Awards Ceremony to Highlight International Achievers

Contact: Jay Rodman, International Studies and Programs: (517) 355-2350, rodman@msu.edu

March 22, 2006

EAST LANSING, Mich. --- Eleven MSU faculty, staff, alumni and students, and two members of the greater Lansing community, will be honored at the universitys annual international awards ceremony on Wednesday, March 29.

The public ceremony, to be held on the third floor of the MSU International Center, begins with a 3:30 p.m. reception and will be followed by a 4 p.m. awards presentation. MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon and Provost Kim A. Wilcox are among those scheduled to give remarks.

Honorees range from a faculty member who is two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist to a business leader in India who is using his MSU education to advance his countrys interests on the world stage. For all their disparate experiences, the award winners have one thing in common -- accomplishments that reflect MSUs expanding international reach and global engagement.

The event, now in its 16th year, is part of the yearlong 50th anniversary celebration of the MSU Office of International Studies and Programs.

This years list of recipients and awards are listed below.

James T. Detjen, director of MSUs Knight Center for Environmental Journalism and co-founder and first president of the Society of Environmental Journalists, will receive the Ralph H. Smuckler Award for Advancing International Studies and Programs at MSU.

William W. Taylor, chair of the MSU Department of Fisheries and Wildlife and widely respected expert in fisheries ecology, fish population dynamics and Great Lakes fisheries management, also will receive the Smuckler Award.

Mary Spirito Hennessey, young adult librarian at the East Lansing Public Library, will receive the Glen L. Taggart Award for Community Contribution to International Understanding. Last November Hennessey organized the Hello, Dear Enemy exhibit at her library that featured childrens picture books from many countries dealing with themes of peace and tolerance.

Surinder Kapur, founder, chairman and managing director of India-based Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd., will receive the Joon S. Moon Distinguished International Alumni Award. Kapur, who earned his bachelors, masters and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering at MSU, is helping India emerge as an exporter of quality engineering goods, particularly automobile components.

John T. Giles, assistant professor in the Department of Economics, is the first recipient of the newly-established Emerging Leader in Advancing International Studies and Programs Award, which recognizes faculty members early in their careers who are making a significant impact on the advancement of international scholarship, teaching, and/or public service and outreach at MSU.

Anne Schneller, outreach specialist in the MSU College of Education, will receive the MSU Award for Outstanding Service to Study Abroad. She developed two unique programs in southern Africa, including the innovative and nationally recognized Pre-Internship Teaching in South Africa program that provides pre-service teachers the opportunity for an international internship experience.

Eugenio Y. Arima of Brazil and Damaris Elizabeth Serrano-Guerra of Panama, each will receive the Gill-Chin Lim Award for Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation in Global Studies. Arimas dissertation, Loggers and Forest Fragmentation: Behavioral and Computational Models of Road Building in the Amazon Basin, addresses issues of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon. Serrano-Guerras dissertation, From 1958 to the 21st Century: Historical Memory, Spaces, and Projections of Panamanian Poetry, analyzes the role of the poetic imagination in the process of cultural formation.

Four students and one community member will receive the Homer Higbee International Education Award for making significant contributions to the enhancement of international communication, understanding, and cooperation at MSU through service activities.

The student Higbee awardees are Ana Maria Almonte, an undergraduate from Peru who is completing her bachelors degree in civil engineering; Anthony Howell, an American undergraduate completing degrees in interdisciplinary studies in social science with a focus on international studies and political science; Nancy Lubeski, an American doctoral student in the educational administration program and a special education teacher at the Walnut Elementary School in the Lansing School District; and Rui Niu, a doctoral student from China in Teacher Education.

Jan Stacey Bieler is the community member receiving the Higbee award. Since 1990, Bieler has been an enthusiastic member and leader in Community Volunteers for International Programs, a local group that provides support for MSUs international students and international programming.