Human Sciences celebrates faculty and staff

Friday, December 2, 2016

The College of Human Sciences recently celebrated faculty and staff achievements during its annual holiday celebration.  Three faculty and two staff members were honored.

Design, Housing and Merchandising Professor Dr. Mihyun Kang is this year's recipient of the Undergraduate Research Mentor Award. Kang, who also holds the Christine Salmon Professorship, has mentored Freshman Research Scholars, Wentz semester grant recipients and directed honors students' thesis projects. One undergraduate student made an oral presentation at the Interior Design Educator's Council national conference.  Another undergraduate student is a co-author on a published manuscript, and two sets of undergraduates received first place awards for their research projects during OSU's annual research symposium.

Nutritional Sciences Assistant Professor Dr. Winyoo Chowanadisai received the 2017 Marguerite Scruggs Award for Early Career Meritorious Research. Chowanadisai is a rising star in the field of nutrition and neuroscience. His research focuses on nutrigenomics and brain development, function and disease such as Alzheimer's. Studies in his lab have emphasis on the role of ZIP12 in neural tube defects and other irregularities of the developing brain and central nervous system. He has actively sought external funding from many sources and recently received a grant from Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.

The Scruggs Award recognizes faculty who, through achievements in the early stages of their career, demonstrate outstanding potential to become distinguished faculty of the College of Human Sciences in the future. The award honors Dr. Marguerite Scruggs, the college's first associate dean for research.

The 2017 College of Human Sciences Outstanding Community Engagement Award was presented to Dr. Ron Cox, human development and family science research professor and extension specialist. Cox, who is the George Kaiser Family Foundation Endowed Chair in Child and Family Resilience, integrates a wide range of applied and theoretical resources resulting in multiple layers of impact. He created and leads a program called Juntos for Latino youth and their families in the Tulsa area. Over the first three years of the program, improved behaviors and outcomes such as staying in school have been reported. Cox also provides leadership for Co-Parenting for Resilience classes, which was created to help parents discover effective strategies that promote their children's healthy adjustment to their parents' separation.  

The Community Engagement Award recognizes individuals for exceptional creativity and scholarship in the development, application, and evaluation of community outreach, extension, engagement, and public service programs.

The college presented S.T.A.R. awards to Robin FitzGerald and Judi Horn for their service, teamwork, attitude and reliability. FitzGerald is the academic advisor in human development and family science. Her nominator noted “Never Say No Robin” solves problems and manages the bureaucratic process for faculty and staff and is always willing to help. She recruits students and makes sure they are on the track to graduation. As the HDFS club sponsor, she spends countless hours meeting with students in guiding and mentoring the club's leadership. Her efforts resulted in the HDFS Club receiving OSU's 2016 Outstanding New Program by Students Award for the Human Services Volunteer Fair held in the spring.
 
As the college's alumni support specialist, Judi Horn is another S.T.A.R. employee who is always willing to accommodate faculty, staff, alumni, friends and students.  She has served in a variety of offices, and her can-do attitude and willingness to accept new tasks make her a valuable asset. With her experience and attention to detail, the signature events in the college are successfully executed. Her ability to work with a variety of individuals, groups and vendors create important relationships for the college. She has an extensive knowledge of friends, alumni and their families who are important to the college's administration.