Across campus, colleges recently gathered to celebrate the end of the academic year, affirm relationships and recognize individuals for extraordinary work.

Awards and Recognition

Earlier this month, we recognized students for their achievements in the Graduate College’s Einhellig Interdisciplinary Forum, the College of Natural and Applied Sciences (CNAS) Undergraduate Research Symposium and the McQueary College of Health and Human Services (MCHHS) Student Research Symposium. We also celebrated student honorees from the Graduate Education Awards Reception.

Now, it’s time to recognize faculty honorees from the Graduate Education Awards Reception as well as honorees from the College of Business (COB) Faculty and Staff Awards, the CNAS Faculty and Staff Awards, the MCHHS Awards Banquet, the Judy Awards, which are given by the Reynolds College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (RCASH), and the Jim Bellis Student Impact Award from the Darr College of Agriculture (DCOAG).

COB Faculty and Staff Awards

• Public Affairs Award in Research: Dr. Carol Miller
• Outstanding Nonempirical Paper Award: Dr. John Galvan
• Outstanding Empirical Paper Award: Dr. Seth Hoelscher and Dr. Puneet Prakash
• Outstanding Service Award: Mary Grace Phillips
• Outstanding Faculty Awards: Dr. Xiang Guo and Dr. Jenifer Skiba
• Outstanding Student Organization Advisor Awards: Dr. Jana Ault-Phillips and Courtney Pham
• Outstanding Academic Advisor Award: John Bogue

CNAS Faculty and Staff Awards

• Atwood Research and Teaching Award: Dr. Songfeng Zheng
• Excellence Awards for Staff: Brian Grindstaff, Angie Piercy and Missy Poort
• Faculty Excellence in Service Awards: Dr. Gary Meints, Dr. Tayo Obafemi-Ajayi and Dr. La Toya Kissoon-Charles
• Faculty Excellence in Research Awards: Dr. Babur Mirza, Dr. Natasha DeVore, Dr. Razib Iqbal and Dr. Day Ligon
• Faculty Excellence in Teaching Awards: Dr. Kevin Mickus, Dr. Debra Finn, Dr. Sean Maher, Dr. Rahul Dubey and Dr. Michelle Bowe
• Student-Nominated Awards for Excellence: Dr. Bryan Breyfogle, Dr. Andrzej Baran, Dr. Natasha DeVore and Dr. Toby Dogwiler
• Inclusive Engagement Award: Dr. Avery Russell
• Interdisciplinary Research Award: Dr. Santimukul Santra

For full descriptions of awards and nominees, visit the CNAS website.

Graduate Education Awards Reception

• Outstanding Graduate Mentor: Dr. Christopher Ford (Defense and Strategic Studies)
• Outstanding Thesis Advisors: Dr. Amber Abernathy (Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences) and Dr. John Rose (Defense and Strategic Studies)
• Graduate Council Chair: Dr. Alan Schick (Chemistry and Biochemistry)
• Excellence in Graduate Advising: Dr. Rhonda Stanton (English)

For a list of student honorees from the Graduate Education Awards Reception, please visit this article.

MCHHS Awards Banquet

• Dean’s Awards for Outstanding Support to MCHHS: Teri Trickey and Dr. Letitia White-Minnis
• Dean’s Award for Outstanding Community Partnership: Burrell Behavioral Health
• Dean’s Award for Service: Dr. Sarah Murray
• Dean’s Award for Outstanding Student Engagement: Nicole Gorley
• Outstanding Academic Advisor: Jessica McShan
• Outstanding Faculty Advisor: Dr. Robert Niezgoda
• Bearwise Educator Excellence Award: Dr. Traci Garrison
• Office Orchestrator Award: Missi Lafarlette
• Community Impact Award: Kelly Dudley
• Outstanding Service Award: MCHHS Information Technology Services Department Staff
• Teamwork Trailblazers Award: MCHHS Student Success and Advisement Center Staff

RCASH Judy Awards

• Outstanding Research in the Arts Award: Jina Seo
• Outstanding Research in the Humanities Award: Heather Walters
• Outstanding Research in the Social Sciences Award: Dr. William Meadows
• Outstanding Teaching in the Arts Award: Maria Gerasimchuk-Djordjevic
• Outstanding Teaching in the Humanities Award: Jeff Loughary
• Outstanding Teaching in the Social Sciences Award: Cheryl Davis
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration Award: Dr. John Chuchiak and Dr. Billie Follensbee
• Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award: Joy Okokon
• Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award: John Phillips
• Community Citizenship Award: Caryn Saxon
• Staff Impact Awards: Christy Titus and James Chang
• Dean’s Legacy Awards: Vonda Yarberry and Dr. John Rose
• Dean’s Champion Awards: The Missouri State University Mock Trial Team, the Department of Theatre and Dance and Dr. Tamera Jahnke
• Dean’s Alumnus Award: Joseph S. Passanise
• Dean’s Award of Distinction: The English Department

For more about the Judy Awards, visit the RCASH blog.

DCOAG Bellis Award

Last year, DCOAG established the Jim Bellis Student Impact Award. This award celebrates the memory of Jim Bellis, who served as the DCOAG dean’s assistant for 14 years. The Bellis Award honors a faculty or staff member who consistently goes above and beyond in providing support for students and whose work nurtures an environment of compassion and academic excellence. At the 2024 Scholarship Banquet, DCOAG Dean Dr. Melissa Bledsoe presented the inaugural Bellis Award to Matt Wommack, assistant professor in the School of Agricultural Science and Conservation.

Celebrations in the College of Education

Although the College of Education (COE) doesn’t give out collegewide awards, at the COE fall meeting, it recognizes all faculty who’ve received various awards and honors — from a range of institutions — during the previous year.

Around Campus…

Speaking of celebrating, we’re still riding high from the joy of spring commencement. The sense of achievement, the traditions, the great weather — it added up to a beautiful day.

We enjoyed this fun reflection from Dr. Ridwan Sakidja, professor of physics, astronomy and materials science. (And it was a full-circle moment, reminding us of the conversation we had with Sakidja, all the way back at the beginning of the semester.)