The university will recognize its top student scholars and some of its best teachers and advisers at the annual Honors Day program on April 14 at 2 p.m. in the Ramsey Student Center.
Eve Troutt Powell, associate professor of history and a recipient last year of a MacArthur Fellowship, will be the Honors Day speaker. Undergraduate classes will be canceled for sixth, seventh and eighth periods (1:25-4:25 p.m.) so students and faculty can attend.
Several hundred students, including 45 First Honor Graduates who have maintained perfect 4.0 grade point averages while at UGA, will be recognized. Other student honorees include several recipients of top national scholarships, students who rank academically in the top 5 percent of their schools and colleges, and those elected to scholastic and leadership honor societies.
Honors Day is also the first public introduction of faculty members who are receiving awards for teaching excellence, faculty and staff who are being recognized as outstanding advisers and mentors, and graduate students who are receiving awards for teaching.
Among faculty teaching awards to be announced are recipients of the Josiah Meigs Award, UGA’s highest teaching honor, and the Richard B. Russell Award, which recognizes junior faculty for outstanding teaching.
This year’s Meigs winners are Corrie Brown, pathology; David Hazinski, telecommunications; John Maltese, political science; Richard Neupert, drama; and Scott Shaw, physics and astronomy.
The Russell Award will be given to Jody Clay-Warner, sociology; Denise Mewborn, mathematics education; and Marisa Anne Pagnattaro, insurance, legal studies and real estate.
In addition, Conrad Fink, a professor in the College of Journalism and Mass Communication, will be recognized as a recipient of the Regents Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Powell, this year’s speaker, is an authority on Middle Eastern history and culture and especially the development of nationalism in Egypt. She is author of two widely praised books and is working on a third, which will focus on slavery and racial politics in 19th-century Egypt.
Powell is the first UGA faculty member, and only the fourth Georgian, to receive the MacArthur Fellowship, often called the “Genius Award” because it recognizes people deemed to possess extraordinary creativity, talent and vision. The fellowship includes a $500,000 no-strings-attached stipend.
The following faculty members have been chosen as Outstanding Teachers in the schools and colleges:
Franklin College of Arts and Sciences: Marlyse Baptista, English; Rodney Mauricio, genetics; Alex Murawski, art; Richard Neupert, drama; Miranda Pollard, history and women’s studies; David Porter, plant biology; Patricia Richards, sociology; Amy Ross, geography; T.N. Sriram, statistics.
College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: Mark Compton, poultry science; Robert Shewfelt, food science and technology.
School of Law: Dan Coenen, C. Ronald Ellington, David Shipley.
College of Pharmacy: John Johnson, clinical and administrative pharmacy.
Warnell School of Forest Resources: John Carroll, Steven Castleberry, Michael Clutter, Robert Cooper.
College of Education: Derrick Alridge, social foundations of education; Bonnie Cramond, educational psychology; Seock-Ho Kim, educational psychology.
Terry College of Business: Marie Boudreau, management information systems; Bonnie Buchanan, banking and finance; Ann Buchholtz, management; Santanu Chatterjee, economics; Mark Dawkins, accounting; Peggy Emmelhainz, marketing and distribution; Kenneth Gaver, accounting; Mark Huber, management information systems; David Mustard, economics; Charles Nyce, insurance, legal studies and real estate; Daniel Smith, accounting; Andrew Ward, management.
Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication: James Hamilton, advertising and public relations; Thomas Hudson, journalism; Nate Kohn, telecommunications.
College of Family and Consumer Sciences: Joan Koonce Moss, housing and consumer economics; Naz Kaya, merchandising and interiors; Diane Hodson, child and family development; Nancy Canolty, foods and nutrition.
College of Veterinary Medicine: Paul Purington, anatomy and radiology; Karen Cornell, small animal medicine.
School of Social Work: Paul Ammons, Patricia Reeves, Rufus Larkin.
College of Environment and Design: Allen Stovall.
School of Public and International Affairs: Jeffrey Berejikian, international affairs.
Division of Academic Enhancement: Michele Simpson.
Several faculty will be honored for teaching excellence in the Honors Program. The J. Hatten Howard Award, which recognizes faculty who exhibit special promise in teaching Honors courses during their first term as an Honors Program instructor, will be presented to Julie Moore of the medical microbiology department in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Wayne Jones of the history department. The Lothar Tresp Outstanding Honors Professor Award, which is based on course evaluations, will go to James Anderson, classics; Loch Johnson, international affairs; and Julie Johnson, Romance languages. A Tresp award will be given posthumously to Timothy Gantz, a classics professor who died last year.
Winners of the university’s annual awards to a faculty member and a staff member for excellence in academic advising are Robert Shewfelt, professor and undergraduate coordinator of the food science and technology department in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and Kathy Wilson, academic advisor in the insurance, legal studies and real estate department in the Terry College of Business.
UGA began recognizing First Honor Graduates in 1978 instead of designating a graduating senior as valedictorian. Those being recognized at Honors Day include one student who completed degree requirements in 2003, and 44 who will complete requirements at the end of the current spring semester.
Students who qualify as First Honor Graduates, and their hometown and major, are:
Amy E. Adams, Lithia Springs, pharmacy; Tyler J. Alicks, Mt. Pleasant, S.C., psychology; Bonnie K. Blackburn, Tyrone, art and art education; Samuel G. Borak, Mobile, Ala., biology; Amy M. Brooks, Lindale, telecommunication arts; Donna S. Brooks, Cornelia, communication sciences and disorders; Jane E. Brown, Lilburn, communication sciences and disorders; Anna M. Debicka, Athens, Romance languages; Laura E. Downs, Winterville, chemistry; Corrin N. Drakulich, Portland, Ore., religion; Joseph K. Edwards, Lilburn, biology, genetics and microbiology; Jessica D. Foster, Conyers, broadcast news; Benjamin H. Fry, Locust Grove, international business; Ladson B. Gaddy, Candler, N.C., genetics; Sarah N. Hemmings, Kennesaw, Honors interdisciplinary studies; Sarah G. Hendrix, Arden, N.C., music education; Matthew J. Jadlocki, Acworth, foreign language education; Christy L. Jenkins, Conyers, mathematics education; Jason C. Jones, Athens, music education; David A. Kross, Hilton Head, S.C., magazines and political science; Rachel N. Landers, Athens, music education; Laura E. Lathe, Stone Mountain, international business; Casie R. LeGette, Washington, English; Lauren A. Lewis, Loganville, early childhood education;Gabrielle L. Low, Athens, philosophy; Lauren H. Magness, Lawrence-ville, marketing; Erin E. McPhail, Loganville, German and public relations; Kunal Mitra, Marietta, economics and political science; Edmund M. Morrell, philosophy and political science; Jane A. Okpala, Norcross, Spanish, comparative literature and international business; Stephanie Ting-Lynne Poon, Elberton, international business;Travis D. Reeves, Watkinsville, microbiology; Samuel W. Richwine III, Gainesville, accounting and finance; Anne D. Roberts, Savannah, advertising; Kourtney K. Shaddix, Lilburn, finance; Martha E. Shell, Norcross, early childhood education; Irene Shtrulis, Alpharetta, speech communication and advertising; Lori N. Slade, Bonaire, dietetics; Carly A. Smith, St. Marys, management information systems; Carson W. Strickland, New Orleans, history and Latin;
Karin M. Stubenbaum, Athens, Spanish; Brian M. Thomas, Alpharetta, finance; Rachel E. Wahlig, Atlanta, history; Camilla G. Walker, Marietta, finance; and Jaime L. Walker, Hazlehurst, communication sciences and disorders.
Honors Day was started in 1930 by Chancellor S.V. Sanford to give recognition to UGA students for scholastic achievement.
