May 18th, 2009

On Saturday, May 9, the College of Business (CoB) held its annual spring graduation ceremony in the MSU Strand Union Building. Eight professors received honors during the ceremony, based on outstanding performances in teaching, research and service.

The awards, provided through endowment programs, give faculty members financial resources for scholarly and pedagogical development.

The Haynes, Heck, Nopper and Loendorf awards are bestowed at the discretion of the dean. Students choose their most influential faculty member for the Bracken Student’s Choice Award and faculty members nominate their colleagues for the Dean’s Research, Teaching and Service Awards.

F. William Brown, professor of management, received the Harold and Reta Haynes Faculty Fellow Award. This award is given to a faculty member who has demonstrated sustained excellence in all phases of faculty performance related to teaching, research and service.

Associate professor of accounting, Bonita Peterson, received the Scott and Barbara Heck Faculty Scholar Award. This award supports the recipient’s outstanding teaching performance and fosters the sharing of educational experiences with students.

Craig Ehlert, adjunct instructor of management, was the recipient of the Thomas Nopper Excellence in Teaching Award. This award is given annually to a faculty member who has made significant contributions to the teaching mission of the CoB.

Last year a new award was added, the Joe and Sharlene Loendorf Excellence in Teaching Award. This year’s recipient was Scott Bryant, associate professor of management.

CoB colleagues also selected the following faculty members for special performance recognition awards:

Dean’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Teaching: Tim Alzheimer, adjunct assistant professor of finance

Dean’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Research: Laura Black, assistant professor of management

Dean’s Award for Outstanding Performance in Service: Harry Benham, associate professor of management

Gary Caton, assistant professor of finance, was voted by his peers to receive the 2008 Code of Excellence Award. This award recognizes the recipient’s commitment and positive effect on the lives of all members of the CoB community.

The CoB senior students voted on the most prestigious faculty award. They selected Omar Shehryar, assistant professor of marketing, as the recipient of the Gary K. Bracken Student’s Choice for Excellence in Teaching. For this honor, Shehryar was the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony.