Accolades News for Researchers
Posted January 31, 2025 by Tiffany Lee
Honors and Recognitions
Jason Griffiths, architecture, received a 2025 Architectural Education Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture. The awards honor architectural educators for exemplary work in areas like building design, community collaborations, scholarship and service. Griffiths received a Design-Build Award, which honors the best practices in school-based design-build projects. He was honored for “BLIND,” a prairie dog observation structure in Ogallala, Nebraska.
Paul Kononoff, animal science, received the Philip H. Cole Industry Person of the Year award from the Nebraska State Dairy Association. The annual award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to advancing the Nebraska dairy industry through leadership, innovation and dedication. Kononoff, a dairy nutrition extension specialist at Nebraska, was selected for his research, mentorship and support for Nebraska’s dairy producers. He will be honored at the Nebraska State Dairy Association Annual Meeting and Tradeshow on Feb. 25 in West Point, Nebraska.
Patrice McMahon, political science, was selected for the Bellagio Center Residency program in Lake Como, Italy. The program allows for exchange among residents of various disciplines, geographies and backgrounds. During her tenure, McMahon will work on her Ordinary People project, which focuses on the motivations, practices and limitations of grassroots humanitarianism. The project earned funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities in April 2024.
Maital Neta, psychology, received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. It is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientists and engineers. Neta, Carl A. Happold Professor of psychology, directs the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab and is resident faculty of the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior. Her lab pursues novel research exploring how people process and cope with uncertainty and tests interventions that promote psychological well-being. Neta has partnered with Nebraska Athletics to examine the factors relating to concussions and traumatic brain injuries using the latest technology at CB3.
Jae Sung Park, mechanical and materials engineering, received the Rising Star of Mechanical Engineering award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. The award honors early career engineers who are advancing the engineering profession and inspiring the next generation of engineers. Park, an expert in fluid mechanics, was honored at the 2024 ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition in November 2024 in Portland, Oregon.
Publications
Roch Gaussoin, agronomy and horticulture (emeritus), Laila Puntel, agronomy and horticulture (adjunct), and alumnus Michael Carlson authored “A Review of Precision Management for Golf Course Turfgrass,” which was selected by the Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management journal as the 2024 Outstanding Paper in the Applied Turfgrass Science Section. The journal is published by the American Society of Agronomy and Crop Science Society of America.
Sharon Kuska, architecture, co-authored the 13th edition of “Simplified Engineering for Architects and Builders,” the gold standard of structural design textbooks. Kuska modernized and expanded on the material in the book, which was first published in 1938. She authored new sections on mass timber and sustainability and incorporated advancements in engineering and architectural methodologies, including alignment with the latest building codes and standards.
Books published by the University of Nebraska Press have recently received accolades:
- “Between the Wires: The Janowska Camp and the Holocaust in Lviv” by Waitman Wade Beorn was a 2024 National Jewish Book Award finalist in Holocaust Studies. The National Jewish Book Awards, one of the Jewish Book Council’s longest-running programs, recognize authors and encourage reading of outstanding English-language books of Jewish interest.
- “Lion of the League: Bob Emslie and the Evolution of the Baseball Umpire” by Larry R. Gerlach, a University of Nebraska alumnus, won the 2025 Dr. Harold and Dorothy Seymour Medal sponsored by the Society for American Baseball Research. The medal honors the best book of baseball history or biography published during the preceding calendar year. Another UNP-published book, “Leave While the Party’s Good: The Life and Legacy of Baseball Executive Harry Dalton” by Lee C. Kluck, was a finalist for the 2025 Seymour Medal.
Professional Service
Alok Kumar, marketing, was reappointed associate editor for the Journal of Marketing and area editor for the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. He will begin his second three-year term at the prestigious journals, as well as serve as a guest associate editor and a member of the editorial review board for the Journal of Marketing Research.
Other News
Tyre “T.J.” McDowell Jr. has been named assistant vice chancellor and dean of students in the university’s Division of Student Life. In this position, McDowell will be Nebraska’s chief student advocate, providing visionary and strategic leadership to student support services. He brings wide-ranging expertise to the role, including experience as senior adviser and chief of staff to Leirion Gaylor Baird, the mayor of Lincoln; assistant vice chancellor for student life and leadership and acting Title IX coordinator at UNL; assistant dean of students, associate vice president and vice president of campus community at Nebraska Wesleyan University; executive director of the Clyde Malone Community Center; and executive director of Lighthouse.
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