WKU News

On Thursday, April 2nd, the Mahurin Honors College (MHC) community gathered together for a night of celebration. Alongside dinner and remarks from director Dr. Lindy Davidson, the MHC sought to recognize the faculty and students that are dedicated to service, leadership, creativity, and innovation. 

Faculty and Staff Awards

Faculty Service Award: Professor of Psychology Dr. Lisa Duffin of the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences (CEBS) was honored for her commitment to helping MHC scholars complete undergraduate research, having been a committee member for over 20 Honors thesis defenses in the past 5 years. 

Friend of Honors Award: Joanna Castlen from Information Technology Services (ITS) was recognized for her solution-oriented approach in addressing technical issues within MHC data systems. 

Honors Teaching Award for Augmentations: The following faculty were honored for mentoring 15 or more honors augmentations over the last 5 years: 

• Leigh Anne Roden 

• Stephen Locke 

• Soleiman Kiasatpour 

• Joanna Melancon 

• Kevin Modlin 

• James Kanan 

• Karen Mason 

• Ron Rhoades 

• Sarah Scali

Honors Teaching Award for Honors Embedded Sections: The following faculty were recognized for their commitment to teaching honors embedded sections of courses: 

• Meghen McKinley 

• Anna Patsfall 

• Ganer Newman 

• Brian St. John 

• Paul Hondorp 

• Guangming Xing 

• Steven Wininger 

• Amy Brausch 

• Huanjing Wang 

• Isabela Mukonyora 

• Nikolai Endres 

• Ferhan Atici 

Honors Research Award: The following faculty were honored for their scholarship that meaningfully contributes to their discipline while engaging or inspiring Honors students: 

• Daniel Liddle

• Timothy Rich

• Christopher Groves

• Leslie North

• Jason Polk

• Michael E. Smith

• Rachel Tinius

Student Awards

Unsung Hero of the Year Award: Kinslei Crouch and Austin Wheeler were the two students honored with this award. Crouch was recognized for her creativity and leadership in MHC organizations HonorsToppers and Branding Team. Wheeler was recognized for his service and collaborative skills in the MHC office.

Capstone Experience Project of the Year: Samantha Gerdes was recognized for her capstone experience which combined her Mandarin Chinese language learning with content creation, ultimately designing a project with international reach. 

Thesis of the Year: Emma Bunch was honored for her innovative research that applied pure math to medicine; a project that was inspired by her pending patent on similar processes.

MHC Leader of the Year: Caleb Penick was recognized for his leadership and service across MHC student organizations HonorsToppers and Out in Honors, as well as being a counselor for Honors MASTER Plan. 

Exemplary Global Scholar: Emily Pike was celebrated for her pursuit of global education in La Paz, Costa Rica and Athens, Greece as well as her advocacy for the benefits of studying abroad. 

Distinguished Scholar of the Year: Emma Thorn was recognized with this high honor for her leadership in HonorsToppers, work on her thesis, and service in WKU’s Dance Big Red organization that raises funds for Norton Children's Hospital. 

The event concluded with remarks from Dr. Davidson that gave the audience one last reminder for why this celebration is important to the MHC. The ceremony ended with Dr. Davidson’s statement that, “Tonight’s honorees remind us why Honors matters: because of the people who commit themselves to learning, to leadership, and to lifting others along the way.”