Achievements for November 2025

Learn more about recent honors, competitions, involvements, media interviews and research publications at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln College of Business in this month's achievements column, highlighting contributions and milestones by the college's faculty, staff and students.

Honors and Awards

• The School of Accountancy celebrated 45 years this year, marking its growth from a department into a nationally ranked school of accountancy. Read the story or see the video. 

  

• For 10 years, the Clifton Strengths Institute has helped thousands of students, faculty and staff across the university and beyond excel by discovering, developing and applying their strengths. Read the story. 
• Andrew Hanna, Seacrest Teaching Fellow and assistant professor of management, received the Southern Management Association's K. Michele (Micki) Kacmar Volunteer of the Year Award at its annual meeting in Greenville, South Carolina, in October. Named for one of the association’s most dedicated volunteers, the award honors a servant leader for their outstanding contributions and service.  

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  Lena Lankas, senior business administration and computer science major from Lincoln, Nebraska, and Carlos Wals De La Cueva, junior marketing and finance major from Lincoln, were each named Student of the Month by the College of Business Student Advisory Board.

• Three students who studied abroad in the Nebraska at Oxford program were honored at the annual Oxford High Tea in Howard L. Hawks Hall in October: Karyssa Johnson, senior economics major from Omaha, Nebraska, received the Dean's Award for Academic Excellence. Ava Glover, junior economics major from Pittsburg, Kansas, and Izzy Lewis, junior journalism, sports media and communication, and advertising & public relations major from Hickman, Nebraska, received the Dean's Award for Academic Achievement.
• Nebraska's Gamma Iota Sigma student organization received the distinguished chapter award at the national organization's annual conference in Hartford, Connecticut, in September.

Research and Publications

• Andrew Hanna collaborated with Nebraska MBA alumnus Kazuhiko Konno, '17, to research blind spots in group decision-making and negotiation. Their paper, "Modeling and Evaluating the Impact of Bias Blind Spots on Business Decisions Through Matrix-Based Graph Models," introduces a framework that may improve the stability and quality of organizational decision-making. Read the research article.
• Mason Tyerman, junior marketing major from Imperial, Nebraska, received an undergraduate research stipend through the university's UCARE program for the project “The Influence of Work-Related Social Media Content on Employee Perceptions of Engagement and Well-Being.” Read the Nebraska Today article.
   

Notable Involvement

• Nineteen undergraduate and graduate students participated in a Career Expedition to Dallas over fall break, exploring career opportunities, company cultures and networking with alumni and organizational leaders. See the Facebook post about the experience.
• Forty-seven students from four colleges on campus were selected for the Undergraduate Certificate in Sales Excellence Program, which sharpens communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills. Read the story.
• This fall, 18 Huskers joined the third Entrepreneurship Catalysts cohort through the Center for Entrepreneurship. The scholarship-based program connects first-year students with tools, mentors and experiences to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. Read the story.
• Thirty-two students are gaining hands-on experience in investing and wealth management through the sixth Investors With Purpose class. The selective program brings together high-achieving students with investment professionals for a semester-long course that emphasizes real-world application, mentorship and networking. Read the story.

Competitions

• Teams from across the university competed in the UNL round of the Tenaska Business Challenge, which challenges students to solve real problems through interdisciplinary solutions. The first-place team won $1,250 and the second-place team won $1,000, with both advancing to the multi-university round in February. The first-place team included Nathan Ray, senior supply chain management major from Omaha, and Lena Lankas, senior computer science and mathematics major with a business minor from Lincoln. The second-place team included Bruno Chincoa, senior economics and finance major from São Paulo, Brazil, and Lucas Coelho, junior computer science major from Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

• Elementary school students judged the university's eighth annual Innovation Challenge, hosted by the Center for Entrepreneurship. Teams from six colleges designed products using entrepreneurial techniques and AI to help kids take their vitamins without parental reminders. Read the story. 

  

• Four Nebraska Business Honors Academy students organized the annual Cornhusker Business Case Competition, which drew competitors from across the United States. Supported by WarHorse Gaming, the event tested students' analytical and problem-solving skills. Organizers included: Kaylee Campbell, senior actuarial science major from Tracy, Minnesota; Eric Jacob, senior business and law and finance major from Parker, Colorado; Tanner Maas, senior actuarial science and finance major from Gretna, Nebraska; and Grace Schaefer, senior supply chain management major from Bellevue, Nebraska. See the Facebook post about the event.
• Students in Intermediate Accounting class acted as junior credit analysts in a case competition with Deloitte. The first-place team included: Kouther Al-Ghanemi, junior accounting and management major from Lincoln; Kenney Dinh, junior finance major from Lincoln; Cole Hanson, junior accounting from Fargo, North Dakota; Abigail Kreifels, senior accounting major from Lincoln; and Cecilia Regan, junior accounting and finance major from Omaha.

In The News

• Ava Hollingsworth, an accounting, finance and management major from Omaha, was crowned homecoming royalty after a rare three-way tie in the student vote. She is also a student in the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management. Stories about the winners appeared in The Grand Island Independent, KGFW, Central Nebraska Today and other media outlets. Read the Central Nebraska Today story.
• Jennifer Davidson, Nebraska Council on Economic Education president, Nebraska Bankers Association Faculty Fellow and associate professor of practice in economics, spoke with Channel 10/11 on Oct. 13 about increasing savings as part of the Map to Financial Freedom. See the 10/11 Video. 
• Eric Thompson, K.H. Nelson College Professor of economics and director of Bureau of Business Research, discussed a recent report showing Lincoln and Omaha lagging in job growth during a Sept. 27 appearance on KLIN's Grow Lincoln. Listen to the recording.
• Thompson was also interviewed for a Midwest Newsroom story on Oct. 30 about job prospects for recent college graduates. He advised against worrying too much about recent employment fluctuations among new graduates, noting that they are often in a transitional stage of life. Read the Midwest Newsroom story.
• FindU, a startup founded by juniors Kenny Morales and Wilson Overfield, students in the Jeffrey S. Raikes School of Computer Science and Management, was featured in Silicon Prairie News. The app helps high school students match with their best-fit colleges and won the $10,000 grand prize at last year’s Silicon Prairie Startup Week Pitch Competition. Read the Silicon Prairie News article.
• The College of Business received a special on-air mention from announcers during MotoAmerica’s race coverage on September 27. The new business curriculum includes an Introduction to Business course for first-year students that features an in-class competition called the Business Battle, which is hosted this year in partnership with MotoAmerica. See the MotoAmerica video and Learn about the new curriculum.