* Ruth Dyer, associate provost and a professor of electrical and computer engineering at K-State, was among 295 senior members of the IEEE, formerly known as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, to be elevated to the grade of fellow, effective Jan. 1, 2008. Dyer has belonged to the IEEE, formerly known as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, since 1986. The grade of fellow recognizes unusual distinction in the profession and is conferred by the IEEE board of directors upon senior members who have demonstrated an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the IEEE fields of interest. December 2007
* The president of K-State's Union Program Council and the executive director of the K-State Student Union have been honored at a recent meeting of the Association of College Unions International. Kyle Malone, senior in political science, Dodge City, and Union Program Council president, received the Outstanding Student Achievement Award. The honor recognizes a full-time student who demonstrated excellence in academics and gave exemplary performance for a college union or in student activities work. Bernard Pitts, executive director of the K-State Student Union, received the William H. Smith Distinguished Service Award. The award was created to honor union staff members that have made exceptional contributions and demonstrated a long-term commitment to a student union. Pitts also served as the past president of the Association of College Unions International. December 2007
* Derek Hillard, assistant of professor of German in the department of modern languages at K-State has won the German Academic Exchange Service Article Prize of the German Studies Association. The award is given to the author of the best article in the fields of German language and literature, cultural studies and humanities to be published in German Studies Review, an international journal, during the past two years. The prize carries and award of $500 and will be presented to Hillard by the director of the German Academic Exchange Service at the German Studies Association conference. December 2007
* K-State is a national leader in teaching quality. In 2007, two of K-State's university distinguished professors have won recognition for their outstanding teaching. The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education named Chris Sorensen the national professoxr of the year for research/doctoral universities and David Littrell the Kansas professor of the year. Sorensen is a u niversity distinguished professor of physics and Littrell is a university distinguished professor of music. K-State has had two national professors of the year. Dean Zollman, also a university distinguished professor of physics, was the national winner for research/doctoral universities in 1996. K-State holds the top spot in Kansas for the Carnegie/CASE awards, and is in the top 10 nationally among all universities, public and private. November 2007
* Chris Sorensen, a university distinguished professor of physics who has won every major teaching honor awarded by K-State, has been named the national 2007 Outstanding Doctoral and Research Universities Professor of the Year. The honor is awarded by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. Sorenson is K-State's second national winner in the competition. Dean Zollman, university distinguished professor of physics, received the award in 1996. November 2007
* David Littrell's teaching success with music students young and old earned him recognition as the 2007 Kansas Professor of the Year from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. Littrell, a distinguished professor of music, and other honorees from across the United States gathered Nov. 15, 2007, in Washington, D.C., for an awards luncheon and an evening reception. K-State holds the top spot in Kansas for the Carnegie/CASE awards, and is in the top 10 nationally among all universities, public and private. November 2007
* K-State's Charles Reagan joins a select group of individuals whose aeronautical contributions helped make Kansas a world class leader in aviation. Reagan, associate to the president at K-State and a professor of philosophy, received the 2007 Kansas Governor's Aviation Honor Award. His aviation experience spans four decades and include thousands of safely-flown hours as a certified flight instructor, King Air and Citation Jet captain with four trans-Atlantic flights. Reagan serves on the National Business Aircraft Association Safety Committee because of his extensive experience in the training and transportation environments. A tenured professor in the philosophy department, Reagan is a biographer and expert on French philosopher Paul Ricoeur. Reagan was a longtime friend of Ricoeur's and has written extensively about the noted philosopher, who died in 2005. Reagan's work includes the biography, "Paul Ricoeur: His Life and His Work," published in 1996 by the University of Chicago Press. November 2007
* Amir Tavakkol, an associate professor of finance at K-State's College of Business Administration, has been named a Fulbright senior scholar. In spring 2008 Tavakkol will return to the Europa-Universitat Viadrina in Frankfurt on the Oder, where he plans to teach corporate finance and investments and to pursue his research on earnings management. It will be his fourth visit to the German university, which has an exchange program with K-State. He is one of 800 scholars nationwide to win a Fulbright this year. November 2007
* The College Board Advanced Placement Best Practices study has selected an introduction to French literature course offered at K-State as one of the top 10 courses in its subject area in the nation. The K-State course will be used to redesign the Advanced Placement equivalent course. The course is taught by Amy Hubbell, assistant professor of French and the French language coordinator in the department of modern languages. November 2007
* K-State professor emeritus of biology Robert J. Robel is one of 22 individuals appointed to serve on a special national Wind Turbine Guidelines Advisory Committee by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne. Members will advise Kempthorne and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on measures to avoid or minimize impacts to wildlife and their habitats from land-based wind energy facilities. Robel is regarded as a world authority on the ecology and management of red deer in Scotland, where he travels frequently for research and consultation. He also is an authority on bobwhite quail, grassland birds and greater and lesser prairie chickens. November 2007
* Subbaratnam Muthukrishnan, university distinguished professor of biochemistry, and Barbara Valent, university distinguished professor of plant pathology, have been named Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science for their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications. K-State now has 15 faculty members who are fellows of the association, representing the fields of biology, chemical engineering, plant pathology, biochemistry, grain sciences and industry, geography, agronomy and physics. October 2007
* To help small towns sustain their local food suppliers, K-State's Center for Engagement and Community Development has begun a Rural Grocery Store Sustainability Initiative, which recently received a $50,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development office. The center and its partners, the Kansas Sampler Foundation and the Kansas Rural Center, plan to survey the nearly 200 grocers who serve towns with fewer than 2,000 residents. Then Procter hopes to organize a "rural grocer summit" that will bring far-flung entrepreneurs face to face. October 2007
* William "Bill" Gross, chief flight instructor and professor of aviation at K-State at Salina, has earned Master Certificated Flight Instructor accreditation from the National Association of Flight Instructors. Gross has held the professional accreditation continuously since 2003. He is one of only 15 Kansas aviation educators who has the prestigious designation. According to the National Association of Flight Instructors, the title is awarded only to the top instructors in the nation. In all, K-State at Salina has five faculty members who have earned this top designation. Along with Gross, they are Kurt Barnhart, professor and head of the department of aviation; Bernard King, associate professor of aviation; Troy Brockway, associate professor of aviation; and Eric Shappee, associate professor of aviation. The national accreditation, recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration, is earned through a rigorous process of continuing professional activity and peer review. The accreditation must be renewed biennially and is awarded only to instructors who demonstrate an ongoing commitment to excellence, professional growth and service to the aviation community. October 2007
* Dr. Gary Anderson, director of the K-State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, was elected vice president of the American Association of Veterinary Laboratory Diagnosticians. The election is a four-year commitment to serve on the association's executive committee, with culmination in the office of the president. Anderson's responsibilities with the association coincide closely with many of his duties at the diagnostic laboratory, where he sets policies and procedures consistent with the association's accreditation requirements. The full-service K-State Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, a part of the College of Veterinary Medicine, serves veterinarians and animal owners in the state and world. It also provides strong support for the teaching and research responsibilities of the department of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology, the College of Veterinary Medicine and K-State. October 2007
* Chris Culbertson, associate professor of chemistry at K-State, has won a 2007 Masao Horiba Award for "Rapid Analysis of Individual T-Lymphocyte Cells on Microfluidic Devices." He received the award at Kyoto University in Japan, where he also presented a lecture describing his research. The award is named for the founder of Horiba Ltd., a company that manufactures, sells and markets measurement and analysis tools used in fields ranging from medical diagnostics and automotive emissions to the semiconductor industry. Established in 2004, the award promotes research activities in the field of analysis and measurement technology by researchers working at universities and public research institutes in Japan and abroad. Culbertson's project was one of three chosen from among 29 nominations. The winners were selected for the future potential of the researcher, originality of the research and the possibility of the research being developed into unique measurement instruments. The award is designed to support the commercialization of prizewinning research. October 2007
* The Nobel Peace Prize won by Al Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has a K-State connection. Chuck Rice, professor of agronomy, served with more than 100 other climate change experts from across the world to prepare the full report on mitigation. The Nobel Prize Committee recognized the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change for their efforts to spread awareness of man-made climate change and lay the foundations for counteracting it. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment reports are often used to establish far-reaching policies and programs on climate change, and it's critical to make sure that the reports are accurate, thorough and completely objective. Rice was a lead author on a report on global warming. Rice reported on how greenhouse gases can be reduced by techniques such as no-till farming, instead of tilling up the soil. He said K-State researchers in forestry, agriculture and geography had roles in the report, from researching to writing to reviewing. October 2007
* Charlie L. Griffin has received the Victor I. Howery Memorial Award given each year by the National Association for Rural Mental Health to an individual who has made contributions to the rural mental health field. Griffin, a research assistant professor of family studies and human services in K-State's College of Human Ecology, has been working with transitions in the agricultural sector and rural mental health outreach since 1985. He is project director for Programs for Workplace Solutions and the Kansas Rural Family Helpline, which provides confidential, emotional support, information and referrals for rural families struggling with unmet emotional, medical, financial or legal need. Additionally, Griffin is a partner in the seven-state "Sowing Seeds of Hope" coalition promoting accessible behavioral health services in agricultural communities. October 2007
* K-State's Paul Seib, professor emeritus of grain science and industry, is being recognized for his research work with a Higuchi award from the University of Kansas. Seib is receiving the Irvin Youngberg Award for Applied Sciences from KU. The honor includes a $10,000 award which must be used for research materials, summer salaries, fellowship matching funds, research assistance or other research-related support. A cereal chemist, Seib's expertise includes cereal carbohydrates, wheat-based foods and stable forms of vitamin C. He is the author of more than 200 journal articles, several book chapters and a monograph. He also holds 18 U.S. patents, including two involving a stabilized form of vitamin C used in animal feeds, particularly aquaculture feed. Seib's work also has earned numerous honors. September 2007
* Jeff Pickering, associate professor of political science, has been selected for the editorial team of the prestigious Foreign Policy Analysis, one of the journals of the International Studies Association, the largest multidisciplinary group that studies international issues. The journal has a wide base of circulation and the members of its editorial team are an exclusive group, representing the top scholars in this area. According to Joe Aistrup, head of the department of political science, Pickering is one of the leading scholars in the area of conflict studies and international security, and his selection to the journal's editorial team will cement his position as a leading scholar in these areas. September 2007
* The National Science Foundation has awarded K-State's Michael Herman a grant of nearly $623,000 to continue his research on soil nematodes, a nearly microscopic type of worm, in the emerging field of ecological genomics. Also called EcoGen, ecological genomics investigates the connection between genomes and a changing environment. "Most genomic research these days focuses on medically relevant questions that help us understand human biology and what goes wrong when we get sick," Herman said. "We can think about the environment in the same way. Global change is making the environment sick, and we're using genomics to understand exactly what's going wrong." Past studies of nematodes in a laboratory setting have shown that the activated genes in lab nematodes are different than those living in the natural environment. Herman hopes to pinpoint which genes are activated or deactivated based on different environmental conditions. With the results, scientists will be able to answer many questions about soil ecology, such as soil quality or potential contamination that may affect the food web. September 2007
* L.T. Fan, K-State university distinguished professor of chemical engineering, will receive the Particle Technology Forum Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. Fan will be presented a plaque and $1,000 honorarium at the annual meeting of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Nov. 7, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The award recognizes outstanding contributions in the field of particle technology and the teaching of particle technology as evidenced by the aggregate contributions of the nominee's doctorate students to the field. The award also recognizes the advocacy of particle technology within industry, academia and government. At K-State, Fan is active in both teaching and research. He has traveled the world in connection with conferences and collaborative research, and as a consultant to governmental agencies and private corporations. He has authored or co-authored seven books, several hundred refereed journal articles and is credited with 16 patents. September 2007
* Dan W. Donelin, professor and head of K-State's department of landscape architecture and regional and community planning, has been inducted into the Academy of Fellows of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. The recognition was announced at the council's annual conference in August at Pennsylvania State University. Donelin has had a distinguished career in support of the council, which he has served as first vice president and president. He also has been vice president of education for American Society of Landscape Architects, in which he is a Fellow. He was chair of the Landscape Architectural Accreditation Board from 1992-95. Donelin also is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. September 2007
* K-State's Division of Continuing Education has received a certificate of appreciation from Fort Riley management employees for offering a series of seminars to Fort Riley civilian employees. The Division of Continuing Education worked with Fort Riley staff and K-State faculty to plan and develop the Fort Riley Garrison Professional Development Seminar Series. The monthly seminars were offered from April through August to coincide with changes in civilian personnel management by the U.S. Army. The seminars focused on leadership and change, mid-year appraisals, conflict management, good communication and change in management. September 2007
* Bernard King, associate professor of aviation at K-State at Salina, has earned Master Certificated Flight Instructor accreditation for the fourth time from the National Association of Flight Instructors. King has held the professional accreditation continuously since 2001. He is one of only 14 Kansas aviation educators who has earned the Master Instructor designation — which is awarded only to the top instructors in the nation, according to the National Association of Flight Instructors. In all, K-State at Salina has five faculty members who have earned this top designation. Along with King, they are Kurt Barnhart, professor and head of the department of aviation; Bill Gross, professor of aviation and chief pilot; Troy Brockway, associate professor of aviation; and Eric Shappee, associate professor of aviation. The national accreditation is recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration and is earned through a rigorous process of continuing professional activity and peer review. The accreditation must be renewed biennially and is awarded only to instructors who demonstrate an ongoing commitment to excellence, professional growth and service to the aviation community. September 2007
* Robert Stokes, professor of civil engineering, has been elected director of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Region Seven. The region represents sections, branches and student chapters in Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Colorado and Kansas. Stokes will begin a four-year term effective in November. He also will serve as appointed member to the national finance and program committees. September 2007
* Veterinarian Dr. Mike Apley's career achievements in animal health were recognized recently when he was spotlighted as one of the six most influential veterinarians in the cattle feeding industry in the past 35 years. Bovine Veterinary Magazine featured Apley and other industry leaders in an article on "VIPs of the Feedlot Industry" in the July 31 issue. August 2007
* A successful career in veterinary medicine has earned K-State's Lisa Freeman, professor of pharmacology and associate dean of research and graduate programs at the College of Veterinary Medicine, a spot in Kaplan Publishing's 2008 edition of "You Are Here: A Guide to Over 380 Colleges & Unlimited Paths to Your Future." The guide, to be released in September, names K-State as one of 25 "cutting-edge schools" in the nation because the university offers programs in many of the 50 hottest career choices today, as determined by surveys with prospective undergraduates across the country. Freeman said she was profiled in the guide to inform students about veterinary careers in biomedical sciences. "Students who are interested in being veterinarians don't always realize that the profession offers many career opportunities outside of companion animal practice, in areas such as biomedical research, food supply medicine and public health," Freeman said. "K-State is a great place for veterinary students interested in these career pathways because of strong faculty mentors and student-centered professional development programs." August 2007
* Two faculty members from K-State's department of biological and agricultural engineering were honored recently by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. Stacy Hutchinson, associate professor, was awarded the society's A.W. Farrall Young Educator Award. The award, given to an individual under the age of 40 at the time of selection, honors outstanding success in motivating the application of engineering principles to the problems of agricultural engineering. Jim Koelliker, professor, was recognized with a Presidential Distinguished Award for his service and leadership on the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers Foundation's board of trustees. August 2007
* Candice Shoemaker, associate professor of horticulture, forestry and recreation resources at K-State, has received a $1.04 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Research Institute to study whether gardening can promote a healthier lifestyle. The study is called Project PLANTS, or Promoting Lifelong Activity and Nutrition Through Schools. With the grant, Shoemaker and colleagues will work to create gardens and high tunnels -- for gardening during the winter months -- in Manhattan-Ogden Unified School District schools, as well as an after-school program for fourth- and fifth-grade students to grow their own fruits, vegetables and flowers. She hopes to show that gardening can promote a healthier lifestyle and combat childhood obesity in several ways. Shoemaker said when children help to grow their own fruits and vegetables, they are more interested in eating them. Also, gardening not only gets children off of the couch and into the outdoors, but it also counts as physical activity. August 2007
* Brian A. Coon, associate professor of civil engineering, has been appointed to the Committee on Emerging Technology Law by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee. The board is a division of the National Research Council, a private, nonprofit institution that provides expertise in science and technology to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The National Research Council is jointly administered by the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine. Coon is director of the University Transportation Center, which coordinates interdisciplinary transportation research, training and outreach efforts at K-State. Focusing on the sustainability and safety of rural transportation systems and infrastructure, the center emphasizes the unique needs of rural transportation systems. August 2007
* A dedication to connecting their students with the world beyond campus has won national recognition for two faculty members in K-State's department of architectural engineering and construction science. Julia Keen, an assistant professor, and Fred Hasler, instructor, have been named advisers of the year by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers for their work with K-State's student branch of the organization. It is the first year for the award. They'll be presented with a plaque at the society's January 2008 meeting in New York. August 2007
* The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers has named K-State's Pat Murphy a Fellow of the society. Only 2 percent of the group have achieved the level of Fellow, which requires that a member demonstrate outstanding qualifications and unusual professional distinction; candidates must also have been society members for at least 20 years. Murphy, a professor of biological and agricultural engineering, specializes in livestock systems. He also is interim assistant director of agricultural and natural resource programs for K-State Research and Extension. Murphy is recognized as one of the country's first environmental engineers. He's known for his ability to apply engineering principles to the construction of feedlots, feed mills and corrals. He also has developed techniques for the handling of manure and waste water. His designs for cattle, hog and dairy facilities have improved their efficiency and safety while reducing the harm done to the surrounding environment. July 2007
* Nearly 20 years after a Harry S. Truman Scholarship changed her life, K-State's Mary Hale Tolar is being recognized by the Truman Foundation for helping other Truman scholars and for living up to the scholarship's ideals. Tolar, associate director of leadership studies and programs for K-State civic leadership and former director of Kansas Campus Compact, is recipient of the Truman Foundation's 2007 Staats Award. The honor is presented annually to a Truman scholar who has made significant contributions to the public sector and who has provided extraordinary service to the foundation. Tolar, who was named a Truman scholar in 1988 as a sophomore in history and speech at K-State, has been active with the Truman Foundation. She started as a fellowships adviser 15 years ago. In 1999 she joined the foundation as deputy executive secretary and chief of staff, serving until returning to K-State in 2003. Currently, Tolar serves on national Truman scholarship selection panels and participates annually in Truman Scholars Leadership Week, where she talks with recently selected Truman scholars about opportunities for study and service following their college graduation. July 2007
* K-State's Daniel Y.C. Fung, an international expert in microbial food safety, is receiving the inaugural Outstanding Educator in Food Safety Award from Food Safety magazine and ConAgra Foods. The new award recognizes an individual who has made extraordinary contributions to food safety education, both in and out of the classroom. Fung was selected for his outstanding service and contributions in advancing food safety during his nearly 40 years as an educator. Fung has taught more than 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students, distance learning students and professionals around the world through classroom teaching, symposia, seminars, workshops and meetings on microbial food safety. He also leads the annual International Workshop on Rapid Methods and Automation in Microbiology, which just completed its 27th session, at K-State. The popular workshop has attracted about 4,000 participants from 60 countries to Manhattan to be trained in the latest technologies in detecting microbes and controlling them for food safety and security. July 2007
* K-State's David Stone, professor of history, has been named a top young historian by the History News Network. The network selected Stone for the distinction based on his contribution to the discipline in his area of research through his commitment and achievement in scholarship and teaching. The network also chooses historians who are highly regarded outside academia, and many are consulted by the popular media. A profile of Stone will appear on the History News Network Web site at http://www.hnn.us/
Stone has taught at K-State since 1999, where he also is a faculty member of the Institute for Military Studies and 20th Century Studies. He specializes in Russia and the Soviet Union, South Asia and military history. He is the author of "A Military History of Russia: From Ivan the Terrible to the War in Chechnya" and "Hammer and Rifle: The Militarization of the Soviet Union, 1926–1933," which won the Historical Society's inaugural Best First Book Prize and was co-winner of the 2001 Shulman Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. June 2007
* K-State biochemist Michael Kanost's contributions to research on immune systems in mosquitoes are part of a journal article appearing in the June 22 Science magazine. Kanost is a distinguished professor of biochemistry, head of the department and a member of the K-State Arthropod Genomics Center. He was part of a group of international researchers whose work appears in Science magazine. The researchers are working to understand how the immune systems in two types of mosquitoes and the fruit fly evolved over time. This way, scientists will have a better idea of what genes to study in their efforts to halt the transmission of dangerous insect-spread diseases like malaria. June 2007
* A Kansas State University physicist has received a $3.75 million grant from the Department of Defense for research to improve attosecond sources and exploit the technology breakthrough for applications. Zenghu Chang, K-State professor of physics, said attosecond laser technology can potentially identify elements. This means a laser pulse could be beamed into a suspicious package, for example, to quickly determine if it in fact did contain dangerous chemicals. Chang is the principal investigator on the grant, which is for $1.25 million per year for three years with a possible two-year extension. Other team member institutions are Texas A&M University and the University of Ottawa. May 2007
* Dan Deines, the Ralph Crouch KMPG Professor of Accounting at the College of Business Administration, is receiving the Distinguished Achievement in Accounting Education Award from the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. The award offers professional recognition and promotes role models in academe. It recognizes full-time college accounting educators who exemplify the philosophy of the certified public accountant vision and are involved in the profession at the national level. It also honors excellence in teaching and innovation in curriculum development. Deines is actively involved with the institute's accounting careers subcommittee. He was named a "CPA Pathfinder" by the institute in 1999. May 2007
* Zelia Wiley, assistant dean of diversity at the College of Agriculture, has been named the national president Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, a national organization. Her term will last through 2008 and she will continue to serve on the executive committee the following year. Wiley is the first national president of the organization who rose through its ranks starting as a student member. May 2007
* Bimal Paul, K-State professor of geography, and two professors from other universities, have been awarded a $64,000 Fulbright-Hays grant for the project, "Natural Hazards and Related Health Issues in Bangladesh: Standards and Issues Based Geography Curricular Project for Grades K-16." As part of the project, 15 teachers from schools and universities across the United States will visit the People's Republic of Bangladesh in July to study flood-, cyclone-, tornado- and drought-affected areas. The team will then develop U.S. geography standards and issues-based curricular materials focusing on how humans living in Bangladesh cope with their many natural hazards and the influence such disasters have had on health issues in the area. May 2007
* The American Educational Research Association recently honored Jeong-Hee Kim, an assistant professor of secondary education, with an award for an outstanding narrative research article. Kim's article, "For Whom the School Bell Tolls: Conflicting Voices Inside an Alternative High School," was selected as the best narrative research article of 2007 out of three national finalists. The award is given by the Narrative Research Special Interest Group, which is a division of the American Educational Research Association. Kim's award-winning article appeared in the International Journal of Education and Arts in August 2006. The article is a study of an alternative high school in Arizona, and provides conflicting views among administrators, teachers and students on their public alternative school experiences. Narrative research focuses on the stories of everyday people and their experiences. April 2007
* Dianna Schalles, health educator and registered dietitian at Lafene Health Center, has been honored for advising the K-State student peer education group Sensible Nutrition and Body Image Choices. Schalles received the Area 5 Award for Excellence: Outstanding Adviser 2006-2007 from the BACCHUS Network, a university- and community-based network promoting student- and young adult-based campus and community-wide leadership on health and safety issues. The award was presented at the seventh annual "Meeting of the Minds": Partners in Prevention and the BACCHUS Network Area 5 Spring Conference. Sensible Nutrition and Body Image Choices, or SNAC, was founded in spring 2001 at K-State. Schalles, who has advised the group since its inception. The group works to educate the university community about healthy eating strategies and body image. April 2007
* J.K. Rowling, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Wesch. These are just some of the 22 winners of this year's Rave Awards from Wired magazine, now on newsstands and the Web. Wesch, assistant professor of cultural anthropology at K-State, is being honored in the video category and is called "The Explainer" in the issue. He created a video explaining Web 2.0 that has been viewed more than 2.2 million times on YouTube, an online video-sharing community, since its release Jan. 31. Wired's Rave Awards, according to the magazine, salute the "people changing your mind." They honor innovators, instigators and inventors in a range of categories including technology, business, music, film, games, industrial design and blogs. This year's awards process looked at the most "intriguing breakthroughs in the world today" and then tracked down the "individuals who made them happen." Wired reports on how technology affects culture, the economy and politics. The winners of the Rave Awards will be honored April 27 in San Francisco. April 2007
* Frank Tracz, director of bands and professor of music at K-State, has been named a 2006 Lowell Mason Fellow by the Music Educators National Conference. Tracz is one of 10 music educators nationwide honored as a Mason Fellow at the organization's Centennial Congress and Celebration June 25 in Orlando, Fla. The award is named for Lowell Mason, who is credited with introducing music instruction to American public schools and establishing teacher training in music education. This honor and recognition is one of the highest awards the Music Educators National Conference can bestow on individuals who have made significant contributions to music education. Gary Mortenson, head of the music department, credits Tracz with moving the K-State Marching Band into an elite status among all major university groups. April 2007
* Kimberly Williams, professor of horticulture, forestry and recreation resources, is receiving the Teacher Fellowship Award from the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. Williams will be recognized with a plaque at the annual North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture conference June 20-22 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The award recognizes individuals whose efforts represent the very best in agricultural higher education. Criteria included in the selection process are statements from current students, alumni, administrative officers and peers. Factors such as availability to students, teaching innovations and departmental activity are also evaluated. April 2007
* Larry Takemoto, university distinguished professor of biology, will receive the Distinguished Service Award from the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology. The award recognizes Takemoto's many contributions to the organization, both as president and as a member of its board of trustees. Takemoto has been a member of the association since 1974 and served as 2005-2006 president. The award will be presented at the organization's annual meeting May 6-10 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. April 2007
* Amy Hubbell, assistant professor of modern languages, was awarded a $750 Northeast Modern Language Association summer research fellowship for "Reconstructing the Past: The Pieds-Noirs 45 Years after Algerian Independence." The fellowship is intended to defray travel costs incurred by researchers in pursuing their project over the summer. Hubbell was one of six recipients of the award. April 2007
* K-State administrator Chuck Werring has been honored with the William B. Sweet Distinguished Service Award. Werring, the assistant vice president of housing and dining, was recognized with the award at Upper Midwest Region-Association of College and University Housing Officers opening banquet. The honor is the most prestigious given by the association. It is intended for individuals who show commitment and excellence in the housing and residence life field. They are considered role models to new professionals and colleagues around them in their work and profession. March 2007
* Briana S. Nelson Goff was honored by Texas Tech University's College of Human Sciences with an alumni award as a "New Achiever." Nelson Goff, interim assistant dean for academic affairs in the College of Human Ecology, was among five Texas Tech alums recognized for outstanding success in their careers. Nelson Goff, who also is an associate professor in K-State's School of Family Studies and Human Services, earned her Ph.D. from Texas Tech. Her master of science degree in marriage and family therapy is from K-State. Nelson Goff’s clinical experience and research specialization is with traumatic stress symptoms in trauma survivor couples, families and children. In 2000, as part of team funded by the National Research Council, she traveled to Bosnia-Herzegovina to assess physical and mental heath issues and postwar reconstruction five years after the genocide that claimed tens of thousands. March 2007
* Vara Prasad, assistant professor of crop physiology at K-State, has received the 2006 Young Agricultural Scientist Award from the National Association of Agricultural Scientists of Indian Origin. The association is an affiliate of the American Society of Agronomy, the largest organization of agricultural scientists in the world. The award recognizes young agricultural scientists of Indian origin who have made an outstanding contribution by the age of 40. Prasad joined the faculty of K-State's department of agronomy in September 2005. A native of India, he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in crop physiology and stress physiology at K-State. His research involves the effect of environmental stresses on crops. March 2007
* A K-State professor has been named a Fellow of the American Phytopathological Society. Barbara Valent, university distinguished professor of plant pathology, received the award for research work she has done with rice blast disease. She is a fungal molecular geneticist, performing research on the molecular genetics of pathogenicity and resistance in the Magnaporthe grisea-rice pathosystem. She is working toward better understanding how fungi make plants sick and how plants try to defend themselves. Her long-term goal is to make the plants more disease resistant. Valent has traveled extensively in Asia and Latin America where rice blast is a major problem. March 2007
* Dana J. Minihan, assistant academic coordinator in the department of agronomy at Kansas State University, was recently elected president of the Kansas Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. Minihan will serve a two-year term, then continue as past-president for another two years. The Kansas Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture was established in May 1983 as a state affiliate to the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture. The purpose of the association is to foster open communication between two-year and four-year institutions, and provide a means for discussion on questions and problems related to the improvement of higher education instruction in agriculture. March 2007
* The Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education has selected K-State's Valerie Wright, Konza Prairie Biological Station environmental educator and naturalist, for the association's Award for Excellence in Conservation and Environmental Education, preK-16 educator category. Award recipients have been nominated by their peers and exhibit outstanding leadership and achievement, as well as collaboration and cooperation within the environmental education field. Nominees must have a minimum of five years involvement in the field of environmental education and continue to make significant contributions to environmental education in Kansas. Wright was hired in 1996 as the Konza Prairie's first environmental education coordinator. The Konza Prairie Environmental Education Program offers educational programming at the Konza Prairie Biological Station, a field research station owned by The Nature Conservancy and K-State, and managed by the K-State Division of Biology. More than 4,000 visitors -- half of which are school-age children -- experience the Konza Prairie through reservations each year. February 2007
* Work by Larry Bowne, assistant professor of architecture at K-State's College of Architecture, Planning and Design, will be featured in two upcoming episodes of the show "Small Space, Big Style" on cable's Home and Garden Television or HGTV.
The first episode will premiere at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 22. Bowne's project, a New York City apartment full of hidden storage, is one of four spaces featured. The apartment is owned by Iris Weinstein, a book designer with the Knopf imprint at Random House. The design of the apartment transformed a small studio in a terra-cotta masonry building formerly used as a printing house. The renovation included sliding glass panels and a free-standing storage unit which divided the narrow space into a sequence of rooms. The scope included interiors and custom furnishings. An air date for the second episode will be announced soon. February 2007
* A video by a Kansas State University professor that he posted on the Web has not only become immensely popular online, but it also has given him and his students something to study. Michael Wesch, assistant professor of anthropology, created a video explaining Web 2.0, the "second wave" of Web-based services allowing people to network, share and collaborate online. The video, posted Jan. 31, was the most popular video on the Internet Feb. 5, according to Technorati.com; the No. 1 featured video on YouTube Feb. 9; and has been featured in more than 5,000 blogs. More than 1 million people have viewed the video on YouTube, an online video-sharing site. It is one of the top 100 favorites of all time on YouTube, recently surpassing Beyonce's latest pop music video.
Wesch, who also serves as the guest editor of a special issue of Visual Anthropology Review, "Beyond e-Text," was writing about what can be done with new technology, such as blogs, wikis, video editing, Web feeds and social networking sites. He found himself in a strange position. He was trying to describe how digital media has gone beyond simply imitating paper, but he himself was using paper to describe this phenomenon. He decided that using video was much more relevant and so he created "Web 2.0...The Machine is Us/ing Us" to describe his path through the Internet. His creation can be seen at http://youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE February 2007
* Rebecca Armstrong and Raylene Alexander, the only two female aircraft mechanics on Kansas State University at Salina's aviation maintenance faculty, are being recognized for their work. The Association for Women in Aviation Maintenance has named Armstrong the recipient of the Mary Ann Eiff Teacher of the Year Award, and has awarded Alexander two scholarships to help her design new curriculum for K-State at Salina's aviation department. Both will be formally recognized at the Association of Women in Aviation Maintenance Awards Breakfast Feb. 17. The event is part of the conference of Women In Aviation, International in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 15-17.
* A first-ever college course and a ground-breaking professor and graduates are getting K-State noticed in the construction industry. The most recent issue of trade magazine Tilt-Up TODAY features the story "Industry Meets Education" by Kimberly Kramer, K-State assistant professor of architectural engineering and construction science, about her course on tilt-up concrete construction, the first on a college campus. Kramer also is featured in the story "Women in Tilt-Up," while she and two recent K-State construction science and management graduates, Angela Perry and Rebecca Waldo, are among 14 women profiled in another section. The article Kramer contributed also includes photos and descriptions of tilt-up projects by recent K-State construction science and management graduates Beau Hahn and Brock Beran. A photo of one of Kramer's award-winning tilt-up projects is the issue's cover. February 2007
* K-State's Brian A. Coon, associate professor of civil engineering and the new director of the University Transportation Center, is receiving the 2007 Practice-Ready Paper Award from the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies of Science. Coon's paper, which guides transportation engineers on the selection of the appropriate placement of guardrail, was co-written with Dean Sicking of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and King Mak, a Texas engineering consultant. Coon's research consisted of reconstructing more than 850 real-world accidents to determine how the vehicles left the roadway. The research included blood alcohol concentrations, ages of drivers and passengers, and other detailed information about the crashes. The information will be used for future analysis in an attempt to reduce the number of crashes on the nation's roadways, Coon said. January 2007
* Bill Gross, chief flight instructor at K-State at Salina, has been recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration as the best in Kansas. Gross, a professor of aviation and a professional pilot, was named Certified Flight Instructor of the Year by the FAA's Flight Standards district office in Wichita. The Wichita office is part of a four-state region which has five Flight Standards district offices. Gross, who has been teaching aviation for more than 30 years, was key to getting K-State's aviation program off the ground. He was the first pilot instructor to join the program when K-State and the Kansas College of Technology merged in 1991. He began working for the Kansas College of Technology in 1987. During his tenure, K-State at Salina's professional pilot program has grown from a handful of students to more than 300 students. Today, Gross is in charge of all flight training that goes on at K-State at Salina, as well as its ground school. In addition, as a professional pilot, Gross has trained more than 1,000 students. He is one of four Master Certified Flight Instructors at K-State at Salina. January 2007
* Daniel Y.C. Fung, professor of food science and animal sciences and industry at K-State, is the first scientist to be honored as a Distinguished Professor by the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona in Barcelona, Spain. The presentation was made Nov. 23, 2006, by Alfred Ferret, dean of the university's Veterinary School. The Spanish university has around 50,000 students. The honor is in recognition of Fung's contributions as a keynote speaker and principal lecturer for the Spanish university's Rapid Methods and Automation in Food Microbiology workshop series since it began in 2002. The conference draws around 200 national and international participants each year. Fung is an internationally recognized expert in the field of rapid methods and automation in microbiology. January 2007