platte Center, July 31, 2016.

Douglas P. Kern, ’76, Lincoln, Nov. 17, 2016.

Darlene Ward Lowe, ’76, Lincoln, July 14, 2016.

Sandra Rathkamp Luchsinger, ’76, Grand Island, Sept. 14, 2016.

Michael L. Parizek, ’76, Omaha, Sept. 23, 2016.

Joan Wells Peterson, ’76, Lincoln, Oct. 24, 2016.

Joanne K. Smith, ’76, Lincoln, Aug. 18, 2016.

Jacqueline T. Taylor, ’76, Bellevue, Nov. 19, 2016.

James E. Thompson, ’76, Bellevue, Oct. 21, 2016.

Kathleen A. Kriegler, ’77, Ames, Iowa, Dec. 3, 2016.

Don J. Medinger, ’78, Seward, Oct. 29, 2016.

Ronald J. Nelson, ’78, Harrisonburg, Va., Aug. 17, 2016.

Steven D. Rocker, ’78, Walton, Oct. 22, 2016.

Harold E. Storer, ’78, Manhattan, Kan., Jan. 10, 2016.

Sally J. Donovan, ’79, Hood River, Ore., Nov. 19, 2016.

Sally Buckendorf Johnston, ’79, Lincoln, Oct. 21, 2016.

Julius F. Skinner, ’79, Mooresboro, N.C., Dec. 3, 2016.

Gregory L. Stoner, ’79, Kansas City, Aug. 19, 2016.

Lori Bishop Zeilinger, ’79, Grant, Oct. 7, 2016.

As a graduate of the University of Nebraska, you could receive exclusive savings on home insurance from Liberty

Lester D. Felger, ’80, Norfolk, Nov. 27, 2016.

Thomas E. Godfrey, ’80, Austin, Texas, Oct. 2, 2016.

Gerald L. Hubl, ’81, Lincoln, Dec. 11, 2016.

Daniel W. Janzow, ’81, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Aug. 21, 2016.

Peteris Lipins, ’82, Lincoln, Dec. 7, 2016.

Richard M. Parker, ’82, Lincoln, Sept. 17, 2016.

Connie Kuster Peterson, ’82, Broken Bow, Sept. 14, 2016.

Larry D. Winkler, ’82, Bellevue, Aug. 16, 2016.

David M. Fricke, ’83, Prior Lake, Minn., Oct. 28, 2016.

Rosemary Litton Maynard, ’83, Omaha, Aug. 24, 2016.

Zoanne L. Smith Terry, ’83, Wheat Ridge, Colo., Dec. 19, 2016.

Douglas A. Townsend, ’83, Omaha, Dec. 2, 2016.

Mildred Wallace Flansburg, ’86, Omaha, Dec. 11, 2016.

Harlan C. Rimmerman, ’87, Kansas City, Kan., Feb. 11, 2016.

David L. Simon, ’87, Guilford, Conn., Sept. 25, 2016.

Wayne A. Trout, ’87, Waverly, Nov. 11, 2016.

Jan Gottula Vanderbeek, ’87, Adams, Sept. 19, 2016.

Patrick P. Pensick, ’88, Omaha, Nov. 7, 2016.

Paul A. Dunlap, ’89, Omaha, Aug. 28, 2016.

Pamela Benson Mowinkel, ’89, Scribner, Nov. 13, 2016.

Anthony T. Motto, ’90, Spring, Texas, Sept. 19, 2016.

Ione McHale Pierce, ’90, Lexington, Dec. 7, 2016.

Michael D. McCann, ’94, Lincoln, Oct. 15, 2016.

Mary Holmgren Radke, ’94, Elkhorn, Oct. 4, 2016.

Charles A. Baughman, ’96, Omaha, Dec. 1, 2016.

James A. Pavlik, ’96, Wichita, Kan., Nov. 2, 2016.

Christina L. Liquori, ’97, Durham, N.C., June 12, 2016.

Tammy M. Rush, ’04, Omaha, Nov. 7, 2016.

Christopher R. Werner, ’05, Sheboygan, Wis., Dec. 8, 2016.

Brady H. Smith, ’08, Lincoln, Aug. 29, 2016.

Dustin E. Niemeyer, ’10, Lincoln, Oct. 1, 2016.

Steven C. Kriesen, ’12, Waverly, Nov. 6, 2016.

Cole C. Bergen, ’14, Orleans, July 30, 2016.

John W. Sullivan, ’14, Lincoln, Oct. 14, 2016.

Along with valuable savings, you’ll enjoy access to benefits like 24-Hour Claims Assistance.

Mutual.1

For a free quote, call 855-948-6267 or visit LibertyMutual.com/Nebraska Client # 6713

®

This organization receives financial support for offering this auto and home benefits program.

Discounts and savings are available where state laws and regulations allow, and may vary by state. To the extent permitted by law, applicants are individually underwritten; not all applicants may qualify.

Coverage provided and underwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance and its affiliates 175 Berkeley Street, Boston, MA 02116. ©2017 Liberty Mutual Insurance Valid through July 20, 2017.

1

FINAL COUNT

701K

Number of people who entered the Adele Coryell Hall Learning Commons during its inaugural year. Formerly known as Love North, the radicallytransformed study area opened Jan. 11, 2016, and boasts a Dunkin’ Donuts.

107K

Number of square feet that are planned for the future UNL Health Center and University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing Lincoln Division building. Ground has been broken near 19th and S streets, with an expected opening in mid-2018.

368

The number of ash trees on both campuses that are in danger of the Emerald Ash Borer, a beetle that has infested ash trees across the country since 2002 and now poses a threat to ash trees in Nebraska.

78

Number of spots UNL surged in the “Best for Vets: Colleges 2017” rankings by Military Times. Nebraska moved from No. 102 in the 2016 survey to No. 24 this year.

25

Number of student-athletes and staff who will be traveling to Tipitapa, Nicaragua, for one week in May to work with the non-profit organization Seeds of Learning to expand and enhance school facilities in a rural community.

10

Number of seconds each digital message appears on the newlyinstalled video banner boards outdoors in the Nebraska Union Plaza. This will save campus orgs hundreds of dollars in printing costs each year.

An Official Program of the:

7P1

A D V E RT I S E M E N T

Today is the day I write my story.

Wally Ward Business Administration, MBA University of Nebraska–Lincoln “My today started when I decided I wanted to see the big picture. I earned my undergrad in engineering and went to work in the oil industry.

I realized that to contribute more to my team and move up in my career I would need a better understanding of the industry as a whole. That meant getting my MBA. I was living in my hometown of Kenai, Alaska, so I knew I would have to study online. With my degree from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, I was able to advance my career and am now in a new planning role that combines my passions for engineering, exploration and business.”

100+ online programs. online.nebraska.edu

Nebraska Alumni Association Wick Alumni Center 1520 R Street Lincoln, NE 68508-1651

BIG RED ON THE ROAD IN 2017 YOU GET THERE — WE’LL TAKE CARE OF THE REST. Join other Husker fans and the Nebraska Alumni Association in Oregon and Minnesota for a 2017 football away-game experience.

Each package includes game tickets, hotel accommodations, game day transportation, and access to official university events. Trips are open to all alumni and fans.

OFF TO OREGON

Help us bring Husker Power to the Pacific Northwest as the Big Red takes on the Ducks Sept. 9-12.

This game package includes a hotel stay in Portland and the option to add pre-trip golf at Bandon Dunes or winery tour excursions. This trip will sell quickly, so book today.

MEET US IN MINNESOTA

Come cheer on the Huskers as they take on the Golden Gophers in Minneapolis Nov. 9-12.

For more details or to book a trip today, visit huskeralum.org/athletic-travel Toll Free Phone Number: 888-353-1874

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 64