What is your position at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln?
I’m the senior writer with IANR Communications. I cover a wide range of topics. I write a lot about faculty members’ research work and academic papers. Some examples include bovine pinkeye; milk as a possible transmission instrument to halt brain cancer growth; a statewide elk study; and a strategic plan to address deforestation in the Brazilian rainforest. I’ve done feature stories on topics including the 70th anniversary of Backyard Farmer, the Pen Pal program between rural and urban FFA members, the Platte Basin Timelapse, UNL’s Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic, and Matt Joeckel’s observations as the state geologist about deep time in Nebraska. I’ve written big-picture explanatory pieces on the Agronomy and Horticulture Department, the Yeutter Institute, ALEC’s teacher mentor work, UNL’s partnership with Lincoln Northeast High School through the FEWSS program, and CASNR’s collaboration through the northeast Nebraska education compact.
What drew you to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln?
I began work with IANR Communications in December 2021 after working at the Omaha World-Herald for two decades on the opinion side. At the World-Herald, I wrote regularly about University of Nebraska topics, especially research developments. I’m originally from western North Carolina (BA in history from UNC-Chapel Hill; master’s degree in international relations from Georgetown University), and in 2005 the World-Herald publisher allowed me to travel the state for nine months to deepen my knowledge of the state. I spent time on all NU campuses during that time. Early this century, I worked regularly with Prem Paul, a key leader on big-picture research strategy for UNL, in writing editorials about major research developments. I also worked with Melissa Lee, the NU system’s chief communications officer. In more recent years, I worked with various UNL staff members as I prepared university-focused editorials for the World-Herald. When Chancellor Ronnie Green was IANR vice chancellor and was helping start a major collaborative strategic initiative at IANR more than a decade ago, I drove down from Omaha and was briefed by him about those plans. It’s fascinating that these days, I’m writing regularly at IANR Communications about the multiple ways in which that strategic initiative has flourished, thanks to the vision and energy of IANR leaders and the various departments.
What aspect of working in an educational setting do you enjoy the most?
I try to have positivity in my life, and I take great satisfaction in the many positive dimensions I experience at IANR. I appreciate the strategic vision by administrators and faculty. As a non-specialist who writes about a wide range of academic disciplines, I admire the scientific sophistication of faculty members and graduate students. I’m inspired by how some faculty members excel at, and devote great attention to, mentorship of students. Above all, the interviews I do with UNL students regularly leave me feeling positive about the future.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
I’ll mention three things of particular importance to me in my career. At the Omaha World-Herald, I worked to write editorials to explain the ingredients for responsible service in our Nebraska Legislature and the importance of sustaining a constructive, nonpartisan operating culture at the Legislature. I’m grateful to have had so many opportunities to explain the positive work at the University of Nebraska. And in my newspaper days in Nebraska and North Carolina, it was important to me to be able to write about U.S. regionalism and history. For example, I was the first journalist to write a multi-part series about a Spanish expedition through the Carolinas in the 1560s, and that project was included in an online history of the state. In 1997 I received an award from the state bar association in North Carolina for a series I did about race and congressional redistricting in the state, including the history of a Black-majority congressional district in the late 1800s.
What is something that most people don't know about you?
In high school, I was a brass player and music arranger. As a teenager, I arranged instrumental music for a student musical, school assemblies, and church events. Also, as a young reporter covering North Carolina politics in the 1980s, I met and spoke with Richard Nixon when he attended an election event. That was a strange experience!
What is your life like outside of work?
My wife and I are empty nesters these days, and on weekends we make day trips to smaller communities throughout Nebraska. That’s a longtime habit of ours. We both grew up in small towns in North Carolina, and we like visiting smaller communities and appreciating them. Also, friends know that I regularly post my dad-joke humor on Twitter, and I recently published an enovel, Android Run, on Amazon Kindle. The story is a sci-fi/thriller/farce set in the 2040s.