Accolades News for Researchers
Posted July 31, 2025 by Tiffany Lee
Honors and Recognitions
Roger Hoy, biological systems engineering, received the John Deere Gold Medal from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. The award, sponsored by the John Deere Foundation, recognizes distinguished achievement in the application of science and art to the soil, especially improvements in the manipulation, use and conservation of soil and water resources. Hoy, who is a professor and director of the Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory, focuses his research on tractor performance and roll-over protection. He is set to retire this year, ending a nearly 20-year span of leadership at the NTTL.
David Lott, Nebraska Extension, received the Distinguished Service Award from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents. The award honors NACAA members with at least 10 years of service who are held in high esteem by their colleagues and have demonstrated an outstanding extension program. Lott, a horticulture educator at the Lincoln-Logan-McPherson Extension Office in North Platte, focuses his work on home vegetable and fruit production, resource-efficient landscapes and oversight of the West Central Nebraska Extension Master Gardener Program. Across his career, his outreach efforts have reached more than 1.3 million people through mass and social media. He was recognized July 1 during the association’s 2025 Annual Meeting and Professional Improvement Conference in Billings, Montana.
Barney McCoy, journalism, produced and directed “Running Towards the Fire,” which will receive the Sigma Delta Chi Television Documentary, Small Market Station Award this fall from the Society of Professional Journalists. The documentary – a co-production between Painted Rock Productions, Nebraska Public Media and the College of Journalism and Mass Communications – captures the pivotal roles of war correspondents during the Allies’ 1944 D-Day invasion of Europe and the subsequent defeat of Nazi Germany and the Axis powers in 1945. Multiple other CoJMC personnel contributed to the project, including Kristian Anderson, who was videographer, primary editor and effects editor.
Christopher Neale, biological systems engineering, was named a fellow of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Fellowship is ASABE’s highest honor and recognizes a member of unusual professional distinction, with outstanding and extraordinary qualifications and experience in, or related to, the field of agricultural, food, or biological systems engineering. Neale is director of research for the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute and focuses his work on developing remote sensing applications for irrigated agriculture, hydrology and natural resources monitoring. He was honored at the 2025 ASABE Annual International Meeting, held July 13-16 in Toronto.
Petronela Radu, mathematics, was selected as a research fellow in the Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) Research Fellowship Program. The program, launched this year, is aimed at supporting and advancing the careers of exceptional researchers in expanding their broader impacts work. Fellows will also strengthen their network with peers and disseminate effective broader impacts practices through publications and presentations. Radu met other fellows and program leadership during a July workshop and will conclude her fellowship by presenting at the 2026 ARIS Summit. The National Science Foundation funds ARIS.
Christopher Schafhauser, mathematics, received the 2025 Israel Halperin Prize from the Canadian Mathematical Society. The prize, awarded every five years, honors outstanding work in operator algebras or operatory theory to members of the Canadian mathematical community who are within 10 years of receiving their doctorate. Schafhauser, who came to UNL from York University in Toronto, was recognized for his work in the field of C*-algebras. In 2024, Schafhauser also received the Barbara and Jaroslav Zemánek Prize in functional analysis from the Institute of Mathematics of the Polish Academy of Sciences for his outstanding contributions to the classification and structure theory of C*-algebras, particularly to the Elliott classification program.
Amy Schmidt, biological systems engineering, received the G.B. Gunlogson Countryside Engineering Award from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. The award honors engineering practices that result in the enhancement of techniques or technology for countryside development, or plans, programs or other leadership activities that promote the development of the countryside. Schmidt’s research focuses on animal manure management, nutrient management and water quality.
Faculty, staff and students from the university’s Department of Entomology were recognized at the 2025 North Central Branch Meeting of the Entomological Society of America. The annual event, which recognizes excellence in the entomology field, was April 12-16 in Lincoln. The following Huskers were honored:
- Louise Lynch-O’Brien, associate professor of entomology, received the Award for Excellence in Teaching.
- Jody Green, Nebraska Extension educator, received the Award for Excellence in Extension.
- Erin Bauer, entomology lecturer, and Josh Villazana, pesticide safety and education program coordinator, earned the Educational Project Award.
- Nine Husker students received awards at the meeting’s 12 student presentation competitions – more than any other university represented.
The university’s agriculture and natural resources programs rank in the top 10% of nearly 500 institutions worldwide, according to the new QS World University Rankings. Overall, the programs placed 46th among 475 universities ranked by Quacquarelli Symonds, a global higher education company that produces the annual ranking. In the employer reputation category – which measures student employability based on a survey of employers – Nebraska is ranked third among Big Ten land-grant universities.
Publications
Hamid Bagheri, computing, and Mohammad Rashedul Hasan, electrical and computer engineering, along with co-authors Clay Stevens of Iowa State University and Mohannad Alhanahnah of Chalmers University of Technology/Gothenburg University, received the Dependable Systems and Networks 2025 Distinguished Artifact Award. The award recognizes the artifact from a submitted research paper that has the highest degree of reproducibility, allows other researchers to easily build upon the artifact’s functionality, and substantially supports the claims of the paper. Bagheri and Hasan’s paper is titled “Towards More Dependable Specifications: An Empirical Study Exploring the Synergy of Traditional and LLM-Based Repair Approaches.” The award was presented at the 55th Annual IEEE/IFIP International Conference on Dependable Systems and Networks, held June 23-26 in Naples, Italy.
Robert Campbell, management, and recent Husker Ph.D. graduate Diego Villalpando published a paper in the Journal of Management focused on the benefits of synchronizing the appointment of a new CEO with the beginning of the calendar or fiscal year. The Harvard Business Review highlighted the article. Liliana Pérez-Nordtvedt of the University of Texas at Arlington is a co-author.
Becky Haddad, agricultural leadership, education and communication, along with Rebecca Mott and Nathan Herd from the University of Missouri, received the Distinguished Manuscript recognition at the 2025 American Association for Agricultural Education National Conference. They were recognized for “A Call to Better Qual: The Science and Art of Interviewing.”
Ashley Votruba, psychology; Lisa PytlikZillig, Nebraska Public Policy Center; and Abigail Herzfeld, a graduate student in the university’s Law-Psychology program, received the Best Paper Award (2023-2025) from the Journal of Trust Research. The paper is titled “How does trust in multiple trustees influence disclosure of workplace conflict? Testing the perceived influence model of trust.” The award was announced at the 2025 First International Network on Trust meeting in Genoa, Italy.
Professional Service
Andrew Hanna, management, was elected to serve a three-year term on the board of directors for the Southern Management Association, an affiliate of the Academy of Management. The association’s goal is to develop and disseminate new ideas and approaches to the research, teaching and practice of management through collegial relationships and to share expertise about achieving excellence in academic and professional roles.
Other News
Ben Lennander has been named the assistant vice chancellor for human resources and chief people officer. The appointment was announced July 14 by Mike Zeleny, vice chancellor for business and finance. The newly expanded role includes the chief people officer designation, reflecting the university’s commitment to creating an exceptional culture and work environment that empowers employees to successfully carry out the mission of the university. In this capacity, Lennander will continue providing executive leadership for the institution’s human resource operations spanning seven specialized departments.
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