Annual Scholastic Honors Convocation celebrates student, faculty excellence

May 1, 2023

Held on Friday, April 28, Columbus State University’s annual Scholastic Honors Convocation recognizes students and faculty for their academic and service accomplishments at the program, departmental and university levels.

In all, the university presented more than 120 awards this year—including its top honors, which for students include the Faculty Cup Award, Academic Recognition Award; and Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Student of the Year Award. They also include the faculty Educator of the Year Award.

Faculty Cup Award: Spencer White, a senior from Knoxville, Tennessee, double-majoring in music and interdisciplinary studies

The Faculty Cup is the highest student award bestowed by the university, recognizing a student classified as a senior for their superior academic achievement, student engagement, leadership, service and potential for future achievement. Nominations are made by faculty to the Scholastic Honors Committee for consideration.

This year’s honoree, Spencer White, will graduate in May with both a bachelor of science in interdisciplinary studies and a bachelor of arts in music—along with certificates in international studies, Latin American studies, public musicology, and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). He is a member of the Honors College and the CSU Trombone Ensemble, and president of the CSU Model United Nations. White has been a student leader of study abroad trips to Guatemala and Tunisia, and he participated in internships as a development assistant for the Aspen Music Festival and a resource development intern for Habitat for Humanity. After graduation, he plans to serve with the Peace Corps in Guatemala.

Academic Recognition Award: Kaitlyn Shepherd, a senior from Warner Robins, Georgia, majoring in kinesiology

The Academic Recognition Award is presented in conjunction with the university’s honoree for the University System of Georgia’s Academic Recognition Day program. Each USG institution’s honoree best represents the system’s highest scholastic ideals, possesses a high GPA, strives for excellence and has the ability to share knowledge in various areas of expertise.

This year’s honoree, Kaitlyn Shepherd, will graduate this spring with a degree in kinesiology and a 4.0 grade point average. She is a member of the Honors College and a fellow in the Undergraduate Servant Leadership Program, the latter based in the William B. Turner Center for Servant Leadership. She is a volunteer with numerous community, faith-based organizations and campus organizations, including the Honoris Causa Society and Presidential Envoys. She plans to continue her studies after graduation, eventually earning a doctorate in physical therapy.

Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Student of the Year Award: Jae Yu, a graduate of the Master of Public Administration program and a native of Alexandria, Virginia

The Phi Kappa Phi Outstanding Student of the Year Award is presented annually to a student member of the Columbus State Chapter of Phi Kappa Phi who wishes to attend graduate school. The student recipient is eligible to represent the chapter in applying for the national Phi Kappa Phi Fellowship Award, which provides grants ranging from $8,500 to $35,000 to over 50 members entering their first year of graduate or professional study. These fellowship awards are bestowed based on applicants’ promise of success in graduate school or professional study as evidenced by academic achievement, service, leadership and strong recommendations from others.

This year’s honoree, Jae Yu, is an officer in the U.S. Army Reserves and serves as a new senior division director for the National Defense Industrial Association. The NDIA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan and educational organization that serves more than 66,000 individual and corporate military, government, industry and academic members who focus on or specialize in national security matters. Before graduating from Columbus State with a master’s in public administration with a 4.0 grade point average, he earned a bachelor’s in physics from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He is now pursuing a master of business administration from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He served as an Army officer for over a decade, during which time he deployed to Afghanistan and earned a Bronze Star. Yu is also a published researcher studying the impact of immigrants and non-citizens in the U.S. military.  

Educator of the Year Award: Dr. Jonathan Meyers, an associate professor of chemistry in the Department of Chemistry

The Educator of the Year Award is presented annually by the Student Government Association to recognize and promote teaching excellence among the university’s faculty. Awardees are nominated by students and evaluated on the basis of knowledge, consistency, dependability and creativity.

This year’s honoree, Dr. Jonathan Meyers, is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry. His academic and research focus has included chemical biology—especially eliminating the carcinogenic potential of insulin-based therapies used to treat Diabetes mellitus. His research has resulted in a patent that was licensed to an international pharmaceutical company, and his insulin analogs are currently being tested in animal models. A member of the Columbus State faculty since 2014, he holds a bachelor of science with an American Chemical Society certification from the University of West Georgia, and a Ph.D. in biological chemistry from Indiana University.

STUDENT OF EXCELLENCE AWARDS

Student of Excellence Awards are bestowed by academic departments and programs upon the advice of the department chair and department faculty. This year’s recipients include:

College of the Arts

Department of Art, Art Ian Dooley; Department of Communication, Elizabeth Nesbitt; Schwob School of Music, Spencer White; Department of Theatre & Dance, Storm Cole

D. Abbott Turner College of Business & Technology

Department of Accounting & Finance, Brodey Goebel; Department of Marketing & Management, Edwin Johns; TSYS School of Computer Science, Eriq Robicheaux

College of Education & Health Professions

Department of Teacher Education, Leadership & Counseling, Kimberly Apple; Graduate Health & Physical Education, Derrick Sands; Masters of Public Health, Michael Lambert; School of Nursing, Anna Fugh; Undergraduate Health Science, Dominique Webb; Undergraduate Kinesiology: Josie Williams

College of Letters & Sciences

Department of Chemistry, Kristina Armstrong; Criminology, Melissa Stokes-Martinez; Department of Earth & Space Sciences, Sabrina Fisher; Department of English, Destinee Williams; Department of History & Geography (Geography focus), Bailey Melton; Department of History & Geography (History focus), Lucy Clarke; Department of Mathematics, Thomas Merino; Department of Modern & Classical Languages, Raquel Aponte; Department of Politics, Philosophy & Public Administration, Joanelys Lamberty; M.S. Natural Sciences-Biology Track, Edison Rea; M.S. Natural Sciences-Environmental Science Track, Sarah Tash; M.S. Natural Sciences-Geoscience Track, Brendon O’Keeffee; Mathematics-Applied Mathematics, Brady Hampel; Mathematics-Data Science, Justin Ludwig; Psychology, Youbin Park; Sociology, Wendy Brundage.

DEPARTMENTAL AWARDS

Departmental Awards are bestowed by academic departments to students upon the advice of the department’s chair and its faculty. This year’s recipients include:

College of the Arts

Department of Art: Art Education Undergraduate Award, Noah Shedd; Art Education Graduate Award, Kayla Whitmire; Art History Award, Kennedy Williams; B.A. Studio Art Award, Ava Jenkins; B.F.A. Studio Art Award, Campbell Eubanks.

Department of Communication: Communication Student of the Year Award, Rae Palmer.

Schwob School of Music: Outstanding Freshman Music Major Award, Cole Zelman; Presser Scholar Award, Austin Murray; Senior Music Major Award, Spencer White.

Department of Theatre & Dance: Theatre Arts Award, Ian Rossin; Theatre Arts: Design & Technical Award, Sun Lindstrom; Theatre Arts: Education Award, Storm Cole; Theatre Arts: Performance Award, Keenan Pasqua.

D. Abbott Turner College of Business & Technology

Department of Accounting & Finance: Accounting Award, Carley Canzoneri; Finance Award, George Ryker Singer.

Department of Marketing & Management: General Business Award, Joseph Borchardt; Management Award, Edwin Johns; Marketing Award, Taylor Parker; Master of Business Administration Award, McKenzie Doran; Master of Science in Organizational Leadership Award, Sara Ramirez Goncalves.

TSYS School of Computer Science: Management Information Systems Award, Zeanne Janine Abano; B.S. in Computer Science-Software Systems Track Award, Donghyeon Park; B.S. in Computer Science-Web Development Track Award, Austin Lee; B.S. in Computer Science-Games Programming Track Award, Eriq Robicheaux; B.S in Information Technology Award, Peyton Daniel; B.S. in Computer Science-Cybersecurity Track Award, Noah Neundorfer; B.S in Computer Science-Enterprise Computing Track Award, Tashema Johnson; B.S in Cybersecurity Award, Eboni Franklin; M.S.in Applied Computer Science-A.I. & Machine Learning Track Award, Mayank Gaba; M.S. in Applied Computer Science-Software Development Track Award, Harika Bhemidi; M.S. in Applied Computer Science-Traditional Track Award, Vamsi Krishna Bhagavathula; M.S. in Applied Computer Science-Cybersecurity Track Award, Itorobong Udo; M.S in Cybersecurity Management Award, Joel Frimpong.

College of Education & Health Professions

Department of Teacher Education, Leadership & Counseling: Clinical Mental Health Counseling Graduate Award, Samantha Twaddell; Curriculum & Instruction in Accomplished Teaching Graduate Award, Daphne Snowden; Doctor of Education-Curriculum Track Award, Bridget Smith; Doctor of Education - Educational Leadership Track Award, Gloria Bernal-Askew; Doctor of Education-Higher Education Administration Award, Kendall Forde; Educational Leadership-Higher Education Graduate Award, Sasshay Tremble; Educational Leadership Graduate Award, Heather Melton; Elementary Education Graduate Award, Robert Tumpalan; Elementary Education Undergraduate Award, Chloe Torres; English Education Graduate Award, Rebecca Winterling; English Education Undergraduate Award, Lydia Strueker; History Education Undergraduate Award, Jacklyn Brasher; Middle Grades Education Graduate Award, Timetrice Thomas; Middle Grades Education Undergraduate Award, Abigail Lewis; School Counseling Graduate Award, Allyn Jones; Secondary Mathematics Education Graduate Award, Cynthia Scheuermann; Secondary Science Education Graduate Award, Thomas Johnson; Social Science Education Graduate Award, Wesley Daniel; Spanish Education Undergraduate Award,Esmima Vital-Vences; Special Education Graduate Award, Caroline Walker; Special Education Undergraduate Award, Curtissia Penamon; Teacher Leadership Graduate Award, Amber Terrell; UTeach Mathematics Education Undergraduate Award, Danelle Spalla; UTeach Science Education Undergraduate Award, Ashleigh Drew.

School of Nursing: Outstanding Nursing BSN Award, Kaila Rogers; Outstanding Nursing FNP Award, Myranda Harbuck; Outstanding Nursing MSN Award, Megan Lawrence; Outstanding Nursing RN-BSN Award, Pamela Zasucha

College of Letters & Sciences

Department of Biology: Biology Education Award, Lizbeth Medrano; Cellular & Molecular Biology Award, Zoe Vazquez; Ecological & Evolutionary Biology Award, Elizabeth Lambert; George Stanton Biology Award, Andrew Holmes; Organismic Biology Award, Ryan Page.

Department of Chemistry: Excellence in Chemistry Research Award, Imani Rogers; Outstanding Freshman Chemistry Major Award, Gabriela Hernandez.

Department of Earth & Space Sciences: Astronomy Award, A’naja Houston; Environmental Science Award, Rashalyn Smith; Geology Award, James Mills; Physics Award, Kayleen Linge.

Department of English: Creative Writing Award, Molly Foster; Literature Award, Jaycee Morrison; Professional Writing Award, Naomi Masuoka.

Department of Modern & Classical Languages: Outstanding Literature & Culture Track Award, Kayah Young; Outstanding Senior Teacher Education Track Award, Esmima Vital-Vences.

Department of Mathematics: Calculus Award, Rohan Patel; Outstanding Mathematics Student Award, Nicholas Dunn.

Department of Politics, Philosophy & Public Administration: Mario Mion Political Science Honors Scholarship Award, Kaylee Wyatt; Master of Public Administration Award, Meagan Santana Peters; Outstanding Political Science Major Award, Timothy Sabau; Philosophy Award, William Blake Lowry.

Department of Psychology: Psychology Academic Achievement Award, Alaysia Brown; Psychology Undergraduate Research Award, Taneshia Wakefield.

Honors College: Interdisciplinary Studies Award, Sonya Mahon; Scholarly Activities in Fine & Performing Arts Award, Keenan Pasqua; Scholarly Activities in Humanities Award, Destinee Williams; Scholarly Activities in Professional Studies Award, Kaylee Day; Scholarly Activities in Science Award, Sabrina Fisher; Scholarly Activities in Social Science Award, Timothy Sabau.

Media contact:
Michael Tullier, APR, Executive Director of Strategic Communication + Marketing, 706.507.8729, mtullier@columbusstate.edu