COE Students, Teachers Among Those to be Recognized at UGA Honors Day

Several College of Education teachers and students will be among those UGA will recognize at the annual Honors Day program April 14 at 2 p.m. in the Ramsey Student Center.

Eve Troutt Powell, associate professor of history and a recipient last year of the MacArthur Foundation Fellowship, will be the Honors Day speaker.  Undergraduate classes will be cancelled for sixth, seventh and eighth periods (1:25-4:25 p.m.) so students and faculty can attend.

Several hundred students, including 45 First Honor Graduates who have maintained perfect 4.0 grade point averages while at UGA, will be recognized.  Other student honorees include several recipients of top national scholarships, students who rank academically in the top five percent of their schools and colleges, and those elected to scholastic and leadership honor societies.

Honors Day is also the first public introduction of faculty members who are receiving awards for teaching excellence; faculty and staff who are being recognized as outstanding advisors and mentors; and graduate students who are receiving awards for teaching.

Among faculty teaching awards to be announced are recipients of the Josiah Meigs Award, UGA’s highest teaching honor, and the Richard B. Russell Award, which recognizes junior faculty for outstanding teaching.

This year’s Meigs winners are Corrie Brown, pathology, College of Veterinary Medicine; David Hazinski, telecommunications, Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication; John Maltese, political science, School of Public and International Affairs; Richard Neupert, drama and theatre, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences; and Scott Shaw, physics and astronomy, College of Arts and Sciences.

The Russell Award will be given to Jody Clay-Warner, sociology, College of Arts and Sciences; Denise Mewborn, mathematics education, College of Education; and Marisa Anne Pagnattaro, insurance, legal studies and real estate, Terry College of Business.

In addition, Conrad Fink, a professor in the College of Journalism and Mass Communication, will be recognized as a recipient of the Regents Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Powell, this year’s speaker, is an authority on Middle Eastern history and culture and specifically the development of nationalism in Egypt.  She is author of two widely praised books and is working on a third, which will focus on slavery and racial politics in 19th century Egypt.

Powell is the first UGA faculty member, and only the fourth Georgian, to receive the MacArthur Fellowship, often called the “Genius Award” because it recognizes people deemed to possess extraordinary creativity, talent and vision.  The fellowship includes a $500,000 no-strings-attached stipend.

The following faculty members have been chosen Outstanding Teachers in the schools and colleges:

Franklin College of Arts and Sciences: Marlyse Baptista, English; Rodney Mauricio, genetics; Alex Murawski, art; Richard Neupert, drama; Miranda Pollard, history and women’s studies; David Porter, plant biology; Patricia Richards, sociology; Amy Ross, geography; T.N. Sriram, statistics

College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: Mark Compton, poultry science; Robert Shewfelt, food technology and science

School of Law: Dan Coenen, C. Ronald Ellington and David Shipley

College of Pharmacy: John Johnson, clinical and administrative pharmacy

Warnell School of Forest Resources: John Carroll, Steven Castleberry, Michael Clutter and Robert Cooper

College of Education: Derrick Alridge, social foundations of education; Bonnie Cramond, educational psychology; Seock-Ho Kim, educational psychology

Terry College of Business: Marie Boudreau, management information systems; Bonnie Buchanan, banking and finance; Ann Buchholtz, management; Santanu Chatterjee, economics; Mark Dawkins, Tull School of Accounting; Peggy Emmelhainz, marketing and distribution; Kenneth Gaver, Tull School of Accounting; Mark Huber, management information systems; David Mustard, economics; Charles Nyce, insurance, legal studies and real estate; Daniel Smith, Tull School of Accounting; Andrew Ward, management

Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication: James Hamilton, advertising and public relations; Thomas Hudson, journalism; Nate Kohn, telecommunications

College of Family and Consumer Sciences: Joan Koonce Moss, housing and consumer economics; Naz Kaya, merchandising and interiors; Diane Hodson, child and family development; Nancy Canolty, foods and nutrition

College of Veterinary Medicine: Paul Purington, anatomy and radiology; Karen Cornell, small animal medicine

School of Social Work: Paul Ammons, Patricia Reeves and Rufus Larkin

College of Environment and Design: Allen Stovall

School of Public and International Affairs: Jeffrey Berejikian, international affairs

Division of Academic Enhancement: Michele Simpson

Several faculty members will be honored for teaching excellence in the Honors Program.

The J. Hatten Howard Award, which recognizes faculty who exhibit special promise in teaching Honors courses during their first term as an Honors Program instructor, will be presented to Julie Moore of the medical microbiology department in the College of Veterinary Medicine, and Wayne Jones, of the history department.

The Lothar Tresp Outstanding Honors Professor Award is given to Honors faculty based on course evaluations.  This year’s recipients are James Anderson, classics; Loch Johnson, international affairs; and Julie Johnson, Romance languages.  A Tresp award will be given posthumously to Timothy Gantz, a classics professor who died last year.

Winners of the university’s annual award to a faculty member and a staff member for excellence in academic advising are Robert Shewfelt, professor and undergraduate coordinator of the food technology and science department in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, and Kathy Wilson, academic advisor in the insurance, legal studies and real estate department in the Terry College of Business.

The university also recognizes outstanding efforts to involve undergraduate students in research with the Excellence in Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award.  This year’s recipient is William Kisaalita, associate professor of biological and agricultural engineering in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Six students who have received major national scholarships will be recognized. They are James (Chris) Tarr, Amy Sexauer and Rebekah Rogers, recipients of Goldwater Scholarships; Matthew Crim and Sarah Sattelmeyer, who won Truman Scholarships; and Amanda Casto, chosen as a Gates Cambridge Scholar.

UGA began recognizing First Honor Graduates in 1978 instead of designating a graduating senior as valedictorian. Those being recognized at Honors Day include one student who completed degree requirements in 2003, and 44 who will complete requirements at the end of the current spring semester.

Students who qualify as First Honor Graduates, and their hometown and major, are:

Amy E. Adams, Lithia Springs, pharmacy; Tyler J. Alicks, Mt. Pleasant, S.C., psychology; Bonnie K. Blackburn, Tyrone, art/art education; Samuel G. Borak, Mobile, Ala., biology; Amy M. Brooks, Lindale, telecommunication arts; Donna S. Brooks, Cornelia, communication sciences and disorders; Jane E. Brown, Lilburn, communication sciences and disorders; Anna M. Debicka, Athens, romance languages; Laura E. Downs, Winterville, chemistry; Corrin N. Drakulich, Portland, Ore., religion; Joseph K. Edwards, Lilburn, biology, genetics and microbiology; Jessica D. Foster, Conyers, broadcast news; Benjamin H. Fry, Locust Grove, international business; Ladson B. Gaddy, Candler, N.C., genetics; Sarah N. Hemmings, Kennesaw, Honors interdisciplinary studies; Sarah G. Hendrix, Arden, N.C., music education;  Matthew J. Jadlocki, Acworth, foreign language education; Christy L. Jenkins, Conyers, mathematics education; Jason C. Jones, Athens, music education; David A. Kross, Hilton Head, S.C., magazines and political science; Rachel N. Landers, Athens, music education; Laura E. Lathe, Stone Mountain, international business; Casie R. LeGette, Washington, English; Lauren A. Lewis, Loganville, early childhood education; Gabrielle L. Low, Athens, philosophy; Lauren H. Magness, Lawrenceville, marketing; Erin E. McPhail, Loganville, German and public relations; Kunal Mitra, Marietta, economics and political science; Edmund M. Morrell, philosophy and political science; Jane A. Okpala, Norcross, Spanish and comparative literature, and international business; Stephanie Ting-Lynne Poon, Elberton, international business; Travis D. Reeves, Watkinsville, microbiology; Samuel W. Richwine III, Gainesville, accounting and finance; Anne D. Roberts, Savannah, advertising; Kourtney K. Shaddix, Lilburn, finance; Martha E. Shell, Norcross, early childhood education; Irene Shtrulis, Alpharetta, speech communication and advertising; Lori N. Slade, Bonaire, dietetics; Carly A. Smith, St. Marys, management information systems; Carson W. Strickland, New Orleans, La., history and Latin; Karin M. Stubenbaum, Athens, Spanish; Brian M. Thomas, Alpharetta, finance; Rachel E. Wahlig, Atlanta, history; Camilla G. Walker, Marietta, finance; and Jaime L. Walker, Hazlehurst, communication sciences and disorders.

Honors Day was started in 1930 by Chancellor S.V. Sanford to give recognition to UGA students for scholastic achievement.

Monday, 12 April 2004
WRITER: Larry B. Dendy, 706/542-8078; ldendy@uga.edu
CONTACT: Susan Landrum, 706/542-0415; slandrum@uga.edu