Category: Awards and Recognitions

Wichita State’s Office of Instructional Resources was a winner of the Anthology’s 2024 Catalyst Award for Training and Professional Development.

The award recognizes those driving innovation and excellence within higher education, and WSU was specifically celebrated for displaying an organization-wide dedication to innovative training and development programs for their educators and staff. WSU Tech was also recognized for Leading Change.

The College of Applied Studies (CAS) announced the selection of nine distinguished individuals to be inducted into the class of 2024 CAS Hall of Fame. The inductees come from various backgrounds representing several departments within the college and are being recognized for their outstanding contributions to their field.

The class of 2024 CAS Hall of Fame inductees are:

• Stacy Chestnut, alumni and educator
• Chase Curtiss, alumni and entrepreneur
• Credit Union of America, partner
• Christine Downey-Schmidt, patron and higher education leader
• Cathy Razook-Ellsworth, alumni, educator, and staff member
• Becky Endicott, alumni and staff member
• Susan Rippe, alumni and educator
• Rex Schott, alumni and athletic trainer
• Vicki Worrell, alumni and faculty member

The college will celebrate the inductees with a banquet at 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27 in the John Bardo Center lobby.

Stephanie Versch, manager of library resource acquisitions services, is the 2024 recipient of the Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Support Staff Award. The award honors academic library support staff for their significant contributions and dedication.

Stephanie began her journey as a library assistant in access services and later became a digital resources acquisitions specialist in technical services. She has been the manager of library resource acquisitions services since 2023.

Shocker Printing has been awarded the prestigious Platinum Award for poster printing at the ACUP+ Annual Conference held in Rochester, New York, last month. The award-winning poster, titled “Wichita State Mural,” was designed by Annelise Muret, art director in the Office of Strategic Communications and Marketing.

Selected as one of six finalists, the poster was ultimately chosen by the board of directors of the Association of College and University Printers Plus (ACUP+), a testament to the team’s exceptional talent and dedication to excellence.

You can view the award and the winning poster on display in Morrison Hall, just outside the Shocker Printing Solutions print center.

Congratulations to Annelise and the entire Shocker Printing team for the achievement.

NIAR staff Jeremy Sitz and Hunter Robertson, a senior in engineering, brought home Top Gun awards from the 2024 COExperience in Dallas last week.

Sitz placed first and Robertson took third. The Top Gun competition identifies the “Best of the Best” CATIA engineers and designers through a competition that tests their skills at developing the most accurate and correctly-structured three-dimensional model in the least amount of time.

NIAR staff have a history of bringing home honors in the competition. WSU student Dane Moorehead placed second in 2023.

Wichita State University Industry and Defense Programs (IDP) is proud to announce that Chris Snyder, IDP director of information technology and security, received the Trailblazing Chief Information Security Officer award from Cyber Defense Magazine (CDM), the industry’s leading electronic information security magazine.

Snyder leads the Information Technology team and cybersecurity program for IDP. His team supports over 1,500 employees working within 22 distinct research labs and technology centers. Prior to joining WSU, Chris spent 30 years in Air Force cyberspace operations and airspace management. His Air Force career included multiple command positions, highlighted by his selection to stand up a diverse new Cyber Operations Group, comprised of a Security Operations Center, a cyber hunt team and a cyber red team. Chris is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and holds a Chief Information Officer Certificate from National Defense University. He graduated from Embry Riddle University with a Bachelor of Science in aeronautics and later earned a Master of Business Administration from Webster University.

The 20th annual Graduate Research and Scholarly Project (GRASP) Symposium was held on April 26 in the Rhatigan Student Center.

Well over 200 students, faculty and staff members attended the event, and 120 graduate student presenters of 73 research posters represented departments and programs from across the university.

This year’s GRASP awardees are:

• First place: Preliminary Analysis of Ground Stone Artifacts from Etzanoa (14CO3)
  K.M. Carter, anthropology master’s program with advisor Dr. Crystal Dozier
• Second place: Familiarization Training Game for Extended Reality Spacesuit User Interface
  Robert Beran, Athalee Pate, Braeden McKeown, Pranjal Nawarkar, Alexis Painter, human factors psychology master’s program with advisor Dr. Maggie Schoonover
• People’s Choice: C.O.S.M.O.S. CosmoShox On-Site Martian Overlay System
  Yumi Kikuchi Coronel, Denae Sawyer, Nathan Lewis, Elaine Duff, Marianna Fronciani Farina, innovation design master’s program with advisor Kristyn Waits

Join the School of Art, Design and Creative Industries (ADCI) from noon to 2 p.m. Friday, April 26 in 210 McKnight Art Center to celebrate the accomplishments of art history students studying ADCI.

Presentations by keynote speaker Angela Tucker, coordinator of the Race Project at Johnson County Libraries, and guest speaker Carter Bryant, ADCI alum and ArtsKC program associate, will take place. Event is free and open to the public.

The Barton School of Business is poised to host its esteemed “Beyond” Hall of Fame 2026, dedicated to recognizing, honoring and celebrating industry executives and business leaders who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to their communities and the advancement of the Barton School. The illustrious inductees of the inaugural Hall of Fame in 2024 were Frank Barton, Clark Bastian and Fran Jabara. Nominations for this prestigious event’s next group of inductees are being welcomed until Friday, May 10, 2024.

“The Barton School has been shaped by countless luminaries,” said Dr. Larisa Genin, dean, Barton School. “This recognition stands as our heartfelt tribute to their remarkable achievements and profound impact. Each inductee serves as a beacon of inspiration to us all.”

The “Beyond” Hall of Fame 2026 crowning event will take place on Feb. 21, 2026, at the celebrated Mark Arts in Wichita. This spectacular event coincides with the Barton School’s 100th centennial celebration, promising an evening of unparalleled grandeur and significance!

Nominations for the 2026 Business Hall of Fame inductees are currently open. If you are aware of individuals whose contributions have left a lasting impression on the Barton School, we encourage you to submit your nominations to bartonbeyond@wichita.edu by May 10, 2024. Please include the nominee’s name, title, company affiliation, a brief rationale for the nomination, along with the nominator’s name and contact information.

The Latine Faculty and Staff Association (LFSA) at Wichita State are requesting nominations from members of the campus community to recognize and celebrate outstanding Latine Shockers.

• The Elisa Chacon Award
  Named after Elisa Chacon, WSU’s first Latine student graduate, the award will be given to an undergraduate student who has excelled in scholarship, community, leadership and advocacy.
• The Hector Franco Award
  Named after Hector Franco, WSU’s earliest graduate-level degree recipient, the award will be given to a graduate student who has excelled in scholarship, community, leadership and advocacy.
• The Joseph “Jose” Angulo Award
  Named after Joseph “Jose” Angulo, WSU’s longtime professor who taught at WSU for 37 years, this award will be given to a faculty member who has excelled in advocating, promoting, mentoring and engaging with the Latine community at WSU.
• The Maccelino “Chelo” Huerta Award
  Named after Maccelino “Chelo” Huerta, WSU’s head football coach from 1962 to 1964 who was inducted in to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2002, this award will be given to a staff member who has excelled in advocating, promoting, mentoring and engaging with the Latine community at WSU.
• The Camarena Community Award
  Named after Gene and Yolanda Camarena, founders of the Shocker Adelante Scholars. the award is for a student who embodies the highest ideals of character, leadership and service and whose commitment has made a significant impact to the Latine community at WSU.

Take a moment to nominate a fellow WSU colleague/student for the LFSA Awards. Applications will be accepted through April 24, and the award winners will be revealed during the inaugural Latine Graduation Student Celebration from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, May 9 at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex.

For more information, contact Sara Mata at sara.mata@wichita.edu.