Dennis McCallister
A retirement reception for Dennis McCallister, agronomy and horticulture professor, is from 3 to 5 p.m. July 28 at the Goodding Learning Center, 280 Plant Sciences Hall, East Campus.
McCallister will retire July 31 after 37 years at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The professor of soil science began his career at Nebraska in 1980 in a teaching and research appointment in what was then the Department of Agronomy. He was promoted to full professor in 2003.
During most of his time at the university, McCallister was involved with instruction in Agronomy 153 Soil Resources, in which he, with numerous colleagues, was responsible for introducing thousands of students to the study of soils. He was also responsible for Agronomy 455/855 Soil Chemistry and Mineralogy. More recently, he developed Agronomy 453 Urban Soil Properties and Management and cooperated in the agronomy majors’ careers course Agronomy 201 Agronomic Internship and Career Preparation.
McCallister’s research activities included reactions of soil minerals and their contribution to plant nutrient availability, phosphorus availability as affected by crop rotation and biosolids management, phosphorus dynamics in sandy soils, soil impacts of concrete grinding residue and physical stability of green roof growth media. He has also been involved in research related to innovative instructional methods.
He said the most fulfilling part of serving as teaching coordinator in the department since 2005, has been working with entering freshman and transfer students to ensure that their first semester at the university is a positive experience.
McCallister earned his doctorate in soil science from Texas A&M University. He has been honored with the Distinguished Teaching Award and the Russel K. Crowe Outstanding Undergraduate Advising Award from UNL. He was also recognized as a Teacher Scholar by the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture.
The retirement reception is free and open to the public and is hosted by the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. No formal program is planned. Please feel free to share on the online guest book at go.unl.edu/mccallister-retirement.