PC students, faculty and staff have been recognized for their work and achievements over the past few months. Here are a few recent recognitions.

English Professor’s Essay/Memoir Published

Dr. Terry Barr, professor of English, recently published two new stories including “Garbage Pails,” an essay/memoir. You can find it in Street Light Magazine.

History Professor’s Research Published

Work from Dr. Jaclyn Sumner, assistant professor of history, has been published in “Mexican Studies/Estudios Mexicanos,” a bilingual journal published by the University of California Press.

The article ties to politics and history in Mexico. Dr. Sumner’s research examines “how Prospero Cahuantzi, governor of Tlaxcala from 1885-1911, claimed his Indigenous heritage … and how Cahuantzi’s Indigenousness helped him to secure a permanent political position in Porfirio Dıaz’s dictatorship (1876-1910).”

Biology Professor Recognized for Scientific Photography

Dr. James Wetzel, the Pulaski L. Bealy Smith Professor of Biology, was inducted as a fellow of the BioCommunications Association over the summer at the 88th annual BCA meeting in California.

Wetzel’s previous accomplishments with the BCA include:

• several awards of merit in scientific imagery
• the Canadian founders Natural Science award
• the EIPBN Grand Prize for microscopic imaging
• first place in the Polaroid Corporation International Competition for Electron Microscopy
• honorable mention in the annual Olympus ‘Bioscapes’ competition
• a Nikon corporation Image of Distinction award
• publication in a calendar of images for the Nikon “small world” competition
• a cover image for the international journal “Microscopy Today”

Wetzel has presented seminars and/or run workshop at BCA annual meetings since 2008 and has served as editor of the Journal of Biocommunications since 2017.

The BioCommunications Association (BCA) is an international organization dedicated to scientific photography and visual data communications in the life sciences and medicine.

Award-Winning Research Papers

The Barnett Undergraduate Research Paper competition encourages high-quality scholarship from students who are supervised by faculty mentors and guides.

Awards are presented in the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences. These winners of the Andy Barnett Undergraduate Research Paper Competition were announced at the beginning of the semester:

Humanities

First Place – Haley Pye, mentored by Dr. Karen Buckland
Second Place – Brenna Ashe, mentored by Dr. Jaclyn Sumner

Natural Sciences

First Place – Clay Wright, mentored by Dr. Eli Owens
Second Place – Caroline Dyar, mentored by Dr. Austin Shull

Social Sciences

First Place – Grace Christenbury, mentored by Dr. Stephanie Freis
Second Place – Christian Sanders, mentored by Dr. Sarah Burns

Overall Prize

Haley Pye, mentored by Dr. Karen Buckland, received the overall prize.

The Barnett Undergraduate Research Paper competition was introduced in the 2018-2019 academic year. Dr. Barnett ’68 is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Auburn University.

Eligible students must be currently enrolled at PC at the time their papers are submitted. Research papers written for class projects, Honors Day and other presentations are open for consideration for a variety of awards.

Achievements in the Classroom

The following student awards were presented at the beginning of the 2019-20 academic year.

Freshman Academic Award

This is presented annually to the first-year students in the previous year’s class who achieved a 4.0 GPA in all coursework completed in their first year at PC. The following students who achieved this distinction in the 2018-2019 academic year:

• Alexis Nicole Crider
• Stephen McKenzie Josey
• Paris Langley Rizzo
• Sierra Nicole Turbeville

Religion Department Awards

Alexis Nicole Crider received the Fraser Bible Award. The Department of Religion and Philosophy presents the award to a member of last year’s freshman class who is of exemplary character and who earned the highest average grade in Bible for the year.

John Harold Dover received the Hay Religion Award. The Department of Religion and Philosophy presents the award to the student who has the highest grade point average in four semesters of religion and/or philosophy taken during their first two years at PC.

Earn Your Degree

PC offers more than 50 majors in the undergraduate program and two graduate degrees: a doctor’s in pharmacy and a master’s in physician assistant studies. Visit Majors, Minors, and Programs to learn more.