UNO Alumni Association
University of
Nebraska at Omaha
Omaha, NE 68182-0010
• Tel (402) 554-2444
• Fax (402) 554-3787 Contact: Anthony Flott
• Toll-free
UNO-MAV-ALUM (402) 554-2989
www.unoalumni.org aflott@mail.unomaha.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: April 6, 2006
Alumni Outstanding Teaching
Awards reach 10th anniversary
(OMAHA, NE) — The University of
Nebraska at Omaha Alumni Association celebrated the 10th year of its Alumni
Outstanding Teaching Awards program, presenting the honor to nine faculty
members at the Faculty Honors Convocation Breakfast Thursday, April 6.
Jim Leslie, Association president &
CEO, presented the awards, established in 1997 to honor distinguished teaching
in the classroom. Peer committees in each college chose recipients, each of
whom received a $1,000 award. Leslie presented recipients with commemorative
tablets during the convocation breakfast in the Milo Bail Student Center.
Since
the program's founding in 1997 the UNO Alumni Association has issued $86,000 in
Alumni Outstanding Teaching Awards. The
2006 UNO Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award recipients:
W. Meredith Bacon, political science; College of Arts & Sciences.
Joseph
S. Brown, psychology; College of Arts
& Sciences.
Kathy Everts Danielson, teacher education; College of Education.
Gregor P. Henze,
architectural engineering; College of
Engineering.
Dennis E. Hoffman, criminal justice; College of Public Affairs and
Community Service.
Jonna L. Holland, marketing and management; College of Business
Administration.
Lotfollah
Najjar, information systems and quantitative analysis; College of
Information Science and Technology.
John T. Price, English; College of Arts & Sciences.
Sherrie L. Wilson, communication; College of Communication, Fine Arts and
Media.
W.
Meredith Bacon, political science
Professor Bacon teaches
political science and international studies courses on the politics of
post-communist countries and various aspects of international relations. Her
current research is in the field of identity politics, concentrating on the
politics of transgender identity. She twice has been president of the UNO
Faculty Senate and serves on the Community Board of the Nebraska Shakespeare
Festival. Bacon, who began teaching at UNO in 1976, earned a bachelor's degree
from Colorado College in 1968 and master's (1972) and doctorate (1975) degrees
from the University of Denver.
Joseph
S. Brown, psychology
Dr. Brown is involved in a
variety of pedagogical interests. He has taught courses for students of all
levels and topics, from research methods to the scientific study of
consciousness. Recently, his primary teaching innovations have been in the area
of students' first-year experience. In this program, traditional faculty and
student affairs professionals collaborate in an intensive course for
first-semester students. It integrates an understanding of a content area like
psychology with college and life skills to help students succeed through the
rest of their college career. Brown has conducted research on a broad range of
topics in cognitive psychology, including attention, skill acquisition and word
recognition. Recently, his research interests have expanded to include research
ethics. Brown first taught at UNO in 1989. He earned a bachelor's degree from
Drury College in 1984. He also earned a master's degree (1987) and doctorate
(1991) from Michigan State University.
Kathy Everts Danielson, teacher
education
Dr. Danielson's
primary focus is literacy education, in which she teaches undergraduate and
graduate courses. She also coordinates the graduate elementary education
program and advises graduate students in that program. Danielson earned three degrees from the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln: a bachelor's (1981), master's (1984) and doctorate (1987).
She began teaching at UNO in 1989. Prior to that she was a graduate assistant
and instructor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In the early 1980s she
was a teacher for both Lincoln and Trenton Public Schools.
Gregor P. Henze, architectural engineering
Dr. Henze's
teaching focuses on thermal environmental engineering, control theory, building
control and automation systems, building mechanical systems design, and
measurement systems. His research emphasizes model-based predictive optimal
control and model-free reinforcement learning control of thermal energy storage
systems. He is an active member of the American Society of Heating, Ventilating
and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), chairing the technical committee on
building operation dynamics (TC7.4). Before joining the University of Nebraska
in 1999, Henze worked in the energy services industry at Johnson Controls, a
manufacturer of building automation systems.
He received an undergraduate degree from the Technical University of Berlin in
1992. He also earned a master's degree from Oregon State University (1991) and
a doctorate from the University of Colorado (1995).
Dennis E. Hoffman, criminal
justice
Hoffman teaches classes on topics including organized crime,
terrorism and a survey of criminal justice. His main area of
interest is organized crime in Chicago. His first book, "Scarface Al and the
Crime Crusaders" highlighted the role of urban vigilantes in bringing
Al Capone to justice. He currently is writing a sequel, "No One is Above the
Law: The Trial of Al Capone." HHoffman has a
bachelor's degree (1971) from the University of Northern Iowa, a master's from
Drake University (1974) and a doctorate from Portland State University (1979).
Hoffman began teaching at UNO in 1980. Prior to that he taught at the
University of South Florida and Portland State University.
Jonna L. Holland, marketing
and management
Dr. Holland's primary
teaching focus is consumer behavior and marketing communications. She also is
the internship coordinator for the College of Business Administration, where
she places approximately 150 interns a year in the Omaha business community.
Holland also provides her students opportunities for service learning by
working with area nonprofit agencies to develop marketing communications. Her
own service includes activities in the community with organizations such as the
Boys and Girls Clubs of Omaha and the New Community Development Corporation.
Holland earned a bachelor's degree (1980) and doctorate (1996) from the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She earned an MBA from UNO in 1991.Holland
began teaching at UNO as an instructor in 1996. Prior to that she had spent
three years as a research assistant in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's
marketing department.
Lotfollah Najjar, information systems and quantitative analysis
John T.
Price, English
Dr. Price's primary focus is
on nonfiction writing and American literature, particularly Great Plains and
environmental literature. He is co-coordinator of the advanced writing graduate
certificate program in the English Department. His nonfiction has appeared in
numerous journals, magazines, and anthologies, including Orion, The Christian Science
Monitor, Creative Nonfiction and Best Spiritual Writing 2000. He is a
recipient of a 2004-05 Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment
for the Arts, and his first book, "Not Just Any Land: A Personal and Literary
Journey into the American Grasslands," was published in 2004 by the University
of Nebraska Press. He is an associate professor and UNO's Jefferis Chair of
English. Price earned three degrees from the University of Iowa: a bachelor's (1988), master's
(1995) and doctorate (1997).
Sherrie
L. Wilson,
Ph.D., communication
Dr. Wilson has taught media
writing, mass media ethics, public affairs reporting, news editing,
communication law, and news writing and reporting during a career at UNO that
began in 1996. She also coordinates the School of Communication's internship
class. Wilson has taught at the University of Minnesota and Iowa State
University and has worked for several newspapers. She earned a bachelor's
degree from Northwestern College (1977), a master's degree from Iowa State
University (1992) and a doctorate from the University of Minnesota (2001).
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