April 10, 2015
“The University of Mississippi provides for a range of opportunities for all our students, and the ones being honored today have taken full advantage of the university’s resources. Going forward, our charge to you is to take these experiences and use them to help shape a better state, nation and world.”—CHANCELLOR DANIEL W. JONES
Outstanding students from all academic disciplines and the campuswide top teacher were recognized Thursday, April 9 at the University of Mississippi 72nd annual Honors Day Convocation at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts.
Seventy-two students were presented with Marcus Elvis Taylor Memorial Medals in recognition for “meritorious scholarship and deportment,” the university’s highest academic award, and faculty member Robert B. Brown, professor of political science, received the Elsie M. Hood Outstanding Teacher Award.
Guest speaker for the event was the 2014 Hood Award recipient, Ann Fisher-Wirth, professor of English, director of the Environmental Studies minor.
The Taylor Medals, established in 1904, are the university’s highest academic award and recognize no more than 1 percent of the student body each year. The Hood Award was first given in 1966 and allows faculty, staff, students and alumni to nominate a deserving professor for superior classroom teaching.
Around 170 students were inducted into Phi Kappa Phi, the university’s highest academic honor across all disciplines. The speaker was David Rock, dean of the School of Education and professor of curriculum and instruction.
Sixty-eight students were inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the university’s highest academic honor in the liberal arts. Ted Ownby, director of the Center for the Study of Southern Culture and professor of history, spoke at the ceremony.
Awards in the College of Liberal Arts
Outstanding Studio Art Student Award
Seth Michael Thibodaux
Outstanding Art History Student Award
Dason Sebastian Pettit
Student Art Association Award
Hunter Rose Johnson
Roy Frank Finger Memorial Award
Tiffany Lisa Lyn Priewe
Student Art Association David Rorie Award
Jennifer Brooke Langford
Student Art Association Lottie Morland Award
Bryan Scott Horn
Outstanding Graduating Chemistry Scholar
Ryan Franklin Sessums
Eta Sigma Phi Award for Excellence in Advanced Greek
Donald Ernest Hatcher
Eta Sigma Phi Award for Excellence in Advanced Latin
Jordan Alanie Bauer
Outstanding Liberal Arts Economics Student Award
Kathryn Elsa James
Kevin Gordon Scott
Auvergne Williams Award for Outstanding Senior History Major
Nathan Michael Runnels
Larry D. Givens Award for Outstanding Junior History Major
Michael Calhoun Wilkerson
Alfred Hume Award for Outstanding Senior
Neetish Ballabh Pradhan
Estella G. Hefley Award
Sydney Faith Baer
T.J. Ray Award in Linguistics
Sabrina Ann Kosloske
Arabic Language Award
Sailer Elizabeth Perkins
Chinese Language Award
Kevin Gordon Scott
French Language Award
Jillian Leah Cowart
German Language Award
Savannah Winn Coleman
Italian Language Award
Kristin Nicole Leaptrott
Japanese Language Award
Zhen Guo
Korean Language Award
Kylan Grace Toohey
Portuguese Language Award
Maia Cotelo
Russian Language Award
Annelise Kay Albert
Spanish Language Award
Mary Virginia Martin
Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Music
Benjamin Tate Bickley
Outstanding Graduate Student in Music
Katri Ann Gilbert
James and Cecelia Lawhead Philosophy Award
Haley Cherise Clark
Joel and Marion Blass Religious Studies Award
Hannah Leigh Switzer
Howerton-Fortenberry Award in the Study of Government
Michelle Lynn Wier
Senator’s Award for Excellence in the Study of Politics
Anna Lee Whisenant
Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Study of Politics
Katherine Kent Farese
Pi Sigma Alpha Award
Michelle Lynn Wier
Howard H. Stone Memorial Award
Joshua Quinn Tucker
John and Lillian Wolfe Graduate Award for Excellence
Kelly Reed Peck
Julien Tatum Award for Outstanding Senior in Sociology
Matthew Trent Fernandez
Joshua Shane Horton
Larry W. DeBord Award for Outstanding Sociology Graduate Student
Laura Elizabeth Renahe Bruster
Frances W. James Award for Outstanding Senior in Anthropology
Timothy Michael Harris
Outstanding Theatre Arts Student Award
Laura Kathryn Lindsay
Cynthia Krieser Award for Outstanding Freshman Writing
Kelsey Regan Lock
Awards in the Graduate School
LIBERAL ARTS
Graduate Achievement Award in Art and Art History
Stacey Lynn Rathert
Graduate Achievement Award in Chemistry and Biochemistry
Thomas Lucious Ellington
Graduate Achievement Award in Mathematics
Janet Nakarmi
Graduate Achievement Award in Modern Languages
Kate Caroline Batson
Graduate Achievement Award in Psychology
Kelly Reed Peck
Graduate Achievement Award in Sociology and Anthropology
Laura Elizabeth Renahe Bruster