This year has been exceptionally productive at Missouri State University. It is the first in a two-year transformational process introduced by President Smart to ensure we are meeting modern post-secondary needs and continue to collectively focus on student success.
As we focused on raising MSU’s academic profile and crafting academic affairs as MSU’s strategic enterprise, we reallocated and invested in academics. We have focused on enrollment growth, worked together to reorganize Academic Affairs, developed plans to enhance both advising and research, and selected a new learning management system. We also had grand openings of Kampeter Health Sciences Hall and the John Goodman Amphitheater and broke ground on Blunt Hall.
The pace of change over the past 10 months has accelerated our transformational efforts. The constant was faculty continuing to do what you do best – engaging in high quality teaching, research and service.
We celebrated some of this year’s academic faculty and staff special achievements at the May 8, 2023, All-Faculty Recognition Reception. We wish to highlight those recognitions here – as well as some other recognitions across the other colleges. There is more that could be included – internal and external grants, faculty fellowships and sabbaticals, service-learning partnerships, and the list goes on. Please know that all these contributions and achievements are important and valued.
Please join me in recognizing your colleagues for their impressive accomplishments. May you all have a tremendous summer!
John Jasinski
Office of the Provost
Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching
Congratulations to Michelle Morgan!
The Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching is presented to an outstanding faculty member from each participating higher education institution in the state. Learn more about the award and this year’s recipient.
Missouri State University Foundation Awards for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Service
Missouri State University Foundation Awards for Teaching
Aida Hass-Wisecup, Criminology and Criminal Justice
Michelle Morgan, History
Missouri State University Foundation Awards for Research
John Chuchiak, History
Kevin Mickus, Geography, Geology and Planning
Missouri State University Foundation Awards for Service
William Sandel, Criminology and Criminal Justice
Kyler Sherman-Wilkins, Sociology and Anthropology
Academic Advising
Curtis P. Lawrence Excellence in Advising Award (faculty category)
Sam Dyer, Communication
Board of Governor’s Faculty Excellence in Public Affairs Awards
Diana Piccolo, Childhood Education and Family Studies
Stephen Spates, Communication
Shurita Thomas-Tate, Communication Sciences and Disorders
College Awards
Reynolds College of Arts and Letters Awards
Judy Awards
Pulse Award: Art and Design
Dean’s Champion Award: Angela Barker
Teaching in the Arts Award: Fatih Benzer
Outstanding Graduate Student Award: Mara Cressey
Teaching in the Letters Award: Kristin Harper
Dean’s Champion Award: Holly Holladay
Interdisciplinary Collaboration Award: Colby Jennings and Andrew Twibell
Research in the Arts Award: Daniel Ketter
Research in the Letters Award: Mitzi Kirkland-Ives
RCOAL Diversity Council Award: Lu Maimone
Dean’s Legacy Award: Victor Matthews
Dean’s Alumnus Award: Michel Minor
Bear Up Award: Richard Todd Payne
Spirit Award: John Prescott
Dean’s Champion Award: Aaron Qiu
Dean’s Champion Award: Greg Rainwater
Undergraduate Advising Award: Vanessa Rodriguez de la Vega
Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award: Erin Sedra
Community Citizenship Award: Shauna Smith
Dean’s Champion Award: Stephen Spates
Newcomer Award: Kristen Stout
Graduate Mentorship Award: Suneeta Thomas
Dean’s Champion Award: Alan Tinkler
University Citizenship Award: Vonda Yarberry
College of Business Awards
Outstanding Advisor Award
Katy Jessee, Business Advisement Center
Outstanding Empirical Paper Award
Dr. Jamie Grigsby, MKT
Dr. Megan Rainville, FRM
Outstanding Faculty Award
Dr. Jamie Grigsby, MKT
Outstanding Non-Empirical Paper Award
Dr. Kerri Tassin, Associate Professor, School of Accounting
Public Affairs Award in Research
Dr. Feibo Shao, MGT
College of Natural and Applied Sciences Awards
The College of Natural and Applied Sciences at Missouri State University recently recognized outstanding faculty and staff. In addition, many students presented their research at the CNAS Undergraduate Research Day and the Graduate Interdisciplinary Forum.
Atwood Research and Teaching Award
Debra S. Finn, Biology
CNAS Excellence Award – Staff
Brian J. Hays
Dylan C. Welker
CNAS Faculty Diversity Award
Angela L. Plank, Biology
CNAS Faculty Excellence in Research Awards
Kyoungtae Kim, Biology
Siming Liu, Computer Science
Kevin L. Mickus, Geography, Geology and Planning
Avery L. Russell, Biology
CNAS Faculty Excellence in Service Awards
Melanie E. Carden-Jessen, Geography, Geology and Planning
Kevin R. Evans, Geography Geology and Planning
Day B. Ligon, Biology
Jamil M. Saquer, Computer Science
CNAS Faculty Excellence in Teaching Awards
Tuhina Banerjee, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Damon J. Bassett, Geography, Geology and Planning
Douglas R. Gouzie, Geography, Geology and Planning
La Toya Kissoon-Charles, Biology
Jay McEntee, Biology
CNAS Student Nominated Awards for Faculty/Staff Excellence
Melanie E. Carden-Jessen, Geography, Geology and Planning
Paul L. Durham, Biology
Ajay K. Katangu, Computer Science
Jay McEntee, Biology
Curriculum Innovation Awards
Paul Ajuwon, Counseling, Leadership and Special Education
Damon Bassett and Matthew McKay, Geography, Geology, and Planning
Melanie Carden-Jessen, Geography, Geology, and Planning and Georgianna Saunders, Biology
Kimberly Ennis, Scott Wallentine, and Andrew Wardand, Physical Therapy
Ronda Entlicher-Stewart, School of Nursing
Erin Kenny, Christina Ryder, and Marnie Watson, Sociology and Anthropology
Eric Shade Memorial Award
Micheal Foster, Theatre and Dance
Excellence in Community Engagement Award
Ashlea Cardin, Occupational Therapy
Rebecca Swearingen, Reading, Foundations and Technology
Excellence in Education Abroad Programming Award
Tamara Arthaud, Counseling, Leadership and Education
Ximena Uribe-Zarain, Counseling, Leadership and Education
Excellence in Service Learning Awards
Bernard Kitheka, Kinesiology
Taleyna Morris, Communication
Lori Rogers, English
FCTL Excellence in Teaching Awards
Jessica Elliott, History for “Engaging Students in Online Communities”
Timothy Flannery, Economics for “Providing Real Life Applications Students Can Relate To and Use”
William Harwood, Philosophy for “Citizenship and Engaged Scholarship”
Amber Howard, Childhood Education and Family Studies for “Engaging in Humanizing, Relevant, and Relation-centered Pedagogy”
Scott Worman, Sociology and Anthropology for “Making Learning Accessible, Affordable, and Student-Focused”
Faculty Research Grants
Fall 2022
Paul Ajuwon, Counseling, Leadership and Special Education
Jay McEntee, Biology
Adam McGee, Animal Science
Matthew McKay, Geography, Geology and Planning
Gary Meints, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Kennedy Ongaga, Counseling, Leadership and Special Education
Quinton Phelps, Biology
Cristina Pippa, Media, Journalism, and Film
Amanda Smith, Art and Design
Lacy Sukovaty, Animal Science
Spring 2023
Kyoungtae Kim, Biology
Bernard Kitheka, Kinesiology
Day Ligon, Biology
Gary Michelfelder, Geography, Geology, and Planning
Gabriel Ondetti, Political Science
Jon Turner, Counseling, Leadership and Special Education
Fei Wang, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Keiichi Yoshimatsu, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Faculty Who Published
Following is a list of faculty members who published in the following categories: Art Exhibition, Book Chapter, Book, Broadcast/Film Media, Journal Article, Music Performance and Theatre—Design/Technical Work.
Faculty Years of Service Awards
Service awards honor faculty members who have reached a five-year longevity milestone in their years of service to Missouri State University. To qualify, employees must have worked full-time at Missouri State and reached a five-year milestone (10, 15, 20, etc.) within the current academic year to be honored at the May reception.
View years of service awards list
General Education Assessment Award
Philippa Koch, Religious Studies for REL 131: Religion in America
Jennifer Murvin, English for ENG 205: Creative Nonfiction
Lori Rogers, English for ENG 310: Writing II: Writing for Graduate and Professional Schools
Graduate College Awards
Outstanding Graduate Mentor
Dr. Gordana Lazić, Communication
Outstanding Thesis Advisor
Dr. Razib Iqbal, Computer Science
Grants Awarded
Externally sponsored grants assist University faculty members in achieving their goals of education, research and service projects.
Honorees Recognized by the President’s Council on Accessibility
- Zoe Barnes and Joelle Manns, Music Graduate Students (Collaborated to convert sheet music into a musical Braille file for a student who is blind.)
Christopher Kelts, Music - Toby Dogwiler, Melida Gutierrez and Gary Michelfelder, Geography, Geology, and Planning, and Anna Richey and Hanlin Zhang, GGP Graduate Students (Researched and collaborated to provide accessible content for a student who is blind, including making virtual reality accessible.)
Honors College Awards
Curtis P. Lawrence Master Teacher Award
Sam Dyer, Communication
Director’s Award for Outstanding Faculty Research
Alicia Walker, Sociology and Anthropology
Marcia Morriset Award for Outstanding Service to Honors Education
Kelly Cabrera Hayes
Professor Salary Incentive Program (PSIP)
Stephen Haggard, Finance and Risk Management
Chris Thompson, Music
Promotion and Tenure
Tenure at Greenwood
Jennifer Grace-Duran
Promotion to Senior Instructor
Amy Artman, Religious Studies
Nick Beatty, Political Science
Nichole Busdieker-Jesse, Agribusiness, Agriculture Education and Communication
Nicole Gorley, Biomedical Sciences
Promotion to Clinical Assistant Professor
Jaime Gnau, Public Health and Sports Medicine
Promotion to Clinical Associate Professor
Natalie Allen, Public Health and Sports Medicine
Shelley Carter, School of Nursing
Kimberly Ireland, Communication Sciences and Disorders
Promotion to Clinical Professor
Allan Liggett, Public Health and Sports Medicine
Kathryn Patterson, School of Nursing
Jennifer Pratt, Communication Sciences and Disorders
Promotion to Associate Professor with Tenure
Joshua Albers, Art and Design
Antoinette Barffour, World Languages and Cultures
Chloe Bolyard, Childhood Education and Family Studies
Maria Cerdas Cisneros, World Languages and Cultures
Liza Cobos, Hospitality Leadership
Pamela Correll, Reading, Foundations and Technology
Krista Evans, Geography, Geology and Planning
Maria Gerasimchuk-Djordjevic, Art and Design
Laura Hart, Sociology and Anthropology
Nancy Kageyama, Hospitality Leadership
Jill Layman, School of Anesthesia
LinDa Li, Marketing
Jonathan Mabee, Media, Journalism and Film
Judith Martinez, World Languages and Cultures
Sarah Mellors, History
Jocelyn Millana, Media, Journalism and Film
Babur Mirza, Biology
Dana Paliliunas, Psychology
Sarah Panzer, History
David Perkins, Geography, Geology and Planning
Quinton Phelps, Biology
Cyren Rico, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Aaron Sauer, Technology and Construction Management
Jin Seo, Art and Design
Kyler Sherman-Wilkins, Sociology and Anthropology
Jenifer Skiba, Marketing
Gregory Tapis, School of Accountancy
Suneeta Thomas, English
Marnie Watson, Sociology and Anthropology
Erin Wehrman, Communication
Promotion to Professor
Reesha Adamson, Counseling, Leadership and Special Education
W. David Carr, Public Health and Sports Medicine
Joanna Cemore Brigden, Childhood Education and Family Studies
Carol Chapman, Music
Ann Marie Daehn, Music
Cathie English, English|
Jason Hausback, Music
Lanya Lamouria, English
Deborah Larson, Media, Journalism and Film
Gary Meints, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Eric Morris, Communication
Matthew Pierson, Cooperative Engineering
Sarah Williams, English
Doug Witte, Finance and Risk Management
Promotion to Distinguished Professor
Melida Gutierrez, Geography, Geology and Planning
Wenping Qiu, Environmental Plant Science and Natural Resources
Summer 2023 Faculty Fellowship Awards
Yue Cui, Mathematics
Angela Hornsby-Gutting, History
Daniel Moreno-German, Cooperative Engineering
Michael Murray, Music
Sarah Panzer, History
Ashley Payne, Psychology
Nicole West, Counseling, Leadership and Special Education
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