College of Education, Health and Human Development Awards and Recognition 2020-2021
Below are a collection of articles highlighting some of the College's many accomplishments. Click on the text to be taken to the MSU published articles.
Montana State students win top honors in international food science competitions
Doctoral student Edwin Allan and a team of undergraduate students – Haley Darlinton, Amber Clifton, Emily Raber and Cullen Kinnare – won first place in this year’s Institute of Food Technologists’ Developing Solutions for Developing Countries Competition. They were honored for their work with Bountifield International on co-developing a culturally sensitive peanut nutrition bar with smallholder women farmers in the west African nation of Senegal. The team also won the Judges’ Choice Award in an earlier venture pitch competition held at MSU in May. The team donated a portion of their prize money from both competitions to build ovens for the partnering Senegal women.
Sharon Li won first place in the institute’s graduate student poster competition in the sensory science division. Li’s poster examined how consumers’ perceptions of Montana-made lentil crackers are affected by their sensory quality, as well as by their made-in-Montana and low carbon footprint labels. The project will be expanded into developing lentil snacks using food extrusion technology.
MSU faculty members, community partner receive Spirit of Montana Commendation
Kristi Borge, a Montana State University alumna who now teaches kindergarten through eighth grade in a one-room schoolhouse in the small rural community of Polaris, has been named Montana Teacher of the Year.
Borge said she was humbled by the award, given by the office of the Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction, and called it a tribute to the “incredible mentor teachers” she has had.
“Every action I do is a result of the leadership of others who have really shown me the essence of teaching,” she said. “I feel incredibly proud and honored. However, I think that there are so many teachers who have influenced me who are equally deserving of this recognition. While the (Montana Teacher of the Year) is awarded to an individual, I think this year it celebrates the hard work of the rural, multi-grade teachers who share similar responsibilities (to) my own.”
MSU health and human development professor Wan-Yuan Kuo named MUS Teaching Scholar
A Montana State University professor has been recognized for her plans to promote a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion in food and nutrition courses and help students from all backgrounds succeed in those courses.
Wan-Yuan Kuo, a food scientist and assistant professor in the Department of Health and Human Development in the College of Education, Health and Human Development, is one of three MSU faculty members selected to take part in the Montana University System’s 2020 Teaching Scholars program, which seeks to help students succeed at Montana campuses. The annual teaching award program helps launch innovations to help students succeed across all system campuses. In addition to Kuo, Paul Gannon, professor of chemical and biological engineering in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering, and Meta Newhouse, professor of graphic design in the College of Arts and Architecture, were among the 14 scholars picked from across the university system.
The theme of this year’s Teaching Scholars program is developing equity-minded pedagogies. Kuo said she plans to use the award to acquire and implement a variety of strategies in curriculum and syllabus design to allow underserved students to succeed in food and nutrition classes at MSU and beyond.
MSU students and mentors to be honored with annual Awards for Excellence
Forty of Montana State University’s top seniors and their faculty and staff mentors will be recognized Tuesday, Feb. 16, at the 39th annual Awards for Excellence. This year’s event will be held online.
Honored students are nominated by faculty in their college or department. Qualified seniors must have at least a 3.5 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, as well as demonstrated campus leadership and community service.
MSU honors top faculty and staff
Student advisers, dedicated teachers and innovative researchers from across Montana State University have been honored this month and last month as the university presented its annual Spring Convocation awards for faculty and staff. The awards recognize achievements in faculty research, teaching, outreach and creative projects.
MSU education professor receives prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award
“I started asking some questions and started talking about differences between the relationships (people in STEM who identify as LGBTQ) have with colleagues, as well as the relationships they have with people outside of their field,” said Hughes, an assistant professor of adult and higher education in MSU’s College of Education, Health and Human Development.
Those questions have morphed into a productive line of research. Now, Hughes will further study the experiences of LGBTQ undergraduates in STEM as the recipient of a five-year, $695,000 National Science Foundation CAREER award. The CAREER grant is considered the premier award given to early-career researchers.
MSU ranked among top colleges for educational leadership doctoral program
Montana State University’s doctoral program in educational leadership has been recognized nationally.
MSU’s program earned the No. 4 spot on a list of the top 16 colleges offering educational leadership doctoral degrees in 2021 by Best Value Schools. The online education publisher researches thousands of colleges and universities to find the best schools that meet the needs of prospective students at the best price. Best Value Schools looked at tuition costs and enrollment figures to rank the schools.
