Accolades News for Researchers
Posted May 29, 2026 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
Edgar Cahoon, biochemistry and director of the Center for Plant Science Innovation, was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, one of the nation’s highest honors for scientists and engineers. He is the sixth Husker faculty member, and the second affiliated with PSI, to be elected to the academy. Cahoon, an internationally recognized expert in plant lipid biotechnology, conducts research aimed at advancing biofuels, improving crop resilience and developing more nutrient-dense grains. As leader of the Center for Plant Science Innovation, he has expanded its national research profile and mentored nearly 40 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers.
John Carroll, natural resources, is the recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award. The scholar program offers more than 380 awards in more than 120 countries for U.S. citizens to teach, conduct research and carry out professional projects around the world. Carroll will be traveling to India for his Fulbright fellowship.
Jeff M. Chambers, Center on Children, Families and the Law, received the 2026 Making a Difference Award from the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority. The award recognizes an individual or organization whose work has made a meaningful impact on housing and community development in Nebraska. Chambers, senior project director of the Community Services Division at CCFL, was recognized for his ongoing work to reduce homelessness, ensuring it is rare, brief and non-recurring.
Jessica Corman, natural resources, is the recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award. She will travel to Spain for her Fulbright fellowship.
Bai Cui, mechanical and materials engineering, was part of a team that received a 2025 R&D 100 Award. Often referred to as the “Oscars of Innovation,” the R&D 100 Awards is a prestigious innovation awards program that honors R&D pioneers and the revolutionary commercial products, technologies and materials introduced to the marketplace each year. Cui was part of the Solid-state Additively Manufactured Transition Joints for Extreme Environment, or SAM+J, team, which leverages additive manufacturing and solid-state bonding to seamlessly integrate dissimilar metals. SAM+J delivers six times extended durability, exceptional performance in extreme environments and versatile applications across power, aerospace and energy systems – solving a decades-old challenge in structural engineering.
Amy Desaulniers and Renee McFee, veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences, received high honors from the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. Desaulniers will receive the 2026 NACTA Educator Award, which honors faculty who demonstrate outstanding teaching, student engagement and a commitment to advancing agricultural education. McFee is receiving the NACTA Teaching Scholar Award, which salutes a past NACTA Educator Award recipient who demonstrates instructional excellence, involvement with NACTA and teaching influence beyond their own campus. Desaulniers and McFee are key players in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences’ instructional mission, co-teaching the foundational courses of Animal Physiology I and II for animal science graduate and veterinary medicine students. McFee is the coordinator for the Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine, a cooperative educational program between UNL and Iowa State University. Both she and Desaulniers will be formally recognized during the NACTA Awards Luncheon on June 24 in Mississippi during the organization’s annual conference.
Patricio Grassini, agronomy and horticulture, was elected as a fellow of the American Society of Agronomy. The designation, given to just 0.3% of the group’s members, is the highest recognition the society offers. Grassini conducts research that addresses global issues related to crop use and sustainability to address environmental challenges and meet growing demand for food. For more than a decade, he’s led the international Yield Potential and Yield Gap Atlas project, the world’s leading agronomic database. He also works with Nebraska farmers to increase yields and profits through individualized experiments.
Valerie Jones, advertising and public relations, received a Fulbright Specialist Award. The specialist program connects U.S. academics and professionals with host institutions worldwide to work on short-term collaborative projects that support knowledge exchange and institutional development. At the University of Agder in Norway, Jones will lend expertise on a project aimed at widening the university’s global outreach, including leading workshops on social media strategy and delivering guest lectures in executive education courses on responsible AI, data ethics and digital communications. She will also conduct a brand and communications audit of the Information Systems Ph.D. program.
Paul Kononoff, animal science, received the American Feed Industry Association Award from the American Dairy Science Association. The award recognizes an individual who has made a worthy contribution to research in dairy cattle nutrition within the past 10 years. Kononoff’s work focuses on feeding lactating dairy cows, including forage quality, particle size, feed characterization, byproduct use and energy metabolism. He co-invented the Penn State Particle Separator, an on-farm diagnostic tool, and applies indirect calorimetry to study methane and energy use.
Richard Leiter, law, received the Marian Gould Gallagher Distinguished Service Award from the American Association of Law Libraries. The award – the association’s highest honor – recognizes individuals for exceptional and sustained service to AALL or for significant contributions to the professional literature. Honorees are individuals who have recently concluded or are approaching the culmination of a distinguished and impactful career in the field. Leiter has made lasting contributions to legal research, bibliography and the development of legal information resources. As a leader, educator and author, he has played a significant role in shaping the way legal materials are organized, understood and used.
Amanda Morales, teaching, learning and teacher education, received the Great Plains Milestone Award from the Nebraska State Education Association. She was recognized for her work to advance human and civil rights in education. Morales was honored at the Horace Mann Awards Luncheon on April 27.
Jessica Shoemaker, law, was named a fellow of Harvard University’s Radcliffe Institute for the 2026-27 academic year. The Radcliffe Fellowship Program gives artists, scholars and public intellectuals dedicated time to pursue ambitious projects in an interdisciplinary environment at Harvard University. As a Radcliffe-Salata Climate Justice Fellow, Shoemaker will work on “Ground Rules: Property and the Making and Remaking of the American Countryside,” a book examining private property law not as a quiet background condition, but as an active site of social design and democratic choice. The project explores how property rules shape rural landscapes, including through contemporary conflicts over farmland transitions, energy infrastructure and Indigenous land claims.
Gerald Steinacher, history, was named the 2028-29 J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Senior Scholar-in-Residence at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The fellowship – considered a high honor in Holocaust studies – enables the museum to bring a distinguished scholar to conduct innovative Holocaust research and share it widely through lectures, seminars and public engagement for one academic year. As part of the fellowship, Steinacher will work on a biography of Alois Hudal.
Jay Storz, biological sciences, is the recipient of a Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award. The honor will enable him to travel to Argentina, where he will expand his research focused on animal survival at extreme elevations. Storz will collaborate with Paola Sassi, a physiologist and ecophysiology expert with the Instituto Argentino de Investigaciones de Zonas Áridas, which is part of Argentina’s national research system. Storz will advance his work focused on the genetic adaptations and physiological plasticity of the Andean leaf-eared mouse, the world’s highest-dwelling mammal that Storz’s team discovered at record altitude in 2020.
Stephen Taylor, food science and technology (emeritus), received the Allergen Bureau Life Membership honor from the Allergen Bureau of Australia and New Zealand. The membership recognizes extraordinary, non-financial contributions to the bureau and the broader allergen management community. Taylor was honored for pioneering scientific leadership as chair of the VITAL Scientific Expert Panel and advancing global acceptance of allergen reference doses.
Marilyn Wolf, computing, earned the 2024 Technical Achievement Award from the IEEE Technical Committee on Cyber-Physical Systems. The award recognizes significant and sustained contributions to the cyber-physical system community. Selection is based on the impact of high-quality research across a career. Wolf received the award for pioneering contributions to hardware and software co-design for cyber-physical systems.
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln ranked No. 1 in North America and No. 12 in the world for business school actuarial science research productivity in the latest UNL Global Research Rankings of Actuarial Science and Risk Management and Insurance. The database ranks schools using an objective measure of publications, which reflects sustained research productivity, innovation and collaboration. Yijia Lin, V.J. Skutt Distinguished Professor and professor of finance at Nebraska, launched the ranking system in 2019 to provide a consistent benchmark for measuring research contributions in actuarial science, risk management and insurance.
The hard red winter wheat line NE20620, produced by the university’s small-grains breeding program, was selected for the Miller’s Choice Award 2026 from the Wheat Quality Council. The regional award honors exceptional quality for milling, mixing and baking, determined through rigorous blind tests by multiple testers with the council. In earning the honor, Nebraska beat out breeding programs from other public universities and private industry.
Publications
Max Perry Mueller, history, is author of “Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West.” The book – a biography of the Ute leader Wakara, one of the most influential and feared men in the 19th century American West – was named a finalist for the Plutarch Award, the premier international prize for biographies. Mueller’s book was selected from among approximately 200 biographies spanning a wide range of subjects and approaches. The competition is judged by accomplished biographers.
Susan Swearer, educational psychology, was one of three contributing authors to the World Youth Report: Youth Mental Health and Well-being, released by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Swearer, the only contributing author from the United States, lent expertise focused on bullying behaviors, technology and the digital environment as it relates to youth mental health. The publication is a global effort that highlights the varied experiences of youth worldwide and provides recommendations for proactive mental health strategies.
Professional Service
Kathy Farrell, James Jr. and Susan Stuart Endowed Dean of the College of Business, represented the university at the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International Conference and Meetings in Seattle in April. Nebraska was an early leader in formal business education and one of the 17 founding members of the AACSB in 1916. Farrell helped mark the association’s 110th anniversary by sharing milestones in its effort to advance business education. Laurie Miller, associate dean of undergraduate programs and curriculum and professor of practice of economics, was also a featured speaker at the conference.
Other News
Donald Becker has been reappointed as head of the Department of Biochemistry, effective July 1. Becker, who has led the department since 2020, has played a key role in advancing research excellence and student success in biochemistry. The department is recognized for strong integration of physical, biological and molecular sciences in research and education and is one of the top biochemistry programs in the Big Ten.
Jennifer Mize Nelson was named vice chancellor for research and innovation at UNL, pending approval by the University of Nebraska Board of Regents. In this role, she will oversee the university’s research and economic development enterprise and play a central role in elevating Nebraska’s national research profile. She had served as interim in this position since November 2024, focusing on strengthening the university’s research culture and building connections between faculty, research support services and external partners. Before joining the Office of Research and Innovation in 2019, she was director of administration for the Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior. Nelson earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UCLA and a doctorate in clinical child psychology from the University of Kansas. She completed a predoctoral clinical internship at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford and the Children’s Health Council.
Research News Accolades Submission Form
