Honors and awards

Learning communities program announces annual award recipients

May 26, 2022

Congratulations to these recipients of ISU's learning communities program's 2022 awards:

• Learning Community Advocate: Mack Shelley, statistics and political science
• Learning Community Champion: Brenna Dixon, English
• Learning Community Collaborator: Denise Williams-Klotz, multicultural student affairs
• Early Achievement in Learning Community Coordination: Nicole Prentice and Mackenzie Schwartz, chemical engineering 
• Equity Award: LeQuetia Ancar, multicultural student success and student services, College of Engineering
• Learning Community Partner (department or office): Office of new student programs
• Learning Community Scholarship (individual or team that significantly contributed to the scholarship of LCs): Learning Communities Tuition Revenue Research Team (KB Gwebu, residence department;  Jonathan Compton, enrollment research and analytics; Kyle Holtman and Jen Leptien, learning communities; Aurelia Kollasch, University of Lynchburg; Matt Pistilli, division of student affairs assessment and research; and Mack Shelley, political science and statistics

Olson honored for supporting Guard employee

May 25, 2022

Chad Olson, senior associate director in the office of student financial aid, has received the Patriot Award from the Employer Support of Guard and Reserve program, U.S. Department of Defense. The award honors the efforts made to support citizen warriors through a wide range of measures including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, extending care to family members and granting leaves of absence, if needed. Olson's nominator was financial aid advisor Seth Miller, a 1st Lieutenant in the National Guard.

Tylka awarded for awareness campaign among soybean farmers

May 25, 2022

Greg Tylka, Morrill Professor of plant pathology and microbiology and director of the Iowa Soybean Research Center, was part of a team awarded a Silver Anvil Award in issues management from the Public Relations Society of America in May. The Silver Anvil Awards celebrate the best strategic public relations campaigns of the year and outstanding organizational excellence. Tylka and other leaders of the SCN Coalition, a public-private partnership across 28 states and Ontario, Canada, were honored for efforts to raise farmer awareness of soybean cyst nematode (SCN), the top yield-reducing pest in U.S. soybean fields. The coalition's public relations campaign resulted in up to 18% more farmers actively managing SCN, at a savings estimated at hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Fox in France this fall as Fulbright-Tocqueville chair

May 25, 2022

Rodney Fox, Anson Marston Distinguished Professor in chemical and biological engineering and Hershel B. Whitney Professor, Global Initiatives, will spend the fall 2022 semester as a visiting professor in France after being selected for a Fulbright-Tocqueville Distinguished Chair Award. The program, part of the Fulbright Franco-American Commission for Educational Exchange, provides opportunities for scholars to teach and conduct research abroad, strengthening colloborative ties. Fox's host institution will be CentraleSupélec, a graduate engineering school in Gif-sur-Yvette that's part of Paris-Saclay University.

Wellik recognized for leadership in the industry

May 09, 2022

Kathy Wellik, director of transportation services, received the first President's Choice Award from Agile Fleet, Iowa State's fleet reservation system vendor. The special recognition is for a fleet professional who has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to the industry.

Transportation services nationally ranked among public fleets

May 09, 2022

Transportation services is in the #15 spot in  NAFA's (National Association of Fleet Administrators) 100 Best Fleets for 2022, up from #53 in 2021. The award recognizes performance improvement and innovation among public vehicle fleet services, and assesses 12 criteria for fleet excellence: accountability, use of technology and information, collaboration, creativity, celebration, evidence of a high trust culture, performance recognition, "doing it right the first time," quick turnaround, competitive pricing, staff development and resources stewardship.

Lesley Lackore receives national award

May 06, 2022

Lesley Lackore, card services manager in procurement services, received the 2022 Contributor of the Year award from the National Association of Purchasing Card Professionals, an association for the commercial payments industry. The award recognizes stand-out contributions to the association and the industry. Lackore has chaired the association's higher education advisory team for a decade, presented on a range of topics at conferences and moderated roundtable discussions at conferences multiple times.

Mike Green receives sports information awards

May 03, 2022

Mike Green, who for the last nine years served as head of the athletics communications office, will receive 25-year and lifetime achievement awards in June from the College Sports Information Directors of America. In April, Green moved from the communications team to take over as director of traditions in the department's student-athlete and letterwinner engagement office.