At the All-University Celebration and Salute to Alumni Achievement on May 8, an engineer and a teacher fresh from school will receive the Nebraska Alumni Association’s Young Alumni Award.
Anthony Baumgart, a manufacturing engineer for BD Medical in Columbus, and Candace Cain, a theater and speech teacher in Burwell, are the two recipients.
Baumgart, who received degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2006 and 2008, manages costs, streamlines processes and finds alternative materials to cut costs for BD Medical, a medical technology company.
He started there in January 2009 and said it has been a, “pretty big whirl-wind.”
In 2006 he received his bachelor’s of science and industrial engineering and followed it with a master’s of the same area in December 2008.
He said his favorite part of UNL was the “caliber of people. From scholars to athletes. If you had a problem, someone (was) always willing to help.”
As a result of his time on campus, Baumgart now has friends all over the world, and travels to see them.
“I can go to Europe to visit my buddy Alex,” he said.
Cain said she also loved the connections made at UNL. She uses “the idea of networking. Working to get to know people on their level. Not only with students but with the different faculty,” she learned at UNL in her job as a teacher.
Cain received degrees in 2001 and 2008, the first being a bachelor’s in middle school education with English as a second language, and the second a master’s in curriculum instruction in speech and English.
She wasn’t on the speech team, but she says she received her experience in public speaking through groups on campus including the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska, 4H and marching band.
Cain taught in Columbus for five years and coached six National Forensic League Academic All-Americans and received many noted awards herself for coaching. She now teaches at Burwell High School.
Baumgart is excited for the awards and said he always tries to stop by campus when he can, so he can talk “to admissions buddies.” He is a recognized ex-campus visit coordinator for the College of Engineering.
Cain said her teaching is different from most as she attempts to make students’ projects help the community. Cain said her advice to current UNL students is to be active both on campus and in the community.
nateruleaux@dailynebraskan.com
Be the first to comment on this article!