College of Arts, Sciences, and Education

The month of May is a joyous occasion as we celebrate the accomplishments of the academic year culminating in the graduation of more than 120 of our College of Arts, Sciences, and Education students. I want to offer my enthusiastic congratulations to these graduates as they start a new chapter in their lives. Graduates, please remember to update your information here so that we can stay in touch.

I also offer my sincere thanks to our faculty and staff for all that you did during the past academic year. I wish the best to students who are enrolled in summer courses and wish everyone a peaceful and relaxing summer.

Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Ph.D.
Vice Provost and Dean
College of Arts, Sciences, and Education

A biomedical design team made up of Abby Knoesel in chemical engineering, Madison Husereau in biological sciences, and Aiden Armstrong in biological sciences won the first prize and received a $15,000 award in The BlueKC Healthcare Innovation Awards for their proposal to use spinach leaves and stem cells to help burn victims and others with wounds and conditions that require a skin graft. Dr. Julie Semon, associate professor of biological sciences, served as the faculty adviser to the team.

The following students were honored at an awards banquet on April 12 in recognition of their achievements during the 2023 Graduate Research Showcase event:

A B M Shaheen Doulah earned a Ph.D. in chemistry in April and now works for Evonik in Trexlertown, Pennsylvania, as an application development chemist. His advisor was Dr. Chariklia Sotiriou-Leventis, chair and professor of chemistry.

Ron Epps (Physics’67), retired chief of the NASA flight design and dynamics division was awarded the Doctor of Physics, honoris causa, during the Missouri S&T spring commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 13.

Kayla McBride, a senior in biological sciences, was named S&T’s Renaissance Student for 2023.  Dr. Darin Finke, associate teaching professor of arts, languages and philosophy, presented McBride the award, which included a $1,000 prize, on Tuesday, May 2, at a ceremony hosted by arts, languages and philosophy. She is minoring in both studio art and education. Kayla has an art business that offers custom works through her Facebook page, named “Art by McBride” and a business as a seed stock producer, in which she sells bulls and beef. 

Logan Sowadski, McGowan Toombs, Zachary Alton, and Carly Brown are the winners of the 2023 Fuller Prize Competition for Undergraduate Research in the physics department.

The Fuller Prize Competition for Undergraduate Research honors the memory of Dr. Harold Q. Fuller, former chair of physics.

Students from Julia Alexander’s (assistant teaching professor of teacher education and certification) EDUC 3218 and Dr. Michelle Schwartze’s (assistant teaching professor of teacher education and certification) EDUC 2401 classes led a family literacy night at the Child Development Center.

The night included interactive activities addressing the science of reading for children who attend the center. Families received activity bags with items to continue learning with their children at home. This night was funded through a $25,000 grant from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for a project titled “Missouri S&T Child Development Center Literacy Activities.”

Dr. Mehrzad Boroujerdi, CASE dean, published an article on Iran’s generational leadership change that was commissioned by the British think-tank Chatham House. He was also cited in an article in The Times (of London).

Dr. Shannon Fogg, professor of history and political science and interim associate dean in CASE, received the Outstanding Faculty Award at the Staff Day opening ceremony on May 24.

Taylor Gruenloh, assistant teaching professor of theater, wrote a short film called “The Unwritten Rule” that was chosen to be an Official Selection to the Los Angeles Black Festival.

Dr. Clair Kueny, associate professor and interim chair of psychological science, and Dr. Susan Murray, professor of psychological science and interim vice provost for online education, recently published an article with colleague Dr. Beth Cudney of Maryville University on analyzing patient satisfaction in rural wound care in the TQM Journal. Their work focuses on what characteristics of wound care delivery in rural health care are most important to patients in determining patient satisfaction of care. Additionally, a news story was released on work Dr. Kueny is doing on opioid use and workforce development in rural communities and was subsequently covered by Missourinet radio station affiliates.

Dr. John McManus, Curators’ Distinguished Professor of history and political science, released a new book, To the End of the Earth: The U.S. Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945, on May 2, and had a book launch speaking event and book signing at the St. Louis County Library on May 3. CSPAN recorded the event for later airing on its Book Talk program. McManus also appeared on KWMU, the NPR station in St. Louis, to discuss his book, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a favorable review.

Dr. Jeff Schramm, associate professor of history and political science, was interviewed by Kansas City’s ABC News affiliate, KMBC, about recent train derailments and whether we are experiencing more of them.

Dr. Kathleen Sheppard, associate professor of history and political science, was elected vice president of the American Research Center in Egypt's National Chapters Council. She also published a co-edited correspondence volume. The Correspondence of John Tyndall, Volume 12: March 1871-May 1872 (University of Pittsburgh Press) is part of a large international project to publish all of Irish physicist John Tyndall's existing correspondence. It will ultimately have 20 volumes.

Dr. Thomas Vojta, Curators’ Distinguished Professor and chair of physics, was awarded a Visiting Faculty Fellowship at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, which is one of the top STEM universities in India. As part of this fellowship, Thomas will deepen his existing collaborations with Indian colleagues and will spend a month at ITT.

The psychological science department hosted Rolla High School AP psychology students for a lab tour in April.

The following faculty received awards from the CASE Faculty Leadership Council on April 26:

The newly created CASE staff awards recognizing exemplary service and support towards achieving the mission of the College over the past academic year were given to the following individuals during the April 26 CASE college wide meeting:

The Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development approved the following undergraduate certificates, which will be offered next fall:

College of Arts, Sciences, and Education

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Missouri S&T Rolla, MO 65409
573-341-4111
1-800-522-0938
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