IN THIS ISSUE: ACES | ENGINEERING | LAS | MOMS ASSOCIATION
agricultural, consumer and environmental sciences
Faculty and staff members of the UI College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences were honored April 21 at the annual Funk Awards banquet.
The Paul A. Funk Recognition Award, the college’s top faculty honor, went to James K. Drackley, professor of nutrition in the department of animal sciences; Scott H. Irwin, the L.J. Norton Chair in Agricultural Marketing in the department of agricultural and consumer economics; and Emerson D. Nafziger, professor of agronomic extension in the department of crop sciences.
Other honors:
Hans P. Blaschek, professor of food microbiology and assistant dean in the Office of Research, received the Spitze Land-Grant Professorial Career Excellence Award.
M. Susan Brewer, professor of food science, received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching at the senior level; and Jennifer L. Hardesty, professor of family studies in the department of human and community development, received the award at the college level.
Mark B. David, professor and associate head of natural resources and environmental sciences, received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Research at the senior level, and Dean E. Riechers, professor of weed science physiology in the department of crop sciences, received the award at the college level.
Glen L. Hartman, professor of crop sciences, received the Service Recognition Award.
Kevin H. Kline, professor of animal sciences, received the Faculty Award for Excellence in Extension at the senior level. Angela C. Lyons, professor of agricultural and consumer economics, received the award at the college level.
Frederic L. Kolb, professor of small grain breeding in the department of crop sciences, received the Karl E. Gardner Outstanding Undergraduate Adviser Award.
John B. Masiunas, professor of natural resources and environmental sciences, received the John Clyde and Henrietta Downey Spitler Teaching Award.
Toni L. McMullen, clerk in the Offices of Advancement and Research, and Anna M. Tammen, administrative clerk in crop sciences, won the Staff Award for Excellence.
Susan K. Overmyer, administrative assistant in the Center for Advanced Bioenergy Research, won the Marcella M. Nance Staff Award.
Torbert R. Rocheford, professor of plant genetics in the department of crop sciences, received the Faculty Award for Global Impact.
Four Professional Staff Awards for Excellence were awarded: Carol A. Schlitt, UI Extension educator in nutrition and wellness, was honored for sustained excellence in teaching and outreach; Juliann R. Seebauer, senior research specialist in agriculture and plant physiology in the department of crop sciences, was recognized for sustained excellence in research; Patricia A. Bingaman, Extension assistant, pesticide application training program in the department of natural resources and environmental sciences, won the award for sustained excellence in administrative/management or technical contributions; Darlene S. Knipe, UI Extension educator in small business management, Quad Cities, received the award for innovation and creativity.
Members of the Corn and Soybean Classics Team earned the Team Award for Excellence: Suzanne M. Bissonnette, Champaign County Extension; Todd E. Gleason, ACES information technology and communication services; Michael E. Gray, Aaron G. Hager, Robert G. Hoeft, Nafziger, Terry L. Niblack, and Kevin L. Steffey, all of crop sciences; and Darrel L. Good and Gary D. Schnitkey, of agricultural and consumer economics.
Graduate Student Research Awards and Graduate Student Teaching Awards also were presented as well as College of ACES Alumni Association Award of Merit.
engineering
The College of Engineering held its 44th Annual Awards Convocation at the Illini Union on April 25. Faculty members honored:
Roy A. Axford, professor of nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering, and Dimitrios C. Kyritsis, professor of mechanical science and engineering, received the Rose Award for Teaching Excellence.
Victoria H. Coverstone, professor and associate head of aerospace engineering, won the Stanley H. Pierce Faculty Award.
Daniel A. Kuchma, the Burton and Emma Lewis Faculty Scholar in the department of civil and environmental engineering, received the Collins Award for Innovative Teaching.
Charles J. Werth, professor of civil and environmental engineering, received the BP Award for Innovation in Undergraduate Instruction.
Kenneth S. Schweizer, the G. Ronald and Margaret H. Morris Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, won the Tau Beta Pi Daniel C. Drucker Eminent Faculty Award.
Craig Zilles, professor of computer science, won the Everitt Award for Teaching Excellence.
Xerox Awards for Faculty Research: Ximing Cai, professor of civil and environmental engineering; Indranil Gupta, professor of computer science; Min-Feng Yu, professor of mechanical science and engineering; Sheng Zhong, professor of bioengineering; Brian T. Cunningham, professor of electrical and computer engineering; Matthias Grosse Perdekamp, professor of physics; Daniel Pack, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering; Gerard C.L. Wong, professor of physics and of bioengineering in the department of materials science and engineering.
liberal arts and sciences
Carl Niekerk, professor of Germanic languages and literatures, recently received an Academic Advising Award from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. His teaching and research interests include modern and contemporary literature and culture and intellectual history. He is a specialist in 18th-century German literature and literary/cultural theory. His interests also include 20th-century Austrian literature and culture and comparative Dutch studies.
Rob Rushing, professor of comparative and world literature, has been named the winner of the Humanities Teaching Excellence Award by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. He also is an affiliate faculty member in Italian, the Unit for Cinema Studies and the Unit for Criticism and Interpretative Theory. Established in 1978, the award is intended to emphasize the importance of superior teaching by publicly acknowledging outstanding teachers and by enhancing their instructional activities through a modest prize. Each year, one faculty member and one graduate teaching assistant are selected for the award by nominations submitted by constituent units.
Gary Xu, professor of Chinese, of comparative literature and of cinema studies, is a co-editor of the six-volume “Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Popular Culture,” which received the Ray and Pat Browne Award for Best Reference/Primary Source Work at the 2008 National Popular Culture and American Culture Association’s conference in San Francisco. Xu is a co-editor of the “Asia and Oceania” and “Sinascape: Contemporary Chinese Cinema” sections.
moms association
The UI Moms Association awarded the first Illini Spirit Awards to two campus programs at the Moms Weekend Kick-off Dinner on April 11. The awards were created to provide financial support to programs and projects that contribute to a positive student experience at the UI. Winners received $1,000.
The Relaxation Room at the OASIS, located in a theater-like room with recliners in the Illini Union, provides a 20-minute audio-visual guided imagery experience and assists with stress management, healing and motivation. The Relaxation Room is a collaboration of McKinley Health Center, the Illini Union and the School of Architecture.
Girl POWERED for all Colors is an organization that strives to improve the health of all young women regardless of color, through a study of cultural, environmental and social influences and development of culturally specific nutrition and physical activity programs. Girl POWERED is a collaboration of Campus Recreation, the departments of kinesiology and community health and of nutritional sciences, the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, La Casa Cultural Latina and the Latina/o Studies Program.
