The University’s most prestigious awards—The President's Excellence Awards—recognize especially meritorious research, teaching, and innovative efforts by individual faculty and academic departments or units.
Faculty IP Innovation and Commercialization (FIPICA) Award Recipient:
FIPICA recognizes faculty members who have developed and nurtured significant new intellectual property from concept to licensing/startup business.
Thanh Nguyen, Ph.D., M.S.N, FNP-C
Department of Emergency Medicine
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Thanh T. Nguyen, PhD, MSN, FNP-C is an emergency medicine clinician at the Nebraska Medicine emergency department.
He fell in love with emergency medicine after learning to appreciate the role emergency departments play in the overall well-being of patients from all walks of life. He is also an assistant professor of emergency medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
His primary research interest lies in finding the nexus between technology and medicine to improve the patients’ overall wellness, and to end global health disparities.
Outstanding Research and Creative Activity (ORCA) Award Recipients:
ORCA recognizes individual faculty members for outstanding research or creative activity of national or international significance.
Jay Storz, Ph.D.
School of Biological Sciences
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Dr. Storz is Willa Cather Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.
His research in evolutionary biology centers on questions about physiological mechanisms of adaptation to extreme environments. In particular, a main goal of his research is to discover how high-elevation animals have evolved to survive and function in low-oxygen conditions.
Dr. Storz organizes and leads mountaineering expeditions in the Andes of South America to survey the elevational limits of animal life, and he coordinates a large network of collaborators at research institutes in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru.
His research has been continuously funded by the NIH and NSF since joining the faculty at UNL. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, National Geographic Explorer, honorary professor of Zoophysiology at Aarhus University, Denmark, and was a Fulbright Fellow at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Timothy Schaffert, M.F.A.
Department of English
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Timothy Schaffert is the Adele Hall Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies, the Glenna Luschei Editor of Prairie Schooner, and the Director of Creative Writing.
He is the author of seven novels, including a trilogy about war and culture: The Swan Gondola, set at a world’s fair in Omaha during the Spanish-American War; The Perfume Thief, about the French queer resistance during the occupation of Paris; and the national bestseller The Titanic Survivors Book Club, set in a Paris bookshop during WW1.
His novels have been noted as a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, an Oprah Book of the Week, and an LA Times Best Book of Summer, among other distinctions, and have been translated into multiple languages, including French and Italian.
Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award (OTICA) Recipient:
OTICA recognizes individual faculty members who have demonstrated meritorious and sustained records of excellence and creativity in teaching.
Betsy J. Becker, P.T., D.P.T, Ph.D.
Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Betsy J. Becker, PT, DPT, PhD is professor and director of Physical Therapy Education and chair of the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in the College of Allied Health Professions at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
A dedicated leader in physical therapy education, Dr. Becker is known for her innovative use of educational technology to enhance teaching and learning. She also plays a key role in coordinating education across the Omaha and Kearney campuses. Her scholarship explores how faculty and students access knowledge, resources, and support through their professional connections within their social network.
She is a committed mentor and coach, supporting faculty development and helping early-career educators and future physical therapists shape their professional identities. Her research spans topics such as professional networks, communities of practice, and women in academia.
Her contributions have been recognized through various institutional, state, and national honors for teaching innovation, leadership, and educational scholarship. Notably, her leadership played a significant role in the physical therapy program receiving the University’s Departmental Teaching Award in 2024.
Renee McFee, D.V.M., Ph.D.
School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Dr. McFee serves as the Coordinator for the Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine (PPVM), a collaborative educational initiative between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Iowa State University. In this capacity, she is responsible for the program’s academic standards, admissions processes, curriculum development, student affairs, scholarships, and events.
Dr. McFee also coordinates and instructs Animal Physiology I and II, guiding veterinary and graduate students in integrating foundational scientific principles with clinical applications. Her teaching is grounded in evidence-based pedagogical practices, with an emphasis on active learning and assessment techniques that promote long-term knowledge retention.
She is passionate about the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) and supports faculty development as associate leader of UNL’s Faculty-led Inquiry into Reflective and Scholarly Teaching (FIRST) program.
Innovation, Development and Engagement Award (IDEA) Recipient:
IDEA recognizes faculty members who have extended their academic expertise beyond the boundaries of the university in ways that have enriched the broader community.
Gina Ligon, Ph.D.
College of Business Administration
University of Nebraska at Omaha
Gina Ligon is the founder and director of the National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology, and Education Center (NCITE), which is the DHS Center of Excellence for Terrorism Prevention and Counterterrorism Research from 2020-2030.
She is the Jack and Stephanie Koraleski Professor for Collaboration Science in the College of Business at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
Ligon collaborates closely with NSRI and IANR on national security research and public safety issues for Nebraska.
She has authored more than 80 peer-reviewed academic publications, and she recently testified to the United States Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on terrorist threats to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and 2028 LA Olympics.
Károly Mirnics, M.D., Ph.D.
Munroe-Meyer Institute for Genetics and Rehabilitation
University of Nebraska Medical Center
Dr. Mirnics has been at UNMC for almost 10 years and serves as the Dean and Director of Munroe-Meyer institute for Genetics and Rehabilitation.
He holds an MD degree form University of Novi Sad (former Yugoslavia) and a PhD degree from Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary.
In recognition of his diversity, access and inclusion work he has received 2018 Help is Hope Award from Autism Action Partnership and is recognized as the 2019 Friends of Scottish Rite Honoree. Since 2022, he has been also a member of the ASPR National Advisory Committee on Individuals with Disabilities & Disasters, and since 2023 he has been a member of the Omaha Children’s Museum Capital Project Advisory Group.
In addition, he serves on the board of directors of Special Olympic International and chairs the SOI Global Medical Advisory Committee, advising on strategic health policies of more than 5 million athletes across approximately 200 countries.
Innovations in Student Success Award (ISSA) Recipient:
ISSA recognizes a faculty led or faculty-involved team effort that has made a unique and significant contribution to improving undergraduate six-year graduation rates. This award honors specific and successful innovations designed to improve retention and graduation rates among students the unit serves in a major, within a school, within a college, or throughout a campus.
Goodrich Scholarship Program
University of Nebraska at Omaha
For over 50 years, the Goodrich Scholarship Program has provided an opportunity for any Nebraskan, from anywhere in the state, who has academic merit and financial need to earn a college degree at UNO.
In addition to providing financial aid in the form of tuition and general fees, Goodrich includes a complementary MavEd core curriculum coupled with academic and non-academic support services to create a high-impact learning community that has demonstrated remarkable success, continually innovating to best serve students.
The current graduation rate for Goodrich is 85%. Since inception, over 3,800 Nebraskans have earned the Goodrich scholarship, with 80% of Goodrich graduates staying in Nebraska after graduation.
University-wide Departmental Teaching Award (UDTA) Recipient:
UDTA recognizes departments or units within the university that have made unique and significant contributions to NU’s teaching efforts and that have demonstrated outstanding commitment to the education of students at the undergraduate, graduate or professional levels.
Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
The Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders (SECD) prepares students to serve individuals with diverse needs across the lifespan, including those with motor, sensory, communication, cognitive, and learning differences and challenges. Faculty and staff in special education and communication disorders prepare future educators, speech-language pathologists, and audiologists through evidence-based instruction and rigorous academic, clinical, and field experiences.
SECD offers academic and pre-professional training at the undergraduate level, as well as advanced graduate and doctoral education, including both professional and research-focused pathways. The department places strong emphasis on applied and basic research, innovative instruction, and interdisciplinary collaboration that directly inform clinical work, student learning, and high-quality personnel preparation across Nebraska and the nation.
SECD is housed in the Barkley Memorial Center, named for William and Edna Barkley, whose gift continues to support our mission of enhancing the lives of individuals, families, schools.