Campus NEWS Hogan, Walters honored by state legislators
Student Association President Michael Hogan and university mathematics instructor Kimberly “Kim” Walters are Mississippi State’s 2014 HEADWAE honorees. An acronym for Higher Education Appreciation Day, Working for Academic Excellence, the program is administered by the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of High Learning, and annually recognizes those “who have made outstanding contributions in promoting academic excellence.” Joining students and faculty members from 34 Mississippi public and private institutions, Hogan and Walters were recognized formally in February by the Mississippi Legislature. A senior management major from Memphis, Tenn., Hogan has been a member of the Division of Student Affairs’ Roadrunner student recruiting team. Before becoming SA president, he served as a Career Center Student Ambassador and chief programming officer for the SA Executive Council. Hogan said he feels “Mississippi State University views its students as more than a number on a grade scale.” A faculty member since 1995, Walters was selected in 2010 for the MSU State Pride Faculty Award and, in 2013, the John Grisham Master
Teacher Award. She is a mathematics graduate of MSU who also holds a master’s degree in the subject from the University of Alabama at Huntsville. In describing the HEADWAE award, Walters said, “To be Hogan selected to represent this institution is a great honor. I hope that I have a positive impact on the students that I teach, and I hope that they see math as something in which they can be successful.” Walters primarily Walters provides instruction to freshmen. In that critical role, she said she strives “to give them a good introduction to college courses and to Mississippi State, in general. I want them to see teachers as resources that still will be available to them after they complete their course.”
MSU broadens research ties with United Nations FAO During January meetings in Rome, Mississippi State officials formally broadened a 2010 agreement to work with the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on initiatives to address world hunger and poverty. MSU President Mark E. Keenum and FAO Deputy Director General Daniel Gustafson signed a memorandum of understanding that expands the 2010 foundation for collaborations focusing most immediately on aquatic animal health, disease prevention and emergency diagnostics, and FAO recognition of MSU as a Center for Knowledge for Aquatic Health. The MSU delegation to Rome included Keenum, Provost and Executive Vice President Jerry Gilbert, Vice President for Research and Economic Development
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David Shaw, Vice President for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine Greg Bohach, College of Veterinary Medicine Associate Dean Mark Lawrence, and Associate Vice President for International Programs Jon P. Rezek.
“As a land-grant institution, Mississippi State has a distinguished history of research and education to advance global development.” Mark E. Keenum, MSU President The MOU makes MSU a member of the Global Aquaculture Advancement Partnership and will engage MSU’s existing facilities and expertise in aquatic animal disease diagnostics and management to
expand the work of FAO’s Emergency Prevention System (EMPRES). It is a component of FAO’s Food Chain Crisis Management Framework to prevent food chain emergencies, and to promote effective containment and management of the most serious epidemic pests and diseases and food safety threats through international cooperation. “As a land-grant institution, Mississippi State has a distinguished history of research and education to advance global development,” Keenum said. “We are well positioned to be in the forefront of developments that can reduce hunger and help other nations improve the response to needs within their own borders. This expanded agreement with FAO is another significant step forward in that process,” he said.
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