Nebraska Magazine Summer 2017 Issue

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

TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE

HEARTLAND p. 16

Volume 113 / No.2 / Summer 2017 / huskeralum.org

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 1

Soak

Savings. up some

University of Nebraska Alumni Association members could save on auto insurance with a special discount from GEICO.

#AlumniDiscount

geico.com/alum/naa 1-800-368-2734 Some discounts, coverages, payment plans and features are not available in all states or all GEICO companies. GEICO contracts with various membership entities and other organizations, but these entities do not underwrite the offered insurance products. Discount amount varies in some states. One group discount applicable per policy. Coverage is individual. In New York a premium reduction may be available. GEICO may not be involved in a formal relationship with each organization; however, you still may qualify for a special discount based on your membership, employment or affiliation with those organizations. GEICO is a registered service mark of Government Employees Insurance Company, Washington, D.C. 20076; a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary. GEICO Gecko image Š 1999-2017. Š 2017 GEICO

2 SUMMER 2017

themailbag 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.

CONNECTION BOX huskeralum.org facebook.com/UNLalumni @NebraskaAlumni @NebraskaAlumni huskeralum.org/linkedin

Summer 2017 n Vol. 113, No. 2

Green Connection

Network Ovation

After reading the article about Chancellor Green in the spring issue, I was once again proud to be a Nebraska alum. After living in Kansas City in an urban setting for over 15 years, I didn’t expect much that would connect my experience to Dr. Green’s agricultural background. But after reading about his support of Nebraska football players who expressed their views by kneeling during the National Anthem last fall, learning that his passions include fairness and equity, and discovering his love for revolutionary and satirical musical theater, I can see he has much to offer all students and alumni of NU. I am pleased that students have him as an advocate for free expression and inclusion!

Andy Schuerman Class of 2001

Thanks to the Alumni Association’s Sarah Haskell for throwing a terrific Nebraska Women’s Leadership Network conference this spring. Its theme, about the importance of leaving your comfort zone, was excellent.

As a group, the speakers were the best batch I’ve seen in a long time. Their talks were focused, well-delivered and they really made me think. I just finished updating my LinkedIn profile using tips from Erica Heiden, and I plan to use nuggets of what I learned at the conference in my upcoming Ivy Day keynote speech. There I’m going to speak to the incoming and outgoing Mortar Boards and Innocents about reinvention, which is the step you reach just after you leave your comfort zone.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Jane Hirt Class of 1989 Chicago

We’re pleased you connected with the story and Chancellor Green. His official installation on April 6 was very emotional due to the keynote speech delivered by the late Clayton Yeutter via pre-recorded video. Two days later Green sang at Yeutter’s memorial service.

Honorable Mention I write to thank you for your well-formulated article in the spring issue of the Nebraska Magazine. It takes great skill to make an old Logan County cowboy look presentable, but, from all accounts, you succeeded in doing so. I have now heard from dozens of people from a wide array of venues. Indeed, your work garnered a telephone call from a World War II Navy Commander who was one of my college roommates, vintage of 1947-48.

I had not communicated with him since 1950, the year he graduated from UNL. In any event, I am in your debt for the nice story. I also laud you for your thorough and excellent presentation of Dr. Ronnie Green.

He is a “keeper” by any measure of the word.

C. Arlen Beam, Circuit Judge Class of 1951

Jane Hirt turned over the reins of Network chairwoman to Meg Kester in April after two years at its helm. During Hirt’s tenure, she focused on improving communications among leadership and increased campus involvement.

Championship Venue Just a quick note to say what a great time we had at the Champions Club before the spring football game. The food was great and the service was excellent. We look forward to another great season of Husker football.

Bruce & Rosie Brown Class of 1970 Omaha We’re so glad you enjoyed yourself at our premier tailgating location across from the stadium. And we agree, Misty’s Catering does a terrific job with food and drink.

Making connections is what we are all about.

So glad we could make one for you, your Honor.

alumni@huskeralum.org

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 3

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.

Alexander Lai/AWML Creative

INSIDESUMMER

7 13 26 30

Rainbow-hued powder wafted across Selleck Quadrangle during the Hindu Holi Festival which took place April 23. The event, celebrated mainly in India and Nepal, marked the arrival of spring with colored powder, games and activities.

Graduation Calculations Pinnacle Bank Arena was busting at its seams in early May when 3,107 diplomas were awarded to the Class of 2017. Twitter founder and Nebraska-native, Ev Williams, gave the keynote on May 6.

Dairy Store@100 It was 1917 when the Dairy Store opened its door for the first time offering milk to students who brought in their own glasses. Today customers can buy milk, eggs, cheese and, of course, ice cream.

The Call of the Corn In Part 2 of our novella, middle-aged New Yorker Laura finds herself in Lincoln, Nebraska, holed up at Barrymore’s, living in the Cornhusker Hotel and intrigued by a man known as the Comma Cowboy.

Nebraska By Art Eighty-three fiberglass hearts weighing 100 pounds have been placed around the campus and throughout Lincoln. Find out which hearts were created by your talented, fellow alumni.

9 University Update 16 Heartland Eclipse 22 College Prep

34 Young Alumni 37 Class Notes 44 Clayton Yeutter

Retired Lieutenant Colonel Donald L. Hansen (’69, ’72) has found the perfect place to read his Nebraska Magazine.

He reports that “life is sweet living in The Villages in Florida.”

PHOTOS IN THIS ISSUE

The university’s official photographer, Craig Chandler, was our go-to guy for the plethora of photo shoots we needed for this issue. His deep contacts, stong relationships on campus and keen eye paid off nicely each time we called in dire need of photography.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 5

Ev Williams received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters prior to his commencement address.

Jonathan Williams with his engineering degree

6 SUMMER 2017

UNIVERSITY UPDATE

Graduation Keynoter Ev Williams Encourages Optimism in Grads Ev Williams, co-founder and former CEO of Twitter and founder and CEO of Medium, delivered the undergraduate commencement address May 6 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. He told of his journey from Nebraska farm kid to successful internet entrepreneur and offered advice to the graduates.

Growing up on his family’s farm near Clarks, Williams said he often felt like he was different.

He knew he wanted to go out into the world and be part of something big, he said, even if he wasn’t sure what that was.

Williams attended Nebraska for a year and a half, and while he said he enjoyed his time at the university, it was an early issue of “Wired” magazine that inspired his career path. He was particularly intrigued by the idea of using the internet to connect people around the world.

“Maybe it was because I grew up on that farm — with so many ideas in my head and so few people to share them with — but I couldn’t think of anything more exciting than a system with the potential to connect brains from all over the planet. A giant idea-sharing machine, as I saw it.”

Williams described his first internet company, based in downtown Lincoln, as a “complete

disaster” but said it fueled his interest in the internet and prompted him to try his luck in California.

Encouraged by a culture of collaboration in Silicon Valley, he co-founded the blogpublishing service Blogger in 1999. It was bought by Google in 2003.

“We didn’t invent blogging, and we certainly didn’t perfect it. But, driven by our own needs, and a hunch that others would find it useful, we made it easier to do,” he said. “Turns out, that’s enough. In fact, that’s basically all that technology does: It makes things that people want to do easier.”

Following another hunch, he co-founded the popular micro-blogging service Twitter in 2006.

He was the company’s CEO from 2008 to 2010 and remains on the board of directors.

Williams said limiting users to 140-character tweets seemed like a strange concept but that he believed the service was fulfilling the internet’s grand promise of a free flow of information.

“I thought this was the key to making the world smarter — free idea exchange meant more good ideas eradicating the dumb ideas that bring society down,” he said. “Everything would

be better, I thought, if we just got rid of the gatekeepers and let people talk.”

Williams said he now knows that more people contributing ideas does not automatically make society smarter. The internet has the power to amplify bad ideas as well, and it’s sometimes difficult to sort through the noise.

“It’s a tool that reflects us. It’s just as good or as bad as we are,” he said. “But despite this — or, actually, because of this, I’m an optimist.”

He encouraged the graduates to be optimistic as well.

“But you should know that it is more work,” he said. “Because if you feel like it’s possible to solve problems, you feel obligated to try.”

Williams closed his address by urging the graduates to try new things, follow their instincts and work hard for a long time.

“You don’t have to set out to change the world,” he said. “Just find a way to make something worthwhile easier for other people — and you just might change the world along the way.”

Before the address, Williams received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.

Degrees awarded

GRADUATION CALCULATIONS

3,107

From Tekamah to Taipei the May graduating class hails from across the globe and is from all walks of life.

Graduates with middle name Ann or Anne

116

Graduates with middle name James

Approximate miles between Lincoln and Hyderabad, India (hometown of two graduates)

8,412

—Sean Hagewood

73

Ceremonies

3

(graduate and professional degrees; undergraduate ceremony; College of Law)

Graduates from Lincoln or Omaha

1,400

Nebraska cities/ villages represented

250

Colleges/units included in commencement

11

Graduates earning a degree with ‘Bachelor of Science’ in the name

1,700

U.S. states represented

Countries represented

41

31

Other Places Like Nebraska:

0

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 7

ONE POSTCARD.

ONE HUSKER FOR LIFE. You could be the difference-maker in a student’s decision to attend Nebraska.

The Office of Admissions is always looking for alumni who can help recruit our next generation of Huskers.

Share your personal story with potential students through the Postcards of Pride program. Or, sign up to recruit students in your area by volunteering at a local college fair or add yourself to our general volunteer list. huskeralum.org/postcards go.unl.edu/alumnivolunteer 888.353.1874

Nebraska Pride

8 SUMMER 2017

Campus Hosts African Leaders UNL has joined a top list of American institutions that will host a group from the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders this summer.

The university will welcome 25 emerging leaders from 49 sub-Saharan African nations for a six-week Civic Leadership Institute in June.

Nebraska is one of 38 institutions selected to serve as institute partners with the U.S. State Department and the International Research and Exchanges Board, which co-sponsor the program.

It joins eight others from the Big Ten as hosts.

For the past four years, the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders has selected 1,000 leaders between the ages of 25 and 35 to visit the United States and focus on one of three areas: civic leadership, business and entrepreneurship, and public management.

Sonia Feigenbaum, associate vice chancellor for international engagement and global strategies at Nebraska, led the effort to earn this distinction. The Office of International Engagement joined offices, colleges and faculty across the university to create a dynamic and engaging program for the fellows. Partners include the Center for Civic Engagement, as well as faculty and administrators in the College of Journalism and Mass Communications, the College of Education and Human Sciences, and

UNIVERSITY UPDATE the College of Business Administration, among others.

Being selected as a host institution builds upon what Nebraska has accomplished to set itself apart as an international destination for higher learning, Feigenbaum said.

“This is yet another example of our commitment to increase global engagement at Nebraska,” she said.

Feigenbaum said she is looking forward to having the young leaders on campus — and that the entire university, as well as Lincoln and the state, will benefit from their time at Nebraska.

“The presence of the fellows will contribute to our robust and diverse international population,” she said. “We will gain new insights, learn from their experiences and come together to have productive conversations that will most certainly provide new ideas and solutions for our shared global concerns.”

Feigenbaum said the institute will include academic instruction and discussion on a range of issues, including education, business entrepreneurship, media, agricultural leadership, and policy. The fellows will also participate in community service and engage with local and state leaders.

“The fellows will have the opportunity to work with our faculty from many disciplines,” Feigenbaum said. “They will also learn from and share their expertise with civic organizations across the state.”

New Method Decodes Nanoscale Details of Biomaterial Beetles wear a body armor that should weigh them down — think medieval knights and turtles. In fact, those hard shells protecting delicate wings are surprisingly light, allowing even flight.

Better understanding the structure and properties of beetle exoskeletons could help scientists engineer lighter, stronger materials.

Such materials could, for example, reduce gas-guzzling drag in vehicles and airplanes and reduce the weight of armor, lightening the load for the 21st-century knight.

But revealing exoskeleton architecture at the nanoscale has proven difficult. Ruiguo Yang, assistant professor of mechanical and materials engineering, and his colleagues found a way to analyze the fibrous nanostructure. Their findings were featured recently on the cover of “Advanced Functional Materials.”

The lightweight exoskeleton is composed of chitin fibers just around 20 nanometers in diameter (a human hair measures approximately 75,000 nanometers in diameter) and packed and piled into layers that twist in a spiral, like a spiral staircase. The small diameter and helical twisting, known as Bouligand, make the structure difficult to analyze.

Yang and his team developed a method of slicing down the spiral to reveal a surface of cross-sections of fibers at different orientations.

From that viewpoint, the researchers were able

to analyze the fibers’ mechanical properties with the aid of an atomic force microscope. This type of microscope applies a tiny force to a test sample, deforms the sample and monitors the sample’s response. Combining the experimental procedure and theoretical analysis, the researchers were able to reveal the nanoscale architecture of the exoskeleton and the material properties of the nanofibers.

They made their discoveries in the figeater beetle, Cotinis Mutabilis, a metallic green-native in the western U.S. But the technique can be used on other beetles and hard-shelled creatures and could extend to artificial materials with fibrous structures, Yang said. Comparing beetles with differing demands on their exoskeletons, such as defending against predators, could lead to evolutionary insights as well as a better understanding of the relationship between structural features and their properties.

atomic force microscope

MONEY MATTERS $1.4 MILLION Nebraska Engineering Leads Manufacturing Efficiency Initiative An engineering team headed by three UNL faculty has earned a $1.4 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to help smaller manufacturers use energy more efficiently while students learn energy management and manufacturing processes.

The department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced in late 2016 that the university would be one of eight new Industrial Assessment Centers to join 20 existing centers around the country.

Months earlier, the university was approved as a headquarters site and began work as the Nebraska Industrial Assessment Center.

Robert Williams, associate professor of mechanical and materials engineering; Bruce Dvorak, professor of civil engineering; and George Gogos, professor of mechanical and materials engineering; direct the Nebraska group.

Faculty and student teams perform on-site assessments at small- and medium-sized manufacturing business partners — those having gross annual sales below $100 million, fewer than 500 employees and annual energy bills between $100,000 and $2.5 million.

$2.7 MILLION Husker-Led Project Supports Teachers of Bilingual Learners A UNL researcher is leading a U.S. Department of Education-funded initiative to help 2,000 teachers in 11 states better serve bilingual students through the use, design and research of e-workshops.

The International Consortium for Multilingual Excellence in Educationproject is funded by a $2.7 million grant from the department’s Office of English Language Acquisition and is being led by Kara Viesca, assistant professor of teaching, learning and teacher education at Nebraska.

The program extends from a previously funded program that Viesca helped develop when she was a faculty member at the University of Colorado-Denver. Viesca said the new project will build upon the previous work expanding online e-workshops that are used by professional learning communities of teachers to learn more about working with bilingual students. The new project also will expand the use of the e-workshops from serving teachers in Colorado to serving teachers in 11 states including Nebraska.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 9

ADV E RT I S E M E N T

NEBRASKAAUTHORS Featured books by Nebraska alumni, faculty and staff

AMERICA’S FORGOTTEN

M I LI TA RY

o r d i na ry trauma

LE A D ERS The Spanish-American War to World War II

a memoir

jennifer sinor

Thomas D. Phillips

ORDINARY TRAUMA

FOLEY AT 100

Jennifer Sinor

Kent W. Cockson

Set against the late Cold War and a military childhood spent amid fast-attack submarines and long-range nuclear missiles, this memoir delivers a revelatory look at how ordinary moments that typically pass unnoticed form the very basis for our perceptions of both love and loss.

Here’s how to write a centennial history of any town. Nebraska native Cockson captures the flavor of his adopted hometown – Foley, on Alabama’s Gulf Coast – in 186 pages. Colorful profiles of local go-getters, charming anecdotes, then-and-now pictures, and a 115-year timeline.

For info: kent.cockson@gmail.com

AMERICA’S FORGOTTEN MILITARY LEADERS Thomas D. Phillips

History plays tricks sometimes. During the course of America’s experience, it has enshrined an exceptional few military leaders in our collective consciousness while ignoring or minimizing the contributions of others equally as deserving. “America’s Forgotten” is about those battlefield commanders whose accomplishments have too often been overlooked.

rge Haecker is an architect with a special

rest both in historic preservation and emporary design. On occasion he sails,

orcycles, paints, and writes poetry. He lives maha, Nebraska, and on Madeline Island,

onsin, with his wife, Judy.

Meanderings Too

George Haecker

ISBN 978-0-9964283-3-0 50000

USIONM EDIA Lincoln, Nebraska

780996 428330

MEANDERINGS TOO George Haecker

“Meanderings Too” by George Haecker is the second of his poetry books. George writes that he “records things as they are, with no intended agenda.” His poems focus on observations, places and people.

Available at Bookworm and Our Bookstore in Omaha, as well as on Amazon and Nebraska Book Source.

10 SUMMER 2017

MY RUSSIAN FAMILY Lilia Sariecheva with Robert Osland, Ph.D.

A Russian author with her first Englishlanguage book, provides fresh insights into life without the filter of Cold War propaganda.

This easy reading “people history” is a threegeneration family chronicle into the rich culture and fascinating history of one of the world’s great civilizations.

BUZZY AND THE LITTLE CRITTERS Kenton R. Hill

An illustrated story for early readers about a boy, a girl, a grandpa, thousands of cicadas, and lots of hungry critters. The grandpa (an entomologist) helps the children satisfy their curiosity about their own nature as well as the nature of these amazing bugs, who can live underground for up to 17 years before coming out buzzing.

Ratcliffe & Paulsen

The Scarabaeoid Beetles of Nebraska Brett C. Ratcliffe M. J. Paulsen

THE SCARABAEOID BEETLES OF NEBRASKA Bulletin UNSM Vol 22 2008

THE PASSION OF BASEBALL Bob Wirz

While back stories of baseball’s celebrated events and personalities will captivate readers, “The Passion of Baseball” is a firstperson account from a young lad who grew up in the Sandhills of Nebraska dreaming of a career in major league baseball.

He was the Kansas City Royals’ first publicist and served as chief spokesman for commissioners Bowie Kuhn and Peter Ueberroth. Inside stories on White House trips and World Series fill the 350 pages.

Bulletin of the University of Nebraska State Museum

Volume 22 2008

THE SCARABAEOID BEETLES OF NEBRASKA

Brett C. Ratcliffe and M.J. Paulsen The 255 species of scarab beetles occurring in Nebraska are comprehensively reviewed.

An overview of the land forms, climate, and vegetation of the state is presented.

Included within each family treatment are an introduction, keys to all taxa, descriptions, distributions, diagnosis, notes on biology, illustrations and maps.

For info: glittrell1@unl.edu

WHITE

Michael C. Klein A young woman, runs away from the County Attorney’s sports car on remote Nebraska Highway 2 in Hooker County, directly into the path of a coal train. Why? The County Sheriff, the only black man in Hooker County, and the County Attorney discover a white slave trade originates in Nebraska’s Sandhills.

?

VOYAGES THROUGH TIME & SPACE Lilia Sariecheva with Robert Osland, Ph.D.

The true and amazing adventures of a highly gifted, deeply religious Russian psychic.

Ulya’s near-death experience triggered a wide variety of psychic abilities including visions, predictions, healing, spells and dream interpretations. She flew (astral projection) into both her past lives and into her future lives. Ulya considered her soul immortal and indestructible.

SMOLDERING RUINS

YOUR BOOK HERE

This super-powered revenge thriller is the first installment of the relentlessly daring novella series “No Holds Barred.” Darius’s fiery fury clashing with his super-speeded stepfather sets the stage for all the fantastic tales to come. Lose yourself in the wild worlds of “No Holds Barred.”

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

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

Giles Hovseth

Your Name Here

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 11

Honda of Lincoln for new enjoy our in our Service Department

HondaofLincoln.com/NAA-specials

NAA Members can save on sales, service and parts at Honda of Lincoln.

For a full listing of member benefits visit HondaofLincoln.com/NAA

PRETTY IN PINK: A cool, rainy, spring day didn’t keep 4-year-old Kortlyn Glathar from dragging her dad, Greg Glathar, (’97, agribusiness) to the UNL Dairy Store where she chose strawberry ice cream to match her outfit.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 13

T

here are 100 names on the official spreadsheet outlining the different flavors of ice cream concocted at the UNL Dairy Store. That seems just about right as the longtime, university treasure celebrates its centennial this year. The newest flavor — Centennial Scarlet and Cream — blends red and white sprinkles into the perennial favorite Scarlet and Cream (a mixture of sweet cream with strawberry swirl).

That said, cappuccino chocolate chip is also wildly popular according to the new UNL Dairy Store manager, LeRoy Braden.

He has big plans for the shoppe which first opened in 1917 selling milk to students who brought in their own containers. The cows were even on campus back then.

“We want to bring the magic back to the Dairy Store and grow the brand,” says an enthusiastic Braden. He envisions a future when the UNL Dairy Store is once again providing ice cream inside Memorial Stadium and he’s even mulling over the idea of bringing dairy cows back to East Campus for a 100th anniversary celebration later this year.

14 SUMMER 2017

University Photos, Archives and Special Collections, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

Centennial Celebration

1966

Retro images: The original ice cream counter was located a stone’s throw to the west of the current Dairy Store front entrance. In 1966 prices were great: one quart of ice cream sold for 50 cents vs. today when one quart will set you back $12.50.

Above far left: Matthew Sievert, foreground, and Russell Parde (’12, food science and technology), interim manager of UNL’s dairy plant, create Centennial Scarlet and Cream ice cream in the plant adjacent the Dairy Store’s front counter. Parde says the plant makes 15,000 gallons of ice cream and 15,000 pounds of cheese each year.

At far left: Dairy Store manager LeRoy Braden with a Scarlet and Cream waffle cone.

1968

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 15

TOTAL OF THE ECLIPSE HEARTLAND

Michael Sibbernsen, a lecturer of astronomy and co-director of the Nebraska Space Grant and NASA Solar System Ambassador, checks out Lincoln from the student observatory located atop the Stadium Drive parking garage on City Campus.

His teaching assistant, Hannah Paxton, looks through the telescope.

16 SUMMER 2017

By Van Jensen

O

n August 21, the moon will pass between the Earth and the sun, casting a 50-somemile-wide shadow onto North America. The total solar eclipse will move on a slanted path across the United States, from the Oregon Coast to the Carolinas. >>> NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 17

18 SUMMER 2017

ECLIPSES ARE SIGNIFICANT SIMPLY FOR THE WOW FACTOR, WHICH SERVES AS A CHANCE FOR SCIENTISTS TO ENGAGE THE PUBLIC.

Continued from page 17 And right in the middle of that, the eclipse will cut through Nebraska — from Scottsbluff through Falls City at the southeast corner.

With the state’s reputation for clean, clear skies, that makes Nebraska a focal point for scientists, astronomy clubs and eclipse chasers. Hotels along the eclipse path began selling out of rooms as long as five years ago.

Among those hunting the eclipse will be John Johnson (’72), the outreach coordinator of the Omaha Astronomical Society.

Johnson’s fascination with astronomy traces back to growing up on a farm near Brady.

“Just living out in that part of the country, it was dark skies when you went outside,” he said. “I was fascinated by the stars. ...

Being in a small community, I was kind of the odd man out. ‘There’s Johnson with his telescope.’ ” At UNL, Johnson joined a Lincoln astronomy club, and after graduating on an ROTC scholarship, he would watch the sky out at sea during his service in the Navy Reserves. Over the years, he kept having near misses with the ultimate astronomical experience. The most recent total eclipse in North America was 1979, but Johnson was working for Shell Oil in Louisiana, and it passed through northern states. He and his wife considered chasing the 1991 eclipse that crossed Hawaii and Mexico, but the dates didn’t work out.

“The closest I’ve seen was 1994, a partial,” he said. “I remember setting up a telescope at the Gene Leahy Mall (in Omaha), and it got about 95 percent, and it was pretty cool to watch that.”

Inside what’s called “the path of totality,” the innermost part of that 50-mile-wide shadow, it will appear to be dusk in the middle of the day, an otherworldly sight.

Astronomers began tracking eclipses as far back as 1200 BC, in part so that people could be warned when one was happening, to prevent panic.

Supposedly the Chinese ruler Zhong Kang beheaded two astronomers who failed to predict an eclipse, which sent his subjects into disarray when it appeared unexpectedly.

Though the reason for eclipses is now widely known, the events still hold significant importance for astronomers. The UNL Physics and Astronomy Department has been planning for the eclipse for more than two years, both for public events and research efforts.

“What a sun astronomer will do is watch through specialized telescopes,” said Shawn Langan (’02, ’13), the astronomy lab manager. “For the moment the moon is covering the sun, you have an excellent view of the outer atmosphere of the sun, the corona. You don’t have your equipment overwhelmed by too much light from the sun.”

With the moon blocking most of the sun, scientists will have an unparalleled view of the corona, which extends several million miles into space. While the surface of the sun is about 6,000 degrees, the corona is up to 6 million degrees. “It’s extremely odd,”

Langan said. “We have a solid idea of why it is, but it’s basically theory at this point.”

But eclipses are also significant simply for the wow factor, which serves as an opportunity for scientists to engage the public. UNL is planning a large event at Haymarket Park in Lincoln, a “solar eclipse stretch” during a Lincoln Saltdogs baseball game. They’ll have telescopes on hand as well as other science displays, and are partnering with Lincoln’s Convention and Visitors Bureau and the public schools.

In Grand Island, another UNL team will be taking part in a national effort to offer an unprecedented vantage point for the eclipse.

Through NASA’s Space Grant program, 55 teams of students from around the country will launch high-altitude weather balloons during the eclipse, each equipped with still and video cameras. From about 19 miles up, the balloons will provide a live stream of footage of the moon’s shadow as it passes across the U.S. Michael Sibbernsen, an instructor at UNL, and his wife, Kendra (’95) are codirectors of the Nebraska Space Grant effort, which includes students from UNL and Metro Community College in Omaha. They’ve been working with other teams for years in preparation. They’ll launch their balloon about an hour before the eclipse from the Stuhr Museum in Grand Island.

“The projects are always exciting — building, launching these things, the chase is always fun,” Michael Sibbernsen said.

“When you throw in this otherworldly, cosmic event, that’s just a whole different thing. It’s a transcendental thing.”

While the team will have plenty of data to gather during the eclipse, Sibbernsen is telling the students to make sure they stop to simply watch the eclipse.

“Once we launch the balloon, it’s out of our hands,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll be able to sit back and enjoy the experience.”

That’s a tack that Johnson, of the Omaha Astronomical Society, is taking as well.

For now, he’s inundated with requests for information from various groups and schools, and he wants to make sure everyone has a safe viewing experience. But when the day of the eclipse comes?

“I found a spot in the path in the southeast part of the state that I’m keeping close to the vest,” Johnson says. “We’ll probably have a bottle of bubbly on ice there waiting for it to happen.”

(Van Jensen is a 2004 graduate of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications and a former editor of the Daily Nebraskan. He was a newspaper crime reporter and editor of the Georgia Tech Alumni Magazine from 2008-14. In 2009, his debut graphic novel, “Pinocchio, Vampire Slayer,” was published. Since then, he has written comic books including “The Flash,” “Green Lantern Corps” and “James Bond.”

His upcoming graphic novel, “Two Dead,” will be published by Simon & Schuster in 2018. Last year, he began working in film as a writer and director. His first two short films will debut this year.)

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 19

NEBRASKA EVENTS ECLIPSE ALL OTHERS T

he centerline of the total eclipse enters Nebraska near the town of Henry at 11:25 a.m. (MDT) on Monday, Aug. 21, with totality beginning at 11:46 a.m. No other state can boast of a longer path of totality than Nebraska. With 467 miles of shadow coverage, Nebraska’s share of the path represents about 19 percent of the entire coast-to-coast mileage. And, indeed, no other state seems to include such a wide scattering of cities and towns planning to celebrate. From Gering and Alliance to Tryon and Stapleton to Dannebrog and Beatrice, Nebraskans are setting up viewing sites and planning eclipserelated events. The centerline of the eclipse exits the state near Falls City at 2:32 p.m. (CDT), with totality coming to an end at 1:07 p.m. From the WyomingNebraska border to the Nebraska-Kansas border, the moon’s shadow travels approximately 467 miles along the centerline in about 18 minutes at an average speed of 1,556 miles per hour.

—NationalEclipse.com

Mountain Daylight < Time

Central Daylight Time >

Alliance 11:49:11AM MDT Scottsbluff 11:48:11AM MDT Stapleton 12:54:02PM CDT

Times coincide with the start of totality in each location.

You will see the total eclipse if you are positioned within the red lines. However, it will last longer the closer you are to the tan-colored arc in the diagram.

Gering/Scottsbluff

Length of Totality: 1 min. 40 sec.

A weekend of events will take place in the westernmost part of the state including a Sunday “Moon Over the Monument” welcome event at Gering’s Five Rocks Amphitheater. Eclipse view sites on Monday include Five Rocks, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Legacy of the Plains Museum and Landers Field.

The Barn Anew Bed and Breakfast, owned by Allan and Cher Maybee, (’72), has been booked for five years. Cher said the region has set aside open spaces for people to watch. They’ve also bought thousands of pairs of sunglasses for those wishing to view the eclipse.

Haymarket Park Lincoln

Alliance

Length of Totality: 2 min. 30 sec.

The eclipse will pass directly over Alliance in Western Nebraska. Several events are planned for the area including some at Carhenge, the kitschy roadside recreation of Stonehenge.

Carhenge Alliance

Length of Totality: 2 min. 33 sec.

The Logan County Fairgrounds will be hosting activities from Aug. 18-21, including a rodeo, craft fair, flea market and street dance.

20 SUMMER 2017

SkyglowProject.com

Stapleton

Great Platte River Road Archway Monument Kearney

Ravenna/Kearney

Length of Totality: 2 min. 35 sec.

Ravenna and neighboring Kearney are collaborating on a weekend of events with watch sites at the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, various parks around the cities and the University of Nebraska at Kearney Cope Stadium.

Wood River

Length of Totality: 2 min. 32 sec.

The Crane Trust Nature & Visitor Center, located just west of Grand Island will host speaker Diana Nevins and a BBQ picnic with bison burgers leading up to the total eclipse.

Grand Island

Length of Totality: 2 min. 34 sec.

The Nebraska NASA Space Grant team will be launching its weather balloon for the eclipse from Stuhr Museum and taking part in educational activities for the public.

Grand Island is the largest Nebraska city directly on the path of totality.

Ravenna 12:57:20PM CDT

Grand Island 12:58:35PM CDT Wood River 12:58:10PM CDT

Lincoln 1:02:33PM CDT

Hastings 12:58:53PM CDT

Hastings Beatrice 1:02:14PM CDT Source: NASA

Length of Totality: 2 min. 14 sec.

Hastings is hosting a weekend festival dubbed “Solfest,” which will include live music at Brickyard Park and a downtown art festival.

Lincoln

Length of Totality: 1 min. 17 sec.

While Lincoln isn’t in the center of the path of totality, it should experience over a minute of the eclipse. The UNL Astronomy and Physics Department will be holding a public science fair outside Haymarket Park during the Saltdogs game. “The game will be interrupted starting about a half hour before totality for everyone to enjoy the displays at the fair and witness the eclipse,” said Dan Claes, department head. No events are planned on campus thus far, as Aug. 21 is the first day of fall classes at UNL.

Beatrice Stuhr Museum Grand Island

Barn Anew Bed and Breakfast Scottsbluff

Length of Totality: 2 min. 35 sec.

Homestead National Monument hosts a multiday eclipse festival that will include stock car racing, live music and outdoor movies at the Gage County Fairgrounds.

The festival will highlight Homestead as the frontier of the past during western expansion and space as the frontier of the future.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 21

Alyssia Casillas 2015 UNL graduate and current student in UNMC’s dental hygiene program

WHY ARE YOU HERE? Academy Bolsters Promising Students In an Unfamiliar World

By Colleen Kenney Fleischer A big, handsome envelope arrived at Alyssia Casillas’s home in Grand Island a decade ago. She was only about 14 at the time, so she was surprised that it had her name on it.

With big eyes, she watched her mom open it. (“When you’re a kid,” Alyssia says, “your mom opens your mail.”) She watched her mom jump up and down in their living room, with its green-painted walls.

She heard her mom scream.

You got it! You got it!

Alyssia was a girl with intelligence and drive. She had good people in her life like her mom, a single mother who worked hard to raise her three kids. But Alyssia’s lack of confidence had led her to make some bad choices. Friends were getting pregnant. She was hanging with a rough crowd.

So this big, handsome envelope in her mom’s hands, Alyssia knew, must contain some big news.

“I’m standing in front of my mom and I’m thinking, ‘I’m either in trouble or I did

22 SUMMER 2017

something really good.’”

Because the letter inside was also making her mom cry.

Why? “Why are you here?”

That’s the question the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Deena Curtis, Ed.D., poses to rows of fresh faces one day this past September in a classroom in Jorgensen Hall — this year’s freshman class of the Nebraska College Preparatory Academy (NCPA).

Deena, the NCPA’s diversity and community outreach counselor, is one of its teachers.

“Today, you’re going to write down why you’re here — why you are in college,” she says. “And it’s what you’re going to use every morning and read every morning to get you up.

“Then we’re going to pull it out at the end of this first semester and see if your why is the same, and at the end of the year, and every year. And we’re going to see how you’ve matured and thought differently about what

is your why.”

These are promising students who’ve found themselves in an unfamiliar world of college. They’ve come here from lowincome families. They will be the first in their families to get a college degree. College is scary for many of them, even with the NCPA support. Without it, many wouldn’t have landed here in the first place.

NCPA actually began for them years before. The program, now in its 10th year, seeks out promising eighth-graders who’ll be attending Grand Island Senior High or Omaha North High Magnet School and, over the years, prepares those kids for college — academically, socially and emotionally.

The students take advanced courses. They must keep at least a 3.25 GPA throughout high school. They are offered one-on-one tutoring. They are paired with UNL students, who become mentors and friends. They attend summer camps and seminars that help them build life and leadership skills.

They help one another.

They bond.

And they become part of the NCPA

family, whose nurturing network carries on through college at either UNL or Omaha’s Metropolitan Community College.

For students who do make it through the program’s high school requirements, NCPA then pays all of their college expenses — tuition, books, room and board and fees — and continues to support them with social events and retention plans and weekly seminars.

“You’re going to need a blank piece of paper,” Deena tells the freshmen. “This is your time to write down what is your why. …

“Why are you here?”

My why is to get a college degree and use it to get a job that is for the benefit of humanity.…

My why is not to be the best there is, but to be the best me that I can be.…

My why is because there are so many like me who need me to stand up and tell them that they are not defined by their tragedies and they will set the world aflame with their capabilities one day, just as I intend to do.…

My why is because I deserve to accomplish my dreams, and my family deserves to see me do so. I will change the world someday.…

NCPA is funded through grants and private money. It started at Grand Island High in 2006. Two years later, it expanded to Omaha North High Magnet. Thanks to a recent $2.5 million grant from the Sherwood Foundation, it soon will expand to Winnebago School and Omaha South High.

Kay Clarke teaches English at Grand Island High. Over the years, she’s watched NCPA students in her classes thrive and grow into great citizens.

One girl’s story stands out.

It was the story of a girl with intelligence and drive but also some chaos in her life.

The English teacher watched as that girl rose to become a NCPA star, one who returns home to Grand Island to mentor kids like the one she used to be.

The student’s name?

Alyssia Casillas.

“The character traits that are stressed in the program — being respectful, responsible and committed — began to show in Alyssia’s participation in class,” Kay says. “She became more confident in her abilities, and I began to notice her leadership potential.

“Since then, she truly has blossomed into an outstanding young woman.”

Alyssia sits on a high stool at the Starbucks near City Campus, sipping a hot latte.

Why is she here?

To tell her story.

“For me, the NCPA was huge,” she says.

“It helped me defy the odds.”

Alyssia graduated with a sociology degree from UNL in May 2015 and is now in her final year at UNMC’s dental hygiene program.

She’s passionate about educating people on oral health. It’s not just cleaning teeth, she says. You can tell a lot about a person’s overall health by looking in their oral cavities.

Being a dental hygienist, she says, will help her help people.

She’s telling her story, she says, because she knows generous people might read it and see why it’s good to support the NCPA and its students. She’s also telling her story because she wants to thank the people who’ve already helped the program grow and thrive and to thank her NCPA mentors, who, she says, “just really had our backs.”

“They made that college experience that might have been extremely scary and hard so much more exciting and comfortable and enjoyable for me.”

So why did her mom cry that day a decade ago?

Because that envelope with Alyssia’s name on it had come from NCPA. Congratulations …

“It was crazy when I got it — four years, full ride. I was like, ‘What does that even mean?’”

She smiles.

“But my mom knew what it meant at the time, even if I didn’t.”

Colleen Kenney Fleischer graduated from UNL in 1988 with a news-editorial journalism degree. She was a writer at the Omaha World-Herald and the Lincoln Journal for many years and is currently the director of storytelling for the University of Nebraska Foundation.

The Nebraska College Preparatory Academy is a fundraising priority for the university’s Our Students, Our Future initiative. NCPA is helping the university serve the state and nation by creating a smart, educated workforce for the future.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 23

ADVERTISE

24 SUMMER 2017

ERTISEMENT

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 25

Illustration by Brian Stauffer

26 SUMMER 2017

A NOVELLA

•

PART 2 OF 4

Laura Meets the Comma Cowboy

BY AD HUDLER

Illustration by Brian Stauffer

Y

ou’re in here a lot,” the bartender said to Laura.

“Aren’t you a perceptive little pup?” she answered.

While so much in downtown Lincoln had disappeared since her graduation in ’91 — Miller & Paine, The Exchange restaurant, P.O. Pears, the shops at The Centrum — Laura was pleased to see that a favorite old haunt of hers had proven to be as resilient as a granite cliff: Barrymore’s, a bar cleverly ensconced in what used to be the backstage of the historic Stuart

Theater. Her favorite feature of the bar, back then and today, was the cavernous ceiling, from which hung rows of colored stage lights and immense backdrops from some play that closed long ago. She had no idea how far that space stretched, upward; it was like a black hole.

Laura sipped her Campari and gin. “How high is that ceiling?” she asked the bartender, whose name was Josh, a SigEp econ major from North Platte.

He looked upward. “Pretty high,” he answered.

“Thank you so much for that precise calculation,”

>>> NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 27

THE CALL OF THE CORN

Laura said.

He smiled, saying nothing, continuing to hand-dry a highball glass.

“And yes, I do spend a lot of time here,” Laura said.

“I’m retired. I can do whatever I want.”

“As long as your boyfriend doesn’t care,” said Josh, jutting his head at Safety Man, her rubber companion who occupied a chair in a corner booth. Laura had dressed him that day in a blue mechanic’s shirt with an oval, sewn-on ID badge that said Steve in cursive writing. She’d found it at a consignment shop down on Van Dorn.

“He lets me do whatever I want with no whimpering,” she said. “Safety Man is the perfect companion.”

“You’ve gotta move him at happy hour. I need that space.”

“Of course.”

Six weeks had passed since Laura left Rochester, driving away with no belongings other than the decoy husband she’d bought from the Delta in-flight catalog, strapped in the passenger seat beside her. She’d spoken with her husband, Ty, just twice since then.

“What is it you want, exactly?” he’d asked her.

“I’m not sure,” she answered.

“When are you coming home?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well … I miss you,” he said.

“Do you really? … Or do you just miss being taken care of?”

“What’s got into you, Laura?” he asked. “Is there someone else?”

“Safety Man,” she said.

“For real.”

Ty had had his own brief affair years ago, when their boys were in middle school, and Laura knew that her forgiveness of his indiscretions had tipped the balance of power in her favor for years, even up to the present.

She was certain this was why he was tolerant of her current adventure in the heartland.

She really didn’t know what to tell him. She wasn’t sure how long she’d be gone or what she would do or how it would end. Laura was surprised at how the empty days flew by as she explored all the spots from her college days, even the scruffy piece of land out by the airport her sorority used to rent for their luau parties.

With her nest now empty, she felt truly untethered for the first time in years — and why? She’d enjoyed raising her kids — and by herself, for the most part, because Ty was largely working in Asia — but, she wondered now, was motherhood her natural inclination? Had it been a good fit for her? If yes, then

28 SUMMER 2017

why did she feel so … light right now? She loved her three sons to the core, but she hadn’t realized, until the last one left home, just how much of an anchor they’d been. Anchors were good things, of course; they held people in place — but was that necessarily what she needed? Or wanted?

For someone who had loved the executive-family trappings, all those shoes from Nordstrom, all those French antiques she’d collected over the years for her historic Federal-style home on East Avenue, she was surprised at how good it felt to be living with the bare essentials, albeit in a $480-per-night suite at The Cornhusker Hotel.

“I’m just kind of floating here … in Lincoln,” she told Josh, the bartender, one afternoon. “I feel like I’m on some reality TV show — and they haven’t finished the script.”

“Those aren’t scripted,” Josh said.

“Aren’t you a sweet boy … they’re scripted, Josh.”

A man sat down at the nearly empty bar, a polite three stools from Laura. Josh pulled out a rocks glass, poured in some Gentleman Jack, then set it before him.

“Where you been, buddy?” Josh asked.

“California, mainly,” said the man. “And a few weeks in Washington … state.”

Laura listened, watching the two of them in that peripheral, oblique and cautious way that women do.

The man had salt-and-pepper hair with a ’70s-part on the right side, much like the one on Safety Man. He was tall and muscular, lean with large hands that hadn’t seen menial labor, which was odd, Laura thought, because he looked more blue-collar than white. (Few men her age did not have a belly in some stage of progress.) She was also intrigued by the way he set his glass down on the bar: gently, squarely on the napkin each time.

Josh left to wait on tables, and the man sat there, silent, sipping his whiskey. Laura was surprised at how he ignored her; men his age almost always tried to engage her in conversation.

At one point, he got up to go to the bathroom.

“Who’s your friend?” Laura asked Josh.

“That’s the Comma Cowboy.”

She looked at him, quizzically.

“Just don’t get him started on semicolons,” Josh said.

“He’ll start sprayin’ his whiskey.”

The man returned and sat down. Emboldened by curiosity and her second cocktail, Laura turned in her stool, facing him squarely.

“Why are you called the Comma Cowboy?” she asked.

“He’s famous,” Josh said.

“Famous for what? Come on — tell me. I’m

A NOVELLA • PART 2 OF 4

harmless. I’m just a drunk runaway. … Married, see,” she said, holding out her hand. “So, tell me!”

The man shook his head, smiling. He offered his hand to Laura, which she shook.

“Richard Zweigert,” he said. “Pleased to meet you.”

“He’s on fire,” Josh said. “He was on ‘Ellen’ last month.”

“For what?” Laura said. “Come on! Tell me!”

Josh reached into his pocket for his phone. He called up a video on YouTube and handed the phone to Laura, who was soon enthralled by a clip of this man sitting beside her right now. He wore leather chaps and boots and a cowboy hat as he expertly twirled and threw a lasso, each time catching one of several furry, colorful, supersized punctuation marks that were scuttling about the floor, pell-mell, like wind-up toys.

“Oh, my God!” she said. “The punctuation marks!

They’re …”

“Chihuahuas,” Richard answered.

“Where’d they get those adorable little costumes?”

“I made them.”

Laura watched three more videos; in one, the Comma Cowboy sang a clever love song to an apostrophe, holding it in his arms as if it were a newborn. Laura had never realized just how much an apostrophe resembled a human fetus, in shape at least.

She set the phone down on the bar. “Okay,” she said.

“That’s the … oddest thing I’ve seen in 30 years. I have to buy you a drink now. I want to know everything about the Comma Cowboy!”

For 24 years he’d taught fifth- and sixth-grade English. And then, sometime around the start of 2010, he began to see a degradation in the students’ writing.

He soon realized that he was battling the deleterious effects of text messaging and tweeting. And while the new technology did make it easier to teach the poetry section, where succinctness and experimentation with punctuation are encouraged, he found that students were having trouble building simple sentences, and with the basic rules of grammar. In addition, lazy shortcuts (ROFL, CUL8TR) were compressing the language into animal-like grunts.

“Commas and proper capitalization are being threatened with extinction,” he said. “We will be chattering about like monkeys unless we do something about these kids’ ability to write.”

“He doesn’t even use contractions when he talks,” Josh said. “Listen to him. It’s crazy.”

“They are the gateway to verbal laziness,” Richard said. “We have got to take a stand.”

This once-quiet man had grown passionate and animated once the topic turned to his raison d’etre, and Laura, who’d majored not only in public relations but

also English, soon had him engaged in diagramming sentences on napkins.

“I totally forgot about the dotted lines and conjunctions!” she said.

At her urging, they started going from table to table, asking patrons to give them sentences to diagram, delighting the older patrons and intriguing the younger ones who’d never seen such a thing. “This would, like, make an awesome T-shirt!” said one millennial woman.

Josh appeared with an ivory queen-size sheet, which had been covering some antique leather chairs in the back room. Using duct tape, he affixed it to the brick wall opposite the bar.

“Hey, guys!” he yelled to the crowd. “Up here! No trivia night tonight. We’re gonna set a world’s record instead. The Comma Cowboy’s gonna diagram the longest sentence in the world — right here!”

Each bar patron was allowed to add one word to the project, which Laura recorded on a napkin: 136 words in all.

The Comma Cowboy silently read the list, absorbing its contents. He uncapped the black-ink Sharpie and looked up at the empty canvas before him. He then looked out at the small crowd, noting the 20 or so phones that were held up high, recording the event, and he shook his head in disappointment.

He turned to Laura. “Which word is yours?” he asked.

“Guess,” she said.

He looked at the list. “Enigma,” he said.

She shook her head. “It tries too hard. … Now get to work, cowboy.”

He took off his Mariners baseball cap and set it on the bar, upside down. As he began drawing on the sheet, starting with a compound subject enriched with modifiers, Laura pulled her wallet from her purse and pulled out a twenty, which she put in the cap. She then began carrying it around the room, prodding the patrons to follow suit.

“This man is a genius and he lives in his car,” she lied.

“Let’s help him out here, people. Come on! Dig deep! … Let’s go! … “Giddy up!” … … to be continued in the September issue of Nebraska Magazine.

Ad Hudler (’86) was born in eastern Colorado, and moved to Lincoln in 1982 to enroll in the University of NebraskaLincoln as a journalism student. He quickly found his posse among the ragtag reporters that made up the staff at the Daily Nebraskan who spent many late nights at Barrymore’s and Chesterfield’s. He fondly remembers sledding at Pioneers Park and surreptitious late-night dips in the fountains of Centennial Mall.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 29

Heart Art

Liz Shea-McCoy, foreground, is the godmother of the Nebraska By Heart project. Gathered in front of the Wick Alumni Center behind her are some of the alumni artists. From left, Lynn Wilson, Valery Wachter, Patrick Gauthier, Linda Bushnell, Max Reis, Allie Laing, Greg Holdren, Julia Kappenman, Ann Williams and Jocelyn Lippincott Reiss.

Sesquicentennial Project Spruces Up Lincoln

By Julie Naughton ou could call Liz Shea-McCoy the queen of hearts.

Shea-McCoy — the powerhouse behind Nebraska By Heart, a community art project meant to celebrate Nebraska’s sesquicentennial — is responsible for the 83 hearts on display in Lincoln. Sixteen of the hearts were created by University of Nebraska-Lincoln alums and one by a current student.

Many of those hearts are located on or near UNL’s City and East campuses and are endorsed by the Nebraska 150 Celebration commission. Nebraska by Heart’s honorary chairs are Nebraska’s first lady, Susanne Shore, and philanthropist Rhonda Seacrest.

Shea-McCoy, a nationally known artist and educator who holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in textile design and education from UNL, isn’t a stranger to this type of work. She has been extremely active in coordinating community public art projects, including Tour de Lincoln in 2003, Star Art: Star City Art Project in 2006, aCross Lincoln in 2008, as well as An Enchanted Arboretum in Nebraska City in 2013. She has taught for more than 20 years in conjunction with the Nebraska Arts Council’s Artist in Residence program.

Y

30 SUMMER 2017

Last July, a statewide press release announced a “Call to Nebraska Artists” for Nebraska by Heart. The call drew 224 proposals, 176 of which were selected into the project by the selection panel, which consisted of Wally Mason, director of the Sheldon Museum of Art, and Robert C. Ripley, Nebraska Capitol administrator, Office of the Capitol Commission.

Next came the sponsorship period, when individuals, organizations and businesses were asked to act as an artist’s patron, select a proposal, and pay $3,000 to make the artist’s vision on paper into a 6-foot sculptural reality. The funds paid for the manufacture of a heart, a stipend for the artist’s materials, and other project expenses.

In the end, there were 83 hearts that were sponsored and created, according to SheaMcCoy. Each heart has a plaque noting the artist, the title of the sculpture and the sponsor.

The fiberglass hearts and connecting Nebraska-shaped bases weigh 100 pounds apiece, and all hearts have a depth of about two feet. Sandbags have been added inside the bases during the public display time to keep each heart secure. In addition, a steel rod is incorporated into each fiberglass heart and its base for strength.

The designs vary widely. Deb Blaszak-Kubik (who graduated in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in interior design), created “It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This — Nebraska,” a sweeping view of rich farmland which has been placed at the Alpha Phi sorority house. “The amazing beauty of the Nebraska landscape and sky are created by using glass frit in combination with acrylic paint, two of my favorite forms of art,” noted Blaszak-Kubik. “The fused glass method of art is created by layering small particles of glass, much like the consistency of sand on a clear base of fusible glass. Customblended frits are created by the combination and experimentation of the available colors of fusible glass. Because of the scientific composition of glass being made with heavy metals, some of these custom colors react when fired, creating totally new colorations.”

Those combinations of colors were significant in creating the clouds and depths of color, said Blaszak-Kubik. “There are

ALUMNI ARTISTS 1

Deb Blaszak-Kubik

2

Linda Bushnell

3

Patrick Gauthier

4

Susan Osler Hanson

5

Greg Holdren

6

Julia Kappenman

7

Sue Kalicki

8

Allie Laing

9

Jocelyn Lippincott Reiss

1979, Bachelor of Science Major: Textiles, Clothing and Design 1982, Bachelor of Fine Arts Major: Fine Art 1985, Bachelor of Fine Arts Major: Art 1973, Bachelor of Science Major: Home Economics Education 1973, Bachelor of Fine Arts Major: Art Education 1986, Bachelor of Fine Arts Major: Art 2002, Bachelor of Science Major: Art Education 2019, expected graduation date Major: Advertising/PR and Graphic Design 2006, Bachelor of Fine Arts Major: Art 2012, Master of Arts Major: Teaching, Learning and

Teacher Education

10 Max Reis

1973, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Education Major: Art 1983, Master of Arts Major: Secondary Education (Reis was the art mentor via the City Impact program for 6th-grade artist Keitan Oltman)

11 Julie Rose

1978, Bachelor of Science Major: Elementary Education

12 Eric Saxon

2013, Master of Arts Major: Art History

approximately 50 custom color combinations in this piece. With the landscape and clouds, the use of medium-size colored frit was also used to imply heavier or denser coloration.”

This heart is sponsored by Sue and Tom Tallman.

Sue Kalicki’s heart, “Heartland Values,” sits on the corner of N Street and Centennial Mall at the Lincoln Community Foundation. The art education major, who graduated from UNL in 2002, was inspired

by Nebraska values. “In Nebraska, we are thought of as part of the heartland, and many of our values are universal and wellinstilled in us,” said Kalicki. “From the days of the pioneers, to the farmers, to the CEOs of today, we believe in hard work, helping others, and appreciating what we have.

The base of this design celebrates several of the values I believe are represented in the Heartland. The heart portion illustrates an artist’s value scales, which overlap and interact in a way that mirrors the way we strive to interact with one another, in harmony.”

Julie Rose’s striking “Written on the Wings of the Monarch” “reflects the hope that for many generations to come, children and adults alike will explore and contemplate the beauty of our earth together, keeping alive that inborn sense of wonder,” said the 1978 graduate, who majored in elementary education. “By doing so, we will care deeply for it. This piece will also honor the many generations of Nebraskans who have made our state a reflection of what we value more than anything, our rich tapestry of people.

On the front of the heart, three monarchs representing generations flutter against a blue background. They are painted and embellished with mirrored mosaic pieces to reflect and engage the audience. Milkweed represented by the vining hands, is sculpted and sprayed with fiberglass so that it is threedimensional. The large hands at the base representing “generations of Nebraskans,” also three-dimensional, are sculpted and sprayed with fiberglass. The back of the heart represents monarch wings in orange and black, with messages of hope written on the wings. Mickey Metzger is this heart’s sponsor.

Shea-McCoy’s own “Hail to the Red, White and Blue” is a flagdraped love song to the country.

“Along with my pride of country is my pride of state: Nebraska, the nation’s 37th state,” Shea-McCoy said.

The hearts will be on display until early October and then auctioned off Oct. 6 with a minimum bid of $2,000. Artists will receive one-third of the final bid for their heart when sold at the auction; the balance will benefit two of the event’s chief sponsors, nonprofits Lead Up and the Sadie Dog Fund.

Lead Up (formerly Boys Hope Girls Hope) provides pathways for communities to invest in their own prosperity by building dynamic networks that connect youth to college and career. The Sadie Dog Fund strives to help keep Nebraska dogs alive and in their homes by providing emergency medical funds that prevent euthanasia or neglect.

For an interactive map pinpointing all 83 hearts, visit nebraskabyart.org.

(Julie Naughton is a 1991 graduate of the College of Journalism and Mass Communications. Her favorite heart is the mosaic-tiled creation located on the front lawn of the Alpha Xi Delta sorority house, her campus residence for two years.)

13 Liz Shea-McCoy

1973, Bachelor of Science Major: Elementary and Special Education 1989, Master of Science Major: Textile, Clothing and Design

14 Nolan Tredway

2004, Bachelor of Fine Arts Major: Studio Art

Current UNL student Allie Laing plans to graduate in 2019 with a degree in advertising/PR and graphic design. Her creation, “We Are Nebraska,” has been placed in front of her sorority house, Alpha Omicron Pi (Zeta Chapter) which was the heart’s patron.

15 Valery Wachter

1983, Bachelor of Fine Arts Major: Fine Arts

16 Ann Williams

2001, Bachelor of Fine Arts Major: Art

17 Lynn Wilson

1970, Bachelor of Science Major: Art Education

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 31

In the Heart of the City Alumni designed some of the 83 hearts that make up the Nebraska By Heart project, with 45 of those displayed at UNL. Greg Holdren’s “Heart is Where the Home Is” entry is beautiful as well as practical in that it incorporates four functioning birdhouses.

“The Greatest of These is Love” Artist: Lynn Wilson

“Heart is Where the Home Is” Artist: Greg Holdren

“As Night Turns to Day” Artist: Julia Kappenman

“Corgi’s Cabin” Artist: Susan Hanson

“Diamond in the Rough” Artist: Linda Bushnell

“Fallen” Artist: 6th grader, Keitan Oltman Art Mentor: Max Reis

Fun Facts

“Everything Nice in Nebraska” Artist: Patrick Gauthier

224 176 83 65

32 SUMMER 2017

proposals were submitted

by Nebraska artists were selected for the project were ultimately sponsored and created artists (16 are UNL graduates, one is a current student)

Locations

25 20 11 12 13

“The Heart of Each County” Artist: Ann Williams

City Campus East Campus Historic Haymarket Downtown Lincoln NE State Capitol Building and/or Centennial Mall 2 Lincoln Airport

Young Artists

2 High school art classes participated

• Lincoln North Star

• Omaha Mercy 1 Lincoln Public Schools 6th grade student — Keitan Oltman 1 Broken Bow High School student

Nebraska Wildflowers Offer Up Inspiration H

er heart is in the Haymarket. And make of the Haymarket as an art center as well as a no mistake, that heart is a labor of love place to go for entertainment,” said Wachter. for artist and UNL alum Valery Wachter.

“Anne Burkholder started the Burkholder “I left school feeling well prepared to be a Project in the Haymarket 30 years ago and it painter — I had excellent teachers like Jim has been like a magnet for galleries and art Eisentrager and Dan Howard — but I never events ever since. I am very pleased to be an imagined that the biggest ‘canvas’ I would work artist with her gallery and to have an extension on would be made of fiberglass,” said Wachter, of my art outside the gallery in a very public who graduated from UNL in 1983 with a location.” bachelor’s of fine arts with an emphasis on Wachter was a non-traditional student painting, of her entry, “Nebraska Wildflowers.” at UNL, pursuing a degree in art with an The vibrant piece of art features a bright emphasis in painting after her sons were in the spray of flowers native to Nebraska, including first and fourth grades, respectively. (Both are the blue flag iris, the prairie rose, the blackalso UNL alums.) eyed Susan and the purple poppy mallow.

“One of the benefits of being a non“In my own garden, I grow some of these traditional student is that I didn’t spend a lot same flowers that I imagine were picked for of time thinking about my social life, paying a bouquet by the women who lived here long back my parents for school or what I wanted to before me,” she said. “Time passes, but some be when I graduated,” said Wachter. “I was as things connect us to focused as it was the past and hold possible to be and a promise to be had a support there in the future. system that In my heart, it encouraged me and is the Nebraska kept me going.” wildflower. I also A condition of had done a series her enrollment, she of paintings of remembers, was flowers, so it seemed that she had to take a natural fit for me to a foreign language, do wildflowers on the because she hadn’t heart.” studied one in high school.

Of course, the proportions “All my classes were in art of her canvas did present a few and Spanish, which was great,” — Valery Wachter logistical issues. she said. “I can now ask, ‘Where “How do you measure a grid on is the bathroom?’ (Donde el bano?) an object that has no straight lines? and order ‘Dos huevos rancheros, por That was a real challenge,” laughed favor’ (Two eggs ranch style, please) should Wachter, whose piece was sponsored by Bryan the occasion ever arise. I was very interested in Health. “The first step was to transfer my twolearning the language and tried very hard which dimensional design to the three-dimensional resulted in my instructor giving me an A+. It form. This was not easy. The beautiful heart didn’t make me too popular with my classmates shape caused distortion and messed with as it threw off the curve.” perspective. I made a grid with string on the Of course, being a nontraditional student heart and a grid on the paper. It was not a also had its challenges. “The major drawback comparable ratio, so I settled for matching for me was that I had to tailor my semesters intersecting points on the two grids and drew around classes that had a prerequisite or were the design from there.” Acrylic paint was offered in sequence, or not every semester,” Wachter’s medium.

Wachter said. “Add to that my condition that Wachter had planned on painting the all my classes had to be over in time for me background after painting the flowers, to get to get home before my children were out of the whitest whites. “However, one application school, and it took me years to complete those of the blue background was too faint and I last two years.” had to do two coats,” Wachter said. “It took Wachter hasn’t missed the chance to me about three months working in a very cold give back to UNL, either. She is a longtime garage to complete the painting.” An auto body member of the Hixson-Lied College of Fine clear coat was applied to the finished heart for and Performing Arts alumni board, and has durability. served on the MEDICI Board, a friends’ group While the hearts’ locations were arranged that supports the schools of art, art history and

by Liz Shea-McCoy, the project’s godmother, design at UNL. She also sits on the Bryan Art Wachter said she was especially pleased hers Committee, which selects artists to display ended up in the Haymarket, on property owned pieces at the gallery located at Bryan East by event planning firm Hillis and Company.

Campus.

“This was very gratifying to me as I think —Julie Naughton

“I never imagined that the biggest canvas I would work on would be made of fiberglass.”

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 33

YOUNG ALUMNI ACADEMY

Small-town Girl Didn’t Stop Believing in UNL

By Anna Schott Young professionals will likely hit a point in their career where they look back and become nostalgic about their alma mater and what it’s done for them professionally and perhaps personally.

It’s a feeling similar to when you move out of your parents’ home and realize how good you really had it. So, when I felt this void shortly after graduating, I sought out opportunities to get inAnna Schott volved since I was now on the alumni side.

I first came to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the fall of 2011 from the small town of Osceola, Neb., which is about 70 miles northwest of Lincoln and boasts a population of 870. Lincoln was a culture shock for me as it was certainly bigger than Osceola with the addition of stoplights. Plus, the class sizes were bigger than my entire high school. It was complexity at its finest.

But thankfully I was surrounded by incredible professors, students and a knowledgeable advisor who forever impacted me.

Four years later I graduated with high distinction from the College of Journalism and ended up exactly where I dreamed I would be. I was utilizing my talents and newfound skills to the best of my ability with an extremely talented team working toward a higher good. I have a lot to be thankful for.

This feeling of gratitude transcended into an urge to become more connected with my university as a young professional. That was when I learned about the Young Alumni Academy which is a program offered by the Nebraska 34 SUMMER 2017

NEWS

Alumni Association that brings young energy in not long alums back to campus for exclusive ago. There was also tours throughout the year. It focuses on an element of surprise when I realized showcasing the university’s progress. how much had changed.

During orientation we had the honor I’m likely biased, but the alumni to hear from Chancellor Ronnie Green association chose an amazing group of who acknowledged the university’s lofty young alumni whom I had the privilege goals, how he expected to get there and of meeting and becoming well acwhat young professionals like ourselves quainted with during the past year. I can do to help achieve those goals. am positive my Young Alumni Academy I admired his straightforward, honest cohort would agree that we left with a answers to our questions and of course better understanding of what is going his deep, southern drawl. It was obvious on at the university and the downstream he wanted to spend as much time with effect it will have in the near and disus as possible. And being that I work tant future. for an organization who specializes in There is no doubt in my mind after leadership impact, it undergoing the program gave me a sense of relief that the vision Chancellor Young Alumni Academy knowing that the univerGreen has set will not only cohorts consist of 30-40 recent grads up to the sity is not only going to be met, but exceed expecage of 40. During the persevere, but thrive in tations if we continue the nine-month program, years to come in Chantrajectory we are currently they are invited to campus for behindcellor Green’s hands. on. That is exciting. Excitthe-scenes tours of the Another highlight ing for incoming students, university, networking during this program was current students, alumni and camaraderie. To apply for the 2017-18 getting to tour the new and faculty. And the enacademy, fill out the form Center for Brain, Biology thusiasm is contagious. at huskeralum.org/yaaand Behavior and the I encourage you to expeapply-17. Applications are due by Aug. 1.

Athletic Performance rience the new Nebraska Lab which are areas Innovation Campus or see within the East Stadium the developments being expansion. built on East Campus and you will see I had been curious about these facili- a university that prioritizes growth and ties and found the Salivary Bioscience will evolve to do so. And I am proud to Laboratory as well as the Neuropsychol- call it my own. ogy Specialty Clinic to be fascinating So, if you’re an alum eager to experiadditions to the university’s research ence your university in a more handsprograms. It was also helpful that we on, progressive way, I am positive that had leading experts and researchers the Young Alumni Academy will be a fit. facilitate these tours while they shared Plus, it’s always fun meeting other the inner workings of what they do, how young professionals as you’re touring they do it and the impact it has on the world famous collections of ancient University and beyond. elephant, rhino and camel fossils that After many of these tours, I was once lived in Nebraska. We truly are in amazed by how little I really knew about the middle of everything. a place I invested so much time and Go Big Red!

NEWS

Keith Sawyers, Kevin Clark and College of Architecture Dean Katherine Ankerson

Top Alumni and Students Showcased at Awards Fete Fifty-two individuals and one family whose late-patriarch George McGowen graduated in the 1890s, were lauded on May 4 at the annual Alumni Awards Banquet held at the Nebraska Innovation Campus.

Early Achiever Award honoree Erin Mauro (’05, ’11) said that the most fulfilling job she has had thus far was serving as the education and disabilities coordinator for Community Action Early Head Start because it gave her the chance to help the community’s most vulnerable children.

Pianist Richard Fountain (’05, ’08), another Early Achiever Award winner, said he started playing piano at

age 4½ with his mom as his teacher.

“I knew what I wanted to do once I watched Schroeder play the piano on the Charlie Brown TV specials. To bring joy and beauty into people’s lives is very special,” he said upon accepting his award.

The winner of the Doc Elliott Award, presented to a retired faculty member, was bestowed on the College of Architecture’s Keith Sawyers who spent 43 years teaching and influencing students who couldn’t heap enough praise on him at the banquet.

“The semester Keith and Sharon Sawyers spent with us in London brought architectural history, and

architecture itself to life before our eyes. I can say, he had the single biggest impact on my development as a traditional classical architect,” said Kevin Clark (’88 and ’91) who was also recognized with an alumni achievement award from his college.

Sawyers said his proudest teaching moment came from giving students the opportunity to travel overseas and to be able to broaden their world even in places that didn’t have any buildings.

Clark implored those in attendance to “call all of those professors that made an impact on your lives and tell them thank you.”

—Kirstin Wilder

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

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Zena (April) NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 35

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36 SUMMER 2017

CLASSNOTES 1951

■ Eugene Glock was inducted

into the 2017 Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement in March. The Rising City area soybean and corn farmer has long been recognized as a leader in water and soil conservation practices, as well as being heavily involved in numerous ag-related organizations, both state and national.

1953

■ Ruth White, a long-time

volunteer with the USA Track and Field Nebraska Association, most recently as first vice president, has been named to the Husker Track and Field Officials Association Hall of Fame.

1958

■ Edward and Dorothy Meyer

Travnicek of Ramsey, Minn., celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Dec. 28, 2016.

1960

Clyde Sachtleben, former head of Hastings College Physics Department and recently parttime professor of astronomy, has retired.

1961

Jeffre Cheuvront, Ray Stevens, ’65, and Clayton Streich, ’70, are three Lincoln friends who will again be participating in the Tour de Nebraska, a fiveday bicycle trek across rural Nebraska.

News/Weddings/Births/Deaths

was honored as the “2017 Face on the Barroom Floor” by the Omaha Press Club.

1971

■ Dennis Kinkaid, Columbus,

Bob and Ann Henry Becker of Metairie, La. marked 56 years of marriage on June 17, 2016.

Becker retired after 30 years as a civil engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

1967

■ Buster Brown has retired after

30 years of employment by the city of Omaha, the last 20 as city clerk.

1968

Steve Jordon, longtime reporter for the Omaha World-Herald,

1976

R. John Rhoades is the interim president and CEO of Minnesota Bank & Trust in Edina, Minn.

Michael Sughroue retired from his company Industrial Pipelines in Holdrege and is pursuing his passion for art in his studio at the former National Guard Armory in Holdrege.

1972

1977

has retired from Vishay Intertechnology.

Robert Andersen was inducted into the 2017 Nebraska Hall of Agricultural Achievement in March, in recognition of decades of service as president of the Nebraska Cooperative Council and director of the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives.

■

1973

■ Robert Clements, Elmwood,

was chosen by Gov. Pete Ricketts to fill the District 2 vacant seat in the Nebraska state legislature.

1974

Kevin Smith has retired from his position as associate design manager and campus architect for Syracuse University in New York.

■

1963

director at large for the National Academy of Forensic Engineers at their January meeting in New Orleans.

Theresa Smith has retired from the Beatrice Public Schools system after 26 years of service.

1975

Ronald Clingenpeel of River Ridge, La., has released a live CD recording entitled, “This Land.” Clingenpeel is leader of the band Fr. Ron & Friends, which originates out of New Orleans and produces the Great American Folk Song Singalong.

■

■ Mike Herring, senior vice

president of the Omaha insurance agency Harry A. Koch Co., was selected as part of that firm’s Cyber Team, tasked with cybersecurity.

James A. Petersen, Texarkana, Texas, was inducted as a ■

■ Indicates Alumni Association Life Member

■

Kim Krull, president of Butler Community College in Eldorado, Kan., was named one of the 2017 North Platte High School Distinguished Alumni.

1978

David K. Arterburn was chosen

by Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts to fill an open seat on the Nebraska Court of Appeals.

■ Penny Hamilton, Granby,

Colo., has authored “A to Z: Your Grand County History Alphabet,” as a legacy gift for the Grand County Colorado Historical Association.

certified organic crops, produce as well as cattle. The family lives south of Smithfield.

1980

■ Terry Hejny of Lincoln was

presented the 2017 Agri Award by the Triumph of Agriculture Exposition for contributions to agricultural development in Nebraska, the Midwest and the world. Hejny serves as director of the Nebraska LEAD Program.

1981

Vonita L. Wood has been promoted to partner in the Lincoln accounting firm Labenz & Associates.

1982

Norma Elia Cantu was coeditor of “Entre Guadalupe y Malinche —Tejanas in Literature and Art,” and is the Norine R. and T. Frank Murchinson Professor of Humanities at Trinity University in San Antonio.

Carol Priefert is marketing director for Reinke Irrigation in Deshler.

Patricia McCoy is director of nutrition services at Community Memorial Hospital and Sunnyside Health Care Center in Cloquet, Minn.

John Selmon was promoted to executive vice president and provost for Muskegon (Mich.)

Community College.

1979

promoted to partner in the Lincoln accounting firm Labenz & Associates.

■ Pam Govier, partner in the

Omaha law firm of Govier & Milone, announced its merger with another area firm, Katskee, Suing & Maxwell, to form Govier, Katskee, Suing & Maxwell.

Michael Muñoz, superintendent of the Rochester, Minn. public school system, has earned National Superintendent Certification.

■

■ Tom and ■ Linda Schwarz,

’81, along with daughter Becky, ’10, as marketing director, are transitioning their Schwarz Family Farm from traditional commodity grain, hay and livestock to an added-value enterprise specializing in

■ Pamela S. Sheets has been

1983

Tim Gillespie, Herndon, Va., was named vice president at SSL Government Systems, a leading provider of commercial satellites.

Mark Poeschl, chief executive officer of the National FFA Organization and Foundation, delivered a Heuermann Lecture at UNL in January.

The lecture series is sponsored

by Nebraska’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Indicates Alumni Association Annual Member NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 37

CLASSNOTES Sharon Rickman is director of the Community Health Center of Yavapai in Prescott, Ariz.

1984

Patricia Grote of Clive, Iowa, was selected executive director for the Iowa International Center, which provides multilingual resources, educational opportunities and international exchange programs.

Regina Somer has been appointed director of Doane Colleges’ Grand Island campus.

1985

■ Kevin Warneke of Omaha was

promoted to vice president of Steier Group, a fundraising and capital campaign management firm that specializes in Catholic schools, parishes and dioceses nationwide.

1986

Gregory J. Smith is senior vice president, sales supervision, for Securities America in the La Vista office.

1987

Jeff Jorgensen, executive vice president of INSPRO Insurance and manager of its Omaha office, was elected the firm’s board of directors.

Bryan Robertson has joined The Private Client Group of U.S. Bank as vice president and trust relationship manager. He is stationed at the bank’s main location in Lincoln.

1988

■ William J. Banwell,

intelligence director for the Missouri National Guard in Jefferson City, earned a recent promotion.

James Marshall of Elm Creek joined his daughter, Jordan, ’16, as part of the United Methodist Volunteer in Mission trip to Honduras in January, where they helped install a water supply to homes. James is a self-employed mechanical engineer and Jordan is a

38 SUMMER 2017

cognitive behavior lab manager at UNL. Jon Meyer was named manager of the Capitol Theatre Center in Chambersburg, Pa. ■ Jay Wilkinson, CEO of

■ Craig Uden, manager of the

Darr Feedlot in Cozad, was selected president of the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association in February.

■ Ron Vokoun has been named

Firespring, the Lincoln-based marketing and advertising firm, was selected one of the 2017 North Platte High School Distinguished Alumni.

director of construction management data centers for North America by M+W Group, an international design, engineering and construction company. He lives in Denver.

1989

1992

Michael Forsberg, a wildlife and conservation photographer and assistant professor of practice in UNL’s Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication, had his photo of Sandhill cranes over the Platte River selected as the Nebraska Statehood Forever Stamp.

Susan K. Sapp, a senior partner in the Lincoln law firm Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather, was inducted as a fellow into The American College of Trial Lawyers in March.

1990

Viv Ewing, vice president of human resources and community relations for Nebraska Families Collaborative, was appointed to the advisory board for the Omaha Salvation Army.

■ Brad Hinton was promoted to

co-chief investment officer at Weitz Investment Management in Omaha.

1991

Dennis Joslin, Omaha, will retire July 31 after 40 years of service to the Nebraska Methodist College. Joslin began his career as a critical care staff nurse and will complete it as the president and CEO. Patrick Leahy has joined the Sioux City, Iowa, architecture firm Cannon Moss Brygger Architects as a health care planner.

Charlene Alexander was chosen chief diversity officer for Oregon State University in Corvallis.

1993

Kurt VerCauteren of Laporte, Colo., was the recipient of the 2016 Wildlife Services Supervisor of the Year Award by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

He is a supervisory research wildlife biologist and leader of the feral swine research project at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins.

1994

Mark Kranz, vice president and design director in the Phoenix office of SmithGroupJJR, a national architecture and engineering company, has been elevated to the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows.

Joe Young, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, was the joint team parade commander for the 58th presidential inauguration.

1998

Kellie Harry has been promoted to assistant general counsel at Mutual of Omaha.

1999

Scott Newland of Naperville, Ill., was promoted to senior vice president at Burns & McDonnell, a Chicago-based engineering firm.

Travis W. Pritchett has been promoted to partner in the Lincoln accounting firm Labenz & Associates.

2000

David Fitzwater of Lone Tree, Colo., has been added to the staff of RailPros Field Services, as senior project manager for the railroad engineering firm.

Orion Morrissey has joined the North American architecture and engineering consulting firm Stantec, and serves as principal mechanical engineer in the Seattle office.

John R. Freudenberg has been appointed as judge to the county court for the Third Judicial District of Nebraska by Gov. Pete Ricketts.

David Rasmussen was chosen as a shareholder in the Lincoln law firm of O’Neill Heinrich Damkroger Bergmeyer & Shultz.

1995

2001

Charles Melton, Gretna, is vice president and actuary at Mutual of Omaha.

1996

Kim Robbins was appointed senior vice president of the Financial Services Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

1997

■ Kiersten Hill is the executive

director for Heartland Big Brothers Big Sisters in Lincoln.

Stephanie Gould is the vice president, human resources and organizational development leader for American National Bank in Omaha.

Lex Larsen, applied agriculture instructor at Western Community College in Scottsbluff, will teach the new applied agriculture certificate program at that institution this fall.

BY SARA WAGONER YOUNG, ’63, ’64

Alumni Profile ’65

Molly Fisher Shines a Light on Volunteering Path Molly Fisher

Summer is a time for roadtrips and travel and if you look closely, you are likely to find fellow Huskers along the way. They are everywhere, proudly sporting Husker gear and wearing the color red. One such face was that of a 1965 Nebraska grad, and retired UNL Professor Dr. Mary Alice (Molly) Fisher, who with her husband, Jerry, spent 14 years volunteering as lighthouse guides in state and national parks.

“As a retirement gig volunteering at parks was a great adventure,” Molly says. “I loved telling stories, meeting people and seeing the country. I learned so much. Plus, in addition to meeting people, some of the volunteers have become good friends for life.”

Molly volunteered from 2000 to 2014 and during that time was the lighthouse guide at Haceta Head in Florence, Ore.; Umpqua River in Winchester Bay, Ore.; North Head in Cape Disappointment State Park in Washington; Cape Hatteras National Seashore in Buxton, N.C.; Split Rock Lighthouse in Two Harbors, Minn.; and Little Sable Point Lighthouse in Ludington, Mich. During her tours, Molly would tell the story of why the lighthouse was built, the human stories about the light keepers and their families and the changes that occurred from the beginning to its current use.

Molly says her most memorable lighthouse was the one at Cape Disappointment. The North Head Lighthouse, located at the mouth of the Columbia River in Washington, was put into service in 1898 just two

miles from the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. Two lighthouses so close together is unusual, but ships coming from the north could not see the Cape Disappointment light. With more than 2,000 shipwrecks and rocky cliffs, another light was needed. Today the North Head light still shines out 20 miles and also serves as a day mark.

Although most ships have GPS, the light verifies the GPS coordinates.

“We told history and learned history,” Molly recalls, “From the top of that lighthouse one could see where Lewis and Clark saw the ocean for the first time. I never knew that the United States feared invasion through the Columbia River and that submarines fired on the coast.

At North Head, the most frequently asked question was why the park was called Cape Disappointment and that was followed by how many steps it took to climb to the top. It was fun to challenge children and adults to look beyond the view to the history all around them.”

Molly loved meeting people from all over the world and that included other volunteers. Once a tour group would reach the top of the lighthouse, Molly could tell the story of the lighthouse and also visit with the visitors. Some of Molly’s favorite visitors were the children of light keepers who would

Molly Fisher

return to their childhood haunts and tell her stories of what it was like to grow up in a lighthouse.

“The best part of volunteering is meeting park rangers and volunteers from all over the world,” Molly says.

Volunteers are made to feel part of the park community and many parks could not operate without them. Volunteer opportunities range from camp hosting, trail management, junior ranger programs, wood sales to a variety of interpretive work. It is truly an exciting adventure and hobby for the Fishers and many of these friends and rangers keep in touch and get together whenever they can.

When at home, Molly gives back to the state of Nebraska and the Lincoln community. She was recently re-appointed by the governor to the State Library Commission for a second term. She also serves on the Nebraska Center for the Book Board and the Nebraska Literary Heritage Board. She is a member of Alpha Gamma Delta and P.E.O., sings in her church choir and is chair of the music committee at her church.

NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 39

CLASSNOTES Troy Schweiger, pastor at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Lincoln, spoke to members of the Magnificat at the winter prayer meal in February.

Magnificat is a ministry to Catholic women in a particular diocese.

2002

Raney Bench, executive director of the Seal Cove Auto Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine, made a presentation on how the automobile transformed women’s rights at the Jesup Memorial Library in April.

Brandon Mowinkel, principal of Milford Junior-Senior High School, was recognized as the Nebraska High School Principal of the Year for 2017-18 by the Nebraska State Association of Secondary School Principals.

Travis Stingley is an account executive in the Omaha office of INSPRO Insurance.

2003

Susan H. Cogdill served as guest conductor for the 2017 Women’s Choral Festival in Staples, Minn. Cogdill is the assistant professor of music education and director of the women’s choir at the College of St. Benedict and St. John University near St. Cloud, Minn.

Chandra Coleman was promoted to vice president and actuary at Mutual of Omaha.

Rock Steinauer Schools, will assume the role as principal at Diller-Odell in August.

mathematics and granted tenure at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa.

2005

Kurtis Harms was hired as director of communications for the Nebraska Corn Board in Lincoln.

Sarah Baltensperger of Lincoln has been hired by Home Instead Senior Care as general manager.

David Graff, co-founder of Hudl in Lincoln, was named to Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business” list for 2017.

Nick Hebrew has joined The Harry A. Koch Co. as a sales executive in the Omaha-based insurance agency.

John Wirtz, co-founder of Hudl in Lincoln, was named to Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business” list for 2017.

■

2006

■ Haley Armstrong received

the American Marketing Association-Omaha’s Pinnacle Award earning a perfect score for her master’s paper on kidney transplantation.

Jessica Hagaman, assistant professor in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders in the College of Education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, was honored with an Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award from the UNO Alumni Association in April.

Kimberli Lee, associate professor in the department of languages and literature at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla., contributed to a book, “Survivance, Sovereignty, and Story: Teaching American Indian Rhetorics.”

Brian Kaiser, co-founder of Hudl in Lincoln, was named to Fast Company’s “Most Creative People in Business” list for 2017.

2004

2007

Matthew Mezger, current athletic director and assistant principal at Humboldt Table

Kyle Fey was promoted to associate professor of

Jennifer Ainsworth is the health benefit solutions officer at Union Bank in Lincoln.

40 SUMMER 2017

Nicole Konen has become a shareholder and partner in the Omaha law firm Fraser Stryker.

Adam W. Barney, an attorney with Cline Williams Wright Johnson & Oldfather, has been named a partner of that firm.

Troy Keilig was named associate principal in the Grand Island architectural firm CMBA Architects.

2008

Kristen Hassebrook was hired as the executive director for the combined coalition of Alliance for the Future of Agriculture in Nebraska and We Support Ag.

2009

Tara Vasicek has been hired as the city administrator for Columbus.

2010

Chelsea Coli covers county government, business and outdoors issues as a reporter for the Sheridan (Wyo.) Press newspaper.

Sheena Kennedy Helgenberger was recognized as a 2016 Ten Outstanding Young Omahan by the Omaha Jaycees in February.

She was also promoted to a dual role at Live Well Omaha as grants manager and kids director.

2011

James Boesen joined the Omaha office of INSPRO Insurance as an account executive.

Aric Damm, is the lead singer of The Brevet, an Americana band based in Orange County, Calif.

Jeff Kanger, Lincoln, is the associate director for pro-life and family of the Nebraska Catholic Conference.

Andrew Miller has attained a professional engineer license from the Nebraska State Board of Engineers and Architects.

Miller is a project engineer with Thiele Geotech in Omaha.

Drew Schulz has graduated from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a master’s in business administration and will return to Morgan Stanley in San Francisco as an investment banking associate in the Global Technology Group.

2012

Alexander C. Jordling was presented the 2017 Young Professional of the Year Award by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado. Jordling is a structural engineer with Martin/ Martin Consulting Engineers of Denver.

Joy Roos of Lexington has joined EducationQuest, a nonprofit organization that promotes access to higher education in Nebraska, as grants manager.

Emily Schlichting, Washington, D.C., a health policy advisor at the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, has been named to the Forbes “30 Under 30 Healthcare” list for 2017.

■

Elliot Shanahan, Beaumont, Texas, was the recipient of the ExxonMobil Chemical Company’s Global Responsible Care Award, which recognizes exceptional contributions in support of ExxonMobil Chemical’s safety, health and environmental initiatives.

■

2013

Robert Jordan, professor of history at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, was the recipient of the 2017 Ann Gill Excellence in Teaching Award which honors CSU faculty for outstanding performance.

2014

Weifang Gong, a graduate textiles student at the University of Kansas, exhibited her work “The Underwater Forest,” in the spring at the Kansas Union.

BY KELLY J. RIIBE, ’03

Alumni Profile ’15

For 2015 grad, It’s More Than Horsing Around Shelby Winnail

University of Nebraska-Lincoln alumna Shelby Winnail is very comfortable around horses. She has been riding since she was a little girl and majored in animal science as an undergraduate. Her current employer, Heartland Equine Therapeutic Riding Academy (HETRA), once operated out of her family’s barn.

“I grew up with HETRA for as long as I can remember,” said Winnail who earned her bachelor’s degree in 2015 and credited professors Lena Luck and Kathleen Anderson with teaching her a lot about management and horse health.

HETRA consists of 25 acres of land in Gretna, Neb. On this property there are staff and volunteers working hard to provide resources to those in need.

Participants may include children, adults and veterans. Therapeutic riding and carriage driving is done on-site, as well as hippotherapy.

Therapeutic riding and horsemanship skills are available in a group setting at HETRA. Hippotherapy is one on one, and participants work directly with occupational or physical therapists. A public riding program is also offered, which allows volunteers and siblings of therapy students the chance to horseback ride.

“We know from studies that just the movement of the horse is therapeutic to people,” said Winnail who explained hippotherapy as being when the “horse is a tool” for improving posture, coordination and strength.

Winnail enjoys all of her duties at HETRA, and is particularly fond of being a therapeutic riding instructor.

The lessons she teaches will often include an item not typically found in a horse arena.

“One of the most popular tools that our therapeutic riding instructors and therapists use is a pool noodle,” said

“We know from studies that just the movement of the horse is therapeutic to people,” said Winnail who explained hippotherapy as being when the “horse is a tool” for improving posture, coordination and strength.

The riding lessons offered can assist students who have traumatic brain injuries, cerebral palsy, spina bifida, autism, etc.

Winnail is HETRA’s facilities coordinator and in charge of making sure the animals have good accommodations and that the horse arena is properly maintained. She is a licensed therapeutic riding instructor, and also assists the horse manager with animal conditioning and training duties.

the Valley, Neb., native.

The pool noodle is used in multiple ways and introduced early to HETRA horses in training so that they become well acclimated to it. Wiffle balls will be set on cones, so students can use a noodle to try to knock the balls off the cones polo style.

“Hitting the ball with the noodle works hand-eye coordination and visual tracking of objects,” explained Winnail.

Shelby Winnail

Staff may also weave the cones, and work with students to cross their mid-section with the noodle in order to improve the rider’s motion range and promote muscle strengthening. Winnail and the horse manager train the animals together. Currently 15 horses are “rock solid” and able to work with riders, while three are being coached to become HETRA therapy horses.

“They go through a long training process,” said Winnail who is also certified in equine massage.

Horses are acquired through donations or long-term leases. She noted that they used to take horses in the 15-20 year age group, but things have changed due to the organization’s growth. They are now finding horses that are 8-15 years old, because the majority of riders are over the age of 13. Therefore a stronger, and sometimes more youthful horse may be required.

“The build of horse is also important,” noted Winnail who was excited when HETRA moved to its own free-standing facility in June of 2014.

Prior to the move, it operated out of two locations; one of which was Winnail’s mother’s property. Winnail now has the pleasure of working with some individuals that have known her since she was six years old.

“It’s really kind of a family environ-

Continued on next page NEBRASKA MAGAZINE 41

CLASSNOTES HORSING AROUND Continued from previous page ment for me,” said Winnail who coordinates volunteer groups as another part of her job description. Group volunteers that work on a project basis at HETRA may come from national corporations, churches, or scout troops. They typically donate volunteer hours or put forth a full day effort in order to help.

“I set them up with different projects and things to do,” said Winnail, who recently worked with a volunteer team to design and build a new wheelchair ramp.

Individual volunteers include horse leaders, sidewalkers, groomers, barn workers, horse stall cleaners and more. Winnail explained that their non-profit organization has 204 volunteer slots to fill every week.

Approximately 195 individuals currently donate their time.

“Most of our volunteers are people that have very little horse experience. They learn as they go,” said the former Smith Hall resident.

Some volunteers also lend their expertise by helping Winnail and other staffers with fund-raising. HETRA does a lot to garner donations throughout the year.

“Blue Jeans & Dreams” is one of their signature events. It happens in the spring and involves a catered meal, live music, an auction and horse demonstrations at their facility.

“It’s very important,” said Winnail who serves as the event’s auction chair. “All of the fund-raising from Blue Jeans (& Dreams) goes to student scholarships.”

Each student participating in HETRA’s program only pays a small portion of the actual lesson’s cost, thanks to the money raised by Winnail, her 20 co-workers and numerous volunteers. The expense to HETRA is $141 per lesson, but students only pay $30 for therapeutic and public riding lessons. Hippotherapy is just $55, and veterans’ lessons are provided for free. HETRA operates all year round and relies on fundraisers to help keep their mission going strong.

The caring work done by this non-profit makes Winnail proud, and no matter where her career takes her she plans on always being a part of the HETRA family.

“I love it,” she emphasized. “I’ve seen a lot of the success stories and developed a lot of bonds.”

2015

Jacob Bryant, Sherman Oaks, Calif., a photo gallery editor at Variety magazine, was part of the team that pieced together a timeline of events during the 2017 Academy Awards that helped explain the snafu surrounding the best picture award.

Alfonzo Cooper Jr. sang the tenor lines in the Axtell Area Oratorio Society presentation of Handel’s “Messiah” in April.

Cooper is a graduate student at UNL.

2016

Andrew Ambriz is interim director of the McCook (Neb.) Economic Development Corp.

Bethany Eckloff, a graduate student at UNL, sang soprano in the Axtell Area Oratorio Society production of Handel’s “Messiah” in April.

Cornhusker Kiddos

If you are a UNL 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

Rachel Halbmaier is director of the Missouri River Commons Initiative for the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.

WEDDINGS

Annie Himes recently completed her Fulbright Scholarship program in Saratov, Russia, where she taught English to third- and fourth-year college students.

Noel Wagner, ’13, and Regina Mackevicius, Oct. 8, 2016.

The couple live in Omaha.

Mitch Oswald has joined AgriGold as a field advisor serving clients in Hamilton County.

Nathan Stratton is a lawyer with Stratton, DeLay, Doele, Carlson & Buettner, a Norfolk legal firm.

Spencer Wilson is an attorney with Yost Law Firm in Fremont.

Amber Wright has been added to the team at the Lincoln marketing and advertising agency, KidGlov, where she will be content editor.

■

2017

Allison Gibler has been selected director of risk and safety for Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

42 SUMMER 2017

BIRTHS

Jeff, ’80, and Jane Couture, ’81, are the grandparents of Amari Jeffrey Bruland, born Sept. 16, 2016.

His parents, Marshall and Ashley Bruland, live in Omaha.

Collin Johansen, ’13, and Anne Peetz, ’14, Sept. 30, 2016.

The couple live in Houston.

Matthew Brackhan and Laura Clark, ’14, July 23, 2016. The couple live in Seward.

Brandon Keech, ’15, and Paige Werner, ’15, July 30, 2016.

The couple live in Lincoln.

DEATHS

Lorraine Swanson Mott, ’35, Gainesville, Fla., March 21.

Dorothy Herman Decker, ’36, Winter Springs, Fla., March 3.

Edmund W. Hollstein, ’36, Rushville, Dec. 31, 2016.

William L. Moore, ’38, Downers Grove, Ill., March 28.

George J. David, ’40, Fort Collins, Colo., Feb. 26.

Paul E. Null, ’40, Lincoln, April 3.

Roger G. Anawalt, ’41, Santa Rosa, Calif., Jan. 31.

Mary Rhodes Biles, ’41, Denver, March 14.

CLASSNOTES Betty Johnson Segrist, ’41, Scottsbluff, Feb. 26.

Dale C. Tinstman, ’41, Lincoln, Feb. 16.

Raymond A. Grossman, ’42, Missoula, Mont., March 5.

Ellen Wilkens McCallum, ’42, Lincoln, Feb. 17.

Virginia J. Dolan, ’43, Lincoln, March 4.

Dorothy Saeger Jones, ’43, Longmont, Colo., Dec. 28, 2016.

Helen Kelley Judd, ’43, Council Grove, Kan., Jan. 12.

Floyd V. Pumphrey, ’43, Walla Walla, Wash., Sept. 13, 2016.

Margaret Gardner Skoog, ’43, Sterling, Va., Sept. 30, 2016.

Bruce H. Stafford, ’43, Greensboro, N.C., Feb. 19.

Bernard E. Swanson, ’43, Grand Island, Feb. 18.

Josephine Welch Gibilisco, ’44, Rochester, Minn., Jan. 18.

Patricia Purdham TeKolste, ’44, Elkhorn, Jan. 14.

Mary Sinclair Copple, ’45, Lincoln, March 20.

Beatrice Nakada Ugai, ’45, Durango, Colo., Dec. 14, 2016.

Robert H. Raymond, ’46, Lincoln, Feb. 18.

Sidney M. Schwartz, ’46, Omaha, March 24.

Roger W. Garey, ’47, Paradise Valley,

Ariz., Oct. 11, 2016.

Leland N. Wahlstrom, ’47, Chadron, Oct. 15, 2016.

Charles K. Clem, ’48, Rapid City, S.D., Jan. 30.

Gladys Grothe Wilkins, ’48, Laguna Niguel, Calif., Feb. 6.

Robert E. Clark, ’49, Sarasota, Fla., Feb. 12.

Enid Kelso Connell, ’49, Phoenix, Feb. 28.

Joan S. Guilford, ’49, Orange, Calif., Feb. 15.

Edgar J. Hoemann, ’49, Mesa, Ariz., Dec. 18, 2016.

James L. Kimball, ’49, La Mesa, Calif., Dec. 25, 2016.

Dale K. Kuster, ’49, Omaha, March 8.

Duane M. Nielsen, ’49, Pinehurst, N.C., March 17.

Colleen M. Ress, ’49, Lincoln, Feb. 14.

Edward G. Schaumberg, ’49, Carefree, Ariz., Jan. 25.

Robert C. Schleiger, ’49, Fleming Island, Fla., Dec. 31, 2016.

John R. Tobin, ’49, Omaha, April 8.

Leo P. Wutke, ’49, Omaha, Feb. 2.

Edwin R. Baker, ’50, Stockton, Calif., Jan. 5.

Walter A. Bennett, ’50, Kansas City, Mo., Jan. 21.

Thomas J. Callan, ’50, Phoenix,

March 12.

John P. Cullen, ’50, Janesville, Wis., Feb. 12.

Howard P. Doerr, ’50, Highlands Ranch, Colo., March 19.

Allen R. Edison, ’50, Cathedral City, Calif., Jan. 24.

Merwyn G. French, ’50, Peoria, Ill., Feb. 14.

George E. Gorker, ’50, San Jose, Calif., Oct. 20, 2016.

Martin D. Haykin, ’50, Seattle, Feb. 14.

Robert T. Johnson, ’50, Valley Village, Calif., Sept. 19, 2016.

Russell G. Jones, ’50, Omaha, Feb. 25.

Mary Miller Kanter, ’50, Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 10.

John B. Kline, ’50, Onalaska, Wis., March 5.

Stanley J. Lambert, ’50, Ewing, Jan. 5.

Herbert F. McCulla, ’50, Casper, Wyo., March 3.

J. Paul P. McIntosh, ’50, Norfolk, Feb. 16.

John F. Peter, ’50, Lincoln, Jan. 1.

Donald R. Ravenscroft, ’50, Star City, W.Va., Nov. 16, 2016.

Winifred Douglas Ricketts, ’50, Cheyenne, Wyo., April 4.

Roland J. Spomer, ’50, Tuscola, Ill., April 1.

Helen Anderson Sundell, ’50, Fort Calhoun, March 22.

George H. Wagner, ’50, Columbia, Mo., Feb. 1.

Leo L. Bock, ’51, Burnsville, Minn., Dec. 30, 2016.

Ivan L. Burmeister, ’51, Iowa City, Iowa, Oct. 6, 2016.

Robert H. Cerv, ’51, Blair, April 6.

Arlene Park Darby, ’51, Kirkland, Wash., Dec. 1, 2016.

James R. Grant, ’51, Lincoln, Nov. 8, 2016.

Kenneth D. Henkens, ’51, Omaha, Dec. 30, 2016.

Mildred Hunter Hyatt, ’51, Broomfield, Colo., Aug. 1, 2016.

William L. Mulder, ’51, Lincoln, March 3.

William R. Carriker, ’52, Earlysville, Va., Dec. 4, 2016.

Eleanor Erickson Francke, ’52, Lincoln, Jan. 8.

Clinton A. Hoover, ’52, Lincoln, Feb. 23.

Janet Bohner Kirby, ’52, Ivins, Utah, Feb. 27.

Myron J. Longmore, ’52, Melbourne, Fla., March 10.

Donald G. Woods, ’52, Cheyenne, Wyo., Jan. 13.

Martha Christensen, ’53, Brocton, N.Y., March 19.

CLASSNOTES Clayton Yeutter Rose to Ag Secretary but Never Left the Farm

By Mara Klecker, Omaha World-Herald

C

layton Yeutter treated everyone he met with the same level of respect — be it the head of state or a barista at Starbucks.

“He was warm and always genuine,” said Cristena Bach Yeutter, his wife of 21 years.

Yeutter died at his home in Potomac, Md., on March 4 after a four-year battle with colon cancer. He was 86.

The Eustis, Neb., native served as U.S. secretary of agriculture under President George H.W. Bush beginning in 1989. Before that he served as U.S. trade representative under President Ronald Reagan, leading negotiations of what was then the U.S. Canada Free Trade Agreement, which later became NAFTA. By 1991 he became chairman of the Republican National Committee, though a year later he was back with Bush as a counselor to the president.

Even in his last few years, as he endured surgery and round after round of chemotherapy, Yeutter continued to be active in promoting agriculture, global trade and the sustainable use of water.

In June 2015 Yeutter and another former ag secretary, Dan Glickman, co-wrote a commentary in the Omaha World-Herald that said the U.S. can solve the water challenges facing agriculture through research.

In recent years he served as a senior adviser at the international law firm Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C., a position he retired from in December 2015.

“He always had to be working, needed to stay busy,” Cristena said. “If he didn’t, I think it would have driven us both crazy.”

Last summer, during an especially tough round of chemo, he started composing his obituary: “Clayton Yeutter moved as seamlessly among high level positions in both the public and private sectors as has anyone in the U.S. in the post-World War II period. He did so while maintaining the respect and cooperation of friend and political foe alike.”

Donald L. Eret, ’53, Crete, Jan. 4.

Werner H. Kramer, ’53, Bainbridge Island, Wash., March 3.

George J. Krieger, ’53, Mason City, Iowa, Jan. 6.

Robert H. LaShelle, ’53, Cincinnati, Jan. 2.

Nancy Weir Mead, ’53, Lincoln, March 23.

Richard L. Walentine, ’53, Omaha, Jan. 23.

Sarah Foglond Willkens, ’53, Grand Island, March 2.

Susan Reinhardt Bailey, ’54, Omaha, March 13.

Don G. Johnson, ’54, Pierce, Jan. 14.

John D. Lynch, ’54, Prescott, Ariz., Jan. 23.

44 SUMMER 2017

Clayton Yeutter Cristena said though he was always generous, her late husband was proud of his accomplishments and wanted to be remembered as a public servant.

Upon his death, many offered condolences that said Yeutter was just that.

Gov. Pete Ricketts tweeted: “Clayton Yeutter was a fierce advocate for Nebraska ag producers.”

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., issued a statement: “Whether it was in Lincoln, Washington, or halfway around the world, Clayton was a Nebraska statesman through and through. His humility, integrity, and dedication to public service made our state proud.”

Another tweet, from UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green, said: “America and Nebraska lost a giant last night, and I lost a dear friend and mentor. Rest in peace Clayton P. Yeutter. Exceptionally lived.”

In March 2015, Yeutter made a $2.5 million gift to his alma mater, UNL, to establish a new international trade and finance institute.

“There is more need today for prepared college graduates than ever before, as trade is a prime mover in the U.S. economy,” he said at the time.

A longtime friend, former Rep. Doug Bereuter, R-Neb., said Yeutter “absolutely excelled in everything he did.”

Yeutter graduated No. 1 in his College of

Duane F. Miller, ’54, Hiawassee, Ga., Dec. 31, 2016.

Donald F. Roberts, ’54, Satellite Beach, Fla., Aug. 27, 2016.

William C. Vannoy, ’54, Lincoln, Jan. 3.

Diane Feaster Westin, ’54, Omaha, Feb. 25.

Patricia E. Wissel, ’54, Grand Island, March 15.

Lawrence D. Ebner, ’55, Hot Springs, Ark., Jan. 28.

Morris F. Skinner, ’55, Gothenburg, Feb. 4.

Edgar H. Smith, ’55, Omaha, Jan. 8.

William J. Wakely, ’55, Lincoln, Jan. 6.

Agriculture class in 1952 and later served as a faculty member teaching ag economics. He enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War, but later enrolled in the NU College of Law, graduating No. 1 in his class in 1963.

His career in government began as chief of staff for then-Gov. Norbert Tiemann.

Yeutter was one of a group of young, ambitious staff members known as the “whiz kids,” a group that included Bereuter; Bob Barnett, who founded his own law firm in Washington, D.C.; and Jim Hewitt, who became a prominent attorney and historian in Lincoln.

Yeutter’s career also included a stint as president and CEO of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Bereuter said Yeutter was a man with “absolute integrity,” someone who was committed to his country and wellrespected for it.

“He was a remarkable person,” Bereuter said. “Everyone who knew him will miss him greatly.”

Another longtime friend of Yeutter, Lincoln businessman Duane Acklie, told the World-Herald in an interview before Acklie died in September 2016 that Yeutter “never left the farm.” In their weekly phone conversations, the two UNL alums’ talk would always turn to issues such as crop prices and land values.

“When he was getting his doctorate (in ag economics), he was still farming in Eustis,” Acklie said. “He’d go to the university all week, and leave on Friday night, work on the farm, and then drive back on Sunday night.”

Cristena said though he loved the farm, her late husband’s passion was trade. In his last few years he worried that the national attitude toward trade had turned negative.

As he aged, Cristena said, she watched Yeutter become more patient, especially after the couple adopted their three girls.

He and Cristena married in 1995 and adopted three children. He had four children during a 40-year marriage with his first wife, Jeanne, who died in 1993.

“The second time around, he really learned how hard raising a family can be,” Cristena said. “I think he found a new appreciation for being a father.”

As the girls grew up, he took time to play with them, even sitting for tea parties with a pink feather boa wrapped around his neck and clip-on earrings dangling from his ears.

He was messy, too, Cristena said, always out “puttering” in the yard, only to come in looking as if he’d rolled in dirt. That was a joke in their house: When the chemo rarely left him nauseated, Cristena would say his strong stomach came from all the dirt he ingested as a farm kid.

Doctors told him four years ago that he’d live maybe half a year to a year with his prognosis. At that time, he typed out an email to a long list of friends, telling them he’d be gone within the year.

He didn’t tell Cristena he was going to send it. She wouldn’t have let him.

“I knew he’d end up outliving several people on that list,” she said. “I knew he’d keep fighting.”

Yeutter also is survived by his children, Brad of Lincoln, Gregg of Omaha, Kim Bottimore of Vienna, Virginia, Van of Chevy Chase, Maryland, and Victoria, Elena and Olivia, all of Potomac, as well as nine grandchildren and one greatgranddaughter.

Yeutter gave the keynote address via pre-recorded video at Chancellor Green’s installation on April 6. In a quid pro quo agreement, Green sang at Yeutter’s memorial service which was held two days later on April 8 in Bethesda, Md. Printed with permission from the Omaha World-Herald.

(Mara Klecker is a 2016 graduate of the College of Journalism and Mass Communication. At UNL she was in the Nebraska Women’s Leadership Network and worked as managing editor at the Daily Nebraskan.

She interned at the Lincoln Journal Star, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Mara now covers social services at the Omaha World-Herald.)

Julius G. Haye, ’56, Fort Calhoun, Jan. 6.

Barbara Clark Hill, ’56, Grand Junction, Colo., March 6.

Weldon W. Lubberstedt, ’56, Lexington, March 22.

Janet Lindquist Meyer, ’56, Phillips, Jan. 21.

Dennis D. Sousek, ’56, Montrose, Colo., March 27.

Donita Brehm Thompson, ’56, Lincoln, Feb. 1.

Margaret Mathers Berguin, ’57, Scottsdale, Ariz., March 14.

John T. Bourdess, ’57, Bellevue, Jan. 13.

Christy G. Brost, ’57, Alliance, March 16.

William E. Ehrett, ’57, Victoria, Texas, Jan. 8.

Alvin J. Ford, ’57, Sioux City, Iowa, Feb. 23.

Leroy M. Garrels, ’57, Friend, Feb. 19.

Carolyn Galley Givan, ’57, Greeley, Colo., Feb. 26.

Dean E. Heermann, ’57, Lincoln, Feb. 9.

Jerre L. Johnson, ’57, North Platte, Feb. 20.

Billy G. Beebe, ’58, Stromsburg, Feb. 4.

Gordon O. Bissell, ’58, Walla Walla, Wash., Feb. 13.

Marlyn G. Carlson, ’58, Phoenixville, Pa., Dec. 9, 2016.

GOAL $200 MILLION

BY DEC. 31, 2017

Nebraska's future begins now — with every current and future student on a University of Nebraska campus. Our Students, Our Future — an initiative to raise $200 million by the end of 2017 — aims to positively impact those students and our state's future by providing scholarships and programs.

Your generous gifts today will touch the lives of students now and long into the future — students who may otherwise be unable to afford an excellent education. Please help us transform young lives and invest in our state's future today.

Visit nufoundation.org/ourstudentsourfuture to learn more.

RAISED $161.7 MILLION AS OF APRIL 30, 2017

CLASSNOTES Donald M. Cogswell, ’58, Monrovia, Calif., Nov. 3, 2016.

Jon M. Frazier, ’58, Fort Lupton, Colo., March 18.

Allen R. Hendricksen, ’58, Omaha, March 26.

William T. Howard, ’58, Owatonna, Minn., Feb. 26.

Howard W. Johnson, ’58, Yuba City, Calif., Dec. 30, 2016.

Arden L. Phifer, ’58, Clearwater, Fla., March 30.

Muriel Smith Redfern, ’58, York, March 13.

Eldon W. Shuey, ’58, Sun City Center, Fla., May 30, 2016.

Ronald F. Anderson, ’59, Omaha, Feb. 20.

Jon T. Bicha, ’59, Bellevue, Feb. 8.

James R. Hancock, ’59, Lincoln, March 14.

Richard A. Hergenrader, ’59, Omaha, April 9.

Gerald A. Hruza, ’59, Saint Paul, Jan. 12.

William A. Johnston, ’59, Fuquay Varina, N.C., Jan. 23.

Charles E. Kress, ’59, Marion, Iowa, Jan. 7.

Donald E. Mueller, ’59, Hudson, Ill., Feb. 2.

Ronald E. Ritchey, ’59, Menomonee Falls, Wis., Jan. 12.

Sally Wilson Roper, ’59, Lincoln, Dec. 22, 2016.

Paul M. Seevers, ’59, Glenwood, Iowa, Feb. 26.

Philip C. Sorensen, ’59, Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 12.

Donald R. Geisler, ’60, Waukee, Iowa, March 25.

Paul L. Hummel, ’60, Honolulu, Hawaii, March 13.

Norma Maffitt Tedd, ’60, Vancouver, Wash., Aug. 29, 2016.

Kenneth W. Haggard, ’61, Reno, Nev., March 23.

Modris E. Richters, ’61, Simpsonville, S.C., Feb. 14.

Theodore V. Schomburg, ’61, Kasson, Minn., March 4.

Lloyd E. Krivanek, ’62, Las Vegas, Feb. 18.

Francis G. McLean, ’62, Littleton, Colo., Dec. 14, 2016.

Mary E. Sievert, ’62, Davenport, Iowa, Dec. 28, 2016.

Mary Sampy Steele, ’62, Omaha, Jan. 13.

Joeline Beck Venter, ’62, Lincoln, March 3.

Valerie Wheeler, ’62, Sacramento, Calif., Jan. 16.

Dale E. Chesley, ’63, Plattsmouth, Feb. 17.

Betty Reppert Donelson, ’63, Austin, Texas, March 17.

Francis J. Dorais, ’63, Las Vegas, Jan. 22.

Jane Mahoney Neal, ’63, Lincoln, March 2.

Grace S. Pfister, ’63, Lincoln, April 7.

46 SUMMER 2017

Max L. Poole, ’63, Des Moines, March 12.

Judith Larsen Smidt, ’63, Brentwood, Tenn., Feb. 6.

Ann Hanna Tolly, ’63, Lincoln, Jan. 11.

John M. Wightman, ’63, Lexington, Jan. 5.

Wilbur L. Bentz, ’64, Brainerd, Minn., Sept. 23, 2016.

Robert W. Folker, ’64, Omaha, Jan. 10.

Carol Nelson Johnson, ’64, Fremont, March 6.

Sarah Johnson Johnston, ’64, Phoenix, Jan. 18.

Robert L. Marienau, ’64, Hanford, Calif., Jan. 14.

Gale H. Marsh, ’64, Falls City, April 6.

David R. Mills, ’64, St. Paul, Minn., Dec. 23, 2016.

Jon W. Nelson, ’64, Estes Park, Colo., Feb. 19.

Stephen G. Copenhaver, ’65, Long Beach, Calif., April 3.

Frances Wisnieski Kassmeier, ’65, Dodge, Dec. 17, 2016.

Florence Feller Murphy, ’65, Lincoln, March 11.

Virginia Larson Opocensky, ’65, Lincoln, March 14.

Lyle D. Sittler, ’65, Martell, Jan. 29.

Holly D.Spence, ’65, Tucson, Ariz., Feb. 22.

Samuel P. Baird, ’66, Palm Desert, Calif., Feb. 1.

Linda Bunz Beridon, ’66, Spring, Texas, Feb. 21.

Helen Jacobs Chastain, ’66, Lincoln, Feb. 25.

Beth Rose Dwyer, ’66, Buena Vista, Colo., Feb. 15.

Gary G. Long, ’66, Fulton, Mo., Nov. 7, 2016.

John B. Oblak, ’66, Swarthmore, Pa., March 23.

Thurman I. Potts, ’66, Monroe, La., March 1.

Harry L. Ziegenbein, ’66, Elkhorn, March 1.

Mary Roberts Clark, ’67, Marana, Ariz., Dec. 22, 2016.

James M. Davis, ’67, Lincoln, Jan. 18.

James C. Johnson, ’67, Atlanta, Dec. 11, 2016.

Donald W. Kuss, ’67, Bellevue, March 5.

Terry J. Adams, ’69, Phoenix, March 27.

David L. Amstutz, ’69, Kearney, Feb. 12.

Ronald J. Hottovy, ’69, Windsor, Calif., Dec. 31, 2016.

Larry D. Borland, ’70, Cambridge, March 22.

Mary Faulkner Carey, ’70, Lincoln, Feb. 16.

Paul A. Filter, ’70, Arroyo Grande, Calif., Nov. 10, 2016.

James M. Rector, ’70, Lincoln, March 28.

Sandra Skleba Smith, ’70, Wilber, March 18.

Helen Kai-Gueh Tao, ’70, Colorado Springs, Colo., Feb. 1.

Dorothy Nelson Betts, ’71, Omaha, Feb. 4.

Patience Oliver Fisher, ’71, Lincoln, Jan. 5.

Sally Schulz Matzke, ’71, Winter Park, Fla., March 9.

Carla Hansen McLeod, ’71, Omaha, Jan. 17.

Billy M. Anderson, ’72, Tekamah, Feb. 18.

Dennis DeRoin, ’72, Papillion, Feb. 7.

Ronald B. Haddock, ’72, Omaha, March 1.

Michael F. Janis, ’72, Omaha, Jan. 14.

Louis J. Stalder, ’72, Clatonia, Feb. 20.

Joseph P. Corkle, ’73, North Platte, Jan. 28.

Nancy Hill McCleery, ’73, Lincoln, Feb. 19.

Joan Bettenhausen Beutler, ’74, Pender, March 29.

Thomas W. Dorn, ’74, Lincoln, Feb. 21.

Eugene F. Langfeldt, ’74, Loveland, Colo., April 2.

Arthur R. Langvardt, ’74, Doniphan, Feb. 8.

John R. Neater, ’74, Santa Cruz, Calif., Nov. 14, 2016.

John W. Wanzenried, ’74, Blair, Jan. 25.

Charles N. Rodino, ’75, Omaha, March 2.

Kelley McCarthy Champion, ’76, Lincoln, March 4.

B. Joseph Dromsky, ’76, Evans, Ga., Oct. 2, 2016.

Jeanne F. Fells, ’76, Sargent, Jan. 6.

Rick R. Robson, ’76, Omaha, March 8.

Margie Schafer Vencil, ’76, Windsor Heights, Iowa, Aug. 8, 2016.

Grace Gill Gallup, ’77, Lincoln, Jan. 13.

Albert A. Hruza, ’77, Ord, March 31.

Rodney L. Metcalf, ’77, Lincoln, Jan. 9.

Susan K. Powers-Alexander, ’77, Lincoln, Jan. 6.

Charles E. Adams, ’78, Bellevue, March 10.

Dennis D. Gray, ’78, Polk, Jan. 20.

Robin D. Hile, ’78, San Francisco, March 21.

Jon Cameron Loerch, ’78, Ashland, Feb. 19.

Anne Carothers Kay, ’79, Urbandale, Iowa, Feb. 18.

Karen Werner Weed, ’79, Lincoln, Feb. 28.

Mark W. Lawson, ’80, Denver, Feb. 2.

Barbara Bakk Eisenbraun, ’81, Lincoln, March 8.

Daniela A. O’Keefe, ’81, Tucson, Ariz., Jan. 13.

Ralph S. Hanson, ’82, Austin, Texas, Nov. 29, 2016.

Aldene C. Summers, ’82, Lexington, Feb. 22.

Grace L. Olsen, ’83, Kimball, Feb. 21.

Andrew G. Smith, ’83, Hickman, March 28.

Richard M. Aube, ’84, Bellevue, March 14.

Nancy Willard Ogden, ’84, Lincoln, March 14.

Colton R. Smith, ’84, Lincoln, Dec. 24, 2016.

Mark E. Divis, ’85, Valencia, Calif., Feb. 9.

Glenn P. Gillett, ’85, Omaha, Feb. 9.

Eugene L. Martin, ’85, Lincoln, Feb. 1.

Daniel J. Vanderbeek, ’85, Adams, April 9.

Michael A. Worrell, ’85, Barnwell, S.C., Oct. 4, 2016.

Douglas B. Laedtke, ’86, Minneapolis, March 29.

Thomas F. Polk, ’86, Omaha, Feb. 27.

Barry J. Spargo, ’86, Washington, D.C., Nov. 16, 2016.

John P. Meduna, ’87, Crescent, Iowa, Oct. 17, 2016.

James L. Schwaderer, ’87, Lincoln, Jan. 23.

Brian J. Miller, ’88, Kalona, Iowa, Jan. 14.

Robert G. Arneson, ’90, Idaho Springs, Colo., Dec. 7, 2016.

Stanley H. Post, ’90, Syracuse, March 10.

Jan D. Sangsom, ’90, Lincoln, Jan. 4.

Joshua W. Lear, ’91, Omaha, March 13.

Brian K. Wallman, ’91, Springfield, March 3.

Clifford S. Smith, ’92, Lincoln, Feb. 11.

Brooke E. McRoberts, ’94, Albuquerque, N.M., Feb. 5.

Lance C. Carlson, ’95, Randolph, Feb. 13.

Alyce K. Schroeder, ’95, Lincoln, Jan. 30.

Kelly L. Cuevas, ’97, Omaha, Jan. 30.

Danny D. Briggs, ’98, Lincoln, April 4.

Mark A. Craig, ’98, Edgewater, Md., Feb. 8.

Jason T. Heusel, ’99, Lincoln, April 4.

Benjamin M. Koch, ’06, Lincoln, Feb. 2.

Brian E. Unger, ’15, Lincoln, April 4.

FINAL COUNT

180

Volunteers needed to hold the 100-foot-long American flag which covered Tom Osborne Field during the pre-game festivities at the wellattended Spring Game on April 15.

27,426

Pounds of recyclable materials were diverted from the landfill during the 2016 Game Day Recycling Challenge held during the Oregon game last fall.

49

Students were honored in April for notching a 4.0 grade point average throughout their entire university career.

98

The number of years the business college has been known as the College of Business Administration. CBA is dropping the “A” and will now be known as the College of Business.

As a graduate of the University of Nebraska, you could receive exclusive savings on home insurance from

2

Number of pianos that are available for public use in the Nebraska Union. They are tuned twice a year and are located in the Crib and the main lounge.

2,200+

Students voted in the March student election to ban smoking on the UNL campus. While 1,300 students said they wanted to allow smoking only in designated areas — the current policy on campus.

Along with valuable savings, you’ll enjoy access to benefits like 24-Hour Claims Assistance.

Liberty 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 October 13, 2017.

1

Nebraska Alumni Association Wick Alumni Center 1520 R Street Lincoln, NE 68508-1651

JUST STEPS AWAY...

There’s No Place Like Nebraska when you’re celebrating Husker game day just a few feet away from Memorial Stadium at the Nebraska Champions Club.

Whether you’re hosting family, friends, clients or employees, we have a unique Husker Hospitality Package that’s right for you.

Book your Husker Hospitality package for fall today!

For more information visit huskeralum.org/gameday or call 888.353.1874.

48 SUMMER 2017