Last modified: Monday, May 10, 2010
IU honors students with senior awards; students honor faculty with Student Choice Awards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 10, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Eight Indiana University students were honored for academic excellence and outstanding leadership at this year's annual Spring Recognition Banquet.
Student Choice Award recipients: Leana McClain (left), Alan Ewert, Suzanne Eckes and Albert Ruesink
Student Choice Awards for Outstanding Faculty also were presented to Suzanne Eckes, an associate professor in the School of Education; Alan Ewert, the Patricia and Joel Meier Outdoor Leadership Chair in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation; Leana McClain, a senior clinical lecturer in curriculum and instruction and language education in the School of Education; and Albert Ruesink, professor of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences.
Each spring, the Student Alumni Association presents the Student Choice Awards to up to five professors. IU students nominate their favorite professor for this prestigious award and selections are based solely on student input. Faculty members are selected based on their knowledge, class presentation skills, student rapport and enthusiasm, and only faculty who receive three or more nominations are considered.
The first Student Choice Awards were given in 1979, and more than 120 faculty members have received this award since its inception.
This year's Elvis J. Stahr Distinguished Senior Awards were presented to:
- Emily Berman, of Louisville, Ky., a Jewish studies and philosophy major;
- Andrew Dahlen, of Knoxville, Md., a political science and international studies major;
- Emily Kasavan, of Williamston, Mich., a business economics and public policy major;
- Jack McCarthy, of Indianapolis, a business major;
- Michael Sampson-Akpuru, of Munster, Ind., a business economics major; and
- Miles Taylor, of La Porte, Ind., an international security studies and political science major.
The Elvis J. Stahr Distinguished Senior Award was established in 1966 by Stahr, IU's 12th president. The annual award honors three to five seniors who have excelled academically while serving as active student leaders. The names of the recipients are added to a permanent plaque that hangs in the Indiana Memorial Union.
Scholarship recipients Megan Caldwell (left) and Heather Schaefer
Megan Caldwell of Lafayette, Calif., a policy analysis, Arabic, and public finance major, was awarded a Claude T. Rich Scholarship.
Rich Scholarships are awarded annually to student leaders in recognition of their service to the IU Alumni Association and IU. The $1,000 scholarships honor the memory of Claude Rich, who enjoyed a 44-year career as an administrator at IU. His career included founding the Varsity Club, expansion of the Alumni Association, and directing the IU Sesquicentennial celebration in 1968.
Also at the banquet, Heather Schaefer, of Lanesville, Ind., a marketing and Mitte Honors Program major, and president of the Student Alumni Association, received the Jerry F. Tardy Memorial Scholarship.
The Tardy Scholarship is awarded annually to the president of the Student Alumni Association at IU Bloomington. This $2,500 scholarship honors the memory of Jerry F. Tardy, a champion of student programs who served as president and CEO of the IU Alumni Association from 1987 until his death in 2001. The first Jerry F. Tardy Memorial Scholarship was presented in 2002.
The Spring Recognition Banquet was held at the Virgil T. DeVault Alumni Center on the IU Bloomington campus on April 25. It was sponsored by the Student Alumni Association at IU Bloomington and the IU Bloomington Office of the Provost and Executive Vice President.
Rebecca Brozio, vice president for university and alumni relations, Student Alumni Association, presented the Student Choice Awards. Karen Hanson, IU Bloomington provost and executive vice president, presented the Stahr Awards. Patricia Surfus, associate director of student programs, IU Alumni Association, presented the Tardy Scholarship; and Conor McIntyre, director of student programs, IUAA, presented the Rich Scholarships.
The IU Alumni Association is dedicated to serving the university and its diverse alumni, students and friends. As one of the nation's largest alumni organizations, serving approximately 530,000 graduates worldwide, the IUAA provides many programs and services to its members, nonmember alumni, and the university. For more information, visit www.alumni.indiana.edu or call 800-824-3044. For more information on the Student Alumni Association, visit www.indiana.edu/~saa.
