HSOC Spring 2022 Awards Roundup

Posted May 9, 2022

Congratulations to all of the talented students, faculty, and staff in the School of History and Sociology who earned awards and recognition across campus this semester. We're proud to celebrate your achievements!

 

Faculty Awards and Achievements

Mary McDonald, Professor and Homer C. Rice Chair in Sports and Society, won a Student Recognition of Excellence in Teaching: 2021 CIOS Award. The annual award from the Center for Teaching and Learning honors faculty with exceptional response rates and scores from students on the Course Instructor Opinion Survey (CIOS).

Professor Bill Winders was awarded a Summer 2022 IAC Professional Development Award for his project, "Inequality in Farmland Ownership in Dodge County, Georgia, 1929-1986." Read a recent article about his research here: Food Goes Where it’s Most Profitable — Even When it’s Genetically Engineered 

HSOC alumna and affiliated faculty member Sybrina Atwaters was the 2022 School of History and Sociology Distinguished Alumni Award winner. The IAC Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony was held at the Historic Academy of Medicine on April 7. 

Assistant Professor Germán Vergara's book Fueling Mexico: Energy and Environment, 1850-1950, won an honorable mention for "Best Book in the Humanities" at the Latin American Studies Association Mexico Section Awards 2022. Vergara also won a Faculty Excellence in Research Award at the 2022 IAC Faculty and Staff Awards on April 28. Next year, he will be a Cisneros Visiting Scholar at the David Rockefeller Center for Latin American Studies at Harvard University.

Assistant Professor Allen Hyde won the 2022 CTL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award. He is one of the six faculty members at Georgia Tech to receive the honor. 

Finally, Assistant Professor Kate Pride Brown and Assistant Professor Todd Michney have both been promoted to associate professor with tenure! Congratulations on the well-deserved achievement!

 

Staff Awards and Achievements

Robert Hampson, administrative manager for the School of History and Sociology, won the 2022 Spirit of Georgia Tech Award!

This award recognizes an outstanding staff member "who inspires others with their presence and professionalism, creating an environment where others flourish and thrive. They embody what it means to be a Georgia Tech employee, continually striving toward progress and service." He formally recognized at the Faculty and Staff Honors Luncheon at the Academy of Medicine on April 29. 
 

Undergraduate Student Awards and Achievements

Each year, the School of History and Sociology recognizes four exceptional students and recent graduates with the 2022 Bellon Award and the 2020–2021 HSOC Chair's Award. This year's Bellon Award winners are Yihua Xu and Katie Marchese, and the HSOC Chair's Award winners are Haley Theis and Katherine Clowse. Read more about their accomplishments here: Congratulations to our 2022 HSOC Award Winners!

Kay Perkins, a second-year student in the School of Public Policy and School of History and Sociology, was awarded a Patti Grace Smith Fellowship, which pairs Black undergraduate students with the nation’s leading aerospace companies.

Finally, we're proud to celebrate all of the HSOC graduating Class of 2022! Check out where they’re going next.

 

Graduate Student Awards and Achievements

2022 Ph.D. graduate Mario Bianchini won the Ivan Allen Jr. Legacy Award for graduate students. He was recognized at the Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony on April 7.

HSOC's Graduate Committee named Ph.D. candidate Alejandra Ruiz Leon this year's winner of the Homer Rice Award. The award recognizes an HSOC graduate student who, through volunteerism, has fostered a sense of community in the School of History and Sociology and broader communities. Named in honor of Dr. Homer Rice, Georgia Tech’s former athletic director, the award offers a modest monetary stipend as well as recognition on the HSOC award wall in the Old CE Building.

Alejandra was nominated by multiple members of the HSOC community, who spoke to the many ways that she has served and impacted HSOC, Ivan Allen College, Georgia Tech, and beyond. You can read about some of Alejandra's work here: HSOC Student Uses Instagram to Combat Covid-19 Misinformation in Peru.

The Graduate Committee also decided to give an honorable mention to Ben Wills for the Homer Rice Award. Wills has thrown himself into life in HSOC and at Georgia Tech like few other first-year students in the program have over the years, and the Graduate Committee is pleased to recognize his great work and valued presence through this honorable mention. 

Wills also won a Graduate Research Presentation Award at the IAC Tenth Annual Graduate Research Conference, where more than 15 students presented their research. Each winner will receive $750 towards research funds.

The winners of this year's awards for best GTA are Mike Bivona for best instruction in an in-person class and Addison Malone for best instruction in an online course. Malone also won the Center for Teaching and Learning's Institute-wide award for Online Teaching Assistant of the Year. She was recognized for her efforts in SOC 1101 under the advisement of Amy D'Unger.

Finally, Declan Abernethy has been awarded a Herbert H. Haley Fellowship from Georgia Tech, an honor that comes with a one-time payment from the Institute. The Haley Fellowship is a merit award given annually to a small number of continuing, full-time graduate students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents. 

Congratulations to all of our many outstanding award winners — we can't wait to see what you do next!

The School of History and Sociology seeks to "Explore the Past, Engage the Present, Define the Future." Connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to keep up with our students, school news, and upcoming events.