Charles “Chuck” Hussey (right) was presented the Electrochemistry Society’s Max Bredig Award in Molten Salt and Ionic Liquids by Robert Mantz, chair of ECS’ Physical and Analytical Electrochemistry Division. (Submitted Photo)
Throughout 2014, the university’s faculty and staff affected the lives of thousands of students in too many ways to cover in a single blog post, but a few also made major waves in their respective fields. They received high honors from their peers.
Here are five UM professors whose professional accomplishments made news this year:
Ryan Garrick, professor of biology
Garrick discovered a species of Galapagos tortoise that was thought to have been extinct for more than 150 years. He spoke about his work with tortoises as part of the Oxford Science Cafe in October. He also was lead author of the paper “Lineage fusion in Galápagos giant tortoises,” which ran in Molecular Ecology, one of the top journals in the field of population genetics and evolutionary biology.
“The findings are of broad interest because it focuses on a geographic region central to Charles Darwin’s synthesis of ideas about evolution and natural selection,” Garrick said. “We also present unusually clean genetic data on a phenomenon occurring in nature that is rarely caught in the act: the fusion of two long-isolated lineages, one of which is very likely doomed to extinction.”
Alice Clark, vice chancellor for research and sponsored programs
Clark, vice chancellor for research and sponsored programs and Frederick A.P. Barnard Distinguished Professor of Pharmacognosy, was named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in November. The fellowship is one of the highest honors in the sciences and engineering.
The honor, which is given to AAAS members by their peers, is based on “the candidates’ scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.”
Alice M. Clark
“I am deeply honored and humbled by this recognition,” Clark said. “I realize my good fortune to have enjoyed an exciting and fulfilling career at an institution that values scholarship and service to society. I also know full well that whatever accomplishments are attributed to me are, in truth, shared accomplishments with my many colleagues here at the University of Mississippi and throughout the country with whom I’ve had the privilege to work. I accept this honor as a tribute to our collective efforts over 35 years.”
Charles Hussey, chair and professor of chemistry and biochemistry
Hussey was awarded the Electrochemical Society’s Max Bredig Award in Molten Salt and Ionic Liquid Chemistry, an international honor recognizing his lifetime of valuable research in molten salt and ionic liquid chemistry. He received the award in October at the 226th Annual ECS convention in Cancun, Mexico.
“This is the highest international recognition that is given to people working in my particular research area,” Hussey said. “The society held a special session in the molten salt symposium at the meeting in my honor and hosted an award dinner, where I was presented with the recognition. I was very surprised and pleased to receive this honor.”
John Z. Kiss, UM graduate school dean
Kiss received NASA’s highest civilian honor, the Outstanding Public Leadership Medal, in September. The honor recognizes non-government employees for leadership that has significantly influenced NASA’s mission.
Kiss, an internationally-renowned scientist, was vice chair of the International Committee on Space Research and a TROPI spaceflight project director from 2004 to 2010. In the latter role, Kiss supervised 36 scientists and engineers at four NASA centers, as well as two centers of the European Space Agency. His work led to two successful projects on the International Space Station.
“We have had seven spaceflight projects, which have been on the space shuttle and now the International Space Station,” Kiss said. “Thus, this award is shared by numerous colleagues, co-workers, undergraduates and graduate student who have been part of these exciting projects.”
Ken Sufka lectures to one of his classes.
Kenneth Sufka, professor of psychology and pharmacology
Sufka was named 2014 Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching-Council for Advancement and Support of Education Mississippi Professor of the Year. Sufka received the prestigious honor in November at the U.S. Professor of the Year Awards celebration in Washington.
The event pays tribute to the nation’s most outstanding undergraduate instructors and is the only national effort to recognize excellent undergraduate teachers and mentors.
“When I first read the letter, I was flat-out dumbfounded. I had to read it again,” Sufka said. “The CASE-Carnegie Foundation Award is by far the most prestigious recognition one can receive in this profession. For CASE-Carnegie to think that the entire body of my academic work is worthy of such recognition is both overwhelming and humbling.”