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2011 Arts and Sciences Achievements

* Kristan Corwin, an associate professor of physics at Kansas State University, studies and builds lasers. The Ad Astra Kansas Initiative named her one of the top 150 scientists in Kansas within the past 150 years. January 2012.

* Kelsey Castanon, senior in journalism and mass communications, placed fourth in the prestigious William Randolph Hearst Journalism Award Program's feature writing contest. Castanon won for her article "Father, daughter relationship tested after his confession: 'I’m gay.'" Written for a magazine and feature writing class, the article was published in the Kansas State Collegian. December 2011

* Uwe Thumm and Bruce Law, professors of physics, were elected fellows of the American Physical Society for their contributions to physics. The honor is limited to no more than one-half of 1 percent of the society's membership. Thumm, who works in theoretical atomic physics, was recognized for his work with relativistic calculations for electron-atom collision and the elucidation of interactions of multiple charged ions and photons with atoms, molecules, clusters, surfaces, thin films and nanotubes. Law was recognized for his work with liquid surfaces and the structural phase transitions that can occur on them. December 2011

* The Indian Institute of Public Administration has recognized Krishna Tummala, professor of political science, with its highest honor: the Paul H. Appleby Award for distinguished service to public administration. The lifetime achievement award is given based on contributions to the institute and the field of public administration. The institute is one of the premier institutions for research and training in public administration and Tummala was among its first students. November 2011

* Three current and former members of the university's forensics team -- Jenna Suprenant, Brock Ingmire and Chandler Johnson -- launched the nation's first database for exceptional collegiate forensics speeches. The trio's Loudspeaker is a nonprofit organization aimed at provoking discussions of important social issues. It also offers feature a weekly podcast examining a particular forensics performance and more. November 2011.

* Bethany Jochim, doctoral student in physics, is the recipient of the Leroy Apker Award, the top undergraduate honor awarded by the American Physical Society. As an undergraduate of Augustana College, Jochim did research work at K-State's J.M. Macdonald Laboratory. September 2011

* Chii-Dong Lin, a university distinguished professor of physics at Kansas State University, was named in July as one of the top 150 scientists in the state by the Ad Astra Kansas Initiative. He was the eighth faculty member to receive the honor. July 2011

* Katie Costigan, doctoral student in geography, Glocester, R.I., has received the first YSI Graduate Student Scholarship and Equipment Loan, which includes a $10,000 scholarship, a $1,000 travel stipend and a loan of river monitoring equipment to use for her research. The award is the first of its kind from YSI Inc., an international Ohio-based company that develops water-monitoring equipment. July 2011

* Michael Kanost, university distinguished professor and head of the department of biochemistry, has received a MERIT Award from the National Institutes of Health for his longtime research on proteases in insect blood. The select award provides long-term stable support to investigators whose research competence and productivity are distinctly superior and who are likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner. July 2011

* Susan Brown, professor of biology, was elected a fellow of the Entomological Society of America. Election as a fellow acknowledges outstanding contributions in research, teaching extension and/or administration. Brown is known internationally for her efforts to establish Tribolium castaneum, the red flour beetle as a model organism for genetic studies of insect development. July 2011

* K-State research associate Tyler Schwend received the $50,000 Dawn Kirschstein National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health, National Eye Institute. The award supports promising young scientists currently engaged in scientific and health-related research as postdoctoral fellows. Schwend, who works in the lab of Gary Conrad, university distinguished professor of biology, is investigating the role of Robo-Slit signaling on avian cornea innervation during embryonic development. June 2011

* K-State's PowercatPR chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America won the Fleishman-Hillard national Home Court Advantage campaign. The chapter competed against seven other state universities for a $1,500 award and a recommendation letter from the nationally known public relations and integrated marketing firm. The team created a public relations campaign to promote watching basketball games at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Aggieville. The campaign, four "Wing N' Watch" events during the K-State men's basketball season, increased restaurant sales up to 68 percent. May 2011

* Melissa Belz, doctoral student in geography, received the 2011 Chimborazo Student Research Grant Award from the Association of American Geographers' Mountain Geography Specialty Group. The $500 scholarship is presented to a graduate student who proposes outstanding research that promises to support the mission of the geography group, which is to foster communication, promote theoretical and applied research, enhance education, and encourage service related to mountain peoples, mountain environments and their interactions. Belz's doctoral dissertation is "Architectural Significance and Cultural Landscape Change: Ornamental Features of the Vernacular House in Kinnaur, Himachal Pradesh, India." April 2011

* Seventeen months of training and preparation paid off for 12 Air Force ROTC cadets with their selection for a special U.S. Air Force training program. The students, from both the Manhattan and Salina campuses, were chosen from among 3,338 college sophomores nationwide to attend the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps' one-month field training summer program in Alabama and Mississippi. April 2011

* Angela Powers, director of K-State's A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications, was named a research fellow at the Media Management and Transformation Center at Jonkoping University in Sweden for six weeks this spring. Powers is researching how news content changes in emerging democracies such as Egypt, as well as researching media business models in a digital world. April 2011

* A team from K-State finished in the top 26 percent of the Putnam Mathematical Competition, the most prestigious mathematics contest for undergraduates at colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. The competition featured teams from 546 colleges and universities. Of the 4,296 students participating, two K-State students, Hui Cao and Brian Moore, finished in the top 14 percent. A third K-State student, Michael Batrick, finished in the top 18 percent. April 2011

* Jenna Surprenant, Marshall, Minn., won the national championship in persuasion at the American Forensics Association-National Individual Events Tournament, April 2-4, in Kearney, Neb. Surprenant is K-State's 28th national champion since the forensics team began in 1976. She's also K-State's eighth national champion in persuasion. April 2011

* K-State students topped the Kansas Association of Broadcasters' 2011 Student Broadcast Awards competition, receiving 52 awards -- the most by any school at the collegiate level. The competition included several entries from community colleges, colleges and universities in Kansas at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Most of the awards were for work done by students at K-State's FM radio station, Wildcat 91.9; the university's cable channel, K-State TV; and the website for the university's student newspaper, the Kansas State Collegian. April 2011

* Richard Marston, university distinguished professor and head of the department of geography, received a 2011-2012 Jefferson Science Fellowship. Fellows work with the U.S. Department of State or U.S. Agency for International Development on foreign policy matters. Marston is among 13 individuals selected for the 2011-2012 fellowship, and is the second K-State faculty member to receive the honor. March 2011

* Research on a rare bird has earned a biology professor and one of his former graduate students the prestigious Edwards Prize from The Wilson Journal of Ornithology. "Demography of a Reintroduced Population of Evermann's Rock Ptarmigan in the Aleutian Islands" was the best paper published in journal in 2010. The lead author of the article, which appeared in the March 2010 issue of the journal, is Robb Kaler, a K-State graduate who earned his master's degree in biology in 2007. Co-authors include K-State's Brett Sandercock, associate professor of biology. March 2011

* K-State mathematics students came up with multiple victories at the recent 2011 Kansas Collegiate Mathematics Competition. K-State teams won first and second place in the competition, while two K-State students placed second and third individually at the event. Other schools in the competition included the University of Kansas, Emporia State University, Baker University, Fort Hays State University, Pittsburg State University and McPherson College. March 2011

* Kansas State University students Dylan Works, junior in political science, finance and economics, and Brock Ingmire, junior in communication studies, have been chosen as two of 12 participants in the Coro Kansas City Summer Internship in Public Affairs. The summer internship is a full-time, 10-week program that develops future community leaders by exposing them to community issues, leadership development, civic leaders and organizations. Kay Barnes, former mayor of Kansas City, Mo., leads the program, which is a partnership with Park University's Hauptmann School for Public Affairs. Feb. 2011

* Christine Aikens, assistant professor of chemistry, has received the 2011 Sloan Research Fellowship for her success as a promising young scholar. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation gives the two-year, $50,000 award annually to early-career scientists and scholars as a way to recognize their achievements and potential to contribute to their field. This year, 118 researchers from 54 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada received the award. Feb. 2011

* Five K-State journalism and mass communications students were recognized for their on-air talents by the Broadcast Education Association's 2011 Festival of Media Arts. Awardees included Emily McIntosh, who tied for third place in the air personality category for her K-State student radio program, "Hot Donna on The Wildcat 91.9"; Lucas Wempe, John Kurtz and Paul Harris, honorable mention in the specialty audio program category for "3ManWeave," which aired on The Wildcat 91.9; and Brent Pinkall, honorable mention in the television feature news reporting category for his story on a K-State professor's junk food diet. The story aired on "Manhattan Matters," a student-produced news program on K-State TV. Feb. 2011

* A team of Kansas State University researchers -- led by Glenn Horton-Smith, associate professor of physics -- is part of an international project with the Double Chooz neutrino detector in France. More than 38 universities and research institutes from eight countries are working on the detector, which measures neutrinos from the nearby Chooz nuclear power plant. Other K-State researchers include David McKee, postdoctoral researcher, Pi-Jung Chang, doctoral student in physics, Taiwan, and Deepak Shrestha, doctoral student in physics, Nepal. Feb. 2011

2010 Arts and Sciences

2009 Arts and Sciences

College of Arts and Sciences