Recent achievements for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln community were earned by Marianna Burks, Kristen Graves, Andrew Hanna, Emily Kazyak, John Lenich, Angie Pannier, Marc Maguire, Eric Markvicka, Brett Ratcliffe, Steve Willborn, Lan Xu, and researchers in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.
Honors
Marianna Burks, an assistant professor of practice in the School of Biological Sciences, and Angie Pannier, a professor in the department of Biological Systems Engineering, are the 2025 recipients of the Meridian Award — one of the Association for Women in Science’s highest recognitions for advocacy and mentorship. Honoring mid-career professionals, the Meridian Award celebrates those who strive to expand and improve workplace equity in STEM fields.
Kristen Graves, assistant professor of ethnomusicology in the Glenn Korff School of Music, received the Bess Lomax Hawes Prize in Applied Ethnomusicology during the annual meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology in Atlanta, Georgia, in October. The award recognizes presentations that “advance the understanding and scope of applied ethnomusicology and the goal of connecting ethnomusicology to the public arena.” Graves received the award for her paper, “Song from the Discarded: The Multisensory Shaping of a Community Corrido in the Oaxaca Dump.”
Andrew Hanna, Seacrest Teaching Fellow and assistant professor of management, received the Southern Management Association's K. Michele (Micki) Kacmar Volunteer of the Year Award at its annual meeting in Greenville, South Carolina, in October. Named for one of the association’s most dedicated volunteers, the award honors a servant leader for their outstanding contributions and service.
John Lenich, professor emeritus of law, is among six members of the Nebraska Supreme Court Committee on Practice and Procedure’s rules subcommittee to receive the Nebraska State Bar Association’s Award of Special Merit. Lenich chaired the subcommittee, leading a four-year effort to revise and update court rules for civil cases. In presenting the award, John M. Gerrard, president of the Bar Association and U.S. District Court judge, said the revisions and updates have “improved efficiency for litigants, attorneys and judges while advancing the administration of justice across Nebraska.”
Eric Markvicka, Robert F. and Myrna L. Krohn Associate Professor of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, and Marc Maguire, Abel Associate Professor in the Durham School of Architectural Engineering and Construction are the first recipients of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Engineering Research2Market Award. The new initiative is designed to accelerate the transition of groundbreaking research into real-world applications. As part of the award, each recipient will be supported by a dedicated post-doctoral researcher for the next two years, providing critical resources to advance their commercialization efforts.
Lan Xu, research manager in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture’s grain quality laboratory, received the department’s Staff Advisory Committee Professional Development Award. This award provides funding of up to $500 to attend a professional event. Xu will be attending the 2026 Wheat Quality Council Annual Meeting. Xu develops and evaluates Nebraska wheat cultivars for use in healthy nutritional food in domestic and international markets.
Appointments
Steve Willborn, Judge Harry A. Spencer Professor of Law, has been invited by the United States Department of State and the Institute of International Education to serve on the Fulbright National Screen Committee. Willborn will review applications specifically for the Fulbright United Kingdom program and nominate applicants as semi-finalists to the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. Willborn was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of London’s Institute of Advanced Legal Studies from 1985 to 1986.
Publications
"Polarising Sexualities and Genders," a new anthology co-edited by Emily Kazyak, was published by Bloomsbury Publishing on Oct. 2. Leading and emerging scholars in multiple disciplines across the globe offer perspectives that explore change in social, legal, and political sexual/gendered/LGBTQIA+ landscapes. Kazyak, professor of sociology, contributed two chapters.
Brett Ratcliffe, professor emeritus of entomology, published his 12th book, "The Dynastine Scarab Beetles of Peru." In the book, the 53 genera and 312 species and subspecies of dynastine scarab beetles that occur in Peru are comprehensively reviewed. Bilingual keys are presented for the identification of tribes, genera, and species. Descriptions, diagnoses, monthly adult activity, notes on natural history, color illustrations, global geographic distribution, a Peruvian distribution map, and localities of collection in the study area are provided for each species. Ratcliffe is a specialist in the taxonomy, biology, ecology, phylogeny and biogeography of scarab beetles. He conducted research and collected data in the Neotropics annually from 1971 to 2017.
A study by researchers in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture was featured Oct. 28 in the CSA News, “Nitrogen supply affects soybean yield differently within the canopy.” Nitrogen, a vital nutrient for soybean growth, is becoming a yield-limiting factor in high-yield potential fields due to mismatches between nitrogen supply and plant demand. To better understand this relationship, researchers studied nine high-yielding irrigated soybean fields across Nebraska under two treatments: one with no added nitrogen and another with full nitrogen supply. CSA News is a publication of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America.
