Gina Ligon called "one of THE giants in academia"
NCITE Director Gina Ligon is being honored at the University of Nebraska at Omaha with its Distinguished Research or Creative Activity Award.
She landed the federal grant that established NCITE — the largest single grant in the University of Nebraska system history. The 10-year, $36 million grant, awarded in February, placed UNO as the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) home for its newest academic center of excellence for counterterrorism and terrorism prevention research.
This is a subject area where Ligon has deep background. She is a nationally recognized expert on leadership and organizational design within terrorist and extremist groups.
Ligon is an Oklahoma native and organizational psychologist by training. She holds degrees from Southwestern Oklahoma State University (B.S., psychology), and the Univeristy of Oklahoma (Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology). She has published over 80 peer-reviewed academic articles and book chapters.
At UNO, she is a professor of management and the Jack and Stephanie Koraleski Chair of Collaboration Science in the College of Business Administration. She won the federal grant in February and launched NCITE officially in July.
She was lauded at UNO’s annual faculty honors convocation, held Oct. 15. The NCITE staff surprised her with a zoom toast — and deserved remarks from many colleagues. Here are a few:
“Congratulations on receiving this year’s DROCA award. There is no one more deserving than you.” Ken Bayles, UNO associate vice chancellor in the Office of Research and Creative Activity
“This is a well-deserved recognition of your scholarly accomplishments and your exceptional achievement as the driving force behind NCITE.” Martha Crenshaw, veteran terrorism researcher at Stanford University and Wesleyan University and NCITE researcher
“You bring an exceptional background, leadership, and a vision of excellence to the NCITE Center that will produce the nexus for the counterterrorism community within DHS.” Jeff Brownsweiger, program manager for DHS’ Office of University Programs
“Gina is, without a doubt, one of THE giants in academia. We have and will continue to benefit from her hard work, creativity, and unwavering persistence.” Steven Windisch, former UNO graduate student, assistant professor of criminal justice at Temple University, and an NCITE researcher
“Gina taught me how to run a lab, meet with stakeholders, and mentor undergrad and grad students. She taught me what it meant to be creative, to do meaningful work, and to think about policy and practice.” Karyn Sporer, former UNO grad student, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Maine, and NCITE researcher
“Her work has helped set the tone for honest and nonpartisan conversation on terrorism research in America.” Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the George Washington University Program on Extremism and NCITE researcher