Commitment to mentoring minority students earns K-State assistant professor of biology Commerce Bank Presidential Award

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Source: Lorena Passarelli, 785-532-3195, lpassar@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, 785-532-6415, ebarcomb@k-state.edu

Wednesday, January 3, 2007

COMMITMENT TO MENTORING MINORITY STUDENTS EARNS K-STATE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY COMMERCE BANK PRESIDENTIAL AWARD

MANHATTAN -- Lorena Passarelli's commitment to mentoring and serving as a role model to minority students at Kansas State University has earned the assistant professor of biology the 2007 Commerce Bank Presidential Faculty and Staff Award for Distinguished Services to Historically Underrepresented Students.

Passarelli will be recognized at an awards reception at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, in the Bluemont Room at the K-State Student Union.

Recipients of the Commerce Bank Presidential Award for Distinguished Services to Historically Underrepresented Students are chosen from a pool of nominees by a 15-member committee of K-State faculty, staff members and student organization presidents. The award comes with a $2,500 prize.

"I wish to emphasize that the service and impact she makes are not part of her job description or her assigned effort distribution," wrote Brian Spooner, university distinguished professor of biology and director of K-State's Division of Biology, in his nomination letter for Passarelli.

Spooner credits Passarelli for her efforts to make minorities and women part of her research team of postdoctoral, graduate and undergraduate students by emphasizing the importance of structure, responsibility, professionalism and caring to -- and for -- her students.

"As a successful minority woman scientist, she recognizes the importance of positive role models and the key role of faculty mentors in the success of these students," Spooner wrote.

Erica Cain, senior in microbiology, Wamego, has conducted research with Passarelli since her sophomore year. In a nomination letter, Cain emphasized Passarelli's commitment to the students working in her lab.

"Dr. Passarelli's door is always open for questions, whether it is about research, classes, future plans or proofreading help," Cain wrote. "Dr. Passarelli opened my eyes to the fact that there are so many opportunities available to me if I just look and work hard. The fact that I am even applying to graduate school can be attributed to the mentorship of Dr. Passarelli."

Passarelli's research focuses on manipulating viruses as a way to biologically control insect pests. She has received the Haymaker and Stamey teaching awards and was selected by the Biology Graduate Student Association for its first Outstanding Graduate Faculty Award.

Passarelli also is an undergraduate research mentor for the Terry C. Johnson Center for Basic Cancer Research Undergraduate Research Awards Program, the K-State Developing Scholars Program, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Research Scholars Program, the K-State McNair Scholars Program and the Kansas IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence Undergraduate Research Program. She is a mentor in both the Latino Institute Program and the American Society for Microbiology Undergraduate Research Program.

Passarelli earned her doctorate in genetics in 1993 from the University of Georgia.