Nate Nibbelink, associate dean for research and professor in the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, has been named interim dean of the school, effective Jan. 1, 2024.
“Dr. Nibbelink has built an impressive record of teaching, research and service during his tenure of more than 18 years in Warnell,” said S. Jack Hu, the university’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “During the ongoing national search for the Warnell School’s next dean, I am confident that he will provide excellent leadership for the school and support for faculty, staff and students as interim dean.”
Nibbelink’s research focuses on creating spatial analysis tools to support natural resource management decision-making. He and his students collaborate broadly to evaluate effects of land management and environmental change on wildlife habitat and other ecosystem services. His ultimate goal is to provide managers, industry and other partners with decision-making tools to help achieve healthy ecosystems, economies and communities.
In addition to teaching courses on spatial analysis for natural resources, Nibbelink is committed to student mentoring. He received the Outstanding Mentoring Award from the UGA Graduate School in 2010. In 2015, he earned Warnell’s Herrick Superior Teaching Award for faculty performance in the classroom. He is now leading a project funded by the National Science Foundation to improve creativity and collaboration in graduate training.
The University System of Georgia Board of Regents on Nov. 14 approved the creation of two endowed distinguished professorships, made possible by a gift of $1.4 million from the Isakson Initiative to the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine.
Arthi Kanthasamy and Jason Richardson will be the inaugural holders of the Johnny Isakson Distinguished Professorship and the Dianne Isakson Distinguished Professorship, respectively. Housed in the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Isakson Center for Neurological Disease Research, these professorships are named in honor of the late U.S. Sen. John Hardy “Johnny” Isakson and his wife, Dianne. Isakson, who died in 2021, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2015.
“We are grateful to the Isakson Initiative for its ongoing support of the center’s important research toward a cure for such neurodegenerative diseases as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Arthi Kanthasamy and Jason Richardson are prominent contributors to the center’s ongoing efforts to understand the underlying causes of these diseases,” said Lisa K. Nolan, dean of the college. “We are proud to be carrying on Senator Isakson’s commitment to biomedical research and development that will lead to cures for these and other devastating neurological disorders.”
Sen. Isakson established the Isakson Initiative following his retirement in 2019 to raise awareness and funding for research into neurocognitive diseases including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and related dementia.
Awards and initiates were recognized at the university’s annual Tucker Dorsey Blue Key Alumni Banquet on Nov. 10 at the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel.
The 2023 Blue Key Service Award was presented to Allison C. Ausband, executive vice president and chief customer experience officer for Delta Air Lines; Judge Lisa Godbey Wood, United States District Court judge for the Southern District of Georgia; and Gov. Brian P. Kemp.
Greg H. Robinson was awarded the 2023 faculty Blue Key Service Award. Robinson is the UGA Foundation Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and serves on the board of the UGA Research Foundation.
The 2023 Blue Key Young Alumnus award was presented to J. Wells Ellenberg, director of governmental affairs for Southern Company. Ellenberg currently serves on the UGA School of Public and International Affairs Board of Visitors.
The Blue Key Honor Society is a national organization whose members are committed to leadership in student life, high scholastic achievement, service to others and citizenship. Established in 1924 at the University of Florida, the organization’s third chapter was established at the University of Georgia in 1926.
University of Georgia student Mariah Cady was named a 2024 Rhodes Scholar this weekend, joining recipients from 64 countries around the world.
The Rhodes Scholarship is the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship award in the world. The 2024 Rhodes Scholars will begin their various courses of study as graduate students at the University of Oxford in October. Cady is a current Morehead Honors College student and Foundation Fellow at UGA.
A 2023 Boren Scholar from Midland, Cady is a senior in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and School of Public and International Affairs, majoring in Russian and international affairs with minors in geography, German, and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL).
At the University of Oxford, Cady plans to pursue two master’s degrees: the first in linguistics, philology and phonetics and the second in refugee and forced migration studies. She would like to specialize in Indo-European languages and deepen her studies in Arabic, Turkish and Greek. She plans to engage in critical reflection on the ways in which governments can enhance refugee resettlement policies. As she prepares for a career in diplomacy, she said, undergraduate degrees in Russian and international affairs and studies of eight languages—German, Russian, Lakota, Serbo-Croatian, Arabic, Greek, Turkish and Kazakh—have provided her with a dual foundation in cross-linguistic communication and human security studies.
The Georgia Museum of Art celebrated its 75th birthday in style on Nov. 5 with a crowd of at least 540 in attendance.
Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz joined David Odo, museum director, to welcome all and read a proclamation in honor of the museum’s 75 years providing free inspiration.
UGA students, faculty, staff and community members also learned the winner of Museum Madness, the 64-work showdown that took the form of an NCAA tournament bracket and on which museum visitors and fans have been voting since March, both online and in person. Elizabeth Jane Gardner Bouguereau’s “La Confidence” edged out Art Rosenbaum’s “McIntosh County Shouters” by a mere dozen votes.
Attendees were also surprised and delighted when Hairy Dawg pushed out the 75th birthday cake and then hung around to take photos with guests and in the galleries. Thanks to the Material Arts and Culture Foundation, family activities were in abundance, with guests painting their own mini canvases, decorating party hats and making chalk art in the Jane and Harry Willson Sculpture Garden, under a beautiful banner by K.A. Artist Shop. Many visitors wrote birthday wishes to the museum on heart-shaped sticky notes that multiplied on the large windows leading to the sculpture garden.
Marshall Shepherd, Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor of geography and atmospheric sciences at the University of Georgia, was recognized as the recipient of the 2023 Environmental Achievement Award.
The award, which is presented by the Environmental Law Institute, recognized Shepherd’s exceptional contributions to environmental, protection, conservation and sustainability. He accepted the award at the ELI Annual Award Dinner in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 24.
Research conducted by Shepherd and his colleagues has catalyzed entirely new areas of study, such as how wet soils can sustain the intensity of tropical storms and hurricanes and how urban areas can affect rainfall patterns. His research has been supported with $30 million in funding from agencies such as NASA, the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy. He has authored or co-authored seven books and more than 100 peer-reviewed scholarly publications.
He was recently named associate dean for research, scholarship and partnership in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. In that role, which he will assume Nov. 1, Shepherd will collaborate to advance a number of the college’s objectives, including identifying and supporting funding opportunities, facilitating team initiatives across the college, developing a grant proposal program and enhancing recognition for faculty research.
Dr. Shelley Nuss, campus dean of the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership, has been named the recipient of the 2023 Lamartine Hardman Cup from the Medical Association of Georgia.
One of the highest honors from the Medical Association of Georgia, the award recognizes a physician who has solved a problem in public health or made a contribution to the science of medicine, including but not limited to excellence in the field of medical education.
In 2016, Nuss became dean of the Medical Partnership, where one of her major accomplishments has been tackling the physician shortage in Georgia. The Medical Partnership expanded its enrollment from 40 students per class to 50 in 2020 and eventually to 60 per class in 2021. It will have a total of 240 students in 2024 compared to 160 when the campus opened in 2010.
Nuss has also been instrumental in expanding graduate medical education statewide. She led the development of new residency programs and teaching hospitals across Georgia in her work with the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.
The University of Georgia has introduced a Ph.D. program in regenerative bioscience, to be administered jointly by the Regenerative Bioscience Center and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. This pioneering effort sets UGA apart as the first institution in the state to provide a formalized doctoral program aimed at nurturing interdisciplinary research and entrepreneurial skills within this dynamic and growing field.
The new degree, along with the regenerative bioscience undergraduate major established in 2022, are part of the CAES Department of Animal and Dairy Science’s commitment to advancing research and education in regenerative medicine and improving health for both animals and humans.
“In our pursuit of excellence and innovation, we’re constantly driven to explore new frontiers in education and research,” said Francis Fluharty, animal and dairy science department head. “The recent approval of the Ph.D. program in regenerative bioscience underscores our unwavering dedication to providing our students with the opportunities they need to excel in fields that hold the promise of a better future.”
To meet the growing demand in Georgia’s life sciences industry and prepare the next generation of leaders in regenerative medicine, the new doctorate will launch in spring 2024. The program will provide advanced interdisciplinary training opportunities for students in the biomanufacturing of cellular therapies and tissues, biomaterials for tissue engineering, gene therapy, biomedical imaging, and biomedical computation.
The University of Georgia will feature the visual, performing and literary arts on campus with more than 60 events and exhibitions during its annual Spotlight on the Arts festival in November.
Highlights of the monthlong festival include a performance by seven-time Grammy Award-winner and twice Oscar-nominated film composer Terence Blanchard, a lecture by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead, and a University Theatre production of “Mother Courage and Her Children.” Also featured are a student choreography performance by the department of dance and a night of fine opera by the Hugh Hodgson School of Music.
Throughout the month, the Georgia Museum of Art will be celebrating its 75th anniversary with several special events including Family Day and Student Night. The Lamar Dodd School of Art will host its third annual Dodd Market on Nov. 17 showcasing the talent of more than 90 student artists and providing them with valuable selling experience.
“The Spotlight on the Arts festival calls attention to the enduring excellence in the arts and humanities at the University of Georgia,” said S. Jack Hu, the university’s senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “As one of the nation’s best public universities, UGA’s educational quality and learning environment is strengthened by the richness of our arts programming and scholarship.”
Led by former University of Georgia head football coach Mark Richt, the Chick-fil-A Dawg Bowl raised more than $758,000 for Parkinson’s disease and Crohn’s disease research at UGA. The fundraiser, which featured a VIP bowling event, rallied over 1,330 donors to support UGA research.
“I am very grateful to Chick-fil-A, Coach Richt and the many generous donors who contributed to the university’s research efforts in these important areas over the past two weeks,” said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. “Private support is essential to the kinds of cutting-edge research our faculty are conducting on Parkinson’s and related diseases, and the Chick-fil-A Dawg Bowl helps our researchers looking for new treatments and cures.”
Richt announced the charity event at UGA head football coach Kirby Smart’s Monday press conference on Oct. 2. Donations poured in before, during and after the bowling event on Wednesday, Oct. 18.
During the bowling tournament, viewers tuned into the event’s livestream from home, watching Coach Richt and Bulldog greats such as Smart, David Pollack and Rennie Curran battle it out at Showtime Bowling Alley in Athens. Over the course of the tournament, donors gave $35,000.
