Kansas State University achievements

2002 Students

 

* Two K-State students won research scholarships from the Computing Research Association's Committee on the Status of Women in Computing Research. Julie Thornton, senior in computer science and mathematics, Manhattan, and Lindsey Warren, senior in computer engineering, Edgerton, received Collaborative Research Experience for Women in Undergraduate Computer Science and Engineering scholarships of $1,000 each. The program is a prestigious merit-based scholarship for women undergraduate students in computational science and engineering. Scholarships are awarded to students in the United States and Canada based on academic qualifications and competitive review of their proposals. Proposals must consist primarily of original research by two or three students to be supervised by a faculty adviser. Thornton's and Warren's proposal, "An Intelligent Critiquing-Based System for Computer-Assisted Instruction in College Algebra," was selected from 41 proposals across the nation. Only 19 proposals were funded. The system Thornton and Warren are creating could help students in the college algebra lab Thornton teaches as part of Enhanced University Experience. September 2002

* Brian Barnett, a May 2002 summa cum laude K-State graduate, received a Fulbright grant to teach in Belgium during the 2002-2003 school year. Barnett earned bachelor's degrees in French and Spanish from K-State. Barnett will teach English to French-speaking students at a university in Belgium. Barnett will head to Indiana University for a teaching assistantship when he returns to the United States from Belgium. June 2002

* Kimberly Marie Webb, Abilene, won a James B. Pearson Fellowship. Webb is a graduate student working on her doctorate in plant pathology at K-State. Her Pearson fellowship will support a three- to four-month long study in the Philippines. She will study the "Evaluation of a Predictive Strategy for Durable Disease Resistance in Rice" at the International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Philippines. The Pearson Fellowship is funded by the Kansas Board of Regents for students who have lived in Kansas for five or more years. It supports graduate study abroad in areas related to foreign affairs. The average number of awards each year is about five. Webb received $2,900 to cover her travel and living expenses. Webb hopes to apply her expertise to international agricultural policy in Washington, D.C. after she graduates. May 2002

* K-State students Rachel Potucek and Nathan Jackson won national championships in speech competition at the American Forensics Association National Individual Events Tournament, hosted by Bradley University, Peoria, Ill., April 6-8. K-State has had more national champions than any school at the tournament, with 14 national champions since 1992, and K-State was the only school in the nation to win two national championships this year. Potucek won in impromptu speaking and Jackson won in prose interpretation, the first time K-State has won that category at the national level. K-State's individual events forensics speech team placed seventh in the nation at the national championship, competing against nearly 100 schools and more than 550 competitors. April 2002

* Three K-State seniors were awarded Graduate Research Fellowships sponsored by the National Science Foundation, and three other K-Staters received honorable mention. The fellowships are meant to support graduate study that will lead to research-based degrees in science, social science, mathematics and engineering. The fellowship awards a living stipend of $21,500 per year for each of three years. It also covers the cost of tuition and fees for that time period. May 2002 graduates Dawn Marie Dechand and Peter John Pauzauskie, both of Topeka, and Lesley Jean Schaefer, Wichita, received fellowships. Honorable mentions went to Trevor James Fast, Wichita, a May 2002 graduate in mathematics and statistics; Christopher Eldon Whitmer, Wilson, a December 2001 graduate in mechanical engineering; and Michele Celine Perrin, St. Louis, Mo., a graduate in civil engineering. These highly select students are expected to contribute significantly to research, teaching and industrial applications in science, mathematics and engineering, according to the National Science Foundation. April 2002

* K-State graduate Lucas Bessire has added a Mellon Fellowship to his lengthy list of accomplishments. Bessire, a Fulbright Scholar in Bolivia, was named a 2002 Mellon Fellow. The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowships in Humanistic Studies are designed to help exceptionally promising students prepare for careers of teaching and scholarship in humanistic disciplines. The Mellon Fellowship is a competitive award for first-year doctoral students. The Fellowship covers graduate tuition and required fees for the first year of graduate study and includes a stipend of $17,500. Bessire, a May 2001 bachelor's degree graduate in anthropology and Spanish from K-State, plans to study cultural anthropology in graduate school. April 2002

* Two K-State students from Wichita -- Mark Norfleet, junior in mathematics and music, and Julie Stilson, senior in computer science and mathematics -- were awarded Barry M. Goldwater Scholarships. Their wins bring K-State's record to 45 all-time Goldwater wins, topping the record of any other state university in the nation. Among all universities, public and private, K-State students rank third behind Princeton with 47, and Harvard with 46. The students will receive up to $7,500 annually. March 2002

* The Truman Foundation selected Leslie Small, a K-State junior in agricultural economics with a minor in leadership studies, as the university's 25th Truman scholar. K-State is first in the nation among public universities in producing Truman Scholars since the program began in 1977. Small was central region vice president of Future Farmers of America 1999-2000, a national office which gave her the opportunity to travel more than 100,000 miles in the United States to meet, educate and assist FFA members. She interned for John Deere in Germany during summer 2001. At K-State she is a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and was selected for Silver Key sophomore honorary. Truman scholarships can be used the senior year and for graduate studies. Scholars are selected primarily on the basis of leadership potential, including honesty, vision, sensitivity and communications skills; commitment to a career in public service; intellectual strength, analytical ability, and prospects of performing well in graduate school; and likelihood of "making a difference" in public service. March 2002

 

2005 student achievements

2004 student achievements

2003 student achievements

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