Students, professors earn awards for the 2019-2020 academic year

Students, professors earn awards for the 2019-2020 academic year

PC students and professors were recognized for their achievements during the 2019-20 academic year.

Professor of the Year and Outstanding Senior

This week, the Professor of the Year and Outstanding Senior of the Class of 2020 awards were announced. The recipients are Dr. Clint Harshaw, professor of mathematics, and Zoe Montague ’20, from Davidson, N.C.

Harshaw has additionally been recognized by the South Carolina Independent Colleges and Universities (SCICU) with its 2020 Excellence in Teaching award. SCICU provides a professional development award and a plaque to one faculty member at each SCICU institution for outstanding teaching, advising and mentorship to students.

Outstanding Seniors and Students

Many academic departments have also selected their most outstanding graduating senior or student for the year, based primarily on academic performance, but also on service to the department and College. The following is the list of award recipients by department:

Accounting – Zoe Montague, from Davidson, N.C.
Art – Meagan Lorraine Hart, from Jonesville, S.C.
Biochemistry – Blake Allen West, from Boiling Springs, S.C.
Biology – Adrianna Louise Cody – from Enoree, S.C.
Business Administration – Garrett Leslie Jones, from Chesapeake, Va.
Chemistry – Jane Elizabeth Lindberg, from Simpsonville, S.C.
Christian Education – William Carl DeLaney, from Boiling Springs, S.C.
Computer Science – Preston Kathlyn Robinette, from Maryville, Tenn.
Computational Biology – Ricardo Hernández Arriaza, from Madrid, Spain
Creative Writing – Sarah Elizabeth Gastright, from Irmo, S.C.
Education – Kaitlyn Elizabeth Thompson, from Lexington, S.C.
English – Bethan Patricia Taylor, from Merseyside, UK
French – Kailynn Alexis Turner, from Lexington, S.C.
History – Alexis Kristine Clark, from Statesville, N.C.
International Studies – Emily Katherine Swanigan, from Peachtree Corners, Ga.
Management – Rylie Agerton Marchman, from Waynesboro, Ga.
Mathematics – Emily Kaye Mitchell, from Chapin, S.C.
Music – Harris Houser Banks, from Piedmont, S.C.
Physics – Emily Kaye Mitchell, from Chapin, S.C.
Political Science – Emily Jean Green, from Tallahassee, Fla.
Psychology – Elizabeth Catherine Powers, from Lexington, S.C.
Religion – Sage Leona Hinkleman, from Clover, S.C.
Sociology – Brianna Paige Collins, from McCormick, S.C.
Spanish – Alyssa Christine Leaman, from Penryn, Calif.

Faculty Awards

PC faculty have also been recognized for their work this year. This year’s recipient of the Orr Faculty Research Fellowship is Dr. Patrick Kiley, professor of French. Kiley will use the fellowship to pursue research and course development, and potentially a textbook, with emphasis on food studies.

In 2016, with the passing of President Emeritus Dr. Kenneth B. Orr, his wife, Dr. Ruth Currie, established a Memorial Endowment to honor her husband and to underscore Dr. Orr’s legacy at Presbyterian College. Dr. Orr served as President of PC for 18 years, from 1979 to 1997.

The Orr Faculty Research Fellowship, drawn from the Memorial Endowment, reflects both Dr. Currie’s and Dr. Orr’s recognition that the student research and academic rigor have as their keys the faculty, the mentors who inspire their students and expect excellence in their studies. This fellowship is expected to build on Dr. Orr’s hope for academic excellence at PC, and the Orr Faculty Research Fellowship goes to a faculty member in order to pursue research that enhances her or his classroom teaching for the benefit of students here at PC.

Dr. Jaclyn Sumner, associate professor of history, received the 2020 Robert H. Freymeyer Award for Meritorious Scholarship. Sumner has pursued a variety of research projects since arriving at PC, with a particular emphasis on the history of Mexico and Latin American studies.

She is the 2019 recipient of the Orr Fellowship, and she will be continuing her research while finalizing a book manuscript later this year during her Fall 2020 sabbatical.

The Robert H. Freymeyer Award for Meritorious Scholarship is given annually to a full-time faculty member for distinguished work in research, scholarship or artistic creation. It may be awarded either for a single accomplishment or for a body of work. The recipient is selected by a panel of faculty representing all academic divisions in the College of Arts and Sciences.

The award is named for Dr. Robert H. Freymeyer, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, who served on the faculty from 1984 to 2017. Dr. Freymeyer was, and he remains, an active champion of student and faculty scholarship at Presbyterian College, and he both launched and maintained for 15 years the Honors Day Symposium.

Student Awards of Distinction

The following students in the College of Arts & Sciences received these awards at the conclusion of the Spring 2020 semester:

Billy Tiller Award – Elijah Dean Teeselink, from North Augusta, S.C.
Creative Writing Award – Sarah Elizabeth Gastright, from Irmo, S.C.
Frank Dudley & Catherine Wyman Jones Award – Sarah Bates Myers, from Frederick, Md.
Harry S. Dent Christian Lay Leadership Award – John Harold Dover, from Inman, S.C.
Joseph Graham Miller Award – Ricardo Hernandez Arriaza, from Madrid, Spain
Jane Hammet Award – Kaitlyn Elizabeth Thompson, from Lexington, S.C.
Wall Street Journal Award – Garrett Leslie Jones, from Chesapeake, Va.

Eric Johnson Fellows

Elizabeth Catherine Powers, from Lexington, S.C.
Emma Claire Roach, from Taylors, S.C.
Madyson Pearl Glenn, from West Columbia, S.C.
Megan Anne Jones, from Simpsonville, S.C.
Sydney Brooke Stephenson, from Chester, S.C.

Fraternity Scholastic Award

Theta Chi

Sorority Scholastic Award

Alpha Delta Pi

Jack & Jane Presseau Community Service Award

Elizabeth Catherine Powers, from Lexington, S.C.

American Legion Awards – 

Madyson Pearl Glenn, from West Columbia, S.C.
Jerius Noel Duncan, from Simpsonville, S.C.

Joseph O. Nixon Leadership Awards –

William Avery Conrad, from Clemson, S.C.
Emily Jean Green, from Tallahassee, Fla.