Faculty, alumni recognized at Honors College’s annual Awards Ceremony
9/18/2009
Academic and professional achievements of faculty members and Scholar alumni were celebrated by the Schreyer Honors College Thursday (September 17, 2009) as the college held its annual Awards Ceremony at the Nittany Lion Inn on Penn State’s University Park campus.
The ceremony included the presentation of faculty awards for honors advisory and honors teaching and the recognition of the college’s 2009 Outstanding Scholar Alumni Award recipients.
The ceremony was attended by faculty members, students, Honors College administrators, and family members of the honorees.
The award recipients included:
Excellence in Honors Advising Award:
Dr. Themis Matsoukas
Dr. Matsoukas, professor of chemical engineering, serves as an honors adviser in the Department of Chemical Engineering. He earned his doctorate from the University of Michigan. The Penn State Engineering Society has twice recognized Dr. Matsoukas, presenting him with its Outstanding Advising Award in 2004 and its Outstanding Teaching Award in 2006. In March of 2009, Dr. Matsoukas was one of four University faculty members to receive the 2009 George W. Atherton Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Excellence in Honors Teaching Award:
Dr. Charles H. Smith '61 MS, '68 PhD Bus
Dr. Smith, KPMG Professor Emeritus of Accounting, served as chair of the Department of Accounting, from January 1987 to June 2000. He has received several teaching awards at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and in executive development programs. He received the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants Outstanding Educator Award in 2004 and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Award for Distinguished Achievements in Accounting Education in 2005. Dr. Smith received his B. Comm. at the University of Cape Town and earned both his master’s degree and doctoral degree from Penn State.
Outstanding Scholar Alumna Award: Ms. Kelly A. Ayotte '90 Lib
Ms. Ayotte earned her J.D. from Villanova University School of Law. Prior to joining the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office, she served as a law clerk to a member of the New Hampshire Supreme Court and worked as a litigation associate with a Manchester, N.H., law firm. She joined the Attorney General’s office in 1998 as a prosecutor in the Criminal Bureau. Ms. Ayotte became a member of the Homicide Unit and was appointed as senior assistant Attorney General and the unit’s chief in 2000. She served as legal counsel for New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson at the beginning of his term in 2003 and rejoined the Attorney General’s office in July of that same year. In July 2004, she was appointed Attorney General. Ms. Ayotte resigned from her position in July to run for the U.S. Senate.
Outstanding Scholar Alumni Award: Dr. Kevin D. Frick '91 H&HD
Dr. Frick is an associate professor with a primary appointment in the Department of Health Policy and Management in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He also has joint appointments in the departments of economics, international health, and ophthalmology and also in the School of Nursing. As director of the Interdepartmental Health Economics Program, he coordinates health economists within four departments. He has served on the National Advisory Council for Nursing Research and has been a consultant and guest lecturer for other universities. Dr. Frick received an M.A. in Economics and a Ph.D. in Economics and Health Services Research from the University of Michigan.
Note: Photos are unavailable of award recipients Dr. Charles H. Smith ‘61 MS, ‘68 PhD Bus, who received the Excellence in Honors Teaching Award, and Ms. Kelly A. Ayotte ‘90 Lib, who was named the 2009 Outstanding Scholar Alumna. Neither was able to attend the ceremony due to prior commitments.
