Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State is a place where faculty and staff are driven to excel in teaching, research and service while inspiring younger generations of Bulldog students to do the same. During the April 27 Faculty Awards and Recognition Reception, the university recognized individuals who have made such commitments over the course of the 2016-17 academic year.

Joanne E. Beriswill officially was designated a John Grisham Master Teacher, the tribute to classroom instruction excellence named for the MSU alumnus and internationally recognized author. An assistant professor in the Department of Instructional Systems and Workforce Development, Beriswill joins the highly select group serving as role models and mentors for campus colleagues.

Representatives of the colleges of Arts and Sciences, Forest Resources and Veterinary Medicine also were honored at the annual spring-semester program. They include (alphabetically):

—College of Arts and Sciences Academic Coordinator Tracy M. Britt, staff recipient of the Irvin Atly Jefcoat Excellence in Advising Award;

—Assistant Extension Professor Leslie Burger of the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture, faculty recipient of the Irvin Atly Jefcoat Excellence in Advising Award;

—Associate Professor of History James C. “Jim” Giesen, the MSU Alumni Association’s Outstanding Graduate Student Mentor Award;

—Professor Robert L. “Bob” Linford of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Clinical Sciences, the MSU Alumni Association’s Graduate Teaching Excellence Award; and

—Associate Professor Molly K. Zuckerman of the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, the MSU Alumni Association’s Early Career Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award.

Additionally, leaders from the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College, MSU Libraries and all eight of the university’s academic colleges offered words of praise for exceptional work and achievements of faculty during the 2016-17 academic year.

Among those recognized was Janice E. Chambers, Mississippi State’s recipient of the 2017 Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award. A William L. Giles Distinguished Professor of Veterinary Medicine, she is a longtime member of the College of Veterinary Medicine faculty who already holds major international commendations as a Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology and Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences.

During the afternoon ceremony, MSU Provost and Executive Vice President Judy Bonner praised Mississippi State as “a very special place for students to come and learn, for faculty and staff to enjoy working, and for alumni to come back and cherish the wonderful times that they had while they were students.”

Bonner said, “One of the most exciting parts of the academic year is that as it comes to a close, we’re able to host ceremonies like this where we can recognize those who have excelled and done extraordinary things.”

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.