2023 annual awards ceremony honors NatSci faculty, staff and students
Article Highlights
- More than 100 College of Natural Science faculty, staff, students, friends and family members came together to celebrate 30 of their peers who were recognized for outstanding achievements and contributions.
- Speaking of the award winners, NatSci Dean Phil Duxbury said, “Their leadership and hard work make the college and Michigan State a better place, and it is an honor to recognize their efforts and to be inspired by their commitment to excellence."
- For more information about this and past years’ awards ceremonies, please visit https://natsci.msu.edu/faculty-staff/awards/index.aspx.
Thirty outstanding Michigan State University College of Natural Science, or NatSci, faculty, staff and students were recognized for their achievements and contributions at the NatSci Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony, held Nov. 17 at MSU’s Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building. More than 100 faculty, staff, students, family and friends attended the event.
The awards are based on nominations submitted from across the college and are evaluated by the NatSci Awards Committee and the Center for Integrative Studies in General Science staff.
“On behalf of NatSci faculty, staff and students I am pleased to congratulate and thank this year's award winners for their outstanding contributions,” said NatSci Dean Phil Duxbury. “Their leadership and hard work make the college and Michigan State a better place, and it is an honor to recognize their efforts and to be inspired by their commitment to excellence.”
“This is really incredible,” said this year’s winner of the Norman L. and Olga K. Fritz Excellence-in-Teaching Award, Ryan Maccombs.
Students have described him as “a national treasure” and “the best math professor ever” for his approach to teaching. His calculus instructional videos have tens of thousands of views on YouTube.
“I honestly don’t know what I do that’s special,” said Maccombs, a senior specialist in the Department of Mathematics. “But I work hard and put a lot of effort into what I do.”
Here is this year’s full list of award recipients:
Outstanding Faculty Award
- Melanie Cooper, Department of Chemistry
- Erich Grotewold, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Remco Zegers, Department of Physics and Astronomy/FRIB
- Yimin Xiao, Department of Statistics and Probability
Research Leadership Award
- Alexandra Gade, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Mid-Career Research Award
- Kristin Parent, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Early Career Research Award
- Liangliang Sun, Department of Chemistry
Teacher-Scholar Award
- Kelly Kim, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Gee Lee, Department of Statistics and Probability
Undergraduate Teaching Award
- Amy Pollock, Department of Chemistry
Junior Faculty Mentoring Award
- Nick Haddad, Integrative Biology/Kellogg Biological Station
Postdoctoral Mentoring Award
- Laura Chomiuk, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Distinguished Academic Staff Award
- Camille Fairbourn, Department of Statistics and Probability
Undergraduate Academic Advisor Award
- Becky La, Neuroscience Program
Graduate Academic Advisor Award
- Daniel Bazin, Department of Physics and Astronomy/FRIB
Support Staff Award
- Cathy Cords, Physics and Astronomy
- Anna Osborn, Department of Chemistry
- Holly Vander Stel, Kellogg Biological Station
Excellence-in-Teaching Citation
- Katie Kwiatkowski, Department Chemistry
- Sarah Manski, Department of Statistics and Probability
Undergraduate Learning Assistant Award
- Samantha Chambers, Department of Chemistry
- Fionna Luniku, Human Biology
Faculty Teaching Prize
- Valerie Hedges, Department of Physiology
- Harish Sankaranarayan, Statistics and Probability
Norman L. and Olga K. Fritz Excellence-in-Teaching Award
- Ryan Maccombs, Department of Mathematics
In addition to the NatSci awards, the Center for Integrative Studies in General Science (CISGS) made four awards:
Lorena V. Blinn Endowed Teaching Award
- Jean Tsao, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife
James D. Hoeschele Endowed Teaching Award
- Beth Brisco-McCann, Department of Plant Biology
Ronald W. Wilson Endowed Teaching Award
- Shannon Walsh, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
- Billy Yang, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Harlo Mervyn Mork Memorial Excellence-in-Teaching Award
- Rebecca Kyer, Department of Physics and Astronomy
For more information on the 2023 NatSci Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony, visit https://natsci.msu.edu/faculty-staff/awards/index.aspx.
Banner image: The College of Natural Science at Michigan State University is home to 27 departments and programs in the biological, physical and mathematical sciences. The college provides world-class educational opportunities to 5,458 undergraduate majors and 1,206 graduate and postdoc students. There are 800+ faculty and academic staff associated with NatSci, and more than 63,000 living alumni worldwide. Credit: Harley J. Seeley
