Women in Science
In 2007, according
to the National Science Foundation, "Women continue to be significantly
underrepresented in almost all science and engineering fields, constituting
only approximately 25 percent of the science and engineering workforce at large
and less than 21 percent of science and engineering faculty …." Despite the societal and institutional
challenges women in science face, for most of its history the College of Arts
and Sciences has been fortunate to have among its faculty women scientists who
are excellent scholars, strong leaders and passionate supporters of the
university. Among the early leaders were Nell Ward in chemistry, Margaret
Gessaman in mathematics, and Barbara Hayhome in biology. Here, we provide a
profile of these UNO pioneers.
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Nell Ward
In 1918, when a newly-founded OU was struggling to stay alive,
administrators made the fortuitous decision to hire Nell Ward, who had earned
her master's degree in chemistry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in
1916. Unlike most of the science faculty from these early years who would teach
for a year or two and then move on to more established institutions, Ward
stayed. In 1922 she organized Gamma Pi Sigma at UNO, an honorary chemistry
fraternity. Ward also sponsored a Pre-Med club and a Chemistry Club.
Ward helped build
the university's chemistry program and contributed to the establishment of
other science programs. She became dean of sciences in 1927. In 1939 she earned
her doctorate in chemistry from the University of Iowa. In 1948, when the
chemistry program broke from the other sciences to form a department, Ward
became department chair.
In the 1940s Ward's
research focused on analysis of cobalt and manganese in the presence of each
other. These two metals were critical for war industries during World War II.
In 1942 she published "Determination of Cobalt and Manganese by Photometric
Methods" with her colleague, Louis Waldbauer of Iowa State, in Industrial and
Engineering Chemistry, an American Chemical Society publication.
During her career
Ward was a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Association
for Advancement of Science, the Nebraska Academy of Science, and American Men
of Science. Ward retired from UNO in 1955 and passed away in 1986 at the age of
91. Nell Ward Scholarships were established in her honor and are funded through
the University of Nebraska Foundation with generous donations from William and
Margaret March and Timothy and Florence Leon.
That women are fully
capable of excelling in the sciences and in academia is evidenced by thousands
of cases such as Ward's nationwide. In fact, in 1870 women constituted
one-third of the faculty in institutions of higher learning. By 1970, however, that number had dropped to
10 percent. The number of department chair positions held by women was at less
than 1 percent. In 1970 representation in the sciences was lower than in
academia in general.
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Margaret Gessaman
It was in 1970 that Dr. Margaret Gessaman joined the mathematics
faculty. Three years later she was appointed chair of the department of
mathematics and computer science.
Gessaman received
her Ph.D. in mathematics from Montana State University in 1966 and taught at
Ithaca College for several years before coming to UNO.
She remained chair
for mathematics and computer science at UNO until 1980, when she was appointed
dean of graduate studies and research. Dr. Jack Heidel, current chair of
mathematics, writes of Gessaman's tenure as graduate dean: "As dean her voice
was persistently raised in defense of high scholarly standards. She
strengthened the graduate college in the crucial areas of academic and
curricular quality and rigor.
"In the early 1980s
Gessaman was instrumental in obtaining for the UNO physics department funds
from the new Nebraska Research Initiative to support research in materials
science. Along with then-Vice Chancellor Otto Bauer she was successful in
persuading system administrators in Lincoln that a UNO unit should be supported
by NRI funds.
"In the late 1980s
Gessaman played an important role in creating a graduate degree program in
computer science within the mathematics and computer science department. She
used her organizational and political skills to overcome strong opposition from
other sectors of the NU system."
In 1983 Gessaman
returned to the mathematics faculty and in 1988 once again was appointed
department chair. During this period she was active in the UNO Faculty Senate
as well as in the continued development of the mathematics program. She
remained chair until her retirement in 2000.
The Margaret P.
Gessaman Doctoral Student Fellowship has been established by the graduate
college in recognition of Gessaman's contributions.
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Barbara Hayhome
Barbara Hayhome
earned her Ph.D. in biology at Chicago University in 1970 and went on to teach
at California State College at Chico. In 1972 she accepted a three-year
research assistantship at Creighton University Medical School, and in 1975 she
became a member of the biology faculty at Midland Lutheran College in Fremont,
Neb.
In 1978, when Hayhome accepted a faculty appointment in the
biology department of UNO, the debate over gender equity had gained public
prominence but the percentage of women in the sciences remained largely
unchanged, perhaps improving by 1 or 2 percent during the previous decade.
In 1984 Hayhome was
appointed chair of the biology department and held that position until she was
appointed assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs and associate dean for
graduate studies in 1989. During her time in these posts Hayhome is credited
with increasing the number of women faculty hired and for helping women faculty
advance in their careers. She was honored for those efforts by the Chancellor's
Commission on the Status of Women at UNO in 1995.
She also is credited
as the driving force in the creation of the undergraduate biotechnology
program. Hayhome was a member of the Phycological Society of America, the
International Phycological Society, the International Society for Evolutionary
Protistology, Sigma Xi, AAAS, AIBS, Botanical Society of America, Genetics
Society of America, and the American Microscopical Society.
In 1995 Hayhome died
of cancer. Her colleague, Dr. David Sutherland writes, "Aware that she was
losing the battle against cancer, Barbara Hayhome decided to make a substantial
bequest to establish an undergraduate scholarship in biology.
"She had to be
persuaded to let the scholarship bear her name, but just before her death
suggested that donations to the fund be encouraged as the best kind of memorial
she could imagine.
"Having spent most
of her life as instructor, scientist, and administrator, Professor Hayhome
placed the highest value on the pursuit of knowledge and fairness, viewing
formal education as the best path to individual and social improvement,
awareness of the wider world, and the keen pleasures of purposeful, useful work
and the life of the mind.
"Assisting a
capable, aspiring student along that path, as the scholarship was designed to
do, is an appropriate Hayhome legacy that honors her memory and honors the
students who will benefit from Barbara's generosity and that of her friends and
associates."
The scholarship was
established through the University of Nebraska Foundation and has been awarded
regularly since 1997.
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Vision of past
becomes vision of future
Couple's generosity, foresight continues with
children and establishment of Martin Fund
Charles Martin Sr.
and his wife, Mary, knew the value of how a vision of history could inform a
vision of the future. And so it was that Martin, a descendant of the Joseph
Barker Sr. family, donated what has become known as the Barker Collection to
the Douglas County Historical Society.
The Barker
collection includes numerous letters written by Joseph Barker Jr. to family in
England. In them, 19th century Omaha is described in vivid detail. The letters
have been 
published by the historical society in two volumes entitled "Their
Man in Omaha." UNO history professor Patrick Kennedy and Chancellor Emeritus
Del Weber were part of a team of editors to compile Volume II of the book.
According to Dr.
Bruce Garver, history department chair, "Charles Martin Sr. and his brother,
Francis Martin, were the owners and managers of a large and successful
insurance business in Omaha during the second and third quarters of the 20th
century. They also were public-spirited citizens and philanthropists who took a
keen interest in history, arts and letters."
Francis Martin,
Garver adds, is best known for his bequest of a collection of outstanding 19th
century French academic paintings to the Joslyn Art Museum.
Although Charles and
Mary Martin may be best known for their donation of the Barker Collection, the
true value of all their gifts will continue to unfold many years into the
future. The couple traveled throughout the American West and created a
comprehensive collection of manuscripts, books and articles on the history of
the Trans Mississippi West, with particular emphasis upon diaries and other
primary accounts of overland journeys and exploration.
According to the Omaha
World Herald's James Ivey in an article published at the time of Charles
Martin's death, Martin "for three years was president of the local historical
society and was a member of the Nebraska State Historical Society. A nationally
recognized expert on the Oregon Trail, in 1988 he received the A. E. Sheldon
award for significant contributions to the preservation of Nebraska History."
Prior to his death
in 2000 Charles Martin established one endowment to support the historical
society's archives and another to install and maintain historical markers
across Nebraska.
One of the couple's
greatest gifts to future generations was bequeathing $500,000 of stock through
the University of Nebraska Foundation for support of teaching and research in
history generally and in the history of the Trans Mississippi West in
particular. Their children,. Julie Videon of Bozeman, Mont., and Dr. Charles
Martin Jr. of Richmond, Ind., consulted with department faculty in creating the
Charles W. and Mary C. Martin Fund to Advance Teaching and Publication about
Western American History, which is funded by income from the endowment.
Among the projects
that can be funded are undergraduate and graduate research stipends, graduate
thesis fellowships, faculty research grants, research equipment and
collections, and teaching enhancement. The fund also provides for two
professorships: The Charles W. and Mary C. Martin Professor of Western American
History and The Charles W. and Mary C. Martin Professor of History.
Projects funded for
the 2005-2006 academic year included travel and other research expenses for two
graduate students working on their master's theses. Brandon Barth is
researching Civil War officer Alfred Sully. Sully served in the Nebraska and
Dakota territories both before and after the Civil War. In his early years he
was known for his skills as an "Indian fighter" and played key roles in later
years in supervision of and investigation of Indian affairs. Ted Wehrbein is
researching Robert B. Crosby, governor of Nebraska from 1953 to 1955 and known
as "the Boy Governor from North Platte."
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Geography's
Retallick remembered
Professor's impact extended
21 years
Harold J. Retallick was the "hero citizen" described in Tom
Brokaw's book "The Greatest Generation." When he passed away at the age of 90
in September 2006, his family, this institution and the country bid farewell to
one more of that modest and self-sacrificing generation.
Professor of
Geography Charles Gildersleeve says of his colleague, "There are times when we
must pause and thank the well-digger when we take a cool drink of water. Harold
was among the best of the well-diggers."
Born in 1916 in Eau
Claire, Wisc., Retallick worked his way through college as a laborer, blueprint
reader, surveyor and pea grader for a local canning company. He married his
high school sweetheart, Lois Gabus, in 1936. After graduating he served as
principal of Ojibwa Public School and as town constable.
He was called to
active duty in B Company of the Wisconsin National Guard and deployed to the
Pacific theater in 1940. He was twice wounded and four times decorated,
receiving the Bronze and Silver Stars for meritorious service above and beyond
the call of duty, the Purple Heart, and the Oak Leaf Cluster.
After the war,
Retallick, as so many other Americans, returned to raise his family and shape a
country. He and Lois moved to Worcester, Mass., with their son Richard. There
Retallick completed work toward master's and doctoral degrees in geography.
Daughter Kathy was born at this time.
Retallick's
dissertation examined the geographical and topographical characteristics of
Alaska's Arctic North Slope prior to the building of the Distant Early Warning
System and was considered classified material for some years.
After completing his
doctorate Retallick taught at Eastern Illinois State College in Charleston,
Ill., where daughter Cheryl was born. He then moved on to Southwest Missouri
State, where he would be the geography and geology faculty for the first 10
years. Retallick added to his curriculum with physical geography, economic
geography, geomorphology, geography of Missouri, conservation of natural
resources, human geography, world geography, geography of the USSR, and
conservation education workshop.
In 1965 Retallick
resigned his post at Missouri to accept an appointment as professor of
geography with the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he specialized in
physical and urban geography. Retallick remained active in several projects
begun while in Missouri, including an excavation sponsored by the Museum of the
Great Plains of an 11,000-year-old mammoth kill. At the same time he became
active in many local projects and service organizations, including the
University of Nebraska Planning Curriculum Committee, Environmental Impact
Committee, Metropolitan Area Planning Agency (MAPA) for Omaha and Council
Bluffs, and the Riverfront Development Program.
Retallick retired
from UNO in 1986.
Gildersleeve
remembers Retallick as someone who "contributed so much and was so very loyal
to our department, university and mission." He adds, "It was an honor to serve
with him here at UNO."
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