Recent achievements for the campus community were earned by Kristen Blankley, Byron Chaves, Aaron Daigh, Katherine Frels, Josh Hong, Casey Kelly, Jen Krueger, Fred Luthans, Luke McDermott, Colleen Medill, Brian Petrotta, Plavini Punyatoya and Timothy Schaffert.

Honors

• Byron Chaves, assistant professor in food science and technology, earned the 2024 International Association for Food Protection’s James M. Jay Diversity in Food Safety Award. This prestigious honor recognizes Chaves’ significant contributions toward fostering diversity within food safety-related careers, activities and research. Chaves will be honored and presented with the award during the IAFP Annual Meeting in July in Long Beach, California.

• Josh Hong, a freshman majoring in turfgrass management from Severna Park, Maryland, was recognized as an All-American Basketball Official at this year’s NIRSA National Basketball Championships hosted by the University of Wisconsin. The tournament consisted of 60 collegiate club teams across Men’s, Women’s, and Unified divisions. NIRSA invited 64 student officials from intramural sports programs across the country to officiate and recognized 12 as All-American for their work during the tournament. All officials were evaluated by a committee of Campus Recreation professionals and guests with different levels of officiating experience.

• Jen Krueger, senior coordinator for injury prevention and care for Campus Recreation, received the 2024 NATA Intercollegiate Council for Sports Medicine’s Head Athletic Trainer of the Year Award in the club/intramural/recreational sports category. Award recipients are actively involved in their community or campus, athletic training associations and promotion of the profession.

• Fred Luthans, George Holmes Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Management, was ranked 14th in the United States and 27th in the world by Research.com, an academic platform for researchers, in their 2024 list of Ranking of Best Scientists in the Field of Business and Management. He also received their Business and Management Leader Award for 2024. On Google Scholar, Luthans’ research has been cited 159,299 times.

• Luke McDermott, a senior majoring in economics, political science and history, is one of 20 students selected as a Key into Public Service Scholar by The Phi Beta Kappa Society, the nation’s most prestigious academic honor society and a leading national advocate for the value of a liberal arts and sciences education. Chosen from over 700 applicants attending Phi Beta Kappa chapter institutions across the nation, each 2024 scholar will receive a $5,000 undergraduate scholarship and will participate in an educational conference held in Washington, D.C. Read more here.

• Brian Petrotta, assistant professor of sports media and communication, earned the ESPN Research Fellowship from the University of Nevada’s International Gaming Institute. The fellowship will allow Petrotta to work with Travis Bell, also named a fellow, of the University of South Florida, on research analyzing gambling broadcasts during March Madness, exploring how responsible gambling messages are conveyed and providing insights into practices during live sports broadcasts.

• Plavini Punyatoya, doctoral candidate in the College of Business, was selected one of three winners of the 2023 Institute for the Study of Business Markets Doctoral Support Award Competition with her proposal, “Effect of Organizational Socialization Strategies on Business-to-Business Salesperson Performance,” and was named an ISBM Doctoral Fellow.

• “The Titanic Survivors Book Club,” a new novel from Timothy Schaffert, Adele Hall Professor of English and director of the Creative Writing Program, was named to the best seller lists of USA Today, American Booksellers Association and the Midwest Independent Booksellers Association. “The Titanic Survivors Book Club” was published April 2 by Penguin Random House.

Appointments

• Kristen Blankley, professor in the College of Law, is now Chair of the Section on Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Association of American Law Schools. In her role as chair, she will oversee the Section’s Works-in-Progress Conference, two section awards, and a new mentorship program.

• Aaron L.M. Daigh, associate professor in agronomy and horticulture, was elected as president-elect of the Soil Science Society of America. As president-elect, Daigh will work closely with SSSA leadership to develop strategic initiatives, engage with stakeholders, and promote the vital role of soil science in addressing global challenges including climate change and food security.

• Katherine Frels, assistant professor of agronomy and horticulture, was elected as the chair-elect for the Crops for Nutrition and Health Division of the Crop Science Society of America. The Crop Science Society of America is a professional society that advances the science of crop science and fosters the transfer of knowledge through publications, meetings, and other educational activities. CSSA is committed to promoting excellence in research, education, and extension in the field of crop science.

• Casey Kelly, professor of communication studies, was selected as the next editor of the [Quarterly Journal of Speech (2026-2028)](https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rqjs200, the flagship journal for rhetorical studies in the National Communication Association.

• Colleen Medill, professor in the College of Law, has accepted an invitation by the National Conference of Bar Examiners to serve as an expert reviewer for Property Law for the Multistate Essay Exam. As an expert reviewer, Medill will review the question and the suggested answer and the scoring system for essay answers. She will provide her independent expert analysis of the clarity, level of difficulty, and weighting of the legal issues indicated by the question. Medill also will provide her expert opinion of the fairness of the question with regard to potential bias or prejudice to test-takers based on personal characteristics such as race, gender, socioeconomic status or religion.