2012 Faculty Achievements
* Margaret Presley, instructor of social work at Kansas State University Salina, has been named the 2012 Social Worker of the Year by the Smoky Hill Association of Social Workers. To be eligible for the award, the nominee must be currently providing professional social work services in central Kansas. Presley has worked in the social work field since 1970. April 2012
* Blake Belanger, assistant professor of landscape architecture in the university's College of Architecture, Planning and Design, has received the 2012 Excellence in Design Studio Teaching at the Junior Level award from the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture. The award recognizes a faculty member's ability to direct design studio projects that demonstrate outstanding quality and/or emphasize the critical thinking, creative process. April 2012
* "Diversity in Design: Perspectives from the Non-Western World," written by Vibhavari Jani, associate professor of interior architecture and product design, received top honors at the annual conference of the Interior Design Educators Council. The council's annual Book Award recognizes and honors significant books that exhibit excellence in addressing the issues of the interior design profession, including practice, scholarship and education. The book helps educators incorporate non-Western design into their teaching. April 2012
* Lisa M. Butler Harrington, professor of geography, will receive the John Fraser Hart Award for Research Excellence from the Association of American Geographers' Rural Geography Specialty Group for her rural geography research. The award will be presented at the association's 2013 national meeting in Los Angeles, where the specialty group is planning a special session in her honor. The award was established to recognize scholars who have achieved and maintained excellence in the fields of agricultural and/or rural geography research. March 2012
* Raymond "Bob" Rowland, professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology, and collaborating researchers recently discovered a genetic marker that identifies pigs with reduced susceptibility to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome, or PRRS. The research appeared in the Journal of Animal Science. March 2012
* Donna Potts, associate professor of English, is the author of a new book that examines the poetic traditions of Irish culture by exploring the pastoral genre, a genre in which humans have an intimate connection with the land. In "Contemporary Irish Poetry and the Pastoral Tradition," Potts examines six Irish poets in her book who have written significant collections of pastoral poetry and whose work is in dialogue with both the pastoral tradition and other contemporary pastoral poets. The book is available at local bookstores, online retailers or directly from Chicago Distribution services. March 2012
* Mary Molt, assistant director of housing and dining services, received a 2012 Silver Plate Award from the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association. The award recognizes outstanding achievement and innovation in the industry and is one of the highest honors in the food industry. Molt is the second K-State recipient of this award -- ranking K-State as a leader in the food service industry. February 2012
* Noel Schulz, K-State's first lady and Paslay professor of electrical and computer engineering, has begun serving a two-year term as president of the IEEE Power and Energy Society. The worldwide, nonprofit association has more than 28,000 members engaged in the electric power energy industry. January 2012
* Kendra McLauchlan, assistant professor of geography and director of the university's Paleoenvironmental Laboratory, was named by the Ad Astra Kansas Initiative as one of the top 150 scientists ever to work in Kansas throughout its 150 years of statehood. January 2012
* Sigifredo Castro Diaz, a bioprocessing engineer at the Advanced Manufacturing Institute, was named by the Ad Astra Kansas Initiative as one of the top 150 scientists ever to work in Kansas throughout its 150 years of statehood. January 2012