2013 Arts and Sciences Achievements
* Angela Glean, junior in kinesiology, received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship to study abroad. Glean's destination is Ecuador. The Gilman Scholarship Program offers awards up to $5,000 for undergraduates to study abroad. Award recipients are chosen through a competitive selection process. May 2013
* The latest book by Phillip Nel, professor of English and director of the graduate program in children's literature, was nominated for a 2013 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award. The award is the comic book industry's most prestigious honor. Nel's book, "Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children’s Literature," is nominated for a 2013 Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in the Best Educational/Academic Work category. April 2013
* Jenny Barriga, junior in chemistry and biochemistry, Dodge City, has been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship. She is the university's 69th Goldwater scholar, which ranks K-State in the Top Five of all U.S. universities for total Goldwater scholars. Brianne Pierce, junior in microbiology and premedicine, Wichita, and Kyle Snow, junior in chemical engineering, Eudora, are honorable mentions in the scholarship competition. April 2013
* Derrek Wilson, doctoral student in physics, received a 2013 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, which recognizes outstanding students who are pursing research-based master's and doctoral degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. He will receive more than $120,000 across three years, which includes a yearly $30,000 stipend and $12,000 in lieu of tuition and fees. Elizabeth Everman, doctoral student in biology, received an honorable mention from the foundation. April 2013
* Dale Herspring, university distinguished professor of political science, published his 13th book, "Civil-Military Relations and Shared Responsibility: A Four-Nation Study." It was released April 26 by Johns Hopkins University Press. The book is a four-nation study of military and civilian relationships in the U.S., Russia, Germany and Canada. Herspring has extensively researched the U.S., Russia and Germany, and focuses this book on civil-military relations after World War II. April 2013
* K-State students finished in the top 14 percent among the 578 colleges and universities and nearly 4,300 students participating in the 73rd annual Putnam Mathematical Competition. The university had one student place in the top 13 percent of the competition: Joshua Ericson, senior in mathematics, Junction City. April 2013
* Lynn Brien, doctoral candidate in geography, was awarded the prestigious Lortz Scholarship by the American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. She is the first K-State student to win the award in the last 20 years. The award of $1,000 will be used to support her dissertation research on "Modeling Vegetation Productivity of Coastal Louisiana Marshes: A Remote Sensing Approach." April 2013
* Ross Allen, a sophomore in economics and prelaw, is one of seven students in Kansas named to the Newman Civic Fellows program. Allen has explored how community and student organizations viewed service work, reviewed reflections and evaluations of service participants, and how service and learning could be integrated into co-curricular service work. The program is sponsored by Campus Compact. April 2013
* Frank Tracz, director of bands, was inducted into the American Bandmasters Association. Founded by Edwin F. Goldman in 1929, with John Philip Sousa as the only honorary life president, the association recognizes outstanding achievement on the part of concert band conductors and composers. The membership is by invitation only and comprises approximately 300 band conductors and composers in the U.S. and Canada. March 2013* Richard Marston, university distinguished professor and head of the department of geography, has received the 2013 Meredith F. Burill Award by the Association of American Geographers. The award honors work of exceptional merit and quality that lies at or near the intersection of basic research in geography on the one hand, and practical applications or policy implications on the other. March 2013
* Six K-State Air Force ROTC cadets landed pilot training assignments after their graduation and commissioning. The cadets, members of the university's Detachment 270, were selected for pilot training by the Air Force Rated Aviation Board. They were the only six cadets nominated for training assignments by the university. The 100 percent selection rate tops the 57.9 percent national selection rate for the highly competitive process. March 2013
* David Stone, Pickett professor of military history, won a Moncado Prize from the Society for Military History for his article "Misreading Svechin: Attrition, Annihiliation and Historicism." The article appeared in the July 2012 issue of the Journal of Military History. February 2013
* The Mock Trial Team advanced to the first round of the national mock trial championships by qualifying at the Great Plains Regional Mock Trial Competition, Feb. 15-17, at Washburn University. February 2013.
* Tammy Sonnentag, doctoral candidate in psychological sciences, and Jarred Pfeiffer, master's student in fine arts-ceramics, received the 2013 Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Excellence in Teaching Award, which honors graduate students who exemplify excellence in the teaching and learning missions of universities. Sonnentag earned the doctoral-level award and Pfeiffer received the master's-level award. February 2013
* Rabia Akhtar, doctoral candidate in security studies, won a Mehboob ul Haq Research Award from the Regional Center of Strategic Studies in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Through collaboration, Akhtar will write and publish a monograph on "Nuclear Learning in South Asia" for the center. The project is an outgrowth of her ongoing research on nuclear proliferation, particularly on American policy toward nuclear questions in India and Pakistan. February 2013.
* An essay written by Jim Sherow, professor of history, and Bonnie Lynn-Sherow, associate professor of history, was included in a commemorative portfolio given to President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and 200 select guests at the 2013 presidential inauguration luncheon. The Sherows were among the prominent historians invited to submit an essay for the portfolio, which celebrated the accomplishments of the Abraham Lincoln administration 150 years ago. The Sherows wrote about the Morrill Land-Grant College Act, pegging it to the opening of K-State as the nation's first operational land-grant university. January 2013