Accolades News for Researchers
Posted December 1, 2025 by Tiffany Lee
Accolades are compiled from faculty and staff submissions, the Office of Research and Innovation’s external recognition and awards coordinator, the Achievements column published by University Communication and Marketing, and college, center and departmental websites.
Honors and Recognitions
Herman Batelaan, physics and astronomy, received the 2026 Davisson-Germer Prize from the American Physical Society. The award, presented since 1969 by APS, recognizes outstanding work in the fields of atomic physics and surface science. Batelaan was selected for his cutting-edge work revealing how electrons behave in the world of quantum physics, particularly his role in developing the field of free-electron quantum optics. He will be recognized at the APS March Meeting in Denver.
Marianna Burks, biological sciences, and Angie Pannier, 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 the STEM fields.
Gregory Dickinson, law, was selected as a Bowden Non-Resident Fellow at the Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. The fellows program supports academics from every viewpoint as they develop their scholarship and thinking related to the First Amendment. Dickinson will present his work to faculty and students as a keynote in the Bowden Fellows Speaker Series hosted at Texas Law.
Kristen Graves, Glenn Korff School of Music, received the Bess Lomax Hawes Paper/Project 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.”
Melanie Griffin, University Libraries, was selected into the 2025 cohort of the Association of Research Libraries Leadership Fellows Program. She joins 24 other fellows, chosen based on recommendations from the LFP Selection Working Group, for a 13-month hybrid experience designed to prepare the next generation of senior and executive leaders in research libraries and archives.
Andrew Hanna, 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.
Shana Gerdes, administrative associate with the Nebraska LEAD Program, received the Program Support Award from the International Association of Programs for Agricultural Leadership. The annual award recognizes an individual who demonstrates outstanding commitment to the success and advancement of agricultural leadership programs worldwide. Gerdes was honored for the more than 17 years of leadership and organizational expertise she’s provided to the Nebraska LEAD Program, a two-year leadership program for Nebraskans involved in agriculture.
Jiong Hu, civil and environmental engineering, was named a fellow of the American Concrete Institute. Fellows are selected for outstanding contributions to the production or use of concrete materials, products and structures and for service to ACI. Hu has more than 20 years of experience in the professional practice of transportation and the built environment materials field, particularly in the concrete materials area.
Matt Kreifels, agricultural leadership, education and communication, received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the National FFA Alumni and Supporters. The award is the highest honor presented by the organization and recognizes exceptional leadership and service to agricultural education and FFA. Kreifels was honored for his more than two decades of work to prepare future agricultural educators and expand FFA programs. He was recognized during the 98th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, held Oct. 29 to Nov. 1.
John Lenich, law (emeritus), 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. The changes have improved efficiency for litigants, attorneys and judges and advanced the administration of justice across Nebraska.
Andrew Little, natural resources, served as the Nebraska state superintendent for the Environment and Natural Resources Career Development Event, which was held at the 98th National FFA Convention & Expo in Indianapolis, Oct. 29 to Nov. 1. Nebraska’s Overton FFA Chapter was named the national champion in that event, which tests students’ knowledge in areas like soils, GPS, waste management and water. Little administers the event and provides coaching to teams as part of IANR’s Extension programming.
Barney McCoy, broadcasting, directed, produced and narrated “Running Towards the Fire: A War Correspondent’s Story.” The Society of Professional Journalists honored the documentary with the Sigma Delta Chi Television Documentary-Small Market Station Award during a recent online ceremony. The film captures the pivotal role war correspondents played during the Allied forces’ 1944 D-Day invasion of Europe and the subsequent defeat of Nazi Germany and the Axis Powers in 1945.
Mackenzie Savaiano, special education and communication disorders, received the 2025 Alan Koenig Research Award from Getting in Touch with Literacy. The award recognizes exemplary commitment, research and advancement in the education and literacy development of individuals with visual impairments and deafblindness. Savaiano was presented with the award at the GITWL conference Nov. 7 in Huntsville, Alabama.
Yanan “Laura” Wang, electrical and computer engineering, earned the U.S. Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program Award. The DOE program is a prestigious initiative that supports outstanding early-career scientists in pursuing high-impact research, with only 80-90 researchers supported across the nation each year. With program support, Wang will advance her work on a special family of materials called van der Waals layered crystals.
Yan Ruth Xia, child, youth and family studies, was named a fellow of the National Council on Family Relations. Fellows are selected for their outstanding contributions to family science, including broadly impactful scholarship, teaching, outreach, practice and professional service. Xia, who is known for her research on Chinese adolescents and the behavioral and mental health of immigrant youth, was particularly recognized for her contributions to mentorship. She was honored during the 2025 NCFR Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland, in November.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln climbed seven spots to rank No. 35 globally in the 2026 Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine list of the Top 50 Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs. Nebraska is the top-ranked university in the state and No. 10 in the Midwest. The ranking evaluated each school’s entrepreneurship programs, faculty, student experiences and alumni success using more than 40 data points.
Publications
Emily Kazyak, sociology, co-edited a new anthology, “Polarising Sexualities and Genders,” which 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 contributed two chapters.
Brett Ratcliffe, entomology (emeritus), 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. Ratcliffe, a specialist in the taxonomy, biology, ecology, phylogeny and biogeography of scarab beetles, conducted research in the Neotropics annually from 1971 to 2017.
Professional Service
Yvonne Lai, mathematics, was elected the next vice president of the Mathematical Association of America. She will take office July 1, 2026. Lai has held several leadership roles in the MAA, including chair of MAA’s Committee on the Mathematical Education of Teachers and co-founder of the SIGMAA on Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching.
Steve Willborn, law, was 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.
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