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Contact: Sarah Nicholas

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State’s College of Arts and Sciences recently recognized eight faculty members with awards honoring their research and scholarly commitments to the university.

This year’s honorees include faculty who contribute significantly to the university’s mission of research and increase awareness of MSU’s fields of study and programs. They are:

—Brandon T. Barton, assistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, received the Arts and Sciences Research Award in Natural and Physical Sciences and Mathematics and Statistics. Barton is researching how species’ interactions are affected by the environment and how climate change will affect species and their interactions within food webs.

—D. Shane Miller, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, received the Arts and Sciences Research Award in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Miller is a prehistoric archaeologist whose primary research interests are the Ice Age colonization of the Americas, the origins of agriculture in eastern North America, and how lithic technology, Geographic Information Systems and geoarchaeology help make inferences about past human behavior.

—Robert West, professor in the Department of English, received the Arts and Sciences Research Award in the Humanities. West led the recent successful campaign for �㽶ֱ��to shelter a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. West is the editor of “The Complete Poems of A. R. Ammons, Vol. 1: 1955-1977 and Vol. 2: 1978-2005,” published by W. W. Norton & Co in 2017.

Those recognized with outstanding teaching service awards include:

—Amy B. Fountain, instructor in the Department of Communication, received the Arts and Sciences Teaching Award in Social and Behavioral Sciences. Fountain is the department’s fundamentals of public speaking coordinator, as well as the internship coordinator. She teaches fundamentals of public speaking, small group communication and introduction to communication theory.

—Amy P. Moe-Hoffman, instructor in the Department of Geosciences, received the Arts and Sciences Teaching Award in Natural and Physical Sciences and Mathematics and Statistics.�� Moe-Hoffman teaches the departmental introductory geology labs and lectures, and she is the collections manager for the Dunn-Seiler Museum, chair of the University Museum and Galleries Committee and co-coordinator of Mississippi State’s annual Darwin Week celebration in February.  

—Eric D. Vivier, assistant professor in the Department of English, received the Arts and Sciences Teaching Award in the Humanities. Vivier’s teaching interests focus on 16th century literature, Shakespeare, satire and cultural studies, with a particular interest in Shakespeare’s contemporaries. As a Faculty Fellow in the Judy and Bobby Shackouls Honors College, Vivier teaches Quest classes, seminars for freshmen and sophomores.

Created in 2014 in honor of Robert E. Wolverton, a professor of classics at �㽶ֱ��for nearly four decades, his legacy award recognizes faculty who have made long-term contributions to the College of Arts and Sciences and have advocated the ideals of liberal arts education.

Faculty receiving the 2019 Robert E. Wolverton Legacy Award include:

—Gerald A. Emison, professor emeritus in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration. Emison retired in 2018 after a 15-year career with MSU. He also is a retired senior executive service appointee at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Emison served as a Fulbright Specialist to Cambodia in 2015 and has authored and co-edited three books and 30 professional journal articles and book chapters. PSPA students chose Emison as professor of the year five times.�� 

—Stephen B. Klein, professor in the Department of Psychology. Klein joined MSU’s faculty in 1990, serving as head of the psychology department for 20 years, and he plans to retire in May. Klein is the sole author of eight editions of his textbook, “Learning: Principles and Applications,” which has been translated into Spanish and adopted by universities in Spain and throughout Central and South America, as well as used at universities across the U.S.

MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences includes more than 5,300 students, 300 full-time faculty members, nine doctoral programs and 25 academic majors offered in 14 departments.��Complete details about the College of Arts and Sciences may be found at .  

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