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Welcome to the Fall 2020 Convocation and Awards virtual event!

Thank you for joining us to celebrate LAS faculty and staff. The virtual event will air on the YouTube Premiere video linked below at 4:00 p.m. Tuesday, September 8. Faculty, staff, and friends of the college are invited to submit congratulatory remarks -in real time- throughout the video event using the video’s live chat box.

Browse through the program information to learn about award recipients, recent promotions, new LAS faculty, staff, and leadership.

Either watch the video above or click here to watch on YouTube with chat replay.

Fall 2020 Liberal Arts and Sciences Convocation and Awards Program

Beate Schmittmann Dean	State of the College Introduction of new department and program leadership Introduction of new faculty and staff Recognition of donor-funded award recipients
Amy Slagell Associate Dean	LAS Awards presentation
Jo Anne Powell-Coffman Associate Dean	LAS Awards presentation
Leslie Hogben Associate Dean	LAS Awards presentation

Liberal Arts and Sciences Representative Assembly

New Leadership

Michael Dahlstrom LAS Dean’s Professor and Director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication	Joey Frantzen Commanding Officer and Chair of Naval Science Naval Science
Kristie Franz Professor and Chair of the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

New Liberal Arts and Sciences Staff (as of 8/16/2020)

Promotion to Professor (Already tenured)

Kenneth (K. L.) Cook English	Charissa Menefee English	Alan Wanamaker Geological and Atmospheric Sciences
John Monroe History	Steve Butler Mathematics	Christopher Hopkins Music and Theatre
Chunhui Chen Physics and Astronomy	Jonathan Kelly Psychology	Peng Liu Statistics
Li (Lily) Wang Statistics	Cindy Yu Statistics	Aili Mu World Languages and Cultures
Maximilian Viatori World Languages and Cultures

Promotion to Associate Professor (with tenure)

Brett VanVeller Chemistry	Wei Le Computer Science	Elena Cotos English
Stacy Tye-Williams English	Mohan Gupta Genetics, Development, and Cell Biology	Geetu Tuteja Genetics, Development, and Cell Biology
Elizabeth Swanner Geological and Atmospheric Sciences	Jan Boyles Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication	Bonar Hernandez History
David Herzog Mathematics	Jason McCullough Mathematics	Amanda Petefish-Schrag Music and Theatre
Xuefeng Wang Physics and Astronomy	Olga Chyzh Political Science	Mark Nieman Political Science
Kristi Costabile Psychology	Shenglan Zhang World Languages and Cultures	Megan Myers World Languages and Cultures
Charlie Nagle World Languages and Cultures

Advancement to Teaching Professor

Joseph Burnett Chemistry	Simanta Mitra Computer Science	Jeanine Aune English
David Flory Geological and Atmospheric Sciences	Heather Bolles Mathematics	Mark Hunacek Mathematics
Kristopher Lee Mathematics	Elijah Stines Mathematics	Michael Giles Music and Theatre
Julie Sturm Music and Theatre	Cullen Padgett Walsh Philosophy and Religious Studies	Paula Herrera-Siklody Physics and Astronomy
Dirk Deam Political Science	Kathy Hanisch Psychology	Todd Jenks Psychology
Karen Scheel Psychology	Denise Vrchota Psychology

Advancement to Associate Teaching Professor

Kathy Burke Chemistry	Sara Pistolesi Chemistry	Nicole Allaire English
Jacob Dawson English	Brenna Dixon English	Jennifer Knox English
Natalie Meyer English	Larissa Begley History	Man Basnet Mathematics
Christian Carichner Music and Theatre	Kenneth Hobson Philosophy and Religious Studies	Robert Hessling Psychology
Laura Ziegler Statistics

Donor Funded Awards

These donor-funded awards recognize and reward outstanding faculty in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Aili Mu Department of World Languages and Cultures Cassling Family Faculty Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching	George Archer Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies Cassling Family Faculty Award for Early Achievement in Teaching
Julia Domínguez Department of World Languages and Cultures Cassling Innovation Award	Tao Wang Department of History Lucken Faculty Fellowship
David Peterson Department of Political Science Lucken Professorship in Political Science	Beth Martin Department of World Languages and Cultures Shakeshaft Master Teacher in Humanities and Social Sciences
Bernard Lidický Department of Mathematics Scott Hanna Faculty Fellowship	Jason McCullough Department of Mathematics Scott Hanna Faculty Fellowship

Liberal Arts and Sciences Awards

Early Achievement in Academic Advising
Recognizes outstanding performance as an undergraduate academic advisor early in their career.

Terry J. Kruse
Academic Advisor
Department of Chemistry

Terry Kruse joined the Department of Chemistry in Fall 2015 as its first professional undergraduate advisor. In addition to student advising, he oversees the department’s undergraduate recruitment and is the liaison to multiple outreach groups. He is an invaluable asset to the department’s faculty and students alike.

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Ruth W. Swenson Award for Outstanding Advising
Recognizes outstanding performance as an undergraduate academic advisor over an extended period of time.

Ann Haugland
Academic Advisor
Department of Psychology, Communication Studies Program

Ann Haugland has advised approximately 125 advisees annually for 15 years. Ann passionately recommends the communication studies major or minor to prospective students, genuinely attends to students’ needs and interests and creatively supports students. Advisees comment that Ann demonstrates kindness, extensive knowledge and eagerness to help students achieve in the classroom and beyond.

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Early Achievement in Teaching
Recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding teaching performance, usually early in their professional careers.

Carly Manz
Assistant Teaching Professor
Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology

Carly Manz excels in teaching foundational biology and anatomy courses, as attested by exceptional student evaluations, outstanding peer teaching reviews and supporting statements from students and colleagues. She promotes excellence in pedagogy through her research publications and she has been called upon to present her effective teaching methods in faculty workshops. She has enriched the learning experience for thousands of students and inspires her colleagues by her example.

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Early Achievement in Teaching
Recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding teaching performance, usually early in their professional careers.

Tao Wang
Assistant Professor
Department of History

Tao Wang has enhanced his teaching of Chinese and world history by reaching out to colleagues and CELT, paying particular attention to presentation, communication, student perspectives and critical thinking. He has achieved remarkable student evaluation scores and has made a lasting impression in students’ academic careers.

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Early Achievement in Teaching
Recognizes faculty members who have demonstrated outstanding teaching performance, usually early in their professional careers.

Aaron Wood
Assistant Teaching Professor
Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

Aaron Wood’s teaching attracts diverse students to the geosciences and supports their full inclusion in learning. He connects with hundreds of students per year through accessible introductory geoscience course offerings. His teaching within the major builds an integrative curriculum that instills confidence in students, ensuring their success at our capstone 6-week field camp, which he directs. Aaron’s teaching, advising and mentorship of students provides them with career skills and connects them to the alumni network he continually strengthens.

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Outstanding Achievement in Teaching
Recognizes faculty members for outstanding teaching performances over an extended period of time in undergraduate teaching.

Cristina Bonaccorsi
Associate Teaching Professor
Department of Chemistry

Cristina Bonaccorsi receives the highest possible respect of both students and faculty because of her scientific rigor, data-driven teaching practices and professionalism in teaching. She draws techniques from current literature on chemical pedagogy to improve understanding and student engagement in class. She is an excellent female role model to graduate and undergraduate students as well as to school-aged children in the context of her outreach. Her contributions to instruction in the classroom, the department and the community make ISU an excellent place to learn.

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Outstanding Achievement in Teaching
Recognizes faculty members for outstanding teaching performances over an extended period of time in undergraduate teaching.

Heike Hofmann
Professor
Department of Statistics

Heike Hofmann is a dedicated instructor who teaches courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level that serve both majors and non-majors. Most recently, she devoted her time to teaching courses on topics like statistical computing and graphics. In her spare time, Heike advises a weekly graphics group for students to present projects and learn from each other. Her commitment to innovation, diversity and inclusion in and out of the classroom have earned her the respect of students, advisees and colleagues.

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Excellence in Undergraduate Introductory Teaching
Recognizes outstanding performance in teaching undergraduate introductory classes (defined as entry-level courses in the discipline).

Brian Behnken
Associate Professor
Department of History, Latino/a Studies

Brian Behnken has been outstanding in teaching undergraduate introductory courses. Qualitative remarks by students and colleagues nearly unanimously praise him as a professor, as well as a person. He is an energetic, knowledgeable and engaging instructor. He is able to connect with his students, enhance student performance and inspire them to go on to his more advanced classes, also adding the US Latino/a Studies Program minor to their studies.

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Excellence in Undergraduate Introductory Teaching
Recognizes outstanding performance in teaching undergraduate introductory classes (defined as entry-level courses in the discipline).

Shenglan Zhang
Associate Professor
Department of World Languages and Cultures

Shenglan Zhang’s expertise in giving her students an enjoyable and inspiring learning experience has fueled the growth in Chinese studies at Iowa State. Her exceptional ability to combine technology with language teaching while remaining aware of student needs and abilities places her in a unique position to comment on the appropriate methodology for language learning. She has cultivated a strong reputation as a leading scholar of introductory language learning, particularly in blended/flipped options.

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Excellence in Graduate Mentoring
Recognizes the effectiveness of major professors who serve as mentors and who enrich the student-professor relationship by support and attention to detail, which enables students to finish their work in a timely and scholarly manner. Major professors considered for this award are expected to be supportive of their students beyond graduation.

Jonathan Smith
Professor
Department of Mathematics

Jonathan Smith works in the areas of algebra, combinatorics, and information theory, with applications in physics, biology and computer science. He has published 180 papers and is the author or editor of a dozen books. In addition, Jonathan has advised 21 Ph.D. students and 21 M.S. students at Iowa State, and has held positions at Temple University and the Technical University of Darmstadt. Jonathan was also a visiting professor at the Sapienza University of Rome.

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Outstanding Career Achievement in Research

Ruslan Prozorov
Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy

Ruslan Prozorov is both a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy and senior physicist in Ames Laboratory. His research emphasizes studies of magnetic materials and high-temperature superconductors. He has published 290 refereed articles on his work with more than 8,900 literature citations, has given 116 invited talks on his research and is a fellow of the American Physical Society.

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Mid-Career Achievement in Research
Recognizes faculty members who have a national or international reputation for outstanding contributions in research and/or creativity at the mid-career stage.

Wenyu Huang
Associate Professor
Department of Chemistry

Wenyu Huang has demonstrated excellence in his research discipline with publications in high-impact peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Catalysis, Nature Communications, and Chem. Wenyu’s excellence extends to his mentorship with Ph.D. students. His students have accepted positions at Intel as research scientists, at UC-Berkeley as postdocs and have gone on to faculty positions.

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Mid-Career Achievement in Research
Recognizes faculty members who have a national or international reputation for outstanding contributions in research and/or creativity at the mid-career stage.

Amanda Petefish-Schrag
Associate Professor
Department of Music and Theatre

Amanda Petefish-Schrag is an internationally known playwright with over 35 productions and 8 publications of her original plays performed across the United States and in Canada and the United Kingdom. She is also a celebrated national leader in the field of puppetry. Her work, through puppets made from discarded materials and trash, has reshaped the traditions of puppetry and raised socially relevant questions around the issue of ecological sustainability and ethical practices. Dr. Petefish-Schrag’s creative efforts and teaching abilities make her an ideal scholar-teacher while bringing national distinction to ISU in her discipline.

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Mid-Career Achievement in Research
Recognizes faculty members who have a national or international reputation for outstanding contributions in research and/or creativity at the mid-career stage.

Amy Erica Smith
Associate Professor
Department of Political Science

Amy Erica Smith has established an extensive record of publishing and professional visibility, with staggering breadth including women and politics, Latin America, elections, religion, environmental policy and public opinion. She is productive in multiple dimensions, has demonstrated success in extra grants acquisition and receipt of awards and has established a strongly positive footprint within her discipline, resulting in major external visibility for ISU and a favorable professional trajectory that promise ever-increasing research success.

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Early Achievement in Research
Recognizes faculty who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in research and/or artistic creativity unusually early in their professional career.

Bernard Lidický
Associate Professor
Department of Mathematics

Bernard Lidický is a prolific researcher in combinatorics with a focus on extremal and structural graph theory. He was fundamental in the development of the Flag Algebra method pioneered by Razborov 10-15 years ago and works on cutting edge developments in the field. Since his start at ISU in 2014, he has had an amazing research career, being part of seven external grants including two individual NSF grants. This is achieved by only the very best researchers in combinatorics in the US. Dr. Lidický has published 37 papers in high level international journals since 2014.

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Early Achievement in Research
Recognizes faculty who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments in research and/or artistic creativity unusually early in their professional career.

Elizabeth Swanner
Associate Professor
Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences

Elizabeth Swanner investigates the interplay of the microbial world with Earth’s surface environments, via biological mediation of geochemical reactions in waters and minerals. She employs analytical tools from diverse disciplines including biogeochemistry, mineralogy, stable isotopes, bioinformatics and microbiology. Her research supports the Land Grant mission of ISU as she seeks to develop new understanding and research tools to better deal with water quality issues in Iowa and beyond.

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International Service Award
Recognizes faculty members for outstanding international service in terms of teaching, research, or administration, within the United States or abroad.

Abdi Kusow
Professor
Department of Sociology

Abdi Kusow has delivered keynote speeches at many national and international universities, including Ohio State University; Aalborg University, Denmark; York University, Canada; and Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. He was an invited speaker at the 2017 Doha Forum and served as the vice chair of the Somali Studies International Congress from 2007-2017. He is an appointed member of the International Scientific Committee of the Slave Route Project: Resistance, Liberty, and Heritage, appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO. He is also an elected chair of the Somalia-Somaliland Reconciliation Committee, appointed by the Federal Ministry of Somalia, and the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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Institutional Service Award
Recognizes faculty members who have a national or international reputation for outstanding contributions in research and/or artistic creativity at the mid-career stage.

Gloria Jones-Johnson
University Professor
Department of Sociology

Gloria Jones-Johnson has worked tirelessly to mentor faculty and students, diversify the curriculum and raise the standards of the ISU academic institutions. She has provided tremendous service throughout her 33 years as a faculty member at ISU. She led the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, effectively mentors students and faculty and engages with activities to promote inclusive curriculum and climate at ISU through both the National and Iowa State Conferences on Race and Ethnicity.

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Merit Excellence Award
Recognizes and honors Merit employees who have achieved excellence in their respective fields.

Valerie Awino
Laboratory Technician
Department of Chemistry

Valerie Awino supports the general chemistry teaching laboratories. Her job requires supreme multitasking ability, boundless energy, absolute patience, exquisite interpersonal skills, the talent to lead and the foresight to plan. She executes her title of “Laboratory Technician II” thoroughly and professionally and helps provide the best possible education to undergraduate students in chemistry.

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LAS Award for Inclusive Excellence
Recognizes faculty and P&S staff who have advanced the college’s mission of diversity, equity, and inclusion outside of their compensated responsibilities through their teaching, scholarship, service, or campus-community outreach.

Karin Dorman
Professor
Department of Statistics

Karin Dorman has spoken to hundreds of young girls about the excitement of science, mentored women in their pursuit of higher STEM education and guided underrepresented minority students to graduate degrees in STEM. She has served on the Alliance for Graduate Education and Professoriate (AGEP) faculty council and as a co-mentor of the Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education (EDGE) cluster at ISU. She encourages women and members of other underrepresented groups to stay in STEM through daily and persistent interactions.

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Professional and Scientific Excellence Award
Recognizes and honors professional and scientific employees who have achieved excellence in their respective fields.

Kenneth McCabe
Greenhouse Manager
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology

Kenneth McCabe has transformed the greenhouse into a showplace for visitors and an indispensable resource for research and teaching. He has shown leadership in enhancing the management of greenhouse facilities and contributed to many innovations including establishing a faculty committee to meet research needs, creating an online greenhouse catalog and updating protocols to be safer and more effective.

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Professional and Scientific Outstanding New Professional
Recognizes and honors new professional and scientific employees who quickly have achieved excellence in their respective fields.

Kimberly Hope
Program Coordinator
Women’s and Gender Studies, Leadership Studies and Communication Studies programs

Kimberly Hope serves as the lone program coordinator for Leadership Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Communication Studies. Kimberly is reliable and committed to the role, and is always a bright spot in anyone’s day with her office generally being the hub of laughter, connection, information and advice. Kimberly is the backbone of Leadership Studies, Women’s and Gender Studies, and Communication Studies.

University Awards

Distinguished Professor

Matt DeLisi
Distinguished Professor
Department of Sociology

Matt DeLisi is a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Dean’s Professor, coordinator of Criminal Justice Studies, professor in the Department of Sociology and faculty affiliate of the Center for the Study of Violence at ISU. A renowned scholar, he is one of the most prolific and cited criminologists in the world. He is the only scientist in the world who is Fellow of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences and the Association for Psychological Science. He has provided testimony to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee and consulted on criminal justice policy to the U.S. Attorney General, National Institute of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation and others.

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Distinguished Professor

Pamela Riney-Kehrberg
Distinguished Professor
Department of History

Pamela Riney-Kehrberg is an internationally acclaimed scholar of rural and agricultural history who has helped to revitalize the historical study of the American Midwest. She is the world’s leading expert on the early-twentieth-century Dust Bowl and she pioneered the new sub-field of rural childhood history. She is now completing the first-ever historical study of the Farm Crisis of the 1980s. Her peers have recognized her impact by electing her president of two different scholarly organizations, the Agricultural History Society and the Midwestern History Association and by electing her the youngest-ever research fellow of the Agricultural History Society.

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University Professor

Lisa Larson
University Professor
Department of Psychology

Lisa Larson is a change agent in LAS and at ISU. Her leadership of ISU ADVANCE, an NSF institutional grant aimed at increasing the recruitment, retention, and advancement of STEM female faculty and faculty of color by implementing change at the university, college and department level, yielded a cohesive equity advisor group that ran faculty search committees and promoted diversity initiatives in their respective colleges. She led the institutionalization of the department enhancement program that has now positively impacted half of ISU’s departments. She has also impacted the promotion and tenure process through committee service, development of criteria and organizing associate professor promotion workshops.

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University Professor

Javier Vela-Becerra
University Professor
Department of Chemistry

Javier Vela-Becerra is active and impactful in bringing diversity and inclusion to ISU. He is passionately dedicated to the pursuit of improving the ISU community. Dr. Vela-Becerra has been honored for his work in diversity and inclusion since he began his ISU career.

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<img align="left" class="inlinephoto" src='https://wp.las.iastate.edu/las-home/wp-content/uploads/sites/229/2020/07/mark-hargrove.jpg' alt='Mark HargroveMorrill Professor

Mark Hargrove
Morrill Professor
Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology

Mark Hargrove has continually created positive change for students at ISU. His focus on teaching and curricular issues at all levels has greatly enhanced academic offerings and served many generations of students. Dr. Hargrove has excelled at developing well received online courses and has managed to implement major improvements in course offerings across multiple departments.

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Morrill Professor

Loreto Prieto
Morrill Professor
Department of Psychology

Loreto Prieto has made long-term and sustained contributions to excellence in undergraduate teaching and learning. His contributions extend outside of the classroom through research in the scholarship of teaching and learning in psychology and his service in organizations and entities concerned with improving pedagogy. Dr. Prieto contributions have benefitted his classroom instruction and course development at ISU.

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ISU Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching

Beth Martin
Associate Teaching Professor
Department of World Languages and Cultures

Beth Martin is an inspiring and creative teacher and mentor whom students routinely cite as their best instructor at ISU. She prepares students to become global citizens by creating a learning community that incorporates peer native-speakers and has a permanent and positive impact on their German learning. As a result, her students are able to engage with another culture and language in ways that prepare them to navigate cross-cultural situations efficiently in both professional and social contexts. She lays a solid foundation of linguistic and cultural knowledge that her students never forget.

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ISU Award for Outstanding Achievement in Teaching

Aili Mu
Professor
Department of World Languages and Cultures

Aili Mu is regarded by both students and colleagues as passionate, challenging and exceptionally skilled. Her course development has filled the cross-disciplinary curricular gap in Chinese Studies and her redesign of advanced Chinese meets the challenges presented by the influx of native speakers into these courses. The paradigm of integrated parallel learning she established is making national and international impacts with the publication of her award-winning book. Her impact on student learning extends well beyond the classroom, including advising the Chinese Club and fostering successful student participation in the annual Cross-State Chinese Language Competition.

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ISU Award for Early Achievement in Academic Advising

Flor Romero–Slowing
Academic Advisor
Department of World Languages and Cultures

Flor Romero-Slowing has made a significant impact on student recruitment and retention, career and professional advising, and the promotion of diversity and inclusion during her short time as an advisor. Through her work with multicultural students, leading study abroad programs and participating in university institutional service, she is known as a thoughtful and innovative leader. A bilingual English-Spanish speaker, her work with Latino/a and first-generation students is especially notable since she has been largely responsible for an increase in the number of students from this cohort remaining at ISU.

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J. H. Ellis Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Introductory Teaching

Stephen Biggs
Associate Professor
Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies

Stephen Biggs has taught upper-level classes and introductory courses that are essential to the philosophy major. He is known for his fast-paced and thoroughly engaging classes and for his extraordinary dedication to his students. Dr. Biggs’ exceptional willingness and ability to provide clear and detailed answers to every student question makes him an excellent ungraduated introductory teacher.

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ISU Award for Achievement in Intellectual Property

Arthur Winter
Professor
Department of Chemistry

Art Winter has discovered how to make chemical cages that release biologically active molecules when they are exposed to visible light. Because human tissue is easily penetrated by visible light, Art’s method opens up a new range of possibilities for photoactive drugs. His method and intellectual property, that provides a theoretical framework, are likely to become dominant in medicinal phototherapy and in medicinal diagnostics.

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ISU Award for Mid-Career Achievement in Research

Jigang Wang
Professor
Department of Physics and Astronomy

Jigang Wang’s research field is solid-state physics with an emphasis on ultrafast optics. He is well known for his discoveries and control of new quantum states of matter using light flashes, quantum tricks to drive magnetic switching into the fast lane and pushing the state of art at the frontiers of nano and solar materials. He is a world leader in his field.

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ISU Award for Inclusive Excellence

Monic Behnken
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology

Monic Behnken has consistently promoted inclusive excellence at ISU and beyond. Her efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion encompass a broad reach, including the Ames community, undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and administrators, as well as state and national policy-making. Dr. Behnken has participated in numerous workshops, panels and committees centered on issues of diversity and inclusion and has received awards from local organizations recognizing the impact of her work. She also incorporates this focus in all areas of responsibility including teaching, research and service.

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<img align="left" class="inlinephoto" src='https://wp.las.iastate.edu/las-home/wp-content/uploads/sites/229/2020/07/tracie_02.jpg' alt='Tracie Ann Hennen-BierwagenISU P&S Research Award

Tracie Ann Hennen-Bierwagen
Associate Scientist
Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology

Tracie Ann Hennen-Bierwagen has authored numerous original research contributions, and repeatedly obtained prestigious grants from the USDA and the National Science Foundation. Her contributions in maize genetics pertinent to starch biosynthesis and seed metabolism are recognized worldwide owing to novel discoveries that impact the field and guide its direction. Dr. Hennen-Bierwagen’s discoveries address how many factors necessary to produce starch are integrated into physical complexes, and reveal novel insights into regulation of maize seed development.

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ISU Professional & Scientific Excellence Award

Teresa Fernando
Senior Teaching Laboratory Coordinator
Department of Chemistry

Terry Fernando is a senior laboratory coordinator in the Department of Chemistry with additional responsibility as the instructor of record for organic laboratory courses. She supervises the chemistry department’s classroom and laboratory support staff and is actively involved in many positive changes in TA training, laboratory instruction and lecture classroom support. Her work has impact on thousands of students each year.

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ISU Professional & Scientific Excellence Award

Jacob Larsen
Language Study Resource Center Director
Department of World Languages and Cultures

Jacob Larsen’s impact on student learning, faculty development, department-wide programs and curriculum has been nothing short of phenomenal. His prodigious overhaul of the management and direction of Language Studies Resource Center in the Department of World Languages and Cultures has been applauded by all. In addition to his positive contributions to the teaching and learning at ISU and an overall exemplary job performance, he makes an impact at the university level through P&S Council participation, conducting research on language and technology, and by interacting with peers across the nation.

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ISU Professional & Scientific Outstanding New Professional Award

Christopher Myers
Teaching Lab Coordinator
Department of Ecology, Evolution and Organismal Biology

Chris Myers’ contributions to the biology lab program has enhanced the learning objectives for thousands of students. His direction of a global seminar to the Dominican Republic is invaluable for ISU and international collaboration. He serves on the P&S Council and demonstrates his commitment to making ISU a better place through program improvements and community involvement.

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Event Contact: Erin Halverson
Email: erinh1@iastate.edu