Congratulations to Jinghua Bi, graduate student in communication, who has been selected to receive one of the two Basil and JoAnn Boritzki Endowment awards given in the 2011-2012 academic year. These awards are given annually to two full-time graduate students to recognize their academic excellence. Eligible students must enroll full-time and intend to teach in a publicly-supported educational institution (K-12 or college). Hundreds of graduate students applied for this award, which is one of the few graduate student awards eligible to students across all disciplines.

“I’m greatly humbled and encouraged,” Bi says about receiving the award, which she also feels reflects the support and guidance she received from the communication department.

Bi’s research interests are intercultural communication and organizational communication. She has presented research related to organizational communication at the Springfield chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) and the Sooner Communication Conference at the University of Oklahoma. She plans to pursue additional research related to intercultural communication.