Maroon MEMO: Employee News (Mississippi State University)

Mississippi State officials cut the ribbon to officially open the new NSPARC Data Center last Friday. Pictured, from left, are NSPARC Deputy Executive Director Steven Grice, MSU Provost and Executive Vice President Judy Bonner, NSPARC Executive Director Domenico “Mimmo” Parisi, MSU Vice President for Research and Economic Development David Shaw and NSPARC Associate Director of Information Technology Hal Bullock. PHOTO: Beth Wynn | Public Affairs

Organization of American Historians honors Finley with prestigious dissertation award
For her dissertation on women’s roles in the antebellum slave trade, a new faculty member at Mississippi State is receiving the 2018 Lerner-Scott Prize for the best doctoral dissertation on U.S. women’s history. The Organization of American Historians is recognizing Alexandra “Alex” Finley with the award and a cash prize. Outgoing OAH president Edward L. Ayers and incoming president Earl Lewis conferred her honor during the organization’s annual meeting this month.

DAR recognizes Melby's career contributions
The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution is honoring a retired Mississippi State faculty member whose long tenure featured many landscape design accomplishments. Pete Melby of Starkville recently received a DAR Conservation Committee certificate citing “outstanding achievement for environmental awareness.” A faculty member in the university’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, he concluded a 35-year landscape architecture career in 2013.

Nomination period for Leadership Excellence for Accomplished Professionals open
Nominations are now being accepted for Mississippi State’s premier staff leadership program, Leadership Excellence for Accomplished Professionals (LEAP). The mission of the LEAP program is to empower new supervisors and extremely high performing employees with a heightened self-awareness, advanced knowledge, and value-added leadership in a secure, but challenging environment. Since 2011, almost 60% of LEAP graduates have received a promotion and 70% of employees who participate in the LEAP program still work at MSU.

Maroon Goes Green: Recycling reminders
Mississippi State University currently recycles an average of 60,400 pounds per month. The campus-wide sustainability initiative "Maroon Goes Green" is continuing its efforts to increase recycling awareness and participation among the campus community. Custodial staff members continue to be an integral part of this process and are committed to helping us increase our recycling numbers. To reduce contamination of recyclables, the Office of Sustainability is working to ensure all offices have bins with blue bags for recyclables only and to have convenient trash containers placed in buildings throughout campus.

This Week in Mississippi State Sports, 04/23/18
Baseball visits Trustmark Park in Pearl on Tuesday at 6 p.m. for the Governor's Cup game against Ole Miss, and then hosts Texas A&M with games on Friday at 6:30 p.m., Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ... Softball plays Troy on the road Tuesday at 6 p.m., and then visits Columbia for an SEC series against South Carolina with games on Friday at 5 p.m., Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at noon ... The SEC Men's Golf Championship begins Wednesday at Sea Island Country Club in Georgia ... Beginning Thursday, Track & Field competes at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia ... Men's Tennis starts play in the SEC Championship in Tuscaloosa at noon on Friday.

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White House taps Keenum to chair BIFAD
Mississippi State University President Mark E. Keenum was designated chairman of the Board for International Food and Agriculture Development (BIFAD) by President Donald J. Trump, the White House announced last Friday afternoon. BIFAD was created in 1975 under Title XII (Famine Prevention and Freedom from Hunger) of the Foreign Assistance Act. The board’s mission is to draw on higher education’s scientific knowledge to advise U.S. international assistance efforts.

Mississippi State celebrates research success with annual banquet
More than 50 Mississippi State students, faculty and staff are 2018 selections for exceptional research and leadership honors. MSU President Mark E. Keenum welcomed honorees, their guests and senior administrators to a celebration of the university’s research achievements during a campus awards luncheon last week. Wes Schilling, a professor in the Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Health Promotion, was recognized with the afternoon’s top honor: the 2018 Ralph E. Powe Research Excellence Award.

Arts & Sciences announces spring award winners
The College of Arts and Sciences recently recognized eight faculty members with awards at a ceremony honoring their research and scholarly commitments to the university. The college presented the faculty awards in conjunction with the spring faculty meeting at the Hotel Chester. The annual research awards are given to faculty who contribute significantly to MSU’s mission of research and increase awareness of the university’s research programs and capabilities. The annual teaching awards recognize faculty for outstanding teaching service.

NSF honors Rai with CAREER award
A Mississippi State chemical engineering expert is receiving a prestigious CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. The NSF is recognizing Neeraj Rai, an assistant professor in MSU’s Dave C. Swalm School of Chemical Engineering, with the nationally renowned Faculty Career Development Award for his work in developing efficient catalysts and processes that convert biomass into chemicals, fuels and other sustainable materials. The honor includes more than $500,000 in funding to support research expenses over a five-year period.