Hixson-Lied Faculty, Staff Awards presented
calendar icon10 May 2017
Lincoln, Neb.--The Hixson-Lied Faculty and Staff awards were presented at the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts Honors Day celebration on April 22.
These awards are made possible by the Hixson-Lied Endowment. The following awards were presented:
• The Leadership Award in Curriculum or Programmatic Development was presented to Margaret Bohls, associate professor of art (ceramics) in the School of Art, Art History & Design. This award is given to a faculty member who has demonstrated exemplary accomplishment in curriculum or programmatic development over the preceding two annual review periods. Bohls serves as the School’s curriculum committee chair, which has her leading deliberations, implementing new degrees and curriculum and continually updating the minors and existing curriculum. In the past year, she led the initiative to change the Department of Art and Art History into a School. She also assisted the graphic design faculty with developing 10 new classes and creating the B.A. and B.F.A. degrees in graphic design, which was previously an emphasis within the studio art degrees.
• The Achievement Award in Academic Advising was presented to Aaron Sutherlen, assistant professor of graphic design in the School of Art, Art History & Design. Sutherlen is an effective teacher who advises approximately 50 undergraduate students each academic year in graphic design. He provides valuable counseling and takes the time to meet and mentor students to guide them toward achieving their career aspirations. He also recently assumed the administrative role of area coordinator for the graphic design area.
• The Junior Faculty Achievement Award in Teaching was given to Matthew Sontheimer, assistant professor of art (painting) in the School of Art, Art History & Design. The award is given to a junior faculty member who has demonstrated exemplary accomplishment in teaching as an early career teacher. Sontheimer is an effective teacher, whose student evaluation scores are often higher than the School of Art, Art History & Design average. Last year, his undergraduate students won the majority of the School’s scholarship awards based on the merit of their work.
• The Senior Faculty Achievement Award in Research and Creative Activity was presented to Michael Hoff, Hixson-Lied Professor of Art History in the School of Art, Art History & Design. This award is given to a faculty member who has been in the College for 10 years or more, who has demonstrated exemplary accomplishment in research or creative activity. Hoff’s research has been significant at the local, national and international level in the field of archaeology. Since 2005, he has been the project director at the Antiochia ad Cragum Archaeological Excavation in Rough Cilicia in Turkey. This particular projects positions UNL with prestigious institutions, such as the University of Pennsylvania, Cornell University, Harvard University, New York University and Oxford University that have major foreign archaeological excavations in Turkey.
• The Junior Faculty Achievement Award in Research and Creative Activity was presented to Philip Sapirstein, assistant professor of art history in the School of Art, Art History & Design. The award is given to a faculty member who has been in the College for nine years or less, who has demonstrated exemplary accomplishment in research or creative activity. Sapirstein is considered by peers in his field of classical archaeology to be a real pioneer. Using digital tools, he was able to posit a new way of considering how the Temple of Hera at Olympia was constructed. His findings were published in the American Journal of Archaeology, the most prestigious journal in the field.
• The Faculty Award for Outstanding Outreach, Engagement or Service was presented to Karen Kunc, Cather Professor of Art (printmaking) in the School of Art, Art History & Design. The award is given to a faculty member who has demonstrated exemplary accomplishment in reaching out and serving the College, University, or community. Kunc has a sustained record of community outreach, engagement and service to art and academic communities from the local level to internationally. For the past 20 years, she has directed the Under Pressure Print Club, serving hundreds of UNL students. In 2013, she founded Constellation Studios, an art center that teaches various printmaking classes to all levels, displays exhibitions and has a residency program for national and international artists.
• The Hixson-Lied Staff Award for Outstanding Service is given to a staff member who has demonstrated exemplary service to the College or academic unit over the previous year. Two awards were presented this year.
The first recipient is James Michael Cotton, piano accompanist for the Glenn Korff School of Music. His vita provides an astonishing array of collaborative activities that include 16 weekly private lessons, studio classes, departmental classes and degree recitals for undergraduate and graduate voice majors; musical preparation and coaching for three mainstage productions by the UNL Opera and Musical Theatre programs; and support of our students in auditions and competitions here and across the region and in fund-raising gala concerts.
The second recipient is Andrea Maack, administrative technician in the School of Art, Art History & Design. Maack recently earned her B.F.A. from our program and exemplifies the excellence and problem solving skills that the program provides. She also serves as the School’s contact for MEDICI, its friends group and provides support for their activities, which includes its annual fund-raiser.