Evangelos Petropoulos and John (Jack) Schwille received the 1998-99 Ralph H. Smuckler Award. Petropoulos, MSU professor of physiology, directs the MSU Institute of International Health through which he has facilitated international cross-cultural connections across MSU. During the past ten years Petropoulos has developed numerous international health programs between MSU and the rest of the world and conducted extensive research in southern Africa on child survival and the prevention of AIDS.

Schwille is assistant dean of the MSU College of Education, director of International Studies in Education, a professor of teacher education, and an adjunct professor of sociology. As a result of his research in West Africa, Schwille pioneered an approach to in-service education based on needs expressed by teachers themselves, originally a pilot program funded by the World Bank and now operational throughout Guinea and held in high esteem within the World Bank.

Khaled M. R. Abdulghani received the 1998-99 Joon S. Moon Distinguished International Alumni Award. After receiving his master's and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from MSU, he returned to Saudi
Arabia to serve as assistant professor at the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals and assistant deputy minister of transportation for Saudi Arabia. While mayor of the city of Jeddah from 1987 to 1997, he was recognized by national, regional, and international organizations with more than 150 certificates. His efforts to improve the public transit system in Jeddah were recognized by an international award of excellence from the International Mass Transit Association in Washington, D.C.
In 1998, he became chairman of the board of AZM Contracting, which works in environmental remediation.

Reverend Barbara Fuller received the 1998-99 Glen Taggart Award for Community Contribution to International Understanding.

A graduate of the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago Theological Seminary, she is employed by the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice, a local organization that promotes world peace and understanding. From her service in 1946 as the chairperson of the World Student Service Fund through her tenure as director of the Indochina People to People Program for the Division of Overseas Ministries from 1978 to 1996, Fuller has worked tirelessly to promote a better world for all.

Students Samuel Asuming-Brempong, Carolyn O'Mahony, Krystal S. Shepard, and Wei Megs Tan, and volunteer Lois Sollenberger received the 1998-99 Homer Higbee Awards for International Education Exchange. Asuming-Brempong, a Ph.D. student from Ghana studying agricultural economics, has compiled an impressive academic record at MSU and contributed significantly to the community. O'Mahony, a Ph.D. student from New Zealand studying curriculum, teaching, and international policy, has taught internationally and serves on the board of the campus newspaper, The State News, working to encourage coverage of diversity issues and cross-cultural understanding. Shepard, a U.S. undergraduate student studying special education, has extended herself to others through her membership in the Multi-Racial Unity Project and as an English tutor, planned international educational programs for students, and is a member of Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars. Tan, an undergraduate student from Malaysia studying communications, has been an active volunteer for the annual Community Volunteers for International Programs (CVIP) Global Festival and was chosen by her department as an international teaching assistant for the Interpersonal Communication laboratory course. Sollenberger, chairperson of CVIP, has been a member of that group since 1991, assuring its longevity by establishing an endowment fund for the continuation of scholarships.

In 1998-99, a Special Recognition Award was awarded posthumously to Blake Wales Hendee Smith, specialist in the Department of Family Practice, who was active in developing collaborative programs with Jamaica, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam, and provided support to the MSU Institute of International Health since its inception. Under his leadership, a grant was secured to begin an experimental course on primary health care in developing countries that has been implemented at MSU and elsewhere.

For more information about the 1999 International Awards Ceremony, visit the ISP Web site at http://www.isp.msu.edu/ and click on the International Awards banner.

the joon s. moon distinguished international alumni award, named for an eminent Korean-American businessman, recognizes international alumni who have brought especial credit to MSU through their professional achievements.

the glen taggart award for community con-tribution to international understanding, named in honor of ISP's first dean, is given to one or more citizens of Michigan who have made a distinct, sustained contribution to international understanding in their respective communities or in the state at large.

the homer higbee international education award was established in honor of Homer Higbee, who dedicated his professional life to international educational exchange in the 25 years that he served in the Office of International Studies and Programs at MSU. These awards are primarily for MSU students who have made significant contributions to the enhancement of international communication, understanding, and cooperation at MSU through service activities.

Other Honors

Five MSU graduate students have been identified as recipients of 1999-2000 Fulbright Grants for Graduate Study and Research Abroad. annelise carleton (education), kiel christianson (linguistics), carmela garritano (comparative literature/film studies), michelle kuenzi (political science), and megan plyler (anthropology) plan to use their awards for a year's study and research in Poland, Canada, Ghana, Senegal, and Tanzania, respectively. Kuenzi was also the recipient of a Social Science Research Council Dissertation Award. james weiler (education), identified as a Fulbright Grant alternate, would pursue a project in Zimbabwe.

MSU graduate student heather holtzclaw (sociology), is the recipient of a 1999-2000 Fulbright-Hays Grant for Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad. She will be pursuing her research in Zimbabwe.

jennifer sykes, who graduated from MSU in May, was the recipient of a prestigious George C. Marshall Scholarship, one of 40 such awards made nationally to graduating seniors. Sykes, who graduated from James Madison College and the Honors College with a dual major in social relations and psychology, will be funded to pursue two years of graduate study in the United Kingdom. Recipients are chosen for their academic ability, as well as their potential contributions to the British university they choose to attend and to their own society upon their return.

rodolfo (rudie) altamirano, Assistant Director of the Office for International Students and Scholars, was one of six MSU support staff members who received the 1999 Breslin Distinguished Staff Award. This award is named in honor of the late Jack Breslin, MSU student leader, athlete, and a top administrator. Selection of recipients is based on overall excellence of job performance, supportive attitude, contributions to the unit or university that led to improved efficiency or effectiveness, and valuable service to the university.