Faculty, Staff Recognized for Service, Research, Teaching at Founders Day

Several University of Southern Mississippifaculty and staff were honored during the Founders' Day Ceremony Wednesday at Bennett Auditorium on the Hattiesburg campus, garnering awards and recognition for exceptional service, research and teaching. The event was held in conjunction with the 101^st anniversary of the university's legislative founding.

Honorees included:

Distinguished Professor Award

·         Dr. Kathy Yadrick, chair of the Department of Nutrition and Food Systems.

Faculty Excellence Awards

·         Dr. Kyle Zelner, associate professor of history, and Dr. David Beckett, professor of biological sciences, recipients of the Faculty Excellence Awards for Teaching and Service, respectively.

Staff Excellence Awards

·         Service Maintenance/Skilled/Technical: Rusty Keyes, Captain and Investigator with University Police

·         Office Personnel:Rene Trigg, administrative assistant for the Alumni Association; and Jewel Adams, senior secretary for the School of Human Performance and Recreation.

·         Professional: Margaret Buttross-Brinegar, director of the Children's Center for Communication and Development

·         Jessie H. Morrison Award: Polly Odom, executive secretary to Southern Miss President Martha Saunders

High Education Appreciation Day – Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE)

·         Dr. Steve Yuen, professor, Department of Technology Education, College of Education and Psychology

IHL Black History Month Educator of the Year

·         Dr. Andrea Lott Wesley, professor of psychology

Aubrey K. Lucas and Ella Ginn Lucas Endowment for Faculty Excellence Awards

·         Jian Chen, assistant professor, School of Computing

·         Christopher Goertzen, professor, School of Music

·         Max Grivno, assistant professor, Department of History

·         Yanlin Guo, associate professor, Department of Biological Sciences

·         Bridget Hayden, associate professor, Department of Biological Sciences

·         Bandana Karr, assistant professor, Department of Geography and Geology

·         Hsiaopei Lee, assistant professor, School of Music

·         M.D. Sarder, assistant professor School of Construction

·         Asim Yousafzai, assistant professor, Department of Geography and Geology

·         Zhaoxian Zhou, assistant professor, School of Computing.

More than 100 employees were also honored for 10, 20 and 30 years of service to the university at the ceremony.