When Treven Knight was growing up, he was always interested in the extremes. He wanted to know the world’s tallest building, biggest truck and anything that pushed the limits of what was possible. That interest eventually led him to learn more about extremes in weather like the largest tornadoes, and ultimately, how computer models can predict these weather events.

Mississippi State celebrated three faculty members Thursday [Aug. 28] with two of the university’s most prestigious teaching honors. Christopher Snyder has been named a William L. Giles Distinguished Professor, and Kelly Moser and Holli H. Seitz are the university’s newest Grisham Master Teachers.

As a faculty member in MSU’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Jacob Tschume savors the moments his students begin understanding daunting formulas and abstract concepts. “Helping students—being able to see their light bulb click—is what I love most,” he said.

Mississippi State University faculty, staff and students brought home top awards at the recent Southern Public Relations Federation Lantern Awards ceremony in Biloxi.

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Hossein Karimi, an assistant professor in Mississippi State’s Department of Psychology, is receiving more than half a million dollars from the National Science Foundation’s prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program—the first award of its kind for the department.

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Ryan A. Folk, assistant professor in Mississippi State’s Department of Biological Sciences, is the recipient of a prestigious Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program award from the National Science Foundation.

“I come from a long line of learners and storytellers in my family who instilled in me a love of history,” said Leigh Soares an assistant professor of history at Mississippi State University and an affiliated faculty member with the African American Studies program. “Under less constrained circumstances, some of them might have become college professors too.”

Mississippi State is honoring eight outreach projects with the university’s sixth annual Excellence in Community Engagement Awards.

A Mississippi State University communication team recently garnered four top awards at the Southern Public Relations Federation conference in Huntsville for their efforts at increasing the message and visibility of MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences. Along with college staff, students in the Department of Communication took top SPRF awards for their hands-on projects in the classroom.

A Mississippi State University staff member is being recognized by a global society for her contributions to the advancement of research with a ‘Future of the Field’ award from the Society of Research Administrators International, or SRAI.

Kasondra Harris got into the field of education because she likes the sense of purpose that comes with helping others. “I like putting out fires and making people happy with effective solutions to problems,” said the academic coordinator for Mississippi State’s College of Arts and Sciences. “I love the fact that each day brings something new and different.”

A veteran Mississippi State faculty member with a wealth of leadership experience in academic programs and faculty and student development is the College of Arts and Sciences’ new leader for academic affairs.