Two University of Mississippi faculty and staff members who have consistently demonstrated excellence in advising students have been selected for special recognition.
Staff, Faculty Members Recognized for Excellence in Advising Students
October 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Distinguished History Professor Receives Second Prestigious Lillian Smith Award
October 1, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Seventeen years ago, Charles Eagles received a Lillian Smith Award for his extensively researched book about the civil rights movement in Alabama. Earlier this month, the University of Mississippi history professor earned the honor again, this time for his work chronicling events leading to the integration of Ole Miss nearly 50 years ago.
Dr. Charles W. Eagles (r)
He is the first scholar to win the Smith award twice.
Eagles accepted the award for nonfiction at the 2010 Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival. His book, “The Price of Defiance: James Meredith and the Integration of Ole Miss” (University of North Carolina Press, 2009), also received the 2010 nonfiction award from the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters and the McLemore Prize from the Mississippi Historical Society.
Kelly Wilson Named 2010 Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher
September 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Dr. Kelly Wilson
Kelly Wilson, associate professor of psychology, is the recipient of The University of Mississippi’s 2010 Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award.
“This is it,” said Wilson of the honor. “There aren’t any awards the university offers that I care more about. None. Teaching is a job I’m honored to have, and to be recognized as a good one, well, it’s a big deal in my world. I was surprised, but pleased to the point of tears. Being useful in this way, it means a lot.”
Raised in a working class family, Wilson was the first generation in his family to graduate from college. After earning his bachelor’s degree at Gonzaga University, Wilson went on to receive his doctoral degree from the University of Nevada at Reno. Both institutions provided numerous teachers who showed that they cared, he said.
“My history is a history of outstanding teachers, people who saw things in me that I couldn’t see in myself,” Wilson said. “It’s now my job to see things in my students that they can’t see, and it’s my way of saying ‘thank you’ to the people who did that for me.”
History Faculty Accept University-Wide Awards
September 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Four faculty members in the Department of History received university-wide awards for teaching and research in 2009-2010.
Goldwater Scholar Researches Alternative Energy
September 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Anna Hailey, a senior from Muscle Shoals, Ala., earning three degrees – Chinese, chemistry, and chemical engineering – is the eighth University of Mississippi student to receive the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship since 2000.
Anna Hailey, Goldwater Scholar
“I was very happy and excited to learn I had received the Goldwater,” said Hailey, a member of the Sally McDonnell Honors College. “This scholarship will help pay for my fifth year of college, which I need to complete my three degrees. Then I hope the Goldwater will help me gain admission into graduate school so I can continue my studies.”
Hailey plans to earn a doctorate in chemical engineering or environmental engineering so she can continue research on alternative energy sources. She credits UM faculty and staff across many disciplines for giving her a solid foundation for her future career path.
Faculty members in Hailey’s major fields of study boast of her academic achievements and dedication.
“Anna has distinguished herself from other students in academic performance, research accomplishment, community and professional services, vision and personality,” said Wei-Yin Chen, professor of chemical engineering. ”The Goldwater Scholarship will be an enormous encouragement to her career preparation.”
Truman Scholar Focuses on Education
September 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Chelsea Caveny
Lauded as “change agents,” Truman Scholars are undergraduate students who have the passion, intellect and leadership potential to improve the ways that government and other entities serve the public good. The Truman Scholarship Foundation has recognized Chelsea Caveny, a junior public policy leadership major from Hattiesburg, as having just that sort of potential, naming her as The University of Mississippi’s 14th Truman Scholar. Caveny, a student in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, gets $30,000 for graduate school.
A Lott Leadership Scholar, finalist for National Youth Advocate of the Year and National Forensics League Academic All-American, Caveny was offered an internship with the Clinton Foundation in New York City last summer. Instead, she opted to work with the Sunflower County Freedom Project, where her understanding of education reform and community development expanded in a way that textbooks could not provide.
National Recognition for Minorities Earning Doctorates in Mathematics
September 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The University of Mississippi Department of Mathematics’ record of recruiting and retaining minority candidates in its doctoral program was recognized by the American Mathematics Society with its 2009 Programs that Make a Difference Award.
UM doctorial graduates (l to r) Carla Cotwright, Bryan Williams and Adrian Wilson
“Here at Ole Miss, we lead the nation in producing minority Ph.D.’s in mathematics,” said Gerard Buskes, mathematics professor. “Over the last 10 or 15 years, the total number of African-American Ph.D.s in the United States has not exceeded 17. So for our program to produce 11 of those since 2001, and specifically six in one year, is truly significant.”
In 2006, UM awarded doctoral degrees to six black students, the largest group of doctorates who are African Americans ever produced at any university in the United States.
In her nomination letter to AMS, UM alumna Sylvia Bozeman, a professor of mathematics at Spelman College, wrote that UM’s mathematics department’s work to recruit and retain students from underrepresented groups is a visionary effort.
“This unprecedented success deserves to be set forth as a model for other departments who are more hesitant to attempt change,” Bozeman wrote.
Army ROTC Senior Cadet Honored with Bronze Cross for Achievement
September 22, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Ole Miss Army ROTC officers and cadets have honored one of their own as senior Gabriel Weiss of Gulfport received the Legion of Valor Bronze Cross for Achievement.
Lt. Col. John Abruscato (right) pinned the Legion of Valor Bronze Cross for Achievement over the heart of Cadet Gabriel Weiss
The Bronze Cross for Achievement is awarded to fewer than 50 cadets and midshipmen every year, and then only after an extensive review process that starts with being nominated by an adviser. Weiss received the award on Thursday from Lt. Col. John Abruscato, the battalion commander, who also presided over a ceremony where freshmen and some junior cadets took an oath of allegiance and pledged to uphold Army values and teachings and to follow orders given by their commanders.
After all the cadets in attendance were called to attention, Weiss was called to the front of the room by Master Sgt. Michael Rowland. Abruscato pinned the award over his heart, handed him a framed certificate and quietly congratulated him.
College Teaching Awards
September 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Two professors were recognized by the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Mississippi for excellence in classroom teaching and concern for students’ welfare.
Jason Klodt, associate professor of modern languages, is the 2010 Liberal Arts Outstanding Teacher of the Year. Lou Haney, assistant professor of art, is the recipient of the 2010 Cora Lee Graham Award for Outstanding Teaching of Freshmen. Klodt and Haney were recognized during the College’s commencement ceremony, had their names added to award plaques in the dean’s office and received $1,000 apiece. [Read more...]
Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Awards
June 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters celebration in June highlighted a UM theatre arts production, a history faculty member, the founding director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture, and an alumna.
A University of Mississippi theatre arts presentation is being recognized June 5 by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. The institute plans to present a rare Special Achievement Award for “The Passions of Walter Anderson: A Dramatic Celebration of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Artist” at the institute’s 31st annual awards gala, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson.
"The Passions of Walter Anderson: A Dramatic Celebration of the Mississippi Gulf Coast Artist"
This is such a huge honor,” said Rhona Justice-Malloy, chair and professor of theatre arts who collaborated in and produced the Anderson tribute. “Ours is one of only three performances the institute has recognized in 31 years. To be given such an award is truly exciting for the university, the department, all the collaborators, artists and students who made it possible.”
