The UNO Honors Program features faculty from every college on campus, teaching Honors-only sections of general education courses and unique Honors seminar offerings.
If you are interested in teaching in the Honors Program, please email unohonors@unomaha.edu
Honors Faculty Award Winners
The 2024 awardee is Dr. William Cooney from the School of Communication in the College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media. Dr. Cooney's nominator 's spoke highly of Dr. Cooney as "a fantastic person. He's kind, compassionate, and caring towards all his students. He deserves recognition."
Honors students nominate and select the Outstanding Honors Faculty; the list of awardees includes:
| Year | Awardee |
|---|---|
| 2024 | William Cooney |
| 2023 | Saundra L. Shillingstad |
| 2022 | John Conrad & Matthew Marx |
| 2021 | Griff Elder |
| 2020 | Adrian Duran & Zach Darwish |
| 2019 | Amy Rodie |
| 2018 | Paul Davis |
| 2017 | Gina Ligon |
| 2016 | Dale Eesley |
| 2015 | Karen Murch-Schafer |
College of Arts and Sciences
John A. Grigg, Professor of History
I had the delightful opportunity to teach an Honors Seminar for the first time in the fall, 2024 semester. I was a little apprehensive at first as this was the first time I’d taught an upper-division course outside my home department (History).
My concerns disappeared in the first week or so. The students were motivated, highly engaged, and enthusiastic. I did learn to adapt throughout the semester but this was a positive experience. The student’s engagement led me to rethink expectations and requirements. This does not mean I made the course easier, just that I modified it to students interested in history but who were not History majors. I think this will stand me in good stead for future teaching as UNO begins to modify its curriculum.
Although I have had many fulfilling teaching experiences in my time at UNO, this was far and away the most fun I’ve had teaching a class. And most of that was due to the students themselves.
Charles Johanningsmeier, English
Working with Honors students is usually quite challenging – but always in a good way. I enjoy how they keep me on my toes and often surprise me with their insights. How exciting it is to be in an Honors class discussion and have students make perceptive connections between courses – and often, disciplines – that reveal new ways of looking at things. It’s also a pleasure to work with students who, in general, have genuine intellectual curiosity – and will make the time, and devote the energy, to follow up on that curiosity.
Randall Adkins, Senior Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences, Professor of Political Science
My group is nothing short of amazing so far! I’m very impressed. I expected them to be super-smart, but they also break all of the stereotypes that exist of Gen Z. They show up on time, they’re prepared, they pay close attention, they’re inquisitive, but most of all they are informed! Across the board they can speak to current events going on in the country and in the world. We start every class with “question time” where we discuss what has happened politically since the last class, but I frankly have to fight with them to get an opportunity to comment myself as they tend to drive the conversation. I don’t know if all Honors classes are like this, but I definitely wouldn’t mind doing this again.
Mithra Pirooz, Instructor of Psychology
I've really enjoyed teaching the Honors section of PSYC 1010! While the core material remains the same as in the non-Honors section, I find that Honors students can take it a step further by connecting the material to their courses in other disciplines.
I also have found that the Honors students are incredibly creative and enjoy incorporating their creativity into the science. Students were tasked with incorporating different areas of psychology into an interactive project to share with the class. I was particularly impressed with the creativity the students demonstrated. For instance, one group designed a text-based video game in which the player was tasked by a medieval king to address psychological problems (e.g., amnesia, mental health issues, etc.) during a time in history when little was known about these issues. Another group created an escape room in our lab space in ASH, and the clues were related to content from class. It's been a joy to work with the Honors program!
College of Business Administration
Gina Ligon, Management
Honors Program Outstanding Honors Faculty, 2017
Service Award, 2017
Changemaker Award, 2017
Mentor of Finalist Team in National Peer to Peer Countering Violent Extremism Digital Challenge, 2016
"It is motivating to see a group of talented, hardworking, and diverse students at UNO. My colloquia had students from so many colleges, so many backgrounds, and so many different demographics; the common factor was their hunger to learn and motivation to excel at everything they tackled. They are wonderful role models for our student body and certainly motivated me to be the best professor I could be!"
Jennifer Riley, Accounting
Graduate Accounting Professor of the Year – 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016
UNO Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award, 2012
MBA Professor of the Year, 2012
“Teaching the colloquium has been the most fun I have had teaching in 17 years. The students challenged me at every turn, not in a confrontational way, but in a creative one – to think outside the walls of the business college, to dig out of the rut I had developed over a decade and a half of teaching. The students are truly interested in learning. They challenge the boundaries, they participate, they are curious. They do the work, they put in the time.”
Jonna Holland, Marketing & Entrepreneurship
Marketing Faculty Distinguished Service Award, 2011, 2015
University of Nebraska Outstanding Teaching and Creative Activity Award, 2011
“Interacting with our best and brightest students is a joy. Furthermore, I feel I have the opportunity to learn from these students as much as they learn from me. In general, the Honors students demonstrate a higher capacity for synthesizing multiple perspectives into our class discussion than I see in non-Honors courses.”
College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Saundra Shillingstad, Teacher Education
UNO Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award, 2008
Honors Program Outstanding Honors Faculty, 2023
“Teaching an Honors course is both a process and positive experience. I was able to design, plan and teach my course with the Honors students in mind. Teaching an Honors course allowed me to teach in a manner where ideas and concepts from my discipline could be explored by challenging my students to think critically.”
College of Public Affairs and Community Service
Lyn Holley, Gerontology
UNO Chancellor’s Strategic Planning Award – Student Focus, 2011
Outstanding Service Learning Faculty Award, 2010
UNO Alumni Outstanding Teaching Award, 2009
“Teaching collaboratively with other disciplines, with really total creative freedom, has been one of the best faculty development experiences I’ve had in a long career.”
College of Communication, Fine Arts and Media
Adrian Duran, Art & Art History
Honors Program Outstanding Honors Faculty, 2020
“Honors students are bright, feisty, and are fun to turn on to new disciplines. The freedom to build courses as you’d like/imagine is wonderful. The Honors faculty are a dream to work with. It’s a lovely way to break the monotony of regular class rotations, experiment pedagogically, and get in touch with students from diverse and far-flung majors.”
College of Information Science & Technology
Deepak Khazanchi, Mutual of Omaha Distinguished Chair of Information Science and Technology, Professor of Information Systems & Quantitative Analysis
Teaching the Honors courses has been an interesting experience, driven by students' engagement with some of the most pressing ethical and technological challenges of our time. Each course is designed to push students beyond surface-level understanding, encouraging them to critically analyze AI’s impact on human rights, data privacy, fairness, business ethics, and applications.
I find that Honors students consistently stand out for their engagement, depth of analysis, willingness to question assumptions, and ability to propose or evaluate forward-thinking solutions. While all my students engage meaningfully, those in Honors sections consistently exhibit greater initiative and critical inquiry, driving discussions that challenge their peers to think more deeply. Watching them rise to the challenge and navigate these complex issues has reinforced the vital role of the Honors program in fostering intellectual curiosity and deeper analytical thinking.