FAU Hosts 49th Annual Honors Convocation
FAU President John Kelly with Distinguished Teacher of the Year Laura Vernon
Florida Atlantic University President John Kelly and Provost Gary W. Perry will host the University’s 49th annual Honors Convocation on Wednesday, April 18 at 4 p.m. at the University Theatre in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus. The ceremony recognizes the University’s most outstanding students and faculty (a full list of honorees is below).
Awards and recognition include nine University scholars, the Distinguished Student award, the University Club Merit award, the Phi Kappa Phi scholar, the Stan and Renee Wimberly scholar, the Undergraduate Researchers awards, the Student-Athletes of the Year awards, and the Fraternity and Sorority scholars. Faculty honors include the FAU Alumni Association’s Degree of Difference Award, Researchers and Scholars of the Year awards, Teaching and Advising awards, as well as the Distinguished Mentor of the Year in Undergraduate Research award, and the Presidential Awards for Engaged Faculty.
The winner of the Distinguished Teacher of the Year award, which is determined by FAU students, will present the keynote speech. This year’s recipient is Laura Vernon, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology in the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College. As a clinical psychologist, Vernon’s research is on psychological disorders and their treatment. Her lab broadly examines anxiety disorders, emotion, cognition, and mindfulness. Specifically, some of her recent research projects have examined the effectiveness of a mindfulness-based, equine-assisted therapy for different clinical disorders, as well as the usefulness of brief mindfulness interventions for college students, the contributions of fear and disgust to spider phobia, and the cognitive processes of emotion and phobias.
“Honors Convocation is a longstanding and important tradition,” said Perry. “This ceremony allows us to spotlight the academic excellence of our best faculty and students.”
2018 Florida Atlantic University Honors Convocation Awardees
University Scholars
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters Hristo Joseph
College of Business Courtney King
College for Design and Social Inquiry William Pfister
College of Education Fernanda Sepulveda
College of Engineering and Computer Science Ignacio Jimenez-Ruiz
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College Liberty Boyd
Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing Jean-Joseph Rendel
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science Andrea Rodriguez
Distinguished Student Award
College for Design and Social Inquiry Laurice Melvin
Fraternity and Sorority Scholars
Alpha Phi Epsilon Fraternity Ryan Saffer
Phi Mu Sorority Rachel Cumming
Phi Kappa Phi Scholar
College of Engineering and Computer Science Lisandre Meyer
Student-Athletes of the Year
Football Greg Joseph
Softball Alexandra Miller
University Club Merit Award
Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing Jessie Gushue
Stan and Renee Wimberly Scholar
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College Christy Folk
Undergraduate Researchers of the Year
Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters Kira Wolak
College of Business Danielle Gordon
College for Design and Social Inquiry Kestride Estil
College of Education Jessica Halle
College of Engineering and Computer Science Vithulan Suthakaran
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College Anna Riso
Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine Haley Katz
Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing Alexandra Miller
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science Andrea Hernandez
Alumni “Degree of Difference” Award
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science Maria Fadiman, Ph.D.
University Researchers of the Year
Marc Kantorow, Ph.D., Professor
Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Andrew Oleinikov, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine
Sarah Du, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Scholars of the Year
Michael Brady, Ph.D., Professor
College of Education
Melih Madanoglu, Ph.D., Associate Professor
College of Business
Mingxiang Li, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
College of Business
Excellence and Innovation in Undergraduate Teaching
Oge Marques, Ph.D., College of Engineering and Computer Science
Ramesh Teegavarapu, Ph.D., College of Engineering and Computer Science
Rachel Luria, Ph.D., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Lisa Wiese, Ph.D., Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
Excellence and Innovation in Undergraduate Advising
Sheena Orr, Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters
Jessica Meith, College of Engineering and Computer Science
Javaris Hammond, Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
Distinguished Mentor of the Year in Undergraduate Research
Julie Earles, Ph.D., Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
Presidential Awards for Engaged Faculty
Cassandra Atkin-Plunk, Ph.D., College for Design and Social Inquiry
Sameer Hinduja, Ph.D., College for Design and Social Inquiry
Fred Bloetscher, Ph.D., College of Engineering and Computer Science
The Distinguished Teacher of the Year
Laura Vernon, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Psychology
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College
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