2025 Bender of Twigs inductees.

Photos from the 2025 Service Recognition events are posted and available to view online on the Service Recognition website. The events recognized colleagues who reached a milestone of five to 50 years of service with the State of Kansas, those inducted into the Bender of Twigs, and those who’ve retired from the university.

Thank you again to all the honorees for your dedicated service to Wichita State University and to those who helped WSU celebrate and recognize them. Collectively, 4,980 years of service were recognized. Congratulations again to all the honorees.

Decorative Image: Nominate a colleague for a $2,500 Excellence Award- RESEARCH-CREATIVITY-COMMUNITY RESEARCH, Wichita.edu/excellenceawards

The Office of Research is now accepting nominations for its Excellence in Research award.

All full-time faculty, including distinguished professors and endowed chairs, who have served at WSU for at least three years are eligible. Faculty who hold an administrative position above that of chair are not eligible.

Previous winners of the award are ineligible to be nominated for a period of five years following the award. Please see the Office of Research website for additional details and online nomination forms. The deadline for nominations is Friday, Dec. 5.

Join University Libraries for the Library Research Awards ceremony and reception from 3 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, May 7 in the Ablah Library Digital Scholars Commons. The library will honor the winners of the Library Research Award: Jay Russell and Elizabeth Madden.

Help celebrate these students for their outstanding use of library resources, technology, staff and spaces to support their research efforts.

State of Kansas Employee 40- and 50- Year Anniversaries.

Seven Wichita State faculty and staff reached a remarkable milestone in their careers in 2024. A special ceremony was held April 28 at the Kansas State Capitol Building to celebrate their dedication and the legacy they have each built over the last 40 and 50 years. Gov. Laura Kelly expressed her appreciation and recognized the invaluable contributions they have made throughout their tenure and the lasting impact they’ve had on the state of Kansas.

Celebrating 40 years of service:

  • Alva Olmstead, Central Energy Plant
  • Don Harkness, Facilities Services Director’s Office
  • Cathy Ramirez, Library
  • George McClary, Central Energy Plan
  • Robert Zettle, Psychology
  • Brenda Achey, Sponsored Research Accounting

Celebrating 50 years of service:

  • Deltha Colvin, WSU TRIO Programs Support

Congratulations on reaching this remarkable milestone in your career.

CAS Dean, Dr. Jennifer Friend with Dr. Reagan Murnan, recipient of the Lindquist Teaching Award and Young Faculty Scholar Award

The College of Applied Studies is proud to announce this year’s faculty, staff and partner award recipients. These individuals represent excellence in research, teaching, service, innovation and collaboration across the college and university.

University-level awards

  • University Risk-Taker Award: Dr. Angela Beeler
  • Excellence in Accessibility Award: Dr. Jason Li
  • Young Faculty Scholar: Dr. Reagan Murnan

CAS awards

  • CAS Champion: Shocker Athletics
  • Professional Achievement: Dr. Sun Young Lee
  • Research Award: Dr. Wonyoung Kim
  • Service Award: Dr. Valerie Thompson
  • Student-Centric Staff: Sherri Holle
  • Administrative Staff: Maria Wehby
  • Lindquist Teaching Award: Dr. Reagan Murnan
  • Technology Innovation: Robin Folkerts

Special recognition

  • Dr. Clay Stoldt, for over a decade of leadership and service

The Service-Learning Showcase is a unique opportunity for students who participate in service-learning through applied learning opportunities to showcase their experience through a research or reflective poster about the application of their course work to current community issues.

The showcase is an open forum for students to interact with faculty/staff, community partners and other students to engage in conversation about Wichita State’s commitment to the public good.

Awards were presented in the following categories:

Overall Service-Learning Award:

Title: Helping Students Thrive
Community partner: The Pando Initiative
Students: Elizabeth Martinez and Giselle Barrios
Faculty: Rheanna Pierce, School of Social Work, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Community Impact in Service-Learning Award:

Title: ICT Street Team
Community partner: ICT Street Team
Student: Alaina Lawson
Faculty: Ngoc Vuong, Department of Psychology, Fairmount College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Innovation, Creativity, & Advocacy in Service-Learning Award:

Title: Improving Kansas Healthy Equity for Speakers of Spanish and Indigenous Languages through Community Health Work
Community partner: Alce su Voz
Student: Gabriela Aguilar
Faculty: Alexus Cossell, Human Performance Studies, College of Applied Studies

Collaboration and Leadership in Service-Learning Award:

Title: Service-Learning with Embrace Pregnancy Center
Community partner: Embrace Pregnancy Center
Students: Whitney Salmans, Aiden Heckard, Hannah Swanson and Julie Sok
Faculty: Dr. Cindi Mason, Industrial, Systems and Manufacturing Engineering, College of Engineering

A total of 33 non-profit organizations and local schools were represented through academic service-learning courses showcased at this year’s event.

 

Jennifer McClendon, director of Recruitment Oklahoma State University (OK), GPACAC Past President awarded Logan Blunt his Burge Spirit Award at Annual Conference.

Logan Blunt, regional admissions representative in Tulsa, Oklahoma, was awarded the Burge Spirit Award at the 2025 Great Plains Association for College Admission Counseling (GPACAC) annual conference in Lincoln, Nebraska, April 9.

The Burge Spirit Award is awarded to a member whose enthusiasm and creativity have been an inspiration and contributes to the camaraderie of the association. The award originated in 2010 in honor of GPACAC past-president, David Burge.

The School of Music is delighted to announce the winners of the 22nd annual Konrad Wolff-Ilse Bing Chamber Music Competition, held March 30 in Wiedemann Hall.

First place: Kanajo Wind Trio

  • Hannah Kavanaugh, flute
  • Jonathan Cosem Sanchez, clarinet
  • Nathaniel Scott, bassoon

Second place: Resonance Trio

  • Annie Nguyen, piano
  • David Garcilazo, violin
  • Kania Valentim Pereira, cello

Third place: Ann Walenta String Quartet

  • Jesse Havener, violin
  • Jasmine Wang, violin
  • Sophia Anderson, viola
  • Lucas Roach, cello

The Konrad Wolff-Ilse Bing Chamber Music Competition is administered by the School of Music in the College of Fine Arts and was established with a generous contribution from the Estate of Ilse Bing Wolff.

Bethany Hearn and Leah Lipke with three printing awards.

Shocker Printing Solutions is thrilled to announce that the team took home three prestigious awards at the Association of College and University Printers (ACUP+) conference held in March in Lamesa, California. The team earned:

  • Platinum Award for digital single page
  • Gold Award for graphic design
  • Gold Award for stickers

Leah Lipke and Bethany Hearn represented Wichita State at the conference, accepting the awards on behalf of the team. These accolades highlight the creativity, skill and dedication of the printing and design staff in delivering top-quality work for the campus community.

Celebrating Our Wallace Excellence Award Recipients | Dr. John Watkins, Faculty Lifetime Service | Dr. Shuang Gu and Dr. Bayram Yildirim, Faculty Excellence in Research | Dr. Ehsan Salari, Faculty Excellence in Teaching | Dr. Vijay Matheswaran and Manira Rani, Faculty Experience-Based Learning

The College of Engineering has announced the honorees for the 2025 Dwane and Velma Wallace Excellence Faculty Awards. The honorees will be recognized during an upcoming college awards ceremony in May, the details of which are pending.

The Wallace Excellence Faculty Awards honor excellent faculty members and doctoral students who excel in service, research, teaching and experience-based learning.

2025 Wallace Excellence Faculty Awards honorees:

  • Faculty Lifetime Service: Dr. John Watkins
  • Faculty Excellence in Research: Dr. Shuang Gu and Dr. Bayram Yildirim
  • Faculty Excellence in Teaching: Dr. Ehsan Salari
  • Faculty Experience-Based Learning: Dr. Vijay Matheswaran and Manira Rani