UNO Alumni Association

W.H. Thompson Alumni Center

University of Nebraska at Omaha

Omaha, NE 68182-0010

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

DATE: April 12, 2002

Contact: Anthony Flott

aflott@mail.unomaha.edu

(402) 554-2989

 

 

2001 Outstanding Teaching Awards

(OMAHA, NE) —The UNO Alumni Association presented its fifth annual Alumni Outstanding Teaching Awards on Thursday, April 12, to nine faculty members. The awards were established in 1997 to honor distinguished teaching in the classroom.

 

"These awards are expressions of the alumni body’s collective recognition of the importance and value of instruction in higher education," said Bruce Bisson, the association’s chairman of the board. "Faculty members such as these inspire students and make positive, meaningful differences in their lives. We’re blessed to have such outstanding teachers on our campus."

 

Each recipient was chosen by a committee of peers in their college and received a $1,000 award.

 

Professors receiving Alumni Outstanding Teaching Awards:

Gary N. Hartzell, Educational Administration and Supervision, College of Education;

Kevin Houser, Architectural Engineering, College of Engineering;

James B. Johnson, Political Science, College of Arts and Sciences;

Jeremy H. Lipschultz, Communication, College of Arts and Sciences;

Don A. Nielsen, Economics, College of Business Administration;

Cindy Melby Phaneuf, Acting/Directing, College of Fine Arts;

Leah R. Pietron, Quantitative Analysis, College of Information Science and Technology;

Larry Stephens, Mathematics, College of Arts and Sciences;

Barbara V. Weitz, Social Work, College of Public Affairs and Community Service.

 

Hartzell, professor in Educational Administration & Supervision, specializes in "influence for school librarians" and staff development for assistant principals. He earned his doctorate in Educational Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles, where he also earned his bachelor’s degree in history.

 

Houser, an assistant professor of Architectural Engineering, received his bachelor’s and doctorate degrees in engineering from Pennsylvania State University. His principle research interest focuses on the relationship between the spectral composition of light and human vision. Houser is Lighting Certified by the National Council for the Qualification of the Lighting Profession and is an active member of the Illuminating Engineering Society.

 

Johnson is chair of the Department of Political Science. He is advisor to political science majors and also coordinates the department’s internship program. An Omaha native and graduate of Omaha North High School, he has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a doctorate from Northwestern University. His research has focused mainly on race and politics, particularly in the juvenile justice system.

 

Lipschultz has served as acting chair (2000) and graduate program chair (1995-2000) for the Communication Department. He joined UNO in 1989 and one year later earned his doctorate from Southern Illinois University. Published in numerous journals, Lipschultz studies mass communicators, broadcast regulation, communication education and new technologies. He has published several studies on the broadcast indecency issue.

 

Nielsen, a professor in the Economics department, focuses on Real Estate and Land Use Economics. His research Interests include analysis of apartment, office, industrial and special-purpose real estate markets, as well as spatial patterns and incentives for economic development and real estate valuation issues.

 

Phaneuf is graduate program chair and advisor of Acting / Directing. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Christian University, later earning her doctorate at Texas Tech University. She directs and teaches courses in acting, directing and movement. Phaneuf also is co-founder and artistic director of the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival and has served on the Executive Board of the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America.

 

Pietron, an associate professor of Quantitative Analysis, received her doctorate in Business Education/Information Systems at the University of North Dakota in 1979. She has taught at UNO since 1985. Her interests include CASE research, multimedia instruction, computer literacy, end-user computing, strategic planning, systems analysis and design and personal computer applications.

 

Stephens, professor of education, earned his doctorate in statistics from Oklahoma State University in 1972, a master’s degree form the University of Arizona in 1965, and his bachelor’s degree from Memphis State University in 1963. His fields of interest include applied statistics, mathematics education and computer science education.

 

Weitz, earned her master’s degree in social work from UNO in 1991, almost 20 years after earning a master’s degree in public affairs from New York University. She is pursuing her doctorate at Case Western Reserve University. Her experience is in women’s issues, community building and mental health. She teaches Human Functioning and Human Behavior, Introduction to Social Work, Social Welfare, Senior Seminar, and Research.

 

The Alumni Outstanding Teaching Awards further the association’s mission, established upon its founding in 1913, "To concentrate the divided efforts of the graduates into one unit in order to work more proficiently for the upbuilding of the school and to promote, as far as possible, the activities of the school."

 

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