2011 Faculty Achievements
* David Gustafson, a professor of computing and information sciences, was named by the Ad Astra Kansas Initiative as one of the top 150 scientists ever to work in Kansas throughout its 150 years of statehood. January 2012
* 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.
* 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
* 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
* The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers honored Byron Jones, associate dean for research and graduate programs for the College of Engineering, with the Louise and Bill Holladay Distinguished Fellow Award for continuous preeminence in engineering or research work. July 2011
* Anna Whitfield, associate professor of plant pathology, was named as one of the state's top 150 scientists past and present by the Ad Astra Kansas Initiative. June 2011
* Sara Thurston-Gonzalez, director of international student and scholar services, was named a Fulbright Scholar and spent two weeks in Korea to learn about the country's higher education system. Thurston-Gonzalez's Fulbright award was through the International Educational Administrators Program, which fosters international understanding by acquainting U.S. and Korean personnel in international program administration with the system of higher education in each nation and the major issues affecting it. June 2011
* Jon Faubion, professor of grain science and industry, is the recipient of the 2011 AACC International Excellence in Teaching Award. The award recognizes an AACC member and current teacher for significant contributions through teaching in the broad field of cereal science and technology. AACC is a nonprofit organization for specialists in the use of cereal grains in foods. June 2011
* Maria Beebe, assistant director of international scholars and students services at K-State's International Student Center, is among the inaugural trainees selected for the Connecting Our World Grassroots Leadership Program, offered by NAFSA: Association of International Educators. The program gives international educators nationwide the tools to advocate for the importance of global learning and engagement in their own communities. May 2011
* John Grable, professor in the School of Family Studies and Human Services in the College of Human Ecology, received the Mid-career Award from the American Council on Consumer Interests at its recent annual conference in Washington, D.C. The award honors significant contributions to the field of consumer economics and consumer affairs. May 2011
* A passive solar house project designed by a team of K-State interior design students is the winner of the Outstanding Student Achievement Award in the student division competition at the fourth annual Mid-America Design Awards, sponsored by the International Interior Design Association's Mid-America chapter. Team members include Stacy Davis, De Soto; Amy Boesen, Sedgwick; and Rachel Ellerbe, Ellisville, Mo. Their project was completed for Interior Design Studio 7 in fall 2010, which was taught by Hyung Chan Kim, assistant professor of apparel, textiles and interior design. May 2011.
* Kevin Sauer, assistant professor of hospitality management and dietetics, is the new chair of the examination panel for the Commission on Dietetic Registration. The panel, which includes five registered dietitians and a registered dietetic technician, makes sure the registered dietitian and registered dietetic technician exams are administered, processed and analyzed professionally. The exam panel also determines new exam content domains and exam outlines to reflect current practice and competencies to essentially protect the public. May 2011
* Elizabeth McCullough, professor of textiles and co-director of the Institute for Environmental Research, and Ruth Douglas Miller, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, were added to the Ad Astra Kansas Initiative's list of top 150 scientists. The list -- part of the yearlong celebration of the Kansas sesquicentennial -- is comprised of researchers and innovators who have made or are making major contributions to their field, positively affecting Kansans and residents around the country. May 2011
* Kyle Riding, assistant professor of Civil Engineering, was the lead author of an article that earned the Wason Medal for Materials Research from the American Concrete Institute. The award is given annually for peer-reviewed original research work or discoveries that are published by the institute. Knowledge of construction materials must be advanced by the findings. The team's findings, "Effects of Construction Time and Coarse Aggregate on Bridge Deck Cracking," were published in the American Concrete Institute's Materials Journal for September-October 2009. May 2011
* Emizet Kisangani, professor of political science, will spend eight months in central Africa researching post-conflict reconstruction as a Fulbright Scholar. It's Kisangani's third time as a Fulbright recipient. Kisangani, who is director of K-State's African Studies Center, is researching the impact of parliament and the banking sector on post-conflict reconstruction in the region. He plans to visit the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. April 2011
* Virginia Moxley, dean of the College of Human Ecology, has been honored with the 2011 Friends of Great Plains Interactive Distance Education Alliance -- or IDEA -- award, created to recognize individuals who have made a significant contribution to the development and/or operation of the program. 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 long-term commitment to continuing education for educators and nontraditional students, especially in Kansas, earned Michael Holen, dean of College of Education, the University Professional and Continuing Education Association's 2011 Conferences and Professional Programs Community of Practice Faculty Service Award. The honor is presented to an individual who is not a member of an extension or continuing education department for outstanding contributions to conferences and professional programs or other continuing education endeavors. Holen was recognized for his support in the development of a variety of distance education programs in education to meet the needs of place-bound adult learners, particularly in rural areas of Kansas. April 2011
* Sue Maes, dean of the Division of Continuing Education, received the University Professional and Continuing Education Association's most prestigious national recognition, the Julius M. Nolte Award for Extraordinary Leadership. The Nolte Award is given only in years when a nominee demonstrates exceptional, longstanding contributions to continuing education at the regional, national and international levels. For the past 40 years, Maes has actively engaged in the field of adult and continuing education to advance areas such as rural education, community development, diversity, educational technology and interinstitutional collaborations and partnerships. April 2011
* The University Professional and Continuing Education Association recognized the Division of Continuing Education and several K-State faculty members for excellence in distance education programs, teaching and marketing efforts. The association's Distance Learning Community of Practice Exemplary Program Award was presented to the Big 12 Engineering Consortium's nuclear engineering program. The program provides, with assistance from the Division of Continuing Education, online undergraduate courses in nuclear engineering to Big 12 engineering students. The Research and Scholarship Award went to Royce Ann Collins, assistant professor in educational leadership, for her research on adult learning, accelerated programs, cognitive development and faculty development. The Excellence in Teaching Award was given to Terrie McCants, instructor of family studies and human services. McCants was instrumental in the development of K-State's online conflict resolution undergraduate and graduate certificate programs, facilitated by the Division of Continuing Education. The division also received two gold awards, one silver award and five bronze awards for marketing efforts. April 2011
* T.G. Nagaraja, a Kansas State University distinguished professor of diagnostic medicine/pathobiology, was named one of the state's top researchers by the Ad Astra Kansas Initiative's "Science in Kansas: 150 Years and Counting." The project promotes Kansas' top 150 scientists -- past and present -- to emphasize the importance of science and innovation and the role it plays in the history and future of Kansas. 2011.
* Denis Medeiros, associate dean of the College of Human Ecology and professor and head of the department of human nutrition, is the co-author of two recently released college textbooks on human nutrition, "Nutrition: Real People, Real Choices, Second Edition" and "Advanced Human Nutrition, Second Edition." April 2011
* Peter Magyar, professor of architecture and head of the department of architecture, is the first-ever recipient of the Pro Architectura Hungarica medal from the Association of Hungarian Architects. The medal recognizes architects working outside of the country, whose work and activities helped advance the profession and represent the excellence of Hungarian architecture and architects in the world. The award was presented in Budapest, Hungary. 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
* LaVerne Bitsie-Baldwin, director of the Multicultural Engineering Program, received the 2010 Outstanding Director Award from the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates Inc. The award recognizes her efforts to increase the K-State program's enrollment 160 percent from 2008 to 2010. The increase also was a factor in the association's Region D receiving the 2010 Outstanding Region Award. Bitsie-Baldwin is chair of the region, which includes engineering schools in Arizona, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Dakota and Texas. March 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
* 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
* Vikas Berry, assistant professor of chemical engineering, has received a five-year, $400,000 award from the National Science Foundation's Faculty Early Career Development Program. The CAREER award supports early career-faculty who effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their institutions. Berry will use the award to study a new process to produce graphene quantum dots, which are ultrasmall sheets of carbon atoms. By controlling their size and shape, Berry and his research team can control graphene's properties over a wide range to develop better switches for computers, to manipulate graphene-devices and to engineer novel particulate systems. Feb. 2011
* Michael Dryden, professor of veterinary parasitology, was named the 2010 Veterinarian of the Year by Ceva Animal Health. The award was presented Feb. 12 at the Purina Pro Plan 57th annual Show Dogs of the Year Awards, presented by Dogs in Review magazine in New York City. Dryden is considered one of the world's foremost experts on fleas and ticks. Feb. 2011
* Samantha "Sam" Wisely, associate professor of biology at Kansas State University, has been named as one of the top 150 scientists in Kansas by the Ad Astra Kansas Initiative's "Science in Kansas: 150 Years and Counting." Feb. 2011
* Charles W. Rice, university distinguished professor of soil microbiology, was named one of the top 150 scientists in Kansas. His selection was part of the "Science in Kansas: 150 Years and Counting" project of the Ad Astra Kansas initiative for celebrating the Kansas sesquicentennial. The project highlights scientists of accomplishment with the goal of inspiring young Kansans. Jan. 2011
