Athens, Ga. – The University of Georgia will hold its annual Honors Day program April 2 to recognize top student scholars, superior teachers and outstanding faculty advisors and mentors.

The program will be in Hugh Hodgson Hall in UGA’s Performing Arts Center beginning at 2 p.m. Undergraduate classes scheduled for sixth, seventh and eighth periods (1:25-4:25 p.m.) will be dismissed so students and faculty can attend. Spaces in parking lot E11 will be reserved for program participants but lots E04, E05, E06 and E07 will be open without charge for the ceremony.

The program will be televised live on UGA cable channel 15 and will be streamed live on the Internet.

Marguerite “Peggy” Brickman, an associate professor of plant biology who is an award-winning teacher and an authority on methods to improve teaching and learning, will be the Honors Day speaker.

Several hundred students will be recognized for academic excellence. They include 34 First Honor Graduates who have maintained a perfect 4.0 grade point average, and students who rank in the top five percent of their schools and colleges.

Honors Day also recognizes faculty members who are receiving awards for teaching excellence; faculty and staff who are being recognized as outstanding advisors and mentors; and graduate students who are receiving awards for teaching.

Four faculty members will be presented as new Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professors, UGA’s highest recognition of superior instruction at the undergraduate and graduate levels. This year’s Meigs Professors are Christopher Allen, international affairs; James Coverdill, sociology; Catherine Jones, Romance languages; and Lynne Sallot, advertising and public relations.

Recipients of the Richard B. Russell Award, which recognizes junior faculty for outstanding teaching, will also be presented. They are Mitos Andaya, Hodgson School of Music; George Contini, theatre and film studies; and Patricia Richards, sociology and women’s studies.

In addition, two faculty who have been appointed to special professorships will be recognized. They are James Hamrick, plant biology, who has been named Regents Professor, and Peter Shedd, insurance, legal studies and real estate, who has been appointed University Professor.

Brickman, this year’s speaker, received an award from the University System of Georgia Board of Regents in 2007 for her “nationally recognized and highly respected” scholarship on developing and testing new methods of teaching introductory biology.

Brickman did post-doctoral work at UGA after earning her Ph.D. in genetics from the University of California at Berkeley and taught for a year at Agnes Scott College before joining the UGA faculty in 1996. She won the Richard Russell Award in 2006 and in 2004 was named a National Academy of Sciences Education Fellow.

The following faculty members will be recognized as outstanding teachers in the schools and colleges:

Franklin College of Arts and Sciences: E. M. Beck, sociology; Leonard Ball Jr., School of Music; Marcus Fechheimer, cellular biology; David Haas, School of Music; Tina Harris, speech communication; Kenneth Honerkamp, religion; Don Potter, computer science; Susan Roberts, School of Art; David Saltz, theatre and film studies; Janice Simon, School of Art; Jill Smith, statistics;

College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: Amy Batal, poultry science; Mark Compton, poultry science; Adam Davis, poultry science; Joseph McHugh, entomology; William Kisaalita, biological and agricultural engineering; John Ricketts, agricultural leadership, education and communication; Sidney Thompson, biological and agricultural engineering; Michael Wetzstein, agricultural and applied economics;

School of Law: Dan Coenen, Lonnie Brown, Jason Solomon;

College of Pharmacy: Brian Cummings, pharmaceutical and biomedical sciences;

Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources: Steven Castleberry, Rhett Jackson;

College of Education: Mary Ann Fitzgerald, educational psychology and instructional technology; Corey Johnson, counseling and human development; Gwynn Powell, counseling and human development; Gayle Andrews, elementary and social studies education;

Terry College of Business: Stephen Baginski, J. M. Tull School of Accounting; Roberto Friedman, marketing and distribution; Craig Piercy, management information systems; Mark Huber, management information systems; Tyler Henry, banking and finance; Mark LaPlante, banking and finance; William Phillips, economics; Ann Buchholtz, management; Dawn Bennett-Alexander, insurance, legal studies and real estate; Carolyn Dehring, insurance, legal studies and real estate; David Eckles, risk management and insurance;

Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication: Louise Benjamin, telecommunications; John Greenman, journalism; Kirsten Strausbaugh-Hutchinson, advertising and public relations; Kaye Sweetser, advertising and public relations;

Family and Consumer Sciences: Emily Blalock, textiles, merchandising and interiors; Tracey Brigman, foods and nutrition; Diann Moorman, housing and consumer economics; Mariana Souto-Manning, child and family development;

College of Veterinary Medicine: Oliver Li, physiology and pharmacology; Ken Latimer, pathology;

School of Social Work: Michelle Carney, Rufus Larkin, Patricia Reeves, Dawn Stula, Stephanie Swann;

College of Environment and Design: Gregg Coyle and Mark Reinberger;

School of Public and International Affairs: Damon Cann, political science; Vicky Wilkins, public administration and policy;

College of Public Health: Phaedra Corso, health policy and management;

Odum School of Ecology: Sonia Altizer, Mark Bradford, Jim Richardson; and

Division of Academic Enhancement: Christopher Pisarik.

Jan Davis Barham, an assistant to the vice president for student affairs who teaches a class in the College of Education, will be recognized as the Outstanding Adjunct Faculty Member.

Several faculty members will be honored for teaching excellence in the Honors Program. The J. Hatten Howard Award, which recognizes faculty who exhibit special promise in teaching Honors courses during their first term as an Honors Program instructor, will be presented to Teena Wilhelm, political science.

The Lothar Tresp Outstanding Honors Professor Award is given to Honors faculty based on course evaluations. This year’s recipients are Christine Franklin, statistics; Charles Kutal, chemistry; and John Maltese, political science.

The Office of the Vice President for Public Service and Outreach will present a Scholarship of Engagement Award to William Kisaalita, biological and agricultural engineering.

Winners of the university’s annual award to a faculty member and a staff member for excellence in academic advising and mentoring are Mark Compton, poultry science, and Patricia Hoyt, J. M. Tull School of Accounting.

The university recognizes outstanding efforts to involve undergraduate students in research with the Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award. This year’s winners are John Maurer, population health, and Walter Schmidt, biochemistry and molecular biology.

The Graduate School also recognizes faculty members with the Outstanding Mentoring Award. The recipients are JoBeth Allen, language and literacy education, and Linda Grant, sociology.

The Graduate School recognizes graduate teaching assistants for outstanding performance with the Excellence in Teaching Award. This year’s recipients are Julia Barnes, Romance languages; Ava Howard, plant biology; Emily Jones, kinesiology; Katherine Small, genetics; and Danielle Webster, cellular biology.

UGA began recognizing First Honor Graduates in 1978 instead of designating a graduating senior as valedictorian. This year’s First Honor Graduates and their hometowns and majors are:

Nicole M. Babcock, Roswell, Italian and Spanish, and advertising; Lauren N. Beck, Tyrone, biology; Lauren A. Berardicurti, Duluth, finance and management information systems; Ryan E. Blalock, Calhoun, biology; Andrew D. Bosson, Savannah, genetics; Jessica M. Bryant, Evans, cellular biology; Kyle S. Davis, Hampton, finance;

Natalie B. Davis, Statesboro, microbiology and psychology; Ashley N. Dickerson, Loganville, early childhood education; Rachel M. Dolan, Lexington, S.C., Italian and Spanish; Rebecca H. Elliot, Loganville, early childhood education; Kathryn S. Flake, Concord, biological science; Laura C. Gowder, Blairsville, biology;

Jessica E. Hartzog, Flowery Branch, psychology; Joshua D. Levinson, Dunwoody, finance; Rebecca E. Lohmuller, Lilburn, communication sciences and disorders; Anant Mandawat, Martinez, biochemistry and molecular biology; Anna-Marieta Moise, Rincon, psychology and biology; Lucy E. Morgan, Marietta, early childhood education; Emily J. Osborn, Roswell, biology and psychology; Candace B. Owen, Moultrie, early childhood education;

Andrew A. Pinson, Watkinsville, finance; Tyler B. Pratt, Augusta, international affairs; Jaclyn D. Price, Hoschton, special education; Jamie R. Robinson, Hartwell, genetics; Anjali Shroff, Alpharetta, biology and psychology; Laura J. Simpson, Suwanee, biology and Spanish; Anna E. Smith, Nashville, TN, sociology; Amy B. Thomson, Cumming, English;

Tracy N. Tucker, Roswell, sociology and psychology; Lauren A. Vigil, Atlanta, comparative literature and microbiology; Rachel M. Webster, Roswell, magazines; Daniel J. Weitz, Marietta, international affairs and French; and Michael C. Yonz, Waycross, biology.

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