All the Best — UNL ORCA Awardees Tell Their Stories | Podcast on RSS.com

All the Best — UNL ORCA Awardees Tell Their Stories

All the Best — UNL ORCA Awardees Tell Their Stories

by Mark Griep

Science Society & Culture

Season 1

Sang Lee; Business Management Goal Programming

Dr. Sang Lee was awarded the ORCA in 1980. Sang was born in 1939 in South Korea and grew up in Seoul. He earned his bachelor’s in 1961 at Seoul National University. Next, he traveled over 7000 miles to the US to earn a master’s from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and then a somewhat shorter move to the University of Georgia in Athens, where he earned a doctorate in Business Administration and Management. From 1968 to 1976, he rose through the ranks at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in Blacksburg while making a splash for his “goal programming” ideas. In 1976, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln was ecstatic when he agreed to serve as chair of the management department, a position he held for 35 years. He retired in 2011 but remains very active. He still lives in Lincoln.

Norman H. Cromwell, NU System Graduate Dean; Eppley Cancer Center Director

Norman Cromwell was awarded the inaugural ORCA in 1978. Interviewee Norman Cromwell Interviewer C.R. Pete Boughn Podcast Editor & Producer Mark A. Griep This interview took place in May 1980 and is reproduced with permission from: Oral History Collection, Special Collections and Archives, McGoogan Health Sciences Library, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska

Parks Coble, Jr.; Chinese Nationalists & Business, Chinese-Japanese Relations

Dr. Parks Coble, Jr. He was awarded the ORCA in 2005. He was born in Waterloo, South Carolina in 1946 but he grew up in Columbia. He earned his bachelor’s in history at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. Next, he traveled 740 miles northwest to earn his doctorate from the University of Illinois in Champaign. In 1976, he became an assistant professor of history at the University of Nebraska, where he quickly rose through the ranks. His early work focused on the relationship between Chinese business elites and leaders of the Chinese National Government movement. From there, he moved on to complex relationship between China and Japan. In 2019, Parks was honored by the Association for Asian Studies with a roundtable discussion at its annual conference to celebrate “Parks Coble's important scholarly contributions to research in Chinese business, political, and social history.” He retired in 2024 and still lives in Lincoln.

Fred Luthans, Positive Organizational Behavior

Fred Luthans was awarded the ORCA in 2008. He was born in Clinton, Iowa, in 1939. He earned three degrees from the University of Iowa in Iowa City: a bachelor’s in mathematics in 1961, a Master of Business Administration in 1962, and a PhD in management & psychology in 1965. After serving two years as a captain in the Army at West Point where he taught psychology and leadership, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an associate professor of management. He’s had a remarkable career, but I’ll only mention three major distinctions. His pioneering textbook "Organizational Behavior" is now in its 14th edition, and another of his numerous books, "International Management" is going into its 12th edition. Second, in 1986, he was elected by the over 21,000 members across the world and served as President of the Academy of Management. Third, in 2017, he was ranked in the top 1% for all fields with now, according to Google Scholar, over 190,000 citations of his theory and research articles. He retired in 2015 and still lives in Lincoln with his wife of 63 years.

Stephen Baenziger, Breeding New Wheat Varieties

Dr. Stephen Baenziger was awarded the ORCA in 2011. He was born in 1951 in Toronto, Canada. When he was an infant, his family immigrated to the US where he grew up in Des Plaines, Illinois. He earned a bachelor’s in biological chemistry magna cum laude from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Next, he earned a master’s and doctorate in plant breeding and genetics at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Over the next decade, he worked for the USDA at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center Maryland and then at Monsanto Corporation in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1986, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an associate professor of agronomy (later agronomy and horticulture) and rose quickly through the ranks while studying the genetics and breeding of small grains such as wheat, barley, and triticale. He retired in 2021 and still lives in Lincoln.

Ross Thompson, Childhood Emotional Development

Ross Thompson was born in 1954 in Madison, Wisconsin. He traveled nearly 2000 miles west to earn a bachelor’s in psychology magna cum laude from Occidental College in Los Angeles. Then, he traveled east over 2200 miles to earn a master’s and doctorate in psychology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In 1981, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an assistant professor of psychology and rose quickly through the ranks while studying childhood emotional development. In 2003, three years after earning the ORCA, Ross left UNL to join the psychology department at the University of California, Davis. He retired in 2023 and still lives in California.

John Hibbing, Political Attitudes Correlate with Physiological Traits

Dr. John Hibbing was awarded the ORCA in 1993. He was born in 1953 in Paullina, Iowa. He earned a bachelor’s in secondary education from Dana College in Blair, Nebraska, but then realized that teaching high school wasn’t his thing. Instead, he attended the University of Iowa where he earned a master’s and doctorate in political science. In 1981, he joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as an assistant professor of political science and rose quickly through the ranks. Initially, he studied the reasons that members of the US congress retire. This led to a long-term collaboration with Kevin Smith and John Alford to study the genetic and psychological correlates of political ideology. This hot-button topic brought him a great deal of prominence in our increasingly polarized times.

Xiao Cheng Zeng, Theoretical/Computational; Nebraska ice & Gold nanocages

Dr. Xiao Cheng Zeng became a chemistry professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1993, quickly rose through the ranks, and was in the department for 29 years. In 2022, he left to become head of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong. Xiao was born in Beijing and earned a bachelor’s in physics at the University of Beijing in 1984. Next, he traveled 6800 miles east to Ohio State University in Columbus where he earned his doctorate in condensed matter physics. He followed that up with two postdoctoral experiences, first at the University of Chicago and the second at the University of California Los Angeles. At UNL, Xiao’s lab carried out theoretical/ computational studies on a wide range of interesting solids, liquids, and gases.

Paul Olson, English Literature & Curricular Reform; Great Plains Studies

Prof. Paul Olson was born in 1932 in Washburn, Wisconsin. During his youth, his family also farmed in Nebraska and South Dakota. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas. Next, he earned a master’s in English from the University of Nebraska, a Fulbright fellowship to spend a year at London University in England, and his doctorate in medieval and Renaissance studies from Princeton University in New Jersey. In 1957, he joined UNL as an assistant professor of English and was soon promoted to full professor. One of his earliest projects was to help English teachers across the state to reform their curricula. As a literary historian, he eventually published twelve books and many book chapters and articles on topics such as medieval literature, Plains and Indian literature, and English education reform. In 1976, Paul became founding director of the Center for Great Plains Studies, which is now celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Paul retired in 2006 and still lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.

David Forsythe, International Human Rights

Prof. David Forsythe was awarded the ORCA in 1982. He was born in North Carolina and earned a bachelor’s in political science from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem. Next, he earned a master’s and doctorate in Politics from Princeton University in New Jersey. In 1973, he joined UNL as an associate professor of political science and was soon promoted to full professor. In 1993, he became chair of his department and received the Charles J. Mach Distinguished Professorship of Political Science. He has authored, co-authored, or edited about 30 books on was International Human Rights, Law, and Politics, and has authored or co-authored dozens of journal articles in those same areas. He has been a visiting professor or lecturer at universities and organizations around the world. Dave was very active in the International Studies Association, in which he held several elected positions. Dave retired in 2010 and still lives in Lincoln, Nebraska.

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