The NDSU College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences held its 24th annual College Awards Luncheon May 15 to celebrate the academic year and present awards of excellence.
Four faculty members and two graduate students were honored.
Awards of excellence in teaching and research were presented to graduate students Renee Bordeaux, Department of Communication, and Massimo Verzella, Department of English.
Associate professor Stephenson Beck received an award for outstanding teaching. A student described Beck as, “inspiring; he makes me think about the importance of the material (with regards to) all aspects of my relational and professional goals." Honorable mentions included Kelly Sassi, English; Carrie Anne Platt, communication; and Paul Homan, modern languages.
The faculty award for outstanding scholarship was presented to Amy Rupiper Taggart, professor of English. Rupiper published two books, an article and a review this year. Bruce Maylath, English; Nan Yu, communication; Verena Theile, English; and Andrew Mara, English, were honorable mentions.
Kent Kapplinger, professor of visual arts, was acknowledged for outstanding creative activity. Kapplinger is receiving international recognition for his work about the recent oil boom in North Dakota.
Kelly Sassi, associate professor of English, earned the outstanding service award for her work as co-director of the Red River Valley Writing Project, her teaching across the state and her work as co-coordinator of community humanities projects. Emily Wicktor, English; Charlette Moe and Michael Weber, School of Music; Amy O’Connor, communication; and Nick Bauroth, criminal justice and political science, were honorable mentions.
Two special awards were presented to former dean and professor of sociology and anthropology Tom Riley for his 15 years of service, and Cathy Heiraas, assistant to the dean, for her 40 years of service.
Honorees were chosen by an award committee, which was comprised by Anthony Flood, Carol Cwiak, Dale Sullivan and Hardy Koenig. It was chaired by Robert Littlefield. For the past 18 years Littlefield, professor of communication, has served as the event’s master of ceremonies.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.