Employees honored for retirement, years of service, and teaching excellence
CHADRON – Chadron State College employees were honored during the annual employee recognition lunch April 16. Employees were recognized for retirement, years of service, and teaching excellence.
Photos are available in CSC’s public, online gallery.
Retirees included Brenda Barry-Schommer, Kim Clark Duffield, Dewayne Gimeson, Shawn Hartman, Dr. Tim Keith, and Dr. Kurt Kinbacher.
Assistant Professor Jordan Haas was selected as the 2026 Teaching Excellence Award recipient for the Nebraska State College System during the Board’s April meeting and will be formally recognized during spring commencement ceremonies at Chadron State College.
Each year, the NSCS Teaching Excellence Award honors a faculty member from Chadron State College, Peru State College, or Wayne State College who exemplifies outstanding teaching and advising, innovative instructional practices, high academic standards, and the ability to create engaging learning environments that inspire student success. Finalists are first selected at the institutional level before advancing for system-wide consideration.
Dr. Lori Hunn was also nominated for the CSC award. She is a Professor of Family and Consumer Sciences with decades of experience in education, leadership, and community engagement.
Years of Service
Silas W. Kern
Dr. Tracy Nobiling
Joyce Phillips Hardy, Ph.D.
Joby Collins
Dr. Tim Keith
Todd Baumann
Sharla Blonien
Angie Camerlinck
Jennifer Wittrock
Dr. Shaunda French-Collins
Melissa Ann Mitchell
Christopher Singpiel
Dr. Thomas E. Smith (posthumously)
Trudy Denham
Dr. Gary Dusek
Jordan Haefele
E.J. Kreis IV
Valerie Miller
Emily Snitily
Dr. Tara Wilson
Alex Brodrick
Kevin Coy
Rebecca Fernau
Dr. Nicholas D. Fisher
Dustin Motz
Jessey Nun
Ian Petersen
Dave Perkins
Gabi Perez-Patterson
Angie Poitra
Dr. Caitlin Redden, DBA
Amy Richardson
Zachariah VanHorn
Retirees
For six decades, Brenda Barry-Schommer has been a mainstay on the Chadron State College campus. When she started her career, Miller Hall still had its pool. Ten years after she began working at CSC, construction for the Nelson Physical Activity Center was completed and during her career 11 additional facilities have been constructed or renovated.
Barry-Schommer, an Office Assistant IV at CSC, has literally kept the college moving through her efforts of scheduling thousands of trips while managing the campus vehicle fleet. Since her first day on the job – Oct. 9, 1978 – to her final day later this year (June 30), Barry-Schommer has coordinated requests and ensured employees have the necessary transportation.
“I’ve been here long enough to remember that we had to make copies with a mimeograph, every office had a typewriter, and you could even smoke in some of the offices,” she said.
In addition to her duties with vehicles, Barry-Schommer currently ensures the entire campus is up to date on compliance, including NWEE in the boiler for emissions, and safety. She also works with many students who assist her with parking duties, including the distribution of tickets and guest passes.
Barry-Schommer was originally hired as the Secretary for Administration and Finance and worked for James T. Bentley in the former Administration Building. Throughout the years, she has worked with a number of supervisors who have helped shape her career, including serving under seven of the institution’s 13 presidents.
She’s also come full circle, now working in an office in Sparks Hall, which was the location of her first apartment in Chadron.
“I lived in Sparks Hall, but I never intended to die in it. But in all honesty, I have had a wonderful career at CSC,” she said. “I’ve worked with a lot of great people, I’ve had good bosses, and I’ve really enjoyed working with the students throughout the years.”
Barry-Schommer, originally of Grant, Nebraska, moved to Chadron in 1978 and has enjoyed calling the area home for a vast majority of her life. Both of her sons, Rick and Mitch, graduated from Chadron High School and Chadron State College, and live and work in the community.
After she retires, Barry-Schommer said she will miss her co-workers but is looking forward to spending more time with her children and grandchildren. She’s also looking forward to traveling, as long as someone else plans the trip.
In December of 2011, Kim Clark Duffield started her career at Chadron State College as a custodian in the Nelson Physical Activity Center. Previously, she had her own business cleaning houses in Alliance for 30 years. After about two years working in the NPAC, she moved to a split shift covering both Math and Science and Burkhiser.
Part of her duties were cleaning the Child Development Center.
“That was fun seeing the little kids. They were always a joy to be around,” Clark Duffield said.
From there, she moved to another split shift cleaning the third floor of Old Admin and the Sandoz Center.
“Sandoz was an interesting building. I got acquainted with different crowds of people. It's an amazing, beautiful building, and very well kept,” she said.
In 2019, she moved to the King Library which involved less snow removal and consisted of a full shift in one building.
“The thing I enjoyed most about the library was all the windows. I saw the most amazing sunrises and I took a lot of neat pictures of them,” Clark Duffield said.
All three of her adult children are CSC alumni. They are Desiree Brandt, Chance Galey, and Christina Winters, who is a CSC student counselor.
In 2022, she came to Sparks Hall, her final building before she retired.
“Each building had its own interesting features and people,” she said. “Coming to CSC was a great thing. It really changed my life. A person doesn't realize how blessed you are until you look around. A lot of people were very helpful. I was trained by some amazing custodians who had been here for years.”
Clark Duffield and her husband, Gregg, plan to travel to McCook and Michigan to visit family. They also look forward to spending time with their grandchildren who range in age from 14 to six.
Dewayne Gimeson’s career at Chadron State College began in 1989, when he was hired as the Supervisor for the Print Shop located in the basement of what is now the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center.
A 1984 CSC graduate and native of Grant, Nebraska, Gimeson moved to Minnesota where he completed a broadcast production internship with Gannett Productions and studied painting under Ed Evans, an encounter he likened to meeting Michelangelo. In 1988, he earned a teaching degree from Southwest Minnesota State University.
When Gimeson drove into Chadron in 1989 for his interview he looked over the area with fondness.
“It’s like I was coming home. It was such an amazing feeling,” he said.
Hired by the late Jerry Ingram, Gimeson initially oversaw printing operations before the Print Shop relocated to the former cafeteria space in the Kline building, where he helped remodel the facility and install a new press.
After several years, Gimeson transitioned into instructional design supporting faculty with technology and course design.
He later helped expand the college’s creative services, working with Connie Rasmussen in the Chadron State Foundation to establish a videographer/graphic designer position.
Recognizing emerging talent, Gimeson recruited a student, Daniel Binkard, whose curiosity and skill stood out.
Binkard eventually joined the staff while Gimeson moved into full-time graphic design as a Publications Specialist. In this role, he worked with various departments creating brochures, posters, and other printed materials. Following the death of Craig Conway, Gimeson returned to manage the Print Shop in addition to design work.
He drew on his education degree as an adjunct to teach CSC courses in black-and-white film photography and creative photography for more than 15 years.
Gimeson said the people and community of CSC shaped his experience and praised his colleagues and mentors for their generosity and integrity.
He said he enjoyed working with the Campus Arboretum Volunteers who helped former horticulturist Lucinda Mays with soil preparation, landscaping, seed collection, and other related projects on campus. He hopes to reconnect with various service groups in retirement.
Gimeson also plans to pursue motorcycle touring and creative work such as painting and photography. Additionally, he will help his wife, Donna, with maintenance at her dance studio, and photography, publicity, lighting, and sound for dance recitals.
Shawn Hartman
After nearly 35 years at Chadron State College, former Outreach Librarian Shawn Hartman retired in 2025.
A Hay Springs native, Hartman graduated with her bachelor’s from CSC in 1980 and then moved to Denver to work at Swedish Medical Center. She returned to Chadron in 1982 and worked at the Dawes County probation office. After that, she bought a women’s clothing store called The Other Half. When she sold the store, she worked at the Chadron Community Hospital in medical records before joining the CSC staff.
In 1991, she was hired as an administrative assistant in the Reta King Library, the building where she worked her entire time at CSC. She earned a Master of Arts in Education within her first few years on the staff.
“I decided if I wanted to pursue librarianship, I needed to get my Master of Library Science so I earned my master's online in library science in 2000 from Texas Women's University in Denton, Texas, which is a terminal degree,” she said. “Taking online courses was a new deal for me. I had great instructors and the classes were fun.”
She was later promoted to Library Technician and later to Assistant Director of Public Services.
Monitoring study halls for the football team was something she enjoyed. With her supervisor’s permission, she came to work at 6:30 a.m. for several years to supervise the study hall.
Hartman served on a number of committees during her career. One was a major library renovation that resulted in the Library Learning Commons.
“I was very involved. That was a big change and probably one of the smartest moves we ever made. Bringing in all those different services probably doubled or tripled traffic in the building. We added the IT Help Desk, the Tutoring Center, and Project Strive,” she said.
During the years when CSC offered a Library Science degree, Hartman enjoyed teaching the Library Administration course.
One of her favorite memories was supervising students, observing them grow, and gain confidence.
“Seeing the ‘aha’ moment and being able to help them was very rewarding. I also had some really good colleagues who became friends,” she said. “I particularly enjoyed the international students. They were very reliable. I had a very eclectic group of student workers, they all became really good friends.”
In retirement, Hartman plans to continue as the organist and choir accompanist for the United Methodist Church, where she also serves on several committees. She enjoys spending time with family and grandchildren in Chadron and Fort Worth, Texas. Her hobbies include golfing, working in her yard, home improvement projects, reading, and playing the piano. She and her husband, Cy, also enjoy spending time at their home in Arizona.
Dr. Tim Keith began his teaching career at Chadron State College in January 1996 and has served students of the high plains region for 30 years. Keith began his career with the Department of Science as an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and will retire as a Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Physical Science following the 2026 academic year. In his time at CSC, Keith has taught almost all courses offered in chemistry, with only a few exceptions. He has also taught Anatomy and Physiology and Human Physiology.
During his career, Keith has served on Faculty Senate, the Graduate Council, Rank Promotion and Tenure Committee, Budget Committee, and the Presidential Safety Committee. Additionally, Keith was a Faculty Advisor of Student Senate and has been a Faculty Advisor of the Health Professions Club since 1996.
Keith served as Chair of the Department of Science from 2005 to 2012 under four Deans in two different Schools: the School of Arts and Science, and the School of Business, Entrepreneurship, Applied and Mathematical Sciences, and Sciences.
According to Keith, he also values the moments when he sees former students return to the community to practice their health care specialties.
In retirement, Keith plans to remain in Chadron and stay busy caring for the livestock and horses on the farm he shares with his wife, Jackie. He and his wife also intend to visit their children and grandchildren in North Dakota more often.
Leading a 70-day bicycle trip across the breadth of America as part of an Essential Studies class makes the top of a list of highlights during a 13-year career at Chadron State College for Dr. Kurt Kinbacher, who is retiring from his position as Professor in the department of History and Social Sciences at the end of the spring semester.
While a class that involves a 4,000-mile journey by bike may be uncommon for college instructors or students, cycling long distances isn’t out of the ordinary for Kinbacher, who has been touring on two wheels for 40-plus years and doesn’t own an automobile.
Kinbacher, who grew up in Lincoln, began bicycle touring after completing his bachelor’s degree in history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1985. Abandoning plans to become a lawyer after a stint as a paralegal and encountering little demand for high school history teachers at the time, he found varied employment, including as a youth worker, bike messenger, house painter, and street musician. Those jobs gave him time for plenty of touring by bike and learning about the areas he visited. Carrying all his gear, including a fly-fishing rod and a banjo, Kinbacher slept in campgrounds, farmhouses and hostels on bike packing trips that included a 3,500 mile coast-to-coast journey, a winter tour of the desert southwest of America, and a trek in northern Europe.
In 1992 Kinbacher expanded his educational background with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education from the University of Minnesota and received a Minnesota teaching certificate. Eight years later he added a graduate degree in history from the University of Alabama at Birmingham to his credentials and worked there as an adjunct faculty member. A Ph.D. in History, completed at UNL in 2006, was followed by a five-year stint as tenured faculty at Spokane Falls Community College in Washington. He joined the CSC faculty in 2013.
The author of two books and numerous articles, Kinbacher has a special interest in the stories of immigrants to America, the subject of his doctoral dissertation. His specialty in Nebraska history and the writings of Mari Sandoz led him to Chadron State, home of the Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center and host of the annual Sandoz Conference. After arriving in Chadron, he became a board member of the Sandoz Society, got deeply involved in society’s Pilster Great Plains Lecture Series, and participated in the Story Catcher Summer Writing Workshop to hone his writing skills.
Though specialized in American history, Kinbacher has taught undergraduate and graduate courses on a variety of subjects, including cultural anthropology, ancient and modern East Asia, world history and belief and culture. At CSC he has also been advisor to the Student Senate, member of the Graduate Council, and chair of the Promotion and Tenure Committee. His campus involvement also includes fixing the “badly mistreated bikes” of Chadron State’s bike share program.
In retirement, he plans to remain on the Sandoz Society Board, continue repairing bikes, and serving as a board member of the Northwest Nebraska Trails Association. Inspired by the example of Sandoz, whom he views as both a historian and a fiction writer, Kinbacher also looks forward to writing more.
And he plans to take some vacations, which seem likely to include traveling by bicycle, accompanied by his trusty fly-fishing rod and banjo.
For nearly 15 years, Kay Mitchell greeted students, employees, and visitors to campus, becoming a familiar and welcoming presence at Chadron State College. She began her career in 2011 after joining the Human Resources Office and retired as an Office Assistant III for the Dean of Liberal Arts in 2025. Prior to retirement, Mitchell was an OA II for Liberal Arts from 2017 to 2021.
Mitchell, who worked in Old Admin for nearly a decade, valued the interactions she had with students and colleagues.
“The conversations had were special and still make me smile, sometimes laugh, and perhaps even shed a tear,” she said. “I enjoyed the opportunity to meet so many people and was fascinated to learn about their families, histories, academics, and daily lives in general. For someone who has rarely traveled outside of Nebraska, it allowed me to envision a much bigger picture of the world.”
In addition to her steady contributions as an OA, Mitchell also had an impact on the learning spaces in Old Admin. With class size fluctuating from year to year, a need arose to convert unused rooms into classrooms.
“I would explore the possibilities, get input from faculty and my supervisor, then work with IT and Maintenance to accomplish the updates and make the room functional for faculty and student use. It was like getting to renovate your home,” Mitchell said.
In retirement, Mitchell plans to work part-time, complete projects to her home and ranch, spend more time with her children and grandchildren, and she looks forward to camping and traveling.
Category: Campus News, Employee Awards & Achievements