Big Ten Academic Alliance Department Executive Officers Program

Felix Olschofka

Professor of Violin, Director of the Glenn Korff School of Music

Felix Olschofka is Professor of Violin and Director of the Glenn Korff School of Music. He came to Nebraska from the University of North Texas College of Music where he was Associate Dean for Operations, Director of Graduate Studies, and Professor of Violin. His previous teaching engagements include serving as Associate Professor at San Diego State University and teaching at summer festivals such as Round Top Music Festival, Bay View Music Festival, Summit Music Festival, and the CICA International Music Festival. He is a winner of numerous awards and competitions including two first prizes in the prestigious German Youth Music Competition (solo and chamber music categories), second prize in the International Chamber Music Competition Charles Hennen in The Netherlands, and a prestigious grant from the Oscar and Vera Ritter Foundation. He has toured as a soloist, concertmaster, and chamber musician throughout Europe, Asia, North America and South America. His playing has been described as “violinistic pyrotechnics” by Theater Jones, Dallas, “charged with beauty” by Gramophone, “a true dream of romantic melodiousness” by General-Anzeiger, Bonn and “remarkable for dramatic power” by the Star-Telegram, Fort Worth. Born and raised in Germany, Olschofka holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the Music Conservatory Hanns Eisler in Berlin, a performance certificate from Indiana University, and a doctorate from the University of California San Diego.

Petronela Radu

Olson Professor, Department Chair of Mathematics

Petronela Radu is the Leland J. and Dorothy H. Olson Professor and Department Chair of Mathematics. Her research work in applied mathematics, partial and integro-differential equations, continuum mechanics, and nonlocal models has led to many collaborations with experts in academia, industry, national laboratories, and other governmental agencies. Her research and educational work have been funded by awards totaling over $5 million from several agencies including NSF, the SLMath (formerly Simons) Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, and the Fulbright Foundation. She has developed the award-wining "Math in the City" course, an innovative program in which students work closely with local experts to construct and analyze mathematical models using real data. As Chair, she leads efforts to create new options for mathematics majors to encourage a more interdisciplinary education in recognition of the widespread applicability of mathematics in an increasingly technological world. The number of math majors has more than doubled during her time in the role. Additionally, she has collaborated with the School of Computing and the Department of Statistics to design and implement a new major in data science, which began in fall 2023 and is attracting an increasing number of students. She is leading efforts and seeking opportunities to engage with other units on campus and nationwide to showcase the applicability of mathematics in our economy and society and moreover, to strengthen connections between academia and industry, government, and local communities. Radu holds a doctorate in mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Amit Saini

Marshall Professor, Department Chair of Marketing

Amit Saini is W.W. Marshall College Professor and Department Chair of Marketing. He conducts research in management of marketing technologies (customer relationship management, e-commerce, business-to-business electronic markets), business-to-business marketing, and marketing ethics. He has published in leading marketing journals such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Letters, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Business Ethics Quarterly, and Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, and has presented his research at national and international conferences. He has been a recipient of the College of Business's Best Research Paper award, the Department of Marketing Research award, and the Harold and Esther Edgerton Junior Faculty Award. He has also been a recipient of external grants for his research from the Marketing Science Institute in Cambridge, MA, and the Institute of Study of Business Markets at Pennsylvania State University. Saini's industry experience includes quantitative market research and IT sales management. He has taught courses in marketing management, marketing strategy, marketing channels, and sales management at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate levels. He was awarded the college's Distinguished Teaching Award and has been recognized four times for outstanding contribution to students by the UNL Parents Association. Saini earned his bachelor's degree in engineering and master's degree in market research in India, and his doctorate in marketing at Washington State University.

Hank Stratton

Professor, Director of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film,
Executive Director of the Nebraska Repertory Theatre

Hank Stratton is Professor and Director of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film and Executive Director of the Nebraska Repertory Theatre. He comes to Nebraska from the University of Arizona, where he was Head of Acting and Musical Theatre and Artistic Director of the Arizona Repertory Theatre, where two of his many productions were honored with the Arizona Daily Star MAC Award. He is a co-founding instructor for Five Days of Broadway, a summer intensive with the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts; a board member of The Professional Arts Education Center; and a founding board member for The Foundation for a National AIDS Monument. He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Actors’ Equity Association, American Guild of Musical Artists, SAG-AFTRA, Musical Theatre Educators’ Alliance, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. He starred in the Broadway revival and television film adaptation of The Man Who Came to Dinner, and has had recurring roles and guest appearances on many NBC, CBS, Hallmark, and HBO productions. He performed in Love’s Labour’s Lost for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Complete Works Festival and has starred in national tours of Copenhagen, Cabaret, My Fair Lady, Newsies, and Victor/Victoria.

He is the recipient of the Gerald J. Swanson Prize for Teaching Excellence at the University of Arizona. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Stratton has served as a guest artist for leading educational institutions around the country, including masterclasses at University of California Los Angeles, the University of Michigan, and San Diego State University.

Deb VanOverbeke

Professor, Department Head of Animal Science

Deb VanOverbeke is Professor and Department Head of Animal Science, a unit of over 40 faculty. She came to Nebraska from Oklahoma State University where she was Assistant Dean for Academic Programs in the Ferguson College of Agriculture and a faculty member in Animal and Food Sciences with a teaching and research appointment. She also has experience in an extension and research faculty role at the University of Minnesota. Her prior experience focused on meat science teaching, research, and extension efforts centered around production practices that impact beef quality and safety. Her work has also had a focus on student and faculty development factors that impact student success. VanOverbeke received her bachelor of science in animal science with a minor in agriculture leadership from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. She received her master of science and doctorate in animal science, with a focus on meat science, from Colorado State University.