March, 2017
Lincoln -- For the occasion of Nebraska's 150th statehood anniversary, the Lincoln Journal-Star put together a list of 150 "notable" Nebraskans. It was offered as a conversation starter.
Without challenging anyone who made the list, I'd observe with regret that not more scientists at the University of Nebraska are considered notable. To be sure, several of the list's notables studied at the University and made their marks in science elsewhere, but other than Charles Bessey, who was NU chancellor, scientists from the NU faculty are conspicuously absent.
Rachel Lloyd, Frederic and Edith Clements, E.F. Barbour, Ruth Leverton, and John Weaver all left their marks on the world but Nebraskans seem not to know who they were or what they did. It's too bad they and others like them have largely been forgotten. It's especially unfortunate because three on my short list are women; all six would be good role models for students who wish to become scientists.
