Purple Praise: July 2025

Kudos and celebrations of student, faculty and staff achievements

K-State’s talented students, faculty and staff are frequently recognized for their exceptional scholarship, teaching and research or creative inquiry. Let’s celebrate their accomplishments.

Kudos highlight notable professional and student achievements from outside the university, such as awards and honors; fellowships; performances; elections to regional and national boards or committees in professional organizations; and conference presentations. Self-nominations are accepted.

Submit by Aug. 6 for the next feature.

Student success

Civil Air Patrol honors doctoral student with 2025 Historian of the Year award

Michael Santana, doctoral student in history, has been awarded the 2025 Historian of the Year by the Civil Air Patrol, or CAP, an auxiliary of the United States Air Force. Santana was awarded the 2024 Historian of the Year for the Florida Wing and the Southeast Region of CAP.

Santana contacted other CAP historians, who provided a treasure trove of documents about Florida’s role during CAP’s WWII wartime mission of spotting for submarines, assisting in tow target training, and search and rescue operations. He then built a mobile museum to showcase at local squadrons and the Florida Wing conference, where he reconstructed the uniforms and equipment of Coastal Patrol Base 7 in Miami. He became one of the few senior historians in the Florida Wing, and works to guide others down the path of helping preserve and disseminate historical knowledge.

“Kansas State University’s program was instrumental in helping me achieve this,” said Santana. “The coursework I took on the evolution of military strategy allowed me to tie my organization’s history with the larger historical trends of the mid twentieth century and made every one of my lectures deeper and more detailed.”

Santana is currently Air Base Defense and working as a full-time history teacher in Miami while completing his doctorate. Santana’s dissertation focuses on the social and cultural makeup of the United States and Cuba, with special attention toward the interplay between the militaries of hegemonic powers and smaller states.

Faculty and staff achievements

Tokach received 2025 Joh B. Swisher Leadership Award

United Animal Health recently honored Mike Tokach, university distinguished professor of animal sciences and industry, as the 2025 John B. Swisher Leadership Award winner for his lifelong contributions to the swine industry.

Tokach is known for his deep understanding of the day-to-day issues that livestock producers face and sharing his swine nutrition and research knowledge to help the industry. Read more about the award presented at the World Pork Expo.

Slawomir Dobrzanski teaches in Guatemala

Slawomir Dobrzanski, professor of music and head of the keyboard division, presented his lecture, "Teaching the Unique Style of Frederic Chopin," at the Universidad de Valle in Guatemala City, Guatemala, on June 1. The event was organized by Encuentro Pianistas Guatemala and the music department at the Universidad de Valle. After his lecture, Dobrzanski taught a masterclass to a group of pre-college and college-level Guatemalan piano students.

The recipient of the 2021 Outstanding Teacher Award from the Kansas Music Teachers Association, Slawomir Dobrzański teaches applied piano, piano pedagogy and piano literature.

As a soloist and chamber musician, Dobrzański has performed in over twenty countries around
the world, often in renowned concert halls, such as the Beijing Performing Arts Center in Beijing,
China, the Steinway Hall in New York City and the National Philharmonic Hall in Warsaw,
Poland.

Wildcat musicians are making an impact in Michigan

K-State students, alumni and faculty are spending their summer performing, teaching and inspiring young musicians at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. This nationally recognized summer arts program brings together over 5,000 students from across the United States and around the world, offering a rich environment for artistic growth, performance and teaching.

John Kilgore, trumpet, is currently teaching at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. Later this summer, K-State music professors Amy Guffey, clarinet, and Kurt Gartner, percussion, will also join the summer faculty.

The K-State spirit of music, mentorship and excellence is being represented so strongly, shaping the next generation of performers and educators.

Arp-Dunham presents research at the Cognitive Futures in the Arts and the Humanities Conference

Joelle Ré Arp-Dunham, assistant professor of theatre, delivered a talk at the International Cognitive Futures in the Arts and the Humanities Conference in Messina, Italy, on June 29. Her presentation, "To Hold or Not to Hold: The Question of How a Script Becomes Action in the Actor’s Body," explored the connections between cognition and performance. The presentation examined some of the cognitive processes of two different acting techniques, centering on attentional and memory differences. Applying distributed network models, as defined by Michael W. Cole, to each technique, she argued that Active Analysis promotes more cognitive flexibility than more traditional approaches. Greater cognitive flexibility allows for more immediate and fruitful task employment, creating the fully embodied performative action at the heart of artistic drama.

Hinman performs in Opera in the Ozarks 75th Anniversary Gala

Trombone instructor Dan Hinman will perform in the orchestra for the Opera in the Ozarks 75th Anniversary Gala. This performance will also mark the inaugural season in the new Opera in the Ozarks Theater. The program will feature Opera in the Ozarks alumni performing several greatest hits.

Alyssa Morris performs solo concerto with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra

Oboist and composer Alyssa Morris, associate professor of oboe and music theory, performed her newly composed concerto, "Imperfect", as concerto soloist with the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra in the final gala concert of the 2025 International Double Reed Convention in June at Butler University. Additionally, Alyssa taught a master class, "Celebrating Women in Music," at the convention. The master class featured oboists from around the world performing works by women composers. Seven of Alyssa's double reed compositions were performed at the 2025 International Double Reed Convention, four of which are world premiere performances.

Craig B. Parker presents at the College Music Society conference

Craig B. Parker presented his paper, "Gunther Schuller's 'Encounters': The Summation of a Career" at the College Music Society Central Chapter Conference at the University of Kansas on April 6. Parker's presentation dealt with Schuller's monumental 2003 third-stream composition for symphony orchestra, jazz ensemble, three jazz soloists and six vocal soloists. This conference, held jointly with the fourth annual Asian Classical Music Institute, drew participants from throughout the U. S. in addition to China, Iran, Myanmar, South Korea and Taiwan.

Singh named Fellow by American Ceramic Society

Gurpreet Singh, recipient of the Harold O. and Jane C. Massey Neff professorship and professor in the Alan Levin Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering, was named a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society in June. Fellows of the organization must be at least 35 years old and members for at least five years, in addition to making outstanding contributions to the ceramic arts or sciences, through broad and productive scholarship in ceramic science and technology, by conspicuous achievement in the ceramic industry or by outstanding service to the society.

Nine Carl R. Ice College of Engineering faculty receive named positions

Ayumi Amama, instructor in the Carl R. Ice College of Engineering, was honored with a five-year appointment as the Dow Director.

Don Gruenbacher, associate professor in the Mike Wiegers Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was honored with a three-year appointment as the Paul L. Spainhour Professorship in Electrical Engineering.

Ryan Hansen, associate professor in the Tim Taylor Department of Chemical Engineering, was honored with a one-year appointment as a Wayne and Barbara Harms Keystone research scholar.

Samee Khan, professor and head of the Mike Wiegers Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was honored with a five-year appointment as the George J. and Alice D. Fiedler Distinguished Chair in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Kyle Larson, associate professor in the GE Johnson Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science, was honored with a five-year appointment as the John W. and Dorothy M. Burke Architectural Engineering Chair.

Katie Loughmiller, associate professor and head of the GE Johnson Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science, was honored with a five-year appointment as the Tointon Construction Management Chair.

Davood Pourkargar, assistant professor in the Tim Taylor Department of Chemical Engineering, was honored with a five-year appointment as a Warren and Gisela Kennedy Keystone research scholar.

Hayder A. Rasheed, professor of civil engineering, was honored with a two-year appointment as the Thomas and Connie Paulson Civil Engineering Outstanding Faculty Member.

Andrew Sneed, assistant professor in the GE Johnson Department of Architectural Engineering and Construction Science, was honored with a five-year appointment as the Martin K. Eby Distinguished Professor.

Send us your kudos!

Do you have a current K-State student, staff or faculty member you'd like to highlight? Submit their information by Wednesday, Aug. 6, for consideration to include in next month's edition of Purple Praise.

Read past editions in the Purple Praise archives.