More than 70 students honored at Academic Awards Ceremony

April 14, 2008
Karen B. Eldridge, Director of News and Public Information
865.981.8207; karen.eldridge@maryvillecollege.edu

Scholarship and the ideals of the liberal arts were celebrated April 12, when 58 different awards were presented to 73 students at Maryville College’s annual Academic Awards Ceremony.

The ceremony, held in the sanctuary of Maryville’s First Baptist Church and attended by numerous students, parents and family members, began with a procession of faculty members and administrators led by macebearer Dr. Terry Simpson, chair of the College’s Division of Education.

“All of us at the College take great personal satisfaction in the accomplishments of these students as we recognize them for their special commitment to learning, their passion for understanding, their sensitivity to nuance, their appreciation for social and cultural diversity, and their willingness to use their growing wisdom for the common good,” said Dr. Robert Naylor, vice president and dean of the College, who served as the evening’s emcee.

Below is a list of awards given and students recognized in all seven academic divisions, core curriculum and other departments.

BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES

Patricia Weaver of Jackson, Tenn., received the David H. Briggs Award, which recognizes the senior psychology major with the best academic performance in psychology as judged by classroom performance, overall scholarship and grade point average.

Senior Sheri Lovegrove of Maryville, Tenn., was honored with the Child Development Award, which is annually awarded to a rising senior who has demonstrated competence with children and achieved outstanding performance in the major, as well as in overall scholarship as reflected in grade point average.

The Irma Young Outstanding Senior Award in Interpreting was presented to Priscilla Richardson of Knoxville, Tenn., and Megan Wylie of Oak Ridge, Tenn. The award recognizes students who show exemplary potential for the interpreting profession as indicated by interpreting performance and scholarship.

CORE CURRICULUM

The Glenn Hewitt Award in Ethics was presented to history for teacher licensure major Amy Hoover of Limerick, Pa., for outstanding work in Ethics 490: Philosophical and Theological Foundations of Ethical Thought.

For earning the highest grade point average in all core courses taken at Maryville College, four seniors were recognized with the Liberal Arts Award: Rachel Morris, a mathematics major from Knoxville, Tenn.; Matthew Murrill, a chemistry major from Knoxville; Lauren Sipe, a mathematics major from Maryville; and Emily Winsauer, a religion major from Maryville.

EDUCATION

Catherine Beckham, a junior physical education/health for K-12 teacher licensure major from Birmingham, Ala., was awarded the Phi Epsilon Rho Award, which goes to a rising senior in physical education or recreation who has at least a cumulative 3.0 GPA, has exhibited leadership in campus and departmental activities and professional organizations.

Lauren Fleming of Sevierville, Tenn., also a physical education/health for K-12 teacher licensure major, took home the Physical Education, Health & Outdoor Recreation Outstanding Senior Award. This award recognizes a graduating senior in the major who has at least a cumulative 3.5 GPA, serves as a role model in the classroom and community and is involved in professional organizations.

Outstanding Student Teaching awards are presented annually to seniors who have completed student teaching, have exhibited superior competency in academic content knowledge and pedagogy and have demonstrated the management skills necessary for the classroom.

This year, the award for Outstanding Student Teacher in the Elementary Grades was presented to Stephanie Gibson, a senior child development and learning for teacher licensure major from Maryville.

Kevin Fowler of Maryville was named winner of the award for Outstanding Student Teacher in the Secondary Grades. He is a senior political science/history for teacher licensure major.

FINE ARTS

The Barraclough Choir Award, which recognizes seniors and successful students who have been outstanding in service to the Maryville College Choir, was presented to two music education majors: Joa Aaby from Louisville, Tenn.; and April Marin from Burlington, N.C.

For demonstrated achievement and leadership in professional activities and organizations, music theory and composition major Emily Emadian from Normandy, Tenn., was awarded the Dorothy Barber Bushing Award. Emadian also took home the Davies Fine Arts Award, which is annually presented to a rising senior majoring in music, art or theatre who has demonstrated outstanding work in the major field, good academic achievement, has contributed to the life and work of the department and shown artistic promise.

The Clark Family Prize was awarded to four art students who have demonstrated outstanding academic and artistic achievement: sophomore Samuel Howell of Alcoa, Tenn.; sophomore Brett Jacobsen of Richmond, Texas; junior Alicia Ray from Maryville; and sophomore Stephani Richardson of Corryton, Tenn.

Sharon Lankford, a sophomore vocal performance major from Maryville, was awarded the Robert Bonham Music Faculty Award for Superior Performance.

Nicci Williamson, a theatre major from Walland, Tenn., was presented the Outstanding Senior Theatre Student Award.

The Evelyn Seedorf Prize in Dramatic Arts, presented to the most deserving student majoring in theatre, went to Katie Stangarone, a junior from Maryville.

Andi Morrow, a theatre major from Huntsville, Tenn., took home the Bates Forensic-Drama Award.

The Sarah Hardrath Kramer Art History Award, presented to the graduating senior who has demonstrated the most outstanding achievement in the major field, was presented to Jessica Bishop of Chatsworth, Ga.

HUMANITIES

For achieving the best four-year record in the study of English, Rachael Whaley, a senior English major from Muncie, Ind. was awarded the Alexander English Prize.

M.F. “Megan” Courtney, a senior religion major from Knoxville, was presented the T.T. Alexander Award, which goes to the student with the best paper on a subject from one of the following areas: the relationship of philosophical or theological inquiry to social issues; the application of such inquiry to social issues; the consequences of social, theological or philosophical problems of religious doctrine; the consequences of religious doctrine upon social, political or economic thinking or social science method; or the consequence of religious doctrine upon social, political or economic issues and conflicts.

Emily Winsauer, a religion major from Maryville, was named the recipient of the Bates Bible Award, which is presented each year to the graduating senior who has demonstrated the most ability in the study of religion or philosophy.

For outstanding academic achievement and significant involvement on the staff of The Highland Echo campus newspaper, four students were awarded the Charlotta Cook Hensley Memorial Award: Whitney Downing, a junior writing/communication major from Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Caitland Romer, a junior writing/communication major from Alcoa, Tenn.; Sarah Sharp, a junior writing/communication major from LaFollette, Tenn.; and Kevin Wheatley, a junior writing/communication major from Frankfort, Ky.

The Edwin R. Hunter Award for Excellence in Research in English or American Literature goes each year to the senior judged to have produced the most outstanding Senior Study in English or American Literature. This year, Joshua Hurst, an English literature major from Knoxville, took home the award.

William Newsom, a junior from Hermitage, Tenn., took home the Verton M. Queener Award for History, which recognizes outstanding study of American and English history.

Impressions, MC’s campus literary magazine, presented three awards to magazine contributors. Creighton Bloyd, a sophomore from Greensburg, Ky., was honored with the award for Best Prose; freshman Erin Sapp, a Knoxville resident, earned the award for Best Poetry; and the award for Best Photography went to Emily Harrill, a senior political science major from Maryville.

The Ruth Lloyd Kramer Memorial Award, which goes to a junior English major who has demonstrated outstanding academic achievement, exceptional service to the College and significant involvement in extracurricular activities, went to Molly Sneary of Chattanooga.

Five students were recognized for outstanding achievement in foreign language study. First-year student Katelyn Deininger of Roswell, Ga., was honored for her work in Chinese. The award for outstanding achievement in Japanese went to first-year student Rebecca Durbin of Maryville. M. M. “Peggy” Gibson of Maryville was recognized for her work in German. Recognition for achievements in Spanish went to sophomore Whitney Pruitt of Louisville, Tenn., and Caroline Redmond, a first-year student from Kingsport, Tenn. First-year student Ashley Vandevender of Bartlett, Tenn., was recognized for her work in French.

MATHEMATICS & COMPUTER SCIENCE

Recognized as the most outstanding junior in the department of mathematics and computer science, Chelsey Johnson of Knoxville was named the recipient of the Troy Bell Lane Waggoner and Russell N. and Frances Lane Edwards Award.

The George A. Knapp Mathematics Award, which goes to the most outstanding and most promising junior or senior student studying mathematics, was presented to Brandon Aaby, a resident of Louisville, Tenn.

The West Chevrolet Academic Award is given to students who score in the top 10 percent on the mathematics competition conducted by the College’s division of mathematics and computer science. Four first-year students were named winners: Christopher A. “Drew” Houser of Maryville; Laura Maestas of Rockford, Tenn.; Nicole Sievers of Maryville; and W. Joseph Williams of Greenback, Tenn.

Judged the student with the most outstanding performance in calculus, sophomore Xiang Liu, a mathematics and computer science/mathematics double major from China, was presented the William H. Dent Calculus Award.

The Jerry L. Pietenpol Computer Science Award, which recognizes the most outstanding and most promising junior or senior student majoring in computer science, went to Jesse Smith of Knoxville.

The Outstanding Achievement in Statistics Award went to Rachel Morris, a mathematics major from Knoxville.

NATURAL SCIENCES

R. Garrik “Gar” Secrist of Knoxville accepted the Susan Allen Green Award, which is presented annually to the most outstanding student in the junior class who is majoring in biology.

For her outstanding four-year record in biology, Kayleigh McDaniel of Corryton, Tenn., was honored with the A. Randolph Shields Award.

The award for Outstanding Performance in Inorganic Chemistry was presented to Morgan Douglas, a first-year student from Knoxville.

Brandon Todd, a sophomore biochemistry major from Bartlett, Tenn., was selected the winner of the Outstanding Performance in Structural Chemistry Award, which recognizes outstanding ability in the study of organic chemistry and structural analysis.

Recognized as the senior who had demonstrated the most outstanding accomplishments in chemistry, Matthew Murrill of Knoxville was awarded the Distinguished Achievement in Chemistry Award. He was also presented the LeQuire Award, which recognizes the top student in the humanities or natural science divisions who has chosen medicine as a career goal.

SOCIAL SCIENCES

Political science major Karen Huskey, a junior from Maryville was given the Agnes Thornton-Bird Endowed Memorial Award. The honor annually goes to a locally residing sophomore or junior woman interested in pursuing a career in the legal profession.

The John W. Burgess Award for meritorious achievement in the field of political science was presented to two students: senior Allyson Ketron of Bristol, Tenn.; and Erin Mentzer of Knoxville.

Senior Joshua Phillips from Brimley, Minn., was honored with the Judson B. Murphy Endowed Business Award, which is presented annually to a senior who demonstrates outstanding work in business and organization management with outstanding character and well-rounded achievement and career promise.

For her outstanding work in sociology, outstanding character, well-rounded achievement and career promise, Megan Gentry of Sevierville was awarded the Outstanding Senior Award in Sociology.

The Judson B. Murphy Endowed Business Award, which recognizes a senior who has demonstrated outstanding work in business and organization management, outstanding character, well-rounded achievement and career promise, went to Joshua Phillips of Brimley, Mich.

Lukas Oelfke of Germany was honored with the Outstanding Senior Award for the Student Majoring in Economics. The award recognizes outstanding work in the major, outstanding character, well-rounded achievement and career promise.

The Kyle & Roberta Myers Petree Endowed Award for high-achieving local students majoring in business went to Patricia Loe-Pope of Knoxville.

ADDITIONAL AWARDS

The Hall “Ethical Thinking” Award, which is annually presented to a member of the junior class whose essay could be published in a journal or magazine, was given to two students: Clarissa Dean, a junior history major from Nashville, Tenn., and Karen Huskey, a junior political science major from Maryville.

Lukas Oelfke of Germany was also named winner of the Outstanding International Student Award, which goes to a senior, non-native English speaker who has been a student at the College for one academic year, has a minimum GPA of 3.5 and has shown leadership inside and outside the classroom.

The Ryan Newhouse Award was presented to junior art major Ashley Hubbard of Lenoir City, Tenn. The award is given each year to the junior or senior student who, in the judgment of the business, fine arts and humanities faculty members, typifies the finest characteristics of the liberal arts by uniting the fields of business and the humanities or fine arts in his or her academic life, personal growth and values.

Chelsea Barker, a sophomore environmental studies/sociology major from Brentwood, Tenn., and Erin Kramer, a junior art history major from Morristown, Tenn., were named recipients of the College’s full-tuition Presidential Scholarship.

Kramer was one of five students presented the Alpha Gamma Sigma Award, which goes to juniors with the highest scholastic average for the first two years of college. Other winners included: Samuel Ashe, a chemistry major from Greenville, Tenn.; Catherine Culbertson, a sociology major from Georgetown, Ky.; R. Garrick “Gar” Secrist, a biology major from Knoxville; and Elliot Sylvester, a computer science/mathematic major from Covina, Calif.

Rachel Morris and Mathew Murrill both received the Alpha Lambda Delta Award, which goes to the Senior Alpha Lambda Delta member with the highest GPA through the fall semester of the senior year.

OUTSTANDING SENIORS RECOGNIZED

Rachel Rushworth, an English for teacher licensure major from Chattanooga, Tenn., was named the 2008 Outstanding Senior. One of the most prestigious honors given a student, the Outstanding Senior Award recognizes a senior student who has been active in a broad range of activities, who most exemplifies the “ideal” Maryville College graduate and who has the potential to be an outstanding graduate.

Finalists for the Outstanding Senior award included Knoxville resident Silvia Saray Román González, an international studies and Spanish for teacher licensure double major; Heather Graves, a writing/communication major from Smyrna, Tenn.; Knoxville native Adam King, an English Literature major; and Mathew Murrill, a chemistry major from Knoxville.