Honors Day 2020 recipients announced

The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts congratulates the outstanding students, faculty, staff and alumni, who are recipients of our Honors Day awards this year.
The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts congratulates the outstanding students, faculty, staff and alumni, who are recipients of our Honors Day awards this year.

Honors Day 2020 recipients announced

calendar icon24 Apr 2020    

Lincoln, Neb.--The Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts has announced the 2020 recipients of our Honors Day awards. While we are unable to gather in person for our annual Honors Day Dinner, we want to recognize all of these outstanding students, faculty, staff and alumni.

Note: The Glenn Korff School of Music's Vreeland Awards and Porter Award in Dance will be announced at the Korff School's virtual Honors Convocation on April 30.

Congratulations to all of this year's recipients:

Larisa Epp
School of Art, Art History & Design
Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence

Right after graduating, Larisa worked as the interim Marketing and Event Coordinator and Graphic Designer at the University of Nebraska State Museum - Morrill Hall, where she was instrumental in designing all marketing materials for print, digital, email, social, and more.

Since December, she has been working as the Web Designer at Automated Systems, Inc. In this position, Larisa works with community banks across the nation to create and maintain modern websites and mobile apps that serve as the face of their businesses and a portal to banking on the go. She believes that design is the great equalizer. With good design, we can make the world more accessible and easier to understand.

Chauncey Kleveland
Glenn Korff School of Music
Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence

Chauncey received her Bachelor of Music Education in May 2019.

Jonathan Vusich
Glenn Korff School of Music
Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence

Jonathan received his Bachelor of Music degree in May 2019.

Terry Ratzlaff
School of Art, Art History & Design
Student Leadership Award

His nominator, Hixson-Lied Professor of Art Dana Fritz, wrote: “Having spent this time working professionally outside of academia, he approaches his time in graduate school with zeal….In his short time at UNL, Terry has amassed an outstanding record of leadership and service.”

Terry is completing his second year as a Master of Fine Arts student in the School of Art, Art History & Design in the area of photography. He is a member of the College Curriculum Committee and Graduate Student Advisory Board. He is also a member of the College’s Mental Health Advisory Committee. He is also president of the UNL Fine Art Photography Club and co-leader of the UNL Social Practice Club.

Brianna Smith
Glenn Korff School of Music
Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award

Brianna’s nominator, Associate Professor of Voice Jamie Reimer, wrote: “Since Brianna’s arrival on campus as a master of music student in 2015 and through the Ph.D. program in vocal pedagogy, she has taught Lyric Diction (English/Italian, German, French) and Voice Skills, all as Instructor of Record….It is fair to say that every undergraduate student majoring in voice at GKSOM has had at least one class with Brianna….Her course evaluations are consistently strong and reflect her commitment to student learning.”

Daniela Chavez
School of Art, Art History & Design
F. Pace Woods Scholarship

Assistant Professor of Practice Byron Anway wrote: ““Daniela Chavez is thoughtful, hardworking, enthusiastic and earnest. When Daniela took DRAW 202 Life Drawing, she had perfect attendance and was always generous with feedback for her peers. She approached coursework with dedication and optimism; hopeful to discover something new about the assignment and about herself as an artist.”

Madeline Rogers
Glenn Korff School of Music
F. Pace Woods Scholarship

Marguerite Scribante Professor of Piano Paul Barnes wrote: “In my 25 years of teaching here at UNL, I have never had a student like Madeline. She plays brilliantly (most recently a glorious Brahms F minor sonata), won the concerto competition last year, and a piano competition in Omaha this year. She has served as my studio assistant for the last year and has been an invaluable force for good in my studio. But in addition to Madeline’s exceptional musical abilities, what probably most distinguishes her is her genuine beauty of soul. She is kind, generous and loving towards all. And that combination of a beautiful soul with outstanding musicianship is a powerful combination.”

Elaine Stueve
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
F. Pace Woods Scholarship

Assistant Professor of Practice Ann Marie Pollard wrote: “Elaine is an exemplar of earnest curiosity, academic prowess, and high personal standards. She maintains academic integrity while pursuing her own interests. She thinks outside the box while also excelling in her assigned studies. Her character demonstrates maturity with humor, eagerness with inner strength, and resolve with flexibility.”

Andrew Roberts
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
Anne and William Porter Award for Creativity

Professor of Film Sharon Teo-Gooding wrote: ““Andrew is passionate about his creative work. He spends hours on end in the edit room tirelessly editing and re-editing; refining each cut to highlight story and the characters in the films he works on. He fully invests himself in any theatre and film production he is a part of and is selfless as a classmate and a student.”

Adam Jezl-Sikorski
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
Anne and William Porter Award for Creativity

Associate Professor of Theatre Laurel Shoemaker wrote: “Adam has shown amazing growth in creativity since he began his MFA career in 2017. His work has including lighting for The Student Dance Project, Evenings of Dance, the Nebraska Rep’s Hair and The Glass Menagerie – and culminated in beautiful lighting for the Glenn Korff School of Music’s production of The Highest Yellow. He sets creative goals at the onset for every project and holds tight to them through the production process, resulting in beautiful lighting that tells the story of the project in a thoughtful and meaningful way.”

Samantha Bendix
School of Art, Art History & Design
Francis William Vreeland Award (undergraduate)

Associate Professor of Graphic Design Stacy Asher wrote: “Samantha is consistently innovative in her approach to design projects. She strives to go above and beyond what is expected of her. Samantha demonstrates strong academic aptitude and is happy to be of service to others and is always helpful to her classmates and faculty. Her ability to explore projects with eyes and ears open, always ready to soak up information and new skills is commendable and is what makes her an exceptional student of graphic design.”

Sophia Ruppert
School of Art, Art History & Design
Francis William Vreeland Award (graduate)

Associate Professor of Art Santiago Cal wrote: “Congratulations, Sophia, on being the 2020 Vreeland Award recipient. Your thesis exhibition, ‘I Poked You Where We Were Connected,’ is truly deserving of this award and exemplifies your consistently outstanding creative achievements throughout your studies at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln. Your pioneering, intelligent and resilient character is evident in this poignant body of work. You have been and continue to be an exceptional representative of the highest standards of our program. Congratulations on this merited award. We are certain that this is one of many to come.”

Neil Celani
School of Art, Art History & Design
Myers B. and Martha H. Cather Graduate Excellence Award

Associate Professor of Art Margaret Bohls wrote: “First and foremost, Neil Celani is an extremely skilled artist and craftsperson. His mastery of the ceramic medium comes out of a love of process and materials, a deep curiosity about the history of ceramics, a disciplined work ethic, and the willingness to take risks. His work has undergone extensive change and growth over the last three years due in part to his eagerness to engage in critique and dialogue. Neil’s enthusiasm for all aspects of our field is infectious and has made him a strong community builder both among his fellow students here at UNL and among ceramic artists and patrons nationally. I have no doubt that Neil will continue to build on his already extensive list of achievements in the coming years. Congratulations, Neil!”

Hye-Won Hwang
Assistant Professor of Practice in Dance
Glenn Korff School of Music
College Distinguished Teaching Award

Her nominator, Professor of Viola Clark Potter, wrote: “I have had the unique opportunity to observe Dr. Hwang in a number of settings. I have witnessed a lecture she presented to faculty on the influence of Korean popular dance styles on 'classical' dance technique and style. I have watched her teach a class in modern dance. I have seen her dance. I have seen her thoughtful, amusing and powerful choreography. I have been with her in faculty meetings. In all of these situations, she is remarkable. She is a terrific artist and quite a scholar. She is kind and outgoing and her personality is absolutely infectious to other faculty and to all her students.”

Tyler White
Professor of Composition & Conducting and Director of Orchestras
Glenn Korff School of Music
Hixson-Lied Senior Faculty Research & Creative Activity Award

His nominator, Assistant Professor of Composition Greg Simon, wrote: “Prof. White’s career-long accomplishments span disciplines, reaching the highest levels of achievement in conducting as well as composition….His effectiveness in both of these areas is informed by decades of experience….In 2019, Prof. White recorded a banner year of artistic and creative accomplishment, commendable by any professional standard. His compositional achievements during the past calendar year are myriad, but crowned by the world premiere of the new opera, The Gambler’s Son….The creative heights Prof. White has reached in 2019 are inspiring, and we, as college faculty, should aspire to such levels of dedication to our artistic pursuits, whatever they may be.”

Tom Larson
Assistant Professor of Composition, Emerging Media & Digital Arts
Glenn Korff School of Music
Hixson-Lied Junior Faculty Research & Creative Activity Award

His nominator, Professor of Viola Clark Potter, wrote: “Tom has truly made a name for himself nationally and internationally in the realm of film scoring….The list and quality of his compositions for jazz settings are truly remarkable….He also writes for classical situations as well….His work speaks for himself.”

Michael Hoff
Professor of Art History
School of Art, Art History & Design
Hixson-Lied Outreach, Engagement or Service Award

His nominator, Associate Professor of Art Margaret Bohls, wrote: “While Professor Hoff is well known for his outstanding level of research, I would like to take this opportunity to outline the many ways in which he does service ot the University, to the state and local community, and at the national and international levels….Through all of these avenues, many of them tied to his research, Professor Hoff has provided valuable service to people, organizations and institutions locally, nationally and internationally, and through his service, he has built relationships between these organizations and the University of Nebraska.”

Greg Simon
Assistant Professor of Composition
Glenn Korff School of Music
Hixson-Lied Curriculum Development Award

His nominator, Professor of Composition and Conducting and Director of Orchestra Tyler White, wrote: “Simply put, Greg has transformed and revitalized the teaching of musical composition in the Glenn Korff School of Music, establishing new standards of productive quantity and quality in our student work while simultaneously building morale and ‘team spirit’ among composition students at all levels of study….Perhaps most significantly, Greg has spearheaded a thoroughgoing rethinking and renewal of the performance of student music at UNL through his founding of the entirely student-run Flyover New Music Series.”

Tony Bushard
Associate Professor of Music History
Glenn Korff School of Music
Hixson-Lied Academic Advising Award

His nominator, Associate Professor of Music Theory Gretchen Foley, wrote: “Although academic advising is not officially part of his faculty load, Dr. Bushard has proven to be an exceptionally devoted professor with his students in that regard. . . .Dr. Bushard’s exemplary academic advising, in its breadth and depth, has significantly impacted current and former students at all stages of their music degrees.”

Mitch Critel
Assistant Professor of Practice in Theatre
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
Hixson-Lied Junior Faculty Teaching Award

His nominator, Associate Professor of Theatre Laurel Shoemaker, wrote: “In 2014 Mitch Critel joined our design/tech area as Assistant Professor of Technical Direction. He inherited the courses, syllabus, scene shop, and expectations that had been operating previously in his area for over 30 years. The world of technical direction had changed in those years, and Mitch instantly took it upon his shoulders to upgrade the technical direction courses offered, refresh syllabi, creating new ones for courses that were lacking in the technical direction curriculum and upgrading our shops to reflect today’s technology. Mitch is an excellent teacher; he loves to challenge all of his students to do their best work.”

Bailey Barnard
Lecturer in Art History
School of Art, Art History & Design
Hixson-Lied Outstanding Lecturer Award

Her nominator, Professor of Art History Michael Hoff, wrote: “During the fall semester, I had a couple of opportunities of observing Ms. Barnard lecture and otherwise interact with her students in the lecture hall. I found her style of lecturing to be warm, personable and engaging. . . . We are proud that Ms. Barnard is a member of our instructional staff. . . . We think very highly of her skills and abilities.”

Julie Hagemeier
General Manager
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
Hixson-Lied Outstanding Staff Award

Julie is the General Manager for the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film. Since her arrival in 1995, Julie’s connections to the community and her institutional memory has made her the “go-to guide” for all things theatre at UNL. Her nominator, Christa Retka, wrote: “Julie has spent the last few decades at the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film improving everyone’s lives and creating an environment where we all knew we belonged.”

Amy Horvath
Financial Associate
Dean’s Office
Hixson-Lied Staff Award for Exemplary Service

Amy is the financial associate for the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts. Amy’s responsibilities include processing invoices, warrant requests, visiting personnel forms, PCard reconciliation, faculty and staff reimbursements and student awards. One major area where Amy excels is in supporting faculty, staff and student travel. Her nominator wrote: “Amy joined the college mere months before two significant initiatives were rolled out, namely the Concur travel system and the unified college business office. Both initiatives substantially changed the landscape for the college’s faculty and staff….Amy’s calm and caring expression of support significantly reduced the level of anxiety for all those she encountered.”

Megan McMasters
Director of Operations
Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts
Hixson-Lied Staff Award for Exemplary Service

Megan is the Director of Operations at the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts. Her responsibilities include supporting the Founding Director in implementing the Carson Center’s strategy to drive results for enrollment goals, fundraising, internships, and job placements, and overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Center. Her nominator, Carson Center Founding Director Megan Elliott, wrote: “Megan McMasters is the unsung face of the Carson Center to stakeholders internal and external. She is relentlessly on task, stalwart, reliable, stoic—and it is through her will and determination that we get the stuff done on time all the time.”

Kathleen Turner
Lecturer/House Master Electrician
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
Hixson-Lied M.V.P. Award

Kathleen has served as the House Master Electrician for the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film since 2009. Her responsibilities include all non-design aspects of lighting including the supervision of the electrics/lighting shop and all student crews that work on hanging and focusing lighting. She is also responsible for the maintenance, storage and repair of all lighting equipment including instruments, lamps and accessories. Her nominator, Assistant Professor of Theatre Jamie Bullins, wrote: “Using the phrase ‘above and beyond’ would be applicable but needs additional explanation regarding the qualification. It just does not justify the contributions that Kathy makes in the Johnny Carson School.”

Retirement Recognition—Thank you for your service!
Donna Harler-Smith
Glenn Korff School of Music

Donna Harler-Smith is professor of voice in the Glenn Korff School of Music. She has taught at Nebraska since 1976. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Denison University and a master's degree from the College-Conservatory of Music-University of Cincinnati.

She has performed extensively as a recitalist throughout the United States, and particularly enjoys fund-raising recitals for charitable organizations. Her stage roles have included Agnes in I Do, I Do, Adina in Elixir of Love, Salome in The Robber Bridegroom, Lauretta in Gianni Schicchi, Mary in Merrily We Roll Along, the title role in Little Mary Sunshine, and Sonia Walsk in They're Playing Our Song.

She has appeared as soprano soloist with numerous orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony, Boston Philharmonia, Aspen Chamber Orchestra, and the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra. Harler Smith has sung in numerous world premiers by Landers, Henze, Snyder, Beadell and Fussell.


Retirement Recognition—Thank you for your service!
Karen Kunc
School of Art, Art History & Design

Karen Kunc has taught at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln since 1983 and was named a full professor in 1998. In 2003, she was named Willa Cather Professor of Art with an emphasis in printmaking.

Highly respected nationally and internationally among her peers, she has had more than 110 solo exhibitions, received more than 90 awards, 60 grants and commissions, eight residency awards and her work has been shown in more than 350 exhibits nationally and internationally. Her work is featured in more than 26 publications.

In 2007, Karen received the prestigious Printmaker Emeritus Award from the Southern Graphics Council.

In 2013, she founded Constellation Studios in Lincoln, a space where Karen shares her passion for printmaking with the community. It is her studio, a printmaking exhibition space, as well as a workshop and teaching center that specializes in workshops for etching, woodcuts, papermaking and bookmaking.

Karen received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Nebraska in 1975 and her Master of Fine Arts from the Ohio State University in 1977.

Retirement Recognition—Thank you for your service!
Pamela Starr
Glenn Korff School of Music

Pamela Starr is Professor of Music History in the Glenn Korff School of Music. She has taught at Nebraska since 1987. A native of New York City, she holds a B.A. in voice from Harpur College of the State University of New York at Binghamton, a Master's degree in Library Science from Columbia University, and the Ph.D. in Music History from Yale University.

She is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome and has also been supported in doctoral and post-doctoral research by the American Association of University Women, the Fulbright Commission, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, The American Philosophical Society, and the Research Council of the University of Nebraska.

Her research has centered on the music and musicians of the early Renaissance period, especially that of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, and she has lectured and published on this subject both in the United States and in Europe. . More recently, she has begun research into musicians at the margins in the culture of Early Modern England. Starr has served as Secretary of the American Musicological Society.

Retirement Recognition—Thank you for your service!
Alison Stewart
School of Art, Art History & Design

Stewart has taught art history at Nebraska since 1989. She received her Bachelor of Arts in art history and journalism from Syracuse University, her Master of Arts in art history from Queens College of the City University of New York, and her Ph.D. in art history from Columbia University.

In 1981 as a graduate student, she received a Fulbright grant to study in Munich. In 2014, she received a Fulbright Senior Lecturing/Research Award to teach and complete research at the University of Trier in Germany.

Her research, centered around secular imagery of the 15th and 16th centuries in Germany and the Netherlands, has been supported by Fulbright, National Endowment for the Humanities, Getty Research Institute and International Fine Print Dealers Association fellowships and grants.

Her recent books include “Media Revolution: Early Prints from the Sheldon Museum of Art,” edited by Stewart and Gregory Nosan in 2012; “Before Bruegel: Sebald Beham and the Origin of Peasant Festival” in 2008; and “Saints, Sinners and Sisters: Gender and Visual Art in Medieval and Early Modern Northern Europe,” co-edited with Jane Carroll, in 2003.

In 2015, she contributed a chapter titled “Man’s Best Friend? Dogs and Pigs in Early Modern Germany” in the book “Animals and Early Modern Identity,” edited by Pia F. Cuneo and published by Ashgate.

Bryce Bassett
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
Graduating Hixson-Lied Fellow

Bryce is receiving his Master of Fine Arts in stage design with a concentration in lighting design.

Christian Chesanek
Glenn Korff School of Music
Graduating Hixson-Lied Fellow

Christian is earning a doctorate in jazz studies and a double bassist.

Krista Connelly
Glenn Korff School of Music
Graduating Hixson-Lied Fellow

Krista is earning a doctorate in music composition.

Amanda Durig
School of Art, Art History & Design
Graduating Hixson-Lied Fellow

Amanda is receiving her Master of Fine Arts in printmaking.

Adam Jezl-Sikorski
Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film
Graduating Hixson-Lied Fellow

Adam is earning his Master of Fine Arts in stage design with an emphasis in lighting design.

Kevin Madden
Glenn Korff School of Music
Graduating Hixson-Lied Fellow

Kevin is earning his doctorate in performance in tuba.

Rubén D. Gómez Prada
Glenn Korff School of Music
Graduating Hixson-Lied Fellow

Rubén is earning his doctorate with an emphasis in wind band conducting.

Susumu Watanabe
Glenn Korff School of Music
Graduating Hixson-Lied Fellow

Susumu is earning his doctorate in jazz studies composition.

Kao Zhou
Glenn Korff School of Music
Graduating Hixson-Lied Fellow

Kao is earning his doctorate in orchestral conducting.

Maurice M. Dixon, Jr.
B.F.A. 1970; M.F.A. 1973
Alumni Achievement Award in Art

Maurice Dixon received his B.F.A. and M.F.A. from Nebraska, where he studied painting, ceramics and art history. Since his graduation, he has accumulated an extraordinary and diverse record of achievement. Simply put, he is a renaissance man.

Since his graduation, he has concurrently been a rancher, businessman, entrepreneur, developer, curator, designer, painter, master tinsmith and scholar.

He has resided in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for more than 40 years and is immersed in the historical and contemporary culture of the region. In 1990, he co-authored with Lane Coulter the book New Mexican Tinwork 1840-1940 that has since become an influential reference source for artists and scholars. As a result of additional research, he authored in 2015 the book The Artistic Legacy of Higinio V. Gonzales: A Tinsmith and Poet in Territorial New Mexico. The book received extensive critical acclaim, numerous awards and resulted in the exhibition “The Artistic Odyssey of Higinio V. Gonzales” at the Albuquerque Museum, which he curated. He is currently working on a new book about the work and life of Southwestern ceramicist Rick Dillingham.

Robert Krueger
B.M.E. 1984; M.M. 1994
Alumni Achievement Award in Music

A graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (B.M.E in 1984 and M.M. in 1994), Krueger began his teaching career in 1984 at Omaha North High School. In 1985 he accepted a position as Director of Instrumental Music at Lincoln Southeast High School and is now in his 35th year with the Lincoln Public Schools.

Krueger currently directs Jazz Ensembles I and II and the Jazz Combo at Lincoln Southeast High School and teaches Beginning Band to 5th graders at Kloefkorn and Maxey Elementary schools in Lincoln. Under his direction, the Southeast Jazz Ensemble I has achieved national acclaim, qualifying as one of 20 national finalists in the 1999 Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington Competition.

Kara Thomson
M.F.A. 1998
Alumni Achievement Award in Theatre & Film

Kara Thomson is Faculty and Head of the Theatrical Design, Technical and Management program at Mesa Community College’s Department of Theatre and Film Arts. In 2011 she received the Kennedy Center Excellence in Theatre Education Award.

She has designed for Arizona Broadway Theatre, Actor’s Theatre, The Bridge Initiative, The Nebraska Repertory Theatre, The Illinois Shakespeare Festival, University of Nebraska, 24th Street Theatre of Los Angeles, Dolly Parton, and Arizona State University.

Her television work includes more than 4,000 aired hours for the television networks ABC, NBC and CBS. She has received Emmy honors for her work on Days of Our Lives and an Emmy nomination for her work on General Hospital.

Johnny Carson Foundation
Award of Merit

The Johnny Carson Foundation’s Board, which includes Allan Alexander, Larry Witzer, Jeff Sotzing, Lawrence Heller and Steve Sotzing, have transformed not only the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, but the entire University of Nebraska–Lincoln with their philanthropy.

In November 2015, the Johnny Carson Foundation made their largest and most transformative gift yet to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln—a $20 million gift to create an academic program and facility focused on interdisciplinary learning, creativity and research in emerging media that would be called the Johnny Carson Center for Emerging Media Arts.

Their investment in us is not just about money. They have also generously given their time, energy and support, meeting with students and faculty regularly. The Johnny Carson Foundation genuinely cares about our students, faculty and staff and are our biggest fans, wanting us to be successful while carrying on the legacy of the great Johnny Carson.