Recent achievements for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln community were earned by Rick Alloway, Tala Awada, Jared Benton, Drashti Bhatt, Chad Brassil, Jeff Chambers, Catherine Day, Julian Gillilan, Gadi Hernandez-Corado, Kate Johnson, Joe Luck, Ramon Montalvo IV, Natalie Sehi, Gerald Steinacher, Marilyn Wolf and the VEX Robotics Team.
Honors
Rick Alloway, general manager of 90.3 KRNU and associate professor of broadcasting, was inducted into the Bathtub Dogs "Paw of Fame" for having been their adviser for the past 20-plus years.
The Nebraska Investment Finance Authority honored Jeff M. Chambers with the 2026 Making a Difference Award on April 14. Chambers, senior project director of the Community Services Division at the Center on Children, Families and the Law, was recognized for his outstanding service.
Natalie Sehi, extension educator in nutrition and health sciences, has been named the inaugural recipient of the Jean Ann Fischer Excellence in Community Engagement Award, announced at the College of Education and Human Science’s annual awards celebration April 24. The new award honors individuals or teams whose work extends beyond campus in meaningful and lasting ways, reflecting the college's core commitment to community engagement.
Julian Gillilan, a graduate student in the Department of History, has received a Fulbright-Mach Award for the 2026-27 academic year. He will conduct dissertation research at various archives in Vienna, Austria, as an affiliate of Central European University. Gillilan's research interests include 19th and 20th century Central European history and Austrian studies.
Gadi Hernandez-Corado and Kate Johnson were recognized by the Clinical Legal Education Association for outstanding contributions at Nebraska Law. Hernandez-Corado was nominated by Elsbeth Magilton, lecturer and director of externships in the College of Law, for outstanding performance in externship work during the summer 2025 and spring 2026 semesters. Hernandez-Corado received the CLEA Outstanding Externship Student Award. Johnson was nominated by the clinical faculty for outstanding performance in the Estate Planning Clinic and the Weibling Entrepreneurship Clinic.
The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers selected Joe Luck, professor and interim head of the Department of Biological Systems Engineering, as the recipient of the G.B. Gunlogson Countryside Engineering Award.
Marilyn Wolf, Elmer E. Koch Professor in the School of Computing, earned the 2024 Technical Achievement Award from the IEEE Technical Committee on Cyber-Physical Systems. The award recognizes significant and sustained contributions to the cyber-physical system community. The award is based on the impact of high-quality research made by the awardee throughout their lifetime. Wolf received the award for pioneering contributions to hardware and software co-design for cyber-physical systems.
The UNL VEX Robotics Club competed in the VEX Robotics World Championship April 25-27 at the America's Center in St. Louis. The team placed fifth in their division. The championship brings together the top VEX IQ, VEX V5 and VEX U robotics teams from around the world to celebrate their accomplishments and compete for the top prize. Learn more here.
Appointments
Tala Awada has been named interim dean and director of the Agricultural Research Division. Her appointment will begin July 1. Since 2015, Awada has served as associate dean of the division.
Jared Benton, classics and religious studies, received a Loeb Classical Library Foundation Fellowship, which supports research, publication and other projects in classical studies. The fellowship is sponsored by the Loeb foundation at Harvard University. Benton is a scholar in classical archaeology.
Drashti Bhatt and Chad Brassil have been selected as fellows for the inaugural cohort of the Nebraska Strategic Data Leadership Network. The network is part of the Strategic Data Project, an initiative of the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University, in collaboration with the Nebraska Statewide Workforce and Educational Reporting System. Bhatt is senior director of information technology, data analytics and application development in the College of Arts and Sciences' Dean's Office. Brassil is an associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences.
Catherine Day, an anthropology major in the School of Global Integrative Studies, has been selected for the inaugural First Interstate Bank Smithsonian Internship program and will spend the summer at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The 10-week internship connects students from rural communities with hands-on experiences across the Smithsonian Institution.
Ramon Montalvo IV, ’28, is the seventh Nebraska Law student to be selected for the prestigious Janet D. Steiger Fellowship from the American Bar Association’s Antitrust Law Section. The Steiger Fellowship Project offers stipends for one law student in each participating state to work on high-profile consumer, privacy, tech and antitrust cases with state attorneys general across the country. Montalvo will spend the summer working at the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, after being selected from hundreds of applicants.
Gerald Steinacher, James A. Rawley Professor of History, has been named the 2028-29 J. B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Senior Scholar-in-Residence at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. He will work on a biography of Alois Hudal. The fellowship enables the museum to bring a distinguished scholar to conduct innovative Holocaust research and share it widely through lectures, seminars and public engagement for one academic year.
This column is a regular feature of Nebraska Today. Faculty, staff and students can submit achievements to be considered for this column via email to achievements@unl.edu. For more information, call 402-472-8515.
