Alumni Awards
The College of Natural Science Alumni Awards are presented annually to alumni, faculty and students in recognition of their achievement and excellence.
The 2026 Natural Science Alumni Awards was held on April 10, 2026. To view photos of the event, visit the Natural Science newsroom.
Nominations are open for the 2027 Alumni Awards. All nomination forms can be found in the menu below. Forms must be submitted by Friday, September 25, 2026, to be considered for the 2027 Alumni Awards.
Awards
The deadline for submitting nominations for the 2027 awards celebration is Friday, September 25, 2026.
- Outstanding Alumni Award
- Alumni Service Award
- Recent Alumni Award
- Meritorious Faculty Award
- Tracy A. Hammer Graduate Student Award
Questions? Please contact Melody Vincke at draeger3@msu.edu.
The Meritorious Faculty Award is presented to a faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in the areas of teaching and research. Nominees must have an appointment (full or partial) in the College of Natural Science. Recipients exemplify MSU’s commitment to the land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach through their dedication to professional, community and/or MSU service. The award includes a one-time stipend of $1000.
Anyone may submit a nomination.
Nominations not selected to receive the award are held for three years and automatically re-nominated each year.
Questions? Please contact Melody Vincke at draeger3@msu.edu.
2026 Meritorious Faculty Award
DARYL McPADDEN
Professor, Physics and Astronomy
In a traditional physics classroom, students sit quietly while equations unfold across a board. In Daryl McPadden’s classroom, they wrestle with ideas, test assumptions, and learn by doing.
An assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, McPadden is a nationally recognized Physics Education Researcher whose scholarship directly shapes how physics is taught. She has never delivered a “straight lecture” course. Instead, she designs fully active learning environments where students collaborate, make mistakes without penalty, and construct understanding in real time. In her courses, in-class work is not graded for correctness — a deliberate choice that encourages risk-taking and deeper learning.
Central to this work is P-Cubed (Projects and Practices in Physics), a reimagined introductory physics program that replaces passive lectures with structured collaboration. McPadden supports a teaching team that includes faculty, graduate assistants, and more than 30 undergraduate learning assistants (ULAs) each semester. By mentoring these ULAs (many of whom return for five or more semesters), she amplifies her impact across hundreds of students. In total, her teaching and mentoring efforts reach nearly 1,000 MSU students each academic year.
Her research focuses on lowering barriers in STEM, particularly for students with disabilities in active learning environments. Through a National Science Foundation–supported Courses to Careers (C2C) initiative, McPadden fosters faculty–student partnerships to address ableism in STEM and improve accessibility in both classrooms and career pathways.
Recipient of the College of Natural Science’s Meritorious Faculty Award, McPadden exemplifies the land-grant mission of teaching, research, and outreach. Her work reflects a simple but powerful belief: when faculty and students learn from one another, physics becomes more accessible, and more human, for all.
Past Recipients
- 2025 - Kristen Parent, Department of Biocemistry and Molecular Biology; BioMolecular Science Gateway; Faculty, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology Program
- 2024 - Richard Lenski, Department of Microbiology, Genetics and Immunology; Integrative Biology; and Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences
- 2023 - Michael Feig, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- 2022 - Edward F. Brown, Department of Physics and Astronomy, FRIB, and Computational Mathematics, Science and Engineering
- 2021 - Shannon Manning, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- 2020 - Gemma Reguera, Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
- 2019 - David P. Weliky, Ph.D., Department of Chemistry
- 2018 - L. Karl Olson, Department of Physiology
- 2017 - Richard Hill, Integrative Biology
- 2016 - Edward Walker, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics and Entomology
- 2015 - Babak Borhan, Chemistry
- 2014 - Steven Heidemann, Physiology
- 2013 – Robert Maleczka, Chemistry
- 2012 – Gary Westfall, Physics & Astronomy
- 2011 – C. Robin Buell, Plant Biology
- 2010 – Julie Libarkin, Geological Sciences
- 2009 – James Stapleton, Statistics & Probability
- 2008 – Aureal Cross , Geological Sciences & Plant Biology
- 2007 – Ralph Taggart , Plant Biology & Geological Sciences
- 2006 – Jack Bass, Physics & Astronomy, George Bird, Entomology
- 2005 – G.J. (Mike) Karabatsos, Chemistry
- 2004 – Edwin Kashy, Physics & Astronomy
- 2003 – Susan Conrad, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
- 2002 – Loren Snyder, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
- 2001 – Jerry Babcock, Chemistry
- 2000 – Robert Hausinger, Biochemistry/Microbiology
- 1999 – Julius Kovacs, Physics & Astronomy
- 1998 – John E. Wilson, Biochemistry
- 1997 – Glenda Lappan, Mathematics
- 1996 – Jack Preiss, Biochemistry
- 1995 – Emanuel Hackel, Zoology
- 1994 – Hans Kende, Botany & Plant Pathology
- 1993 – Howard Hagerman, Lyman Briggs School
- 1992 – Pamela Fraker, Biochemistry
- 1991 – James Hamilton, Chemistry
- 1990 – Jerry Dodgson, Biochemistry
- 1989 – John Beaman, Botany & Plant Pathology
- 1988 – Clarence Suelter, Biochemistry
- 1987 – Everett Beneke, Botany & Plant Pathology
- 1986 – Alexander Tulinsky, Chemistry
- 1985 – Marvin Hensley, Zoology
- 1984 – Fumio Matsumura, Pesticide Research Center
- 1983 – John Lockwood, Botany & Plant Pathology
- 1982 – Kyung Whan Kwun, Mathematics
- 1981 – Leo Mericle, Botany & Plant Pathology
The Outstanding Alumni Award recognizes alumni for outstanding professional achievement and support of the college or university. Recipients exemplify MSU’s commitment to the land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach through their dedication to professional, community and/or MSU service.
Anyone may submit a nomination.
Nominations not selected to receive the award are held for three years and automatically re-nominated each year.
Questions? Please contact Melody Vincke at draeger3@msu.edu.
2026 Outstanding Alumni Award
RONALD C. DESROSIERS
Ph.D. Biochemistry '75
Ranking among the world’s most highly cited and influential virologists, Ronald C. Desrosiers dedicated his career to the pinnacle of academic medicine. A proud alumnus of MSU’s Department of Biochemistry, he went on to serve as Director of the New England Primate Research Center at Harvard Medical School, where his work was defined by paradigm-shifting discoveries that fundamentally changed the global understanding of the HIV/AIDS virus.
In 1984, while at Harvard, Desrosiers discovered the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV), the monkey counterpart to the human AIDS virus. This breakthrough provided the global scientific community with its most critical model for investigating the disease and developing life-saving therapies. He later identified the first HIV-infected individual with a naturally occurring gene deletion that suppressed the virus — a discovery sparked by a casual conversation with a colleague that led to a landmark publication in the New England Journal of Medicine. Today, at the University of Miami, Desrosiers is pursuing what may be the culmination of his life’s work: a viral vector now moving toward human trials that has produced lifelong viral suppression in monkeys after a single injection.
Following his long series of accomplishments and global accolades, Desrosiers traces his success back to the foundational rigor of his doctoral years at Michigan State. While in East Lansing, he was the first author of the initial seminal discovery of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) in mRNA, a factor in gene expression that remains a subject of intense global research today.
For Desrosiers, MSU represented more than just a scientific launchpad — he describes his time on campus as some of the happiest years of his life. Between breakthroughs in the lab, he found community with his biochemistry cohort on the intramural volleyball and basketball courts, baseball fields, and at the 50-yard line of Spartan Stadium for MSU football games. Desrosiers’ legacy stands as a testament to the power of a Spartan education to tackle, and solve, some of the world’s most daunting biological challenges.
Past Recipients
- 2025 - John Witt, B.S. Chemistry - Teaching '57
- 2025 - Gao Liu, Ph.D. Chemistry '01
- 2024 - Mark Moorman, B.S. Microbiology ’86, M.S. Food Science ’88, Ph.D. Food Science ’05
- 2023 - Bryan O. Buckley, B.S. Microbiology ’10; Master of Public Health ’12
- 2022 - James D. Hoeschele, Ph.D. Chemistry ’69
- 2021 - Patrick Lukulay, Ph.D. Analytical Chemistry ’95
- 2020 - Claudia Turro, B.S. Chemistry ’87, Ph.D. Chemistry ’92
- 2019 - Marilyn Capelli Dimitroff, B.S. Mathematics ’66
- 2018 - Craig Roy, Ph.D., B.S. Microbiology ’85
- 2017 - John Woollam, M.S., Physics ’63; Ph.D., Physics ’67
- 2016 - Patrick Smith, Chemistry ’72; M.S., Chemistry ’77; Ph.D. Chemistry ’78
- 2015 - Damian Handzy, Physics '95
- 2014 - Joseph Caruso, Chemistry '51
- 2013 – Henry Edelhauser, Physiology ’64 & ’66
- 2012 – Bobby Wilson, Chemistry ’76
- 2011 – Eric Ayers, Microbiology ’85
- 2010 – Azam Niroomand-Rad, Physics ’71 & ’78
- 2009 – Susan Sylvester, Entomology ’78
- 2008 – Kenneth Yerrick, Chemistry ’59 & ’61
- 2007 – Stephen Warren, Zoology ’76 & Genetics ’81
- 2006 – Mark Ehlert, Microbiology ’75
- 2005 – Michael Donoghue, Botany ’75
- 2004 – Eugene Parker, Physics ’48
- 2003 – Mary Ruth Dawson, Zoology ’52
- 2002 – Daniel Edson, Clinical Lab Science ’79
- 2001 – Phaedon Avouris, Chemistry ’74
- 2000 – Jack Samarias, Statistics ’70
- 1999 – Paul O’Connor, Chemistry ’91
- 1998 – Richard & Shirley Pendell, Bio Science ’35
- 1997 – Durward L. Allen, Zoology ’37
- 1996 – B.L.S. Prakasa Rao, Statistics ’66
- 1995 – Robert Martin, Medical Technology ’71
- 1994 – Lorenz Kull, Physics ’67
- 1993 – Joseph Longo, Physics ’66 & ’68
- 1992 – Paul Ts’o, Botany & Plant Pathology ’51
- 1991 – Karen Klomparens, Botany & Plant Pathology ’72 & ’77
- 1990 – Jerry Cowen, Physics ’50 & ’54
- 1989 – Harley Hotchkiss, Geology ’51
- 1988 – Gordon Guyer, Entomology ’53
- 1987 – Charles Vincent, Chemistry ’54
- 1986 – Reardon Campeau, Mathematics ’65
- 1985 – Ritchie Wessling, Chemistry ’57
- 1985 – Susan Crispin, Botany & Plant Pathology ’78 & ’80
- 1984 – Ron Goldsberry, Chemistry ’66 & ’69
- 1983 – Michael Schulz, Physical Science ’64
- 1982 – Thomas Jamieson, Bio Science ’65
- 1981 – James Orbison, Chemistry ’39
- 1980 – Eldon Foltz, Chemistry ’41
The Alumni Service Award is presented to distinguished alumni who have demonstrated exceptional service and/or philanthropy to our community. This prestigious honor recognizes individuals who have gone above and beyond in their dedication to making a positive impact through volunteerism, leadership, and charitable contributions.
Anyone may submit a nomination.
Nominations not selected to receive the award are held for three years and automatically re-nominated each year.
Questions? Please contact Melody Vincke at draeger3@msu.edu.
2026 Alumni Service Award
MARK EHLERT
B.S. Microbiology '75
Every visit to East Lansing feels like coming home for Mark Ehlert. A 1975 microbiology graduate of Michigan State University, Ehlert built a distinguished career in medical manufacturing, holding leadership roles at Baxter Healthcare, Cardinal Health, and Hospira. Yet he traces his professional foundation to his student days — supervising the Hubbard Hall cafeteria (where he met his wife, Sandy) and testing campus water samples for bacteria under professor Frank Peabody. At MSU, he learned that the most important skill a scientist can develop is knowing how to ask the right questions.
Ehlert views his service and philanthropy through a simple principle: “When you’re given a gift, you say thank you.” For the Ehlerts, their MSU education was that gift. For nearly three decades, they have expressed their gratitude through three endowed funds: the GRAM Endowed Scholarship Fund (named for their four grandmothers’ initials), which supports underrepresented students; the Frank Peabody Microbiology Student Research Fund, which advances hands-on research in microbiology; and the Irish Family Teaching Endowment, honoring Sandy’s family legacy by supporting future STEM educators.
Beyond philanthropy, Ehlert has served on the NatSci Dean’s Board of Advisors and spent eight years interviewing students for the STARR Scholarship, expanding access to a Michigan State education for residents of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
A recipient of the College’s Outstanding Alumni Award in 2006, Ehlert considers the Alumni Service Award especially meaningful because it recognizes sustained commitment. A proud Spartan who says he “bleeds green,” he remains dedicated to ensuring future generations have the same transformative opportunities he received.
Past Recipients
- 2025 - Katherine "Kathy" Reed, B.S. Biochemistry '71; Ph.D. Chemistry '77
The Recent Alumni Award recognizes alumni who have graduated within the last 15 years and have shown outstanding professional growth. Recipients exemplify MSU’s commitment to the land-grant mission of teaching, research and outreach through their dedication to professional, community and/or MSU service.
Anyone may submit a nomination.
Nominations not selected to receive the award are held for three years and automatically re-nominated each year.
Questions? Please contact Melody Vincke at draeger3@msu.edu.
2026 Recent Alumni Award
MEREDITH HERMAN
B.S. Biomedical Laboratory Science '17; D.O. '23
Meredith K. Herman is redefining what it means to be the “doctor’s doctor” in modern medicine. Recently named the 2025 College of American Pathologists Resident of the Year (an honor given to only one resident annually) and featured on The Pathologist Power List as a “Rising Star,” Herman has quickly emerged as a national leader in the field. Matching into the highly competitive Anatomic and Clinical Pathology residency at Michigan Medicine, she credits her success to the foundational rigor of the MSU community.
Herman’s trajectory was shaped by mentors like MSU’s J.K. Billman, who helped her see pathology as the perfect intersection of biology, problem-solving, and teaching. Grateful for the scholarships that paved her own way, Herman chose not to wait until the end of her career to give back. She has already co-established two endowed scholarships, the Herman-Billman Scholarship for Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics students and another for the Spartan Marching Band, aiming to remove the same financial barriers she once faced as a student.
Her work extends far beyond the microscope. Through her creative venture White Coat Artistry, Herman uses medical illustration to translate complex microscopic findings into accessible visual stories. Meanwhile, her digital presence on platforms like TikTok and her leadership with MatchToPath.com have brought pathology into the public eye, helping students navigate the residency match while humanizing a field that patients rarely see.
From the rehearsal fields of the Spartan Marching Band to the research labs of the University of Michigan, Herman’s journey is itself a vivid illustration of the MSU mission in action. Through her clinical excellence, creative outreach, and early-career philanthropy, she is ensuring that the next generation of pathologists possesses the resources and mentorship necessary to advance the future of diagnostic medicine.
Past Recipients
- 2025 - Heather Blankenship, Ph.D. Microbiology and Molecular Genetics '19
- 2024 - Mohammad Esfahanian, B.S. Physics and Physiology '08
- 2023 - Jelani Zarif, Ph.D. Cell and Molecular Biology ’14
- 2022 - Mark Ondari, Ph.D. Chemistry '10
- 2021 - Shannon Morey, B.S. Chemistry ’10
- 2020 - Kristina Martin, B.S. Clinical Laboratory Science ’02; M.S. Biomedical Laboratory Operations ’07
- 2019 - Eeda Marie Wallbank, B.S. Environmental Biology and Botany ’05
- 2018 - Paul Thomas, M.D., B.S. Human Biology ’09
- 2017 - Jason Pratt, B.S. Microbiology and Molecular Genetics ’05
- 2016 - Chelsea Walton, Ph.D. Mathematics '05
- 2015 - Jennifer Schomaker, Ph.D. Chemistry ’06
- 2014 - Karen Wayland, Ph.D. Environmental Geosciences and Resource Development ’01
- 2013 – Sasha Fawaz, B.S. Zoology and Psychology '08
- 2012 – Li Fan, Ph.D. Biochemistry ’00
- 2010 – Dan Mindiola, B.S. Chemistry ’96
- 2008 – Brian Langley, B.A. Chemistry ’99
- 2005 – Wakeshi Benson, B.A. Chemistry ’96
- 2003 – Carl Bruch, B.S. Physics ’96
The Tracy A. Hammer Graduate Student Award for Professional Development is presented to an outstanding graduate student in support of their professional development. Nominees must be pursuing a degree in the College of Natural Science
Faculty and students may submit a nomination.
The award was renamed in 1996 to memorialize 1995 co-recipient Tracy Anne Hammer. A native of New York, Hammer was the first dual degree candidate to pursue a doctoral degree in animal genetics through the Department of Microbiology and Veterinary Medicine. Her research centered on canine dilated cardiomyopathy. Hammer died in a plane crash shortly before graduation and her degree was awarded posthumously.
The Tracy A. Hammer award recipients receive a one-time stipend of $750 funded by the NatSci AA Endowed Scholarship Fund. Your gift to this fund will enable the College of Natural Science to grow the scholarship amount granted to future award winners.
2026 Tracy A. Hammer Graduate Student Awards
I PUTU ADE ANDRE PAYADNYA
Program in Mathematics Education
For I Putu Ade Andre Payadnya, the journey from Bali, Indonesia, to Michigan State University began with a simple but powerful dream — to use education as a force for hope and transformation. A Fulbright scholar and former Associate Professor at Universitas Mahasaraswati Denpasar, Payadnya is now a doctoral student in the Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME), where he continues his commitment to advancing mathematics education both locally and globally.
Payadnya’s research centers on Ethnomathematics and the development of his Culturally-Digital Mathematics Learning (CDML) framework. His work integrates cultural knowledge and digital innovation, including interactive media and emerging technologies, to make mathematics more meaningful and accessible. Drawing on his experience teaching in Indonesia, he focuses on how culture, context, and technology can strengthen students’ mathematical thinking and sense of belonging in the classroom.
Prior to beginning his Ph.D., Payadnya collaborated on more than 100 scholarly publications and academic works and was promoted to Associate Professor in his fifth year as a lecturer. He continues his engagement with the academic community through volunteer work with the Connected Mathematics Project.
Payadnya’s dedication to service mirrors his academic mission. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he founded Bingkisan Senyum (“A Gift of Smiles”), a community initiative supporting families and animals in economic distress. He has also volunteered with children facing cancer and taught school dropouts in Bali; experiences that reinforce his belief that educators provide not only knowledge, but hope.
Recipient of the 2025 Tracy A. Hammer Graduate Student Award for Professional Development, Payadnya plans to further develop and share his CDML framework while building collaborative networks for mathematics educators in Indonesia. His work reflects a deep conviction — even small contributions, rooted in justice and humanity, can create lasting impact.
ASHLEY FABRY
Program in Mathematics Education
Ashley Fabry’s journey from a Wisconsin high school mathematics classroom to doctoral study at Michigan State University has been guided by a clear purpose: to strengthen mathematics education by preparing thoughtful, reflective teachers.
After seven years teaching secondary mathematics, Fabry returned to graduate school to pursue a Ph.D. in the Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME), where she now maintains a 4.0 GPA and has advanced to candidacy. Her research centers on mathematics teacher education, exploring how pre-service teachers understand their professional role, the broader purposes of mathematics education, and the use of contextualized mathematics tasks. Through workshop-based dissertation research, she examines how future teachers frame and reframe these ideas as they engage in discussions about purpose, responsibility, and authentic problem design.
Fabry’s scholarship extends beyond her dissertation. As a research assistant with the Connected Mathematics Project, she has contributed to NSF-supported work investigating digital collaborative platforms and machine learning tools that analyze students’ proportional reasoning. She has co-authored peer-reviewed publications and presented her research at national conferences, including meetings of the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators and the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Committed to professional leadership, Fabry serves as the graduate student representative on the board of the Michigan Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators (MI-AMTE), where she supports statewide professional development and advocacy efforts.
Recipient of the 2025 Tracy A. Hammer Graduate Student Award for Professional Development, Fabry is honored to receive support for completing and disseminating her dissertation research. As she prepares for a career in mathematics teacher education, she remains dedicated to improving both her own instruction and the broader field, ensuring that mathematics classrooms are rigorous, reflective, and connected to the world students inhabit.
Past Recipients
- 2023 - Joshua Kaste, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- 2022 - Daniel Puentes, Physics and Ana-Maria Raicu, Cell and Molecular Biology Program
- 2021 - Patricia Perez-Bonilla, Neuroscience and Pharmacology/Toxicology and Keenan Noyes, Chemistry
- 2020 - Sean L. Nguyen Cell and Molecular Biology and Environmental Toxicology and Ilias Magoulas Theoretical and Computational Chemistry
- 2019 - David Bowersm Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME) and Caitlin Kara Kirby, Earth and Environmental Science and Environmental Science and Policy
- 2018 - Oyemolade Osibodu, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME) and Visala Rani Satyam, Program in Mathematics Education (PRIME)
- 2017 - Connie Rojas, Integrative Biology and Ecology
- 2016 - Paula Gajewski, Genetics Program and Patricia Jaimes Department of Geological Sciences
- 2015 - Jie Li, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Elizabeth Schultheis, Plant Biology
- 2014 - Kumar Ashtekar, Chemistry
- 2013 – Alexandria Theakston Musselman, Program in Mathematics Education and Emily Weigel, Zoology
- 2012 – Arvind Jaganathan, Chemistry
- 2011 – Tomomi Suwa, Plant Biology
- 2010 – Samuel Pappas, Physiology and Sarah Heim, Physics & Astronomy
- 2009 – Kimberly Cervello, Science and Mathematics Education and David Duriancik, Food Science & Human Nutrition
- 2008 – Ed Kabara, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Jaime Kopper, Cell & Molecular Biology Program
- 2007 – Rashad Simmons, Chemistry
- 2006 – Ellen Wilch, Genetics Program
- 2005 – Melissa Meaney, Chemistry
- 2004 – Anne Fischer, Chemistry
- 2003 – Emil Bozin, Physics & Astronomy
- 2002 – Shannon Haymond, Chemistry and Shibani Mukherjee, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics
- 2000 – Micah Stowe, Chemistry
- 1999 – Thomas A. Cullen, Chemistry
- 1998 – Mark A. Waner, Chemistry
- 1997 – Matthew Gardner, Chemistry and Vaughn Wagner, Zoology
- 1996 – Eleny-Nicoleta Ionel, Mathematics and Tedi Draghici, Mathematics
- 1995 – Jose de Ondarza, Physiology and Tracy A. Hammer, Microbiology and Veterinary Medicine
- 1994 – Nancy S. Barta, Chemistry
- 1993 – Philip Schultz, Chemistry