9:00 a.m.

Registration and light refreshments

10:00 a.m.

Welcome & Charge to Participants

• Harvey Perlman, Chancellor
• Prem S. Paul, Vice chancellor for research and economic development
• James L. Van Etten, Professor and Retreat Chair

Chancellor Harvey Perlman was named the 19th Chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on April 1, 2001. He served as interim chancellor since July 16, 2000. A former dean of the University of Nebraska College of Law (1983-1998), Perlman has also served as interim senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at UNL (1995-96). Perlman, a Nebraska native, was raised in York, Neb., and earned a bachelor of arts in history and a juris doctorate from the University of Nebraska.

He joined the NU law faculty in 1967 after spending a year as a Bigelow Teaching Fellow at the University of Chicago Law School. He served on the Nebraska law faculty until 1974 when he joined the faculty at the University of Virginia Law School. He returned to Nebraska in 1983 when he accepted the deanship of the Nebraska Law College, a post he held until 1998 when he returned to the professoriate. He has also served as a visiting professor at Florida State University College of Law, the University of Puget Sound School of Law and the University of Iowa College of Law. His area of legal expertise lies in torts and intellectual property.

10:30 a.m.

Transportation address, Dan Murray, Vice President of Research, American Transportation Research Institute, followed by Q&A

As Vice President of Research for the American Transportation Research Institute, Mr. Murray is responsible for developing and directing ATRI's substantial portfolio of trucking and transportation-related research and training initiatives. Mr. Murray works closely with academia, industry representatives, other research entities and all levels of government to identify and address the pressing needs of transportation stakeholders -- with a particular emphasis on: safety and human factors, economic analyses, technology and training, transportation security, and environmental factors.

He presently or formerly represents the industry on several transportation-related boards including the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO); MN Guidestar (ITS); Midwest Transportation Alliance; and the Transportation Policy Institute. He has participated in several national security initiatives conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, Council on Competitiveness and/or the U.S. DOT.  Prior to joining the ATA Foundation, Mr. Murray worked for the Regional Transit Board (Minneapolis/St. Paul) as Project Administrator in public policy, legislative programs and contract management. He also spent several years working in economic development for the Chicago Civic Committee, a Fortune 100 business consortium.

Mr. Murray received his bachelor of arts from Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., and his master of science degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

12:00 noon

Lunch

1:30 p.m.

UNL Center/Program Presentations:

• Nebraska Transportation Center (Larry Rilett & Dean Sicking)
• Public Policy Center (Alan Tomkins)
• Business & Informational Science (David Olson)
• Energy & Bioscience (Tom Clemente)
• Center for Digital Humanities (Ken Price & Kay Walters)

2:30 p.m.

Break

2:45 p.m.

Faculty Breakout Groups

• Risk, Safety, & Security (Andy Nowak & Mario Scalora)
• Social Factors & Public Policy (Alan Tomkins & Libby Jones)
• Business & Logistics (David Olson)
• History & Communication (Will Thomas & Larry Rilett)

4:15 p.m.

Reports from Faculty Breakout Groups

4:45 p.m.

Break

5:00 p.m.

Keynote Address, presented by Theodore Brown Co-Chair, National Academies Committee on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research and founding director emeritus, Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology

UNL Response from Barbara Couture, Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, followed by faculty Q&A

Theodore Brown is Professor Emeritus of Chemistry at the University of Illinois–Urbana Champaign, and Founding Director Emeritus of the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Institute at that institution. Dr. Brown received his Ph.D. from Michigan State University in 1956. He has been a faculty member in the UIUC Department of Chemistry since 1956 (he assumed emeritus status in January 1994). During 1980-1986 he served as Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean, Graduate College. In 1987 he became the first director of the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Institute (1987-1993).

He was President of the Association of Graduate Schools during, participated in the National Academies Government-University-Industry Research Roundtable, and during 2003-2005 he co-chaired a National Academies committee under the auspices of the Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, on Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research. He’s been a member of the Board of Directors of the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation since 1994.

Brown's fields of research interests were inorganic chemistry and organometallic chemistry, with an emphasis on the kinetics and mechanisms of reactions. His current interests are in the cognitive, philosophical and social aspects of the scientific enterprise. He recently authored the book, Making Truth: Metaphor in Science (http://www.press.uillinois.edu/s03/brown.html), which explores the essential roles of metaphorical reasoning in science. At present he is at work on a book on the authority and moral authority of science in society. He continues as a coauthor of the best-selling general chemistry text, Chemistry: The Central Science, now in its 10th edition. Among his honors and awards: Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (1987); Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1994); American Chemical Society Awards: for Research in Inorganic Chemistry, 1972; for Distinguished Service in the Advancement of Inorganic Chemistry (1993). He was a Guggenheim Fellow (1979-80).

6:30 p.m.

Cocktail Reception and Display of UNL Centers

7:30 p.m.

Dinner, followed by social time to interact with fellow faculty members

8:00 a.m.

Buffet breakfast in Lodge Dining Room (served starting at 7:00 a.m.)

8:30 a.m.

Strategies for Enhancing Interdisciplinary Successes at UNL

• Prem S. Paul, Vice chancellor for research and economic development
• James L. Van Etten, Professor and Retreat Chair

9:00 a.m.

Math & Science Education address, Jeffrey Osborn, Outreach Professor, Science Education, University of Kentucky, followed by Q&A

Dr. Jeffrey Osborn is the Outreach Professor for the Appalachian Math Science Partnership at the University of Kentucky. He earned his bachelor’s degree in biology at Amherst College and master’s and doctorate degrees at Michigan State University. He served as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Iowa.

The laboratory of Dr. Jeffrey Osborn at the University of Kentucky Department of Biological Sciences provides a specialized environment that allow students and teachers of all ages to experience "science in action." The physiological research laboratory focuses upon the study of the neural control of renal sodium and water balance and the role of renal sympathetic control mechanisms in genetic models of hypertension. Current studies involve studying brain angiotensin II, sodium intake and the renal neurogenic mechanisms the control blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats. 

The educational research program focuses on: 1) providing school districts, teachers and students with the resources and tools for stimulating students to "learn science as scientific research is conducted;" 2) teachers and students linking with university resources through the Appalachian Math Science Partnership; 3) improving student achievement through the Appalachian and Minority Science, Technology, Engineering and Math Majors Program, and 4) conducting educational research on how technology and new methods of distance learning can increase K-12 student achievement in rural schools.

10:30 a.m.

Break

10:45 a.m.

UNL Center/Program Presentations

• Center for Science, Mathematics & Computer Education (Jim Lewis)
• Informal Science Education Programs-Explore Evolution (Judy Diamond & Charles Wood)
• Sandhills Biocomplexity Project: Education Outreach (David Wedin & David Gosselin)
• University & K-12 Math & Science Education Partnerships (Tom McGowan)

11:45 a.m.

Working lunch/Faculty Breakout Groups

• Teacher Education (Jim Lewis)
• K-12 Outreach (Tiffany Heng-Moss)
• Developing Interdisciplinary STEM Education - Undergraduate (John Janovy)
• Developing Interdisciplinary STEM Education - Graduate (Walt Stroup)

1:30 p.m.

Reports from Faculty Breakout Groups

2:00 p.m.

Concluding remarks, Vice Chancellor Prem Paul