Kansas State University

2017 All-University Achievements

• Citation for innovation: Paul Seib a new fellow of the National Academy of Innovators.
  
  
• Driven to succeed: Civil engineering student receives Dwight D. Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship.
  
  
• Aiding the NSF: Geography's Kendra McLauchlan to serve as rotating program director for the National Science Foundation.
  
  
• Going the distance for success: Global Campus programs, staff and student earn regional, national honors.
  
  
• Doctoral student selected for prestigious MIT fellows program.
  
  
• Design dominance: Interior design program continues to rank among the best in nation.
  
  
• Sealing the deal: Sales Cats win International Collegiate Sales Competition.
  
  
• Global Wildcat: Student from Manhattan recipient of Gilman scholarship for study abroad.
  
  
• Setting the standard: Vet Med's Brian Lubbers new chair of international veterinary standards committee.
  
  
• Write stuff: Paper by College of Business Administration's Saurav Pathak selected as one of the top 15 papers in international entrepreneurship.
  
  

• Soil champion: Agronomy's Gary Pierzynski presents at United Nations' World Soil Day 2017.

• Still the champs: For the ninth year in a row, K-State wins crops team championship.
  
  
• Best of the best: Peter Dorhout new fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science.
  
  
• Top teacher: Horticulture's Chip Miller earns U.S. Department of Agriculture's Best New Teacher Award for Food and Agricultural Sciences.
  
  

• High step: Dance program leader Julie Pentz elected director on National Dance Educators Organization's advisory board.

• Outstanding scholars: American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy names six graduate students fellows.
  
  
• Engaging excellence: K-State wins national Innovation Award for economic engagement efforts.
  
  
• Exhibiting success: Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art a model of excellence.
  
  
• International statesman: President Myers honored by Kansas City International Relations Council for global service.
  
  
• Physic phenom: K-State's Abdollah Mohammad named distinguished researcher for his work on the Compact Muon Solenoid detector upgrade at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.
  
  
• Research excellence: Doctoral student Haider Almkhelfe earns top prize for his research from American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
  
  
• A global assist: College of Veterinary Medicine's veterinary degree program with China expanded.
  
  
• Deserving documentary: A.Q. Miller School's Tom Hallaq receives Award of Distinction for his documentary "Slow and Low: The Story of the Kansas Ag Pilot."
  
  
• At the forefront: Report by Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense highlights university's standing as the "Silicon Valley for biodefense."
  
  
• Success is instrumental: K-State one of only five universities to have all three of its grant proposals, worth more than $2.5 million, selected for funding through the NSF's Major Research Instrumentation program. The proposals are led by three faculty teams.
  
  
• Leading the way: K-State a finalist for the Innovation and Economic Prosperity Universities Awards Program.
  
  
• National acclaim: National Endowment for the Humanities features Chapman Center for Rural Studies' Lost Kansas Communities project in new brochure.
  
  
• Best in Kansas: Linda Hoag, professor of communication sciences and disorders, is state's speech language pathologist of the year, while Elaine Johannes, associate professor of family studies and human services and extension specialist, named state's communicator of the year.
  
  
• Oh, the places they'll go: Two students receive prestigious Gilman scholarships for education abroad.
  
  
• Top rating: K-State's chapter of Beta Alpha Psi, an honors organization for financial information students and professions, earns superior honors.
  
  

• Nation's best: College of Agriculture ranks in top five of best colleges in nation for agricultural sciences.

• Formula for success: American Chemical Society honors Christer Aakeroy with 73rd Midwest Award.

• Top appointment: Dean John Buckwalter elected to the board of directors for Association of Public Land-grant Universities' Board on Human Sciences.
  
  
• At the top, by design: The College of Architecture, Planning & Design's graduate programs are again among among the best in the nation, according to the latest DesignIntelligence rankings. The graduate program in landscape architecture is fifth in the nation; the graduate program in interior architecture ranks sixth in the nation and first among public institutions; and the graduate program in architecture ranks eighth among public institutions and 18th overall.
  
  

• Research excellence: Two university distinguished professors are recipients of Higuchi-KU Endowment Research Awards. Vara Prasad, professor of agronomy, is receiving the Irvin E. Youngberg Award in Applied Sciences, and Bharat Ratra, professor of physics, is the recipient of the Olin K. Petefish Award in Basic Sciences. Each receives $10,000 for their ongoing research.

• Elite honor: Doctoral student Tracee Watkins, human ecology, a 2017 James Beard Foundation National Scholar.

• Animal welfare warrior: Hans Coetzee receives the World Veterinary Association's Global Animal Welfare Award for his longtime work.

• Delivering excellence: Global Campus ranks among best online colleges nationwide.

• Conservation kudos: Jeffrey Skibbins receives Dwight A. Holder Award, part of the prestigious Hartzog Awards, for his outstanding work with the conservation of natural and cultural resources.

• Civil engineering's Stacey Kulesza helps document damage caused by Hurricane Harvey as volunteer for NSF's GEER program.

• Inaugural recipient: Biology's Jocelyn McDonald is among 30 recipients of the new Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-4 fellowship from the National Science Foundation.

• Design champion: Hernán Gregorio, instructor of interior architecture & product design, the grand prizewinner of the BOSEbuild Design Challenge.

• Fulbright scholar: Eleanor Sayre, associate professor of physics, is the university's 2017-2018 Fulbright scholar to Canada, conducting research at the University of Calgary.

• Potential recognized: Maggie Syme, assistant professor of gerontology, is the recipient of the Early Career Achievement Award from the American Psychological Association's Office for Early Career Psychology, while Melanie Derby, assistant professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering, is the recipient of the 2017 American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Conference on Nanochannels, Microchannels and Minichannels Outstanding Early Career Award.

• National leader: Dan Devlin named president-elect of the National Institutes for Water Resources.

• The power of purple: KSU Foundation announces total giving of $152.6 million for fiscal year 2017, second highest in university history.
  
  
• We're happy — and it shows: ESPN ranks K-State football fans has happiest in the Big 12.
  
  
• Best of the best: K-State among most inclusive universities in the nation.
  
  
• Top of his profession: Flea and tick expert Michael Dryden recognized as top veterinary microbiologist by national organization.
  
  
• We're No. 1: Money magazine rates K-State is best in Kansas.
  
  
• Purple rules: Town-gown relations, happy students, best-run school and more — latest Princeton Review ranks K-State in Top 10 in nine categories.
  
  
• Economic engagement excellence: K-State designated an Innovation and Economic Prosperity University.
  
  
• Planning for success: Personal financial planning student receives TD Ameritrade scholarship.
  
  

• 2017 fellow recipients: Alice Boyle, biology, American Ornithological Society; Asad Esmaeily and David Steward, both civil engineering, American Society of Civil Engineers; Gordon Smith, grain science and industry, Institute of Food Technologists; and Kimberly Kirkpatrick, psychological sciences, Association of Psychological Science.

• Awarded agronomists: Soil and Water Conservation Society presents Chuck Rice with Hugh Hammond Bennett Award, while Colby Moorberg receives Outstanding Service Award.
  
  
• Perennial winner: Chad Miller receives Perennial Plant Association Award for exceptional leadership in education.
  
  
• Research honor: Molly Bassette selected for Amgen Scholars Program.
  
  
• Soaking up success: Fountain Wars team takes third in international competition.
  
  
• National impact: Two K-State physicists part of world's biggest neutrino experiment.
  
  
• Best in Kansas: State's best educational value is K-State, according to Business Insider.
  
  
• Select honor: U.S. Department of State selects Jolene McConnell for its English Language Fellows Program.
  
  
• A better way: American Veterinary Medical Association's 2017 Animal Welfare Award to College of Veterinary Medicine's Hans Coetzee.
  
  
• Reserve national champs: K-State team excels at Academic Quadrathlon.
  
  
• Best book: "Wildflowers and Weeds of Kansas," co-written by K-State's Jon Haddock, receives 2016 Jan Garton Prairie Heritage Book Award.
  
  
• National leader: Kevin Sauer serving on board of directors of Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
  
  

• Record-breaking achievement: Dong Lin's 3-D printed graphene aerogel is officially named world's least dense printed 3-D structure.

• Hail, the champion: Division of Communications and Marketing video team receives Bronze Circle of Excellence Award for "Hail, Alma Mater" institutional spot.
  
  
• Soil support: Chuck Rice receives national honor for outstanding contributions for research, teaching, extension, or administration made outside of the U.S. by a current agronomist.
  
  
• Degree for success: K-State's online Master of Accountancy program among top 20 in nation.
  
  
• Phi Kappa Phi Graduate Fellow: Sierra Lekie to use honor toward foreign service career.
  
  
• Tops in their field: Three psychological sciences faculty members named fellows.
  
  
• Mentoring leader: Kansas Educational Leadership Institute earns international gold accreditation.
  
  
• Engineering leader: Julia A. Keen, associate professor of architectural engineering and construction sciences, Kansas State University, serving one-year term as vice president on ASHRAE board of directors.
  
  
• At the top: Karen Schmidt named president of American Dairy Science Association.
  
  
• Distinguished recognition: David C. Pool earns distinguished lectureship award from American Physiological Society.
  
  
• Great place to land: Kansas State Polytechnic team takes second in national airport design competition.
  
  
• The smart choice: National study finds K-State best educational value in Kansas for third year in a row.
  
  
• Critical acclaim: Analysis shows K-State a leader in improving students' critical thinking skills.
  
  
• Among the best: K-State on national list of top 50 schools for inclusiveness.
  
  
• Powerful program: Online master's program in electrical engineering among nation's best.
  
  
• Rising young researcher: Assistant professor of mechanical and nuclear engineering receives $360,000 from the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Research Program.
  
  
• Reeling in another big one: K-State Fishing Team national champs again.
  
  
• Driven to succeed: Computer science associate professor receives Young Investigator Award from Office of Naval Research for autonomous autos research.
  
  
• Oh, the places they'll go: Five students receive U.S. Department of State's Gilman scholarship for study abroad.
  
  
• For engineering excellence: Civil engineering student receives SMART scholarship from U.S. Department of Defense.
  
  
• Pulling their weight: For 19th time in last 20 years, a K-State quarter-scale tractor team places in top three of international competition.
  
  
• Going viral: Biology student receives national fellowship from the American Society of Microbiology for her baculovirus research.
  
  
• Living legend: Zelia Wiley receives 2017 Legend Award from Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences.
  
  
• Smart planners: SMART Cats Team one of five finalists in American Planning Association's Smart Cities Student Competition.
  
  
• Global potential: K-State student named a Cargill Global scholar.
  
  
• National innovator: K-State earns Excellence in Innovation award from Campus Management for cutting-edge technology in new Berney Family Welcome Center.
  
  
• Trendsetter: Dean of College of Agriculture John Floros named co-chair of National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine's Science Breakthroughs 2030 project.
  
  
• Udall scholar: Amber Berg receives Udall Scholarship for environmental interests; Jael Whitney earns second honorable mention nod.
  
  
• Leading the future: K-State's Nathan McClain one of 10 students in U.S. to be named 2017 Cargill Global Scholar.
  
  
• National winners: American Kinesiology Association recognizes three K-State students with national awards.
  
  
• A future in foreign service: Sierra Lekie receives Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellowship with the U.S. State Department.
  
  
• Building a stellar reputation: Katie Loughmiller receives Associated Schools of Construction Excellence in Teaching Award.
  
  
• Highlighting the Sunflower State: Ted Cable publishes "Driving across Kansas: A Guide to I-70, Revised and Updated Edition."
  
  
• Soil sensations: Soil Judging Team digs up second-place national finish.
  
  
• Food safety leader: Research by K-State's Center for Sensory Analysis and Consumer Behavior used in new national food handling safety campaign.
  
  
• Fulbright experience: Nathan Dowell selected by Fulbright Commission for Durham University Summer Institute in U.K.
  
  
• Reigning champs: Interdisciplinary student team wins EPA's Campus RainWorks Challenge.
  
  
• Outstanding researchers: Five graduate students, two alumni receive NSF Graduate Research Fellowships.
  
  
• Making the switch easy: K-State named to Phi Kappa Theta Transfer Honor Roll.
  
  
• It's a deal: K-State's National Strategic Selling Institute recognized as top sales program for sixth straight year.
  
  
• Green standard: K-State again tops Big 12 in Recylemania.
  
  
• Talented with turbines: Wildcat Wind Power team takes second in wind turbine competition.
  
  
• Standout designer: APDesign's Sebnem Demirkan receives 2017 Design Intelligence Award in the Design Frontiers category.
  
  
• Feeding the future: Three graduate students selected for U.S. Borlaug Summer Institute on Global Food Security.
  
  
• Among the world's best: Entomology, animal sciences and industry at K-State rank among best places in world to study, research and begin a career.
  
  
• Scholar excellence: Vaithish Velazhahan is K-State's newest Goldwater scholar; three students earn honorable mention.
  
  
• Making a CAREER of it: Industrial and manufacturing systems engineering's Jessica Heier Stamm becomes university's fourth NSF CAREER award winner this year.
  
  
• Prestigious honor: Plant pathology doctoral student is one 10 national recipients of the Phi Kappa Phi Dissertation Fellowship.
  
  
• Making meat of the competition: K-State wins national meat animal evaluation team crown.
  
  
• Top teacher: Doctoral student in psychological sciences is fifth student from K-State to win the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Excellence in Teaching Award since 2011.
  
  
• Cyber superstars: Cyber Defense Team wins second in national competition.
  
  
• This team means business: K-State MBA team takes second in Big 12 MBA Case Competition.
  
  
• Master musician: David Pickering receives an E. Power Biggs Fellowship of the Organ Historical Society.
  
  
• A career of excellence: K-State geography professor receives lifetime achievement award from the American Association of Geographers.
  
  
• Research recognized: Josh Smith, doctoral student in kinesiology, recipient of the Charles M. Tipton Student Research Award from the American College of Sports Medicine.
  
  
• Select scholarship: Veterinary student one of five in nation to earn $5,000 American Association of Swine Veterinarians Foundation/Merck Animal Health Veterinary Student Scholarship.
  
  
• Top scholar: Doctoral student in marriage and family therapy selected for $15,000 Scholar Award from P.E.O. Sisterhood.
  
  
• Tops in his field: Andrew Smith, Kansas State Polytechnic Campus, named 2017 Ivan D. Livi Aviation Maintenance Educator of the Year.
  
  
• A beautiful place to be: Travel + Leisure says K-State most beautiful campus in Kansas.
  
  
• K-State is 'tree'mendous: Manhattan campus selected a Tree Campus USA for third year in a row.
  
  
• Building the best: Two of the latest additions to campus — Berney Family Welcome Center and Engineering Hall — earn honors from the Associated General Contractors of Kansas Inc.
  
  
• Top teacher: College of Education's Lisa Rubin named among the outstanding women leaders in higher education.
  
  
• Ruling the airwaves: K-State students earn honors from Kansas Association of Broadcasters.
  
  
• Our union rocks: K-State Student Union among nation's best.
  
  
• Engineering potential: Mechanical engineer's research related to water conservation earns NSF CAREER award.
  
  
• Best in state: Phillip Vardiman is Kansas Athletic Trainer of the Year.
  
  
• Salute for excellence: K-State Air Force ROTC cadets earn 100 percent selection rate.
  
  
• Paper perfection: Personal financial planning faculty member, student earn best paper award.
  
  
• Always on trend: K-State recognized as a top 3-D printing university.
  
  
• Defining excellence: Black Student Union best in Big 12 for ninth time in last 12 years.
  
  
• Top-tier educator: Dean of Graduate School, Carol Shanklin, a 2017 Icon of Education.
  
  
• Simply the best: College of Education's Kakali Bhattachary receives the 2017 Outstanding Book Award from the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry.
  
  
• Leading the way: Tiffany Carter, doctoral student in agronomy, and Carlos Flores, senior in agricultural economics, are 2017 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum Student Diversity Program winners.
  
  
• Building success: K-State's chapter of Associated General Contractors is best in nation.
  
  
• Researcher, doctoral student receive federal fellowships to study grain crops, dairy production strategies.
  
  
• National scholars: Two architectural engineering students receive national ASHRAE scholarships.
  
  
• Video honor: Safiya Woodard, senior in mass communications, wins top prize in the 2016 Biotech University reporting contest, a $2,500 academic scholarship, for her video documentary.
  
  
• Two in a row: K-State Forage Bowl Team claims second straight national championship.
  
  
• Recognized role model: APDesign's Tim de Noble receives award for advocacy of architecture.
  
  
• Winning IDEA: Anthropology student is one of 15 national winners of the Increasing Diversity in Evolutionary Anthropological Sciences, or IDEAS, Scholar Award from the National Science Foundation.
  
  
• Best in Big 12: K-State's recycling program wins the conference's Gameday Challenge in recycling for the 2016 football season.
  
  
• Ultracool for school: Manhattan among nation's best college towns.
  
  
• Up and coming: Chemistry's Emily McLaurin receives prestigious NSF CAREER Award.
  
  
• Bridge to success: Junior in English receives Bridging Scholarship to Japan from the American Association of Teaches of Japanese.
  
  
• Excellent agronomist: Mary Beth Kirkham receives Distinguished Scientist Award from Soil Science Society of America, and becomes first American woman elected honorary member of the International Union of Soil Sciences.
  
  
• Gilman winners: Three K-State students earn Gilman scholarships to study abroad.