02/20/2003

University of Nebraska Executive Vice President and Provost Jay Noren has announced the 2003 winners of the university’s most prestigious awards for teaching and research. Two of the awards recognize individual faculty members for meritorious teaching and research, respectively. The third recognizes an academic department that has demonstrated outstanding dedication to the education of students.

The awards and this year’s winners are:

Outstanding Research and Creative Activity Award (ORCA):

Stephen W. Ragsdale, professor of biochemistry , University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and

John D. Turner, professor of religious studies and professor of classics and history, University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award (OTICA):

William J. \'Jim' Lewis, professor of mathematics and chair of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and

Max A. McFarland, professor of counseling and school psychology, University of Nebraska at Kearney.

University-wide Departmental Teaching Award (UDTA):

Department of Political Science
University of Nebraska at Kearney

The ORCA recognizes individual faculty members for research and creative activity of national or international significance. The OTICA recognizes individual faculty members for sustained records of excellence in teaching. Each of the individual awards is accompanied by a $3,500 grant. The UDTA recognizes a department within the university that has made a unique and significant contribution to teaching, and carries with it a $25,000 grant to the department.