STARKVILLE — A Mississippi State professor was honored nationally for her contributions to geoscience education.
Renee Clary, a professor in the Department of Geosciences, received the National Association of Geoscience Teachers’ 2021 Transformation Award. NAGT promotes innovation and improvement in the geoscience education research community. The Transformation Award is given to those who have made impactful contributions to the field.
Clary’s work focuses on bringing geological and biological education to both formal and informal settings, as well as online. She has attained over $3 million in grant funding for her efforts and has written 80 journal articles, 30 book chapters and 300 peer-reviewed research presentations, all of which have been shared on at least five continents.
She also is director of MSU’s Dunn-Seiler Museum as well as director of the 15 Degree Laboratory, the EarthScholars Research Group and co-founder of the GeoViz Laboratory.
MSU college announces 2021 faculty award winners
STARKVILLE .— Mississippi State’s College of Arts and Sciences is announcing four new recipients of the Dean’s Eminent Scholar Awards honoring “exceptionally meritorious faculty who have achieved national recognition and enhanced the quality and stature of academic programs.”
Honorees include:
n Rachel Allison, assistant professor of sociology, is this year’s Gary Meyers Dean’s Eminent Scholar.
n Heather Jordan, associate professor of biological sciences, is the Sanderson Dean’s Eminent Scholar.
n Anthony Neal, associate professor of philosophy and religion, is the Beverly B. and Gordon W. Gulmon Dean’s Eminent Scholar.
n Justin Thornton, associate professor of biological sciences, is the recipient of the Phil and Kari Oldham Faculty Mentor Award.
MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,000 students, 323 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs, 14 master’s programs, and 27 undergraduate academic majors offered in 14 departments. For information, visit cas.msstate.edu.
Fraternity chapters celebrate founder’s day
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Eta Phi Lambda in Columbus and Kappa Beta at Mississippi State University chapters celebrated its 115th founder’s day Dec. 5 at Sixteenth Section Missionary Baptist Church, in Starkville.
The guest speaker was Kesley L Rushing, the 27th Southern Region Vice-President for Alpha Phi Alpha. Rushing, a native of Carthage, was initiated into University of Southern Mississippi’s Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., via the Mu Xi Chapter, in spring 1992. In his almost 30 years as an active member, Rushing, a life member, has served the fraternity on all levels.
Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek letter fraternity established for African-American men, was founded on Dec. 4, 1906, at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, by seven college men who recognized the need for a strong bond of brotherhood among African descendants in this country.
The fraternity initially served as a study and support group for minority students who faced racial prejudices, both educationally and socially at Cornell. The Jewel founders and early leaders of the fraternity succeeded in laying a firm foundation for Alpha Phi Alpha’s principles of scholarship, fellowship, good character and the uplifting of humanity.
The fraternity, through its more than 950 college and alumni chapters and general-organization members, serves communities in the United States, Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.
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