tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91142085881706446392009-11-09T21:34:33.262-06:00David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-91880849709090515762009-11-08T13:33:00.001-06:002009-11-08T13:35:25.614-06:00

Friday evening John Teets, a long-time and much loved Arts & Sciences computer tech employee, passed away unexpectedly. John touched many of our lives, and was known for his joyful personality, ever-present smile, and his devotion to his friends.We hope you will join us in keeping John, his family, and his many friends and colleagues in your thoughts. Visitation will be held at Wadlow Rozanek

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-17796393670198703642009-10-20T09:34:00.002-05:002009-10-20T09:36:39.898-05:00

Back to blogging and my latest stars post reminds me that there many new faculty in the college this year. See http://ascweb.unl.edu/newsblog/blog.aspx?Welcome_to_the_new_faculty_ for a list with pictures and areas of research interest. Please join me in welcoming them to the college and UNL. They are our future stars!

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-6114164563449984312009-10-20T09:26:00.002-05:002009-10-20T10:04:00.576-05:00

By now you're probably getting used to me, announcing the newest Academic Stars in the College of Arts and Sciences. The campaign just celebrated its first birthday, yet each time we "launch" new stars I am delighted anew by the remarkable scholarship, teaching and research in the college.This month, allow me to introduce you to Jeannette Eileen Jones, an assistant professor of history and ethnic

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-77760066619402863422009-09-04T14:04:00.003-05:002009-09-04T14:06:26.071-05:00

Enrollment figures for the Fall Semester are now in. The number of students in the College of Arts and Sciences increased 13%! This is the largest increase by far of any college at UNL.

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-11977651195951385082009-08-31T08:36:00.004-05:002009-09-21T16:35:47.913-05:00

Came across an interesting item on inside higher ed.In this piece the author argues that deans have to pay attention to politics. No argument there. But he goes on to say that we could take thirteen lessons on politics from Lyndon Johnson. Quite a provocative piece and dead wrong in my book.

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-9529527460174957332009-07-15T14:12:00.001-05:002009-09-21T18:46:01.915-05:00

To turn the spotlight to our latest Academic Stars in the College of Arts and Sciences, it's my pleasure to introduce you to a karaoke buff, an opera enthusiast, and an avid gardener, our inaugural staff honorees.For the last three and a half years, Bryan Miller has worked as a technology support specialist for several departments, including geosciences and anthropology. Although he's a

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-76640017565175929172009-06-18T17:03:00.003-05:002009-06-18T17:19:47.498-05:00

Like many campuses nationwide UNL is faced with a budget cut for next year. Nebraska though is better off than most states in this recession and thus was able to increase the state appropriation 1.5%. This still was not enough to meet the needs of UNL including increased utility costs, costs of opening new buildings, a modest salary increase (1.5%) and so on. Thus the Chancellor announced on

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-57183863460212813232009-06-18T15:55:00.001-05:002009-06-18T15:57:20.548-05:00

Sunil Narumalani has accepted my offer to become Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the College starting August 17. He will be replacing Associate Dean Jessica Coope who will return to the faculty of the Department of History after serving four years as Associate Dean.Sunil is a Professor in the School of Natural Resources with tenure home in the College of Arts and Sciences. Sunil's

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-49955643237842279432009-06-07T15:41:00.005-05:002009-06-07T15:52:46.437-05:00

New media and communication tools are of great interest to me. I must admit though I have been quite a sceptic when it comes to Twitter. Yesterday I decided to give it shot though. WOW! Totally fascinating but I am not sure why yet.

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-48846112503066356002009-06-01T10:10:00.003-05:002009-06-01T10:25:38.289-05:00

Right after the semester ended my wife and I took a vacation to Siem Reap, Cambodia to see Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples. We flew Omaha-Chicago-Hong Kong-Singapore-Siem Reap. Yes that is a lot of flying but it was definitely worth it. The temples of the Khmer Empire are amazing - truly one of the worlds great wonders. I highly recommend them. The art is exquisite and the architecture is

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-88557766475658913372009-04-23T16:57:00.003-05:002009-04-23T17:48:02.628-05:00

Went to Selleck with some colleagues for lunch today. I was reminded of how much dorm food has changed since I was undergraduate. The food was good, relatively inexpensive and healthy. Too bad I couldn't take advantage of the "all-you-can-eat" feature like I used to be able to do when I was undergraduate!

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-45928192348512117092009-04-23T16:53:00.002-05:002009-04-23T16:57:10.595-05:00

Last night I went to the Arts and Sciences Student Advisory Board meeting. I was pleased to see such a great attendance at this very busy time of semester. I enjoyed the conversation and the questions. I especially liked the question on getting a more searchable undergraduate course bulletin on line. I agree 100% and know that this is something UNL is working on. Hopefully we will have something

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-79626834947340657342009-04-08T17:12:00.003-05:002009-04-08T17:21:59.552-05:00

Monday I had lunch with representatives of the Arts and Sciences Student Advisory Board. I always enjoy these lunches as I get a chance to interact with students in the college. We had a great conversation about summer plans, the new general education curriculum, and how life differed when I was in college (hint: I typed my papers on a manual typewiter and used a slide rule to do calculations,

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-46943072492817348122009-03-31T17:52:00.004-05:002009-03-31T18:08:42.073-05:00

My Iowa born mother taught me the phrase "In like a lion out like a lamb" to describe March weather in Michigan, where I grew up. Well it certainly didn't describe Nebraska weather this month. Today was quite cold with a strong wind. But there are signs of Spring everywhere. Trees are beginning to bud. Snow drops and squill are blooming and tulips and daffodils are coming out of the ground.A sure

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-20528294537744618112009-03-23T15:32:00.006-05:002009-03-23T16:19:14.774-05:00

Last weekend I attended the AAU Arts and Sciences Deans meeting in Rochester NY. AAU stands for the American Association of Universities, an invitation only group of 62 leading public and private research universities throughout the US and Canada. UNL has been a member of the AAU since 1909.So what do deans talk about with other deans? Well at this meeting it was mostly how to move our colleges

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-62705434828648725472009-03-18T17:43:00.003-05:002009-03-18T17:55:54.001-05:00

UNL is on Spring Break this week so the campus seems deserted. Not my office though. Associate Dean for Research Greg Snow is off to due research at CERN but otherwise we are at full force. The workload doesn't seem much less either. There are still phone calls, emails and memos. Nonetheless I am enjoying the slight change of pace break brings. I am also enjoying the warmer and the longer days.

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-62142738867646591442008-12-20T15:20:00.003-06:002008-12-20T15:31:37.127-06:00

This is my favorite time of semester. I very much enjoy handing out diplomas at graduation. It is so cool that at UNL we hand the student their actual diploma. The looks on the students faces are amazing - so many happy smiling faces, some of them also showing a bit of relief now that their graduation is real. There is also hope to be seen in the faces of the graduates, hope for them and hope

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-78954773924703721022008-12-14T16:50:00.003-06:002008-12-14T17:01:45.380-06:00

The life of a dean is filled with many meetings and many working meals. The lunch I had on Friday was a bit different, however. I attended the Department of Geosciences Potluck and Ugly Holiday Sweater Contest, as the surprise guest judge.The lunch was fine and the sweaters were fabulous. I had a difficult time picking a winner and thus I sought the input of the audience. Their clear favorite and

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-5938528360654667192008-12-07T16:25:00.004-06:002008-12-07T22:16:48.769-06:00

I flew to Santa Barbara today. On the plane from Denver to LA, there were some guys that looked like rock band members. One of them was carrying a guitar case that said "Fall Out Boy" on it. When I mentioned this to Amber Antholz, from the NU Foundation and who I was travelling with, she knew immediately the band name and said they were pretty big stars. Back in the day I listened to my share of

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-38342063727400776822008-11-11T14:25:00.003-06:002008-11-11T18:25:52.631-06:00

UNL Math Day is Thursday, November 13, 2008. Last year UNL hosted 1,396 students from 94 Nebraska high schools and we expect similar numbers this year. This is an amazing event. As a mathematician, I know of many other similar math day events across the US but none as big or as good.The purpose of Math Day is to stimulate interest in Mathematics among Nebraska high school students, to encourage

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-55725629608959579272008-11-02T14:08:00.007-06:002008-11-10T11:17:22.697-06:00

Our newest academic star is John Hibbing, a professor of political science. John has studied extensively the factors that influence voters' decision making, a timely topic these days. John and his colleagues recently published a study in the journal Science, which showed that an individual's physiological reaction to sudden noises and threatening visual images can predict variations in political

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-30936729845079405252008-10-19T22:33:00.002-05:002008-10-19T22:41:28.610-05:00

I am in China for two weeks as part of an NSF delegation of twelve science deans. We are visiting to discuss collaborations at all levels from undergrad to faculty with Chinese institutions. Our task is to report to NSF on possible opportunities while also looking for opportunities for our own institutions. We will be touring facilities from undergraduate dormitories to research laboratories and

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-15966816563208501932008-10-05T17:12:00.005-05:002008-10-05T17:42:15.884-05:00

On Tuesday it was announced the Materials Research Science and Engineering Center won a $8.1 million NSF grant and then on Wednesday came the announcement of a $9.3 million NSF grant for improving mathematics education.Both these projects are highly interdisciplinary. The MRSEC grant involves the College of Engineering, the Center and the Departments of Chemistry and Physics. The math grant

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-57748130504496956382008-09-29T16:32:00.006-05:002008-09-30T13:23:43.674-05:00

In fiscal year 08 the College of Arts and Sciences set a record for research funding with a total of $32.64 million in awards. Congratulations to the faculty, staff, and students in the college for this achievement! These funds allow us to better carry out our mission and benefit the state of Nebraska.As Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development Prem Paul likes to say we are on the

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9114208588170644639.post-4168604503446750432008-09-22T14:10:00.003-05:002008-09-22T14:21:52.751-05:00

There is some very interesting research going on in our Department of Political Science on Biology and Politics. To quote from a National Science Foundation news release of last Friday. "People who react more strongly to bumps in the night, spiders on a human body or the sight of a shell-shocked victim are more likely to support public policies that emphasize protecting society over preserving

David Manderscheidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16503123500853503112noreply@blogger.com0