The Agronomy and Horticulture Alumni Advisory Council is seeking nominations for the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture Alumni Lifetime Achievement Award.
This award is the highest honor bestowed upon graduates of the University of Nebraska Department of Agronomy and Horticulture. It recognizes alumni whose careers and service have made significant and lasting contributions to agriculture, horticulture, science, education, industry, public service, and society.
Established by the Agronomy and Horticulture Alumni Advisory Council in 2016, the award honors alumni who have enhanced the reputation of the department and the University of Nebraska–Lincoln through distinguished professional achievement, public service, and civic engagement. Honorees reflect the department’s enduring commitment to leadership, innovation, service, and impact across local, state, national, and international communities.
Guided Questions to Help Shape Your Nomination:
- What sustained pattern of excellence, leadership, and service defines the nominee’s career?
- Which professional accomplishments best demonstrate the nominee’s influence on agronomy, horticulture, agriculture, science, education, industry, public service, or related fields?
- What examples show that the nominee’s work benefited people beyond their immediate role or organization?
- How has the nominee contributed to community, civic, professional, or service organizations in ways that created lasting value?
- What evidence shows the nominee’s legacy, including mentorship, institutional influence, improved practices, or impact on future generations?
- Why does the nominee’s full body of work rise to the level of lifetime achievement and merit the department’s highest alumni honor?
Supported Material to Include in Your Nomination:
- Career summary or curriculum vitae
- Biographical information and full contact information
- List of awards, honors, recognitions, or professional distinctions
- Evidence of leadership, service, civic engagement, mentorship, outreach, or professional impact
- Supporting references or testimonials
Nominations are due September 18, 2026.
Past nominees may continue to be considered, and renomination is not required unless additional information strengthens the nomination. Honorees are selected by the Agronomy and Horticulture Alumni Advisory Council.
Those currently nominated include: Glenn Burton, Kenneth D. Frank, Francis A. Haskins, Virgil Johnson, Tiffany Heng-Moss, Bob Nielsen, Gary Petersen, and Ray Ward.
Past recipients include the following:
- 2025: Calvin O. Qualset, Thomas S. Payne, James (Jim) S. Schepers and James “Jim” Eugene Specht
- 2024: Joseph W. Keaschall, William (Bill) Robert Raun and James J. Vorst
- 2023: Theodore Alexander Kiesselbach and David McGill
- 2022: Fredrick A. Bliss and Charles William Stuber
- 2021: Arden Albert Baltensperger and Robert "Bob" Sorensen
- 2020: Warren “Buck” Gabelman and Wayne F. Keim
- 2019: George W. Beadle, William Wesley Burr, Steve A. Eberhart, Kimberly Erusha, Franklin D. Keim, A. Bruce Maunder, Monica Norby and Robert A. Olson
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