The University of Nebraska–Lincoln Department of Animal Science will honor five individuals with awards at its annual Block and Bridle Club and Alumni and Friends Reunion April 22 in the Nebraska East Union’s Great Plains Room.
Ronnie and Jane Green will be recognized as the 2023 Block and Bridle Club honorees, while Cayla Beebe-Iske, Deb Hamernik and Rebecca Bott-Knutson will be honored for their outstanding accomplishments as undergraduate and graduate alumni.
Since 1938, the Block and Bridle Club has recognized individuals who contributed to Nebraska agriculture through leadership, service, youth projects, community activities and involvement with the university. The candidates are nominated by industry leaders and selected by club officers and advisers.
Ronnie Green joins Edgar Burnett (1941) as the second University of Nebraska–Lincoln chancellor to be honored with the award, while Jane Green joins Sallie Atkins (2001) and Anne Marie Bosshammer (2016) as the third woman honored.
Green was raised on a mixed beef, dairy and cropping farm in southwestern Virginia. He received a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Virginia Tech, a master’s degree in animal science from Colorado State University and a doctoral degree in animal breeding and genetics from Nebraska. Jane (Pauley) Green grew up on a diversified crop and livestock farm near Harvard, Neb., before enrolling at Nebraska on a Regent’s Scholarship, earning a bachelor’s degree in agricultural honors and master’s degree in agricultural economics from the university.
The Greens have had a tremendous impact on agriculture in Nebraska and beyond. Ronnie served on the animal science faculties at Nebraska, Texas Tech and Colorado State; was the national program leader for animal production research for the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service; and is an internationally recognized authority in animal genetics. He also served as executive secretary of the White House’s interagency working group on animal genomics within the National Science and Technology Council.
Jane’s work for Cooperative Extension in the Department of Agricultural Economics during the ag crisis of the 1980s continues to impact farming and ranching operations in Nebraska. She was also a co-founder, with Deb Rood, of the annual Women in Ag Conference, which last year reached 800 Nebraska women producers.
Deb Hamernik (Bachelor of Science, 1981), of Olathe, Kan., will be honored with the Undergraduate of Distinction award. Following her graduation from Nebraska, she earned her master’s degree in animal science from Washington State University and her doctoral degree in reproductive endocrinology from Colorado State University. After completing her doctorate, she served in a variety of roles at Nebraska, the University of Arizona and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
In 2009, Hamernik returned to Nebraska to become associate dean of agricultural research and associate director of the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station and professor in the Department of Animal Science from 2009-18. She served as administrator of sponsored funding for agricultural research and enhanced the competitiveness of interdisciplinary research teams for extramural funding. She served as interim associate vice chancellor for research at Nebraska from 2011-13 and 2016-17 before being named associate vice chancellor for research in 2018. Hamernik remained in that role until she returned to the USDA in 2020 to become director of the Animal Systems Division in the Institute of Food Production and Sustainability. She became deputy director of the institute in November 2020.
Categories: Kansas, General