MU faculty receive President’s Awards: Student wins in entrepreneur category

Thirteen faculty and students at the University of Missouri’s four campuses received President’s Awards, the system’s highest honor, for excellence in teaching, research, service and economic development. The awards were presented in early March.
Economic Development Award:

Katti, curators’ professor of radiology and physics at MU has obtained $15 million in external funding and gifts as part of his work in the fields of chemistry, physics, radiopharmaceuticals, materials science, green nanotechnology and nanomedicine. He received the Outstanding Missourian Award by the Missouri House of Representatives in 2008.
Mentoring Award:

Dougherty is the chairman of Business and Economics and a management professor in the Trulaske College of Business at MU. He has contributed numerous research articles and book chapters on mentoring, served on several campus committees related to enhancing teaching and faculty development and mentored assistant professors.
Sustained Excellence Award:

Cowan, a curators’ professor in psychological sciences at MU studies in cognitive psychology, specifically regarding short-term working memory and attention. Cowan serves as director and co-creator of the Brain Imaging Center at MU and has received the Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Faculty Research.
Early Career Award:

Thelen, an associate professor in biochemistry at MU since 2004, has made outstanding contributions toward understanding mechanisms regulating plant metabolism. He has established himself as one of the nation’s premier young plant biochemists.
Inter-Campus Collaboration Award:

Bal is associate professor of orthopaedic surgery at MU, and Rahaman is professor of materials science and engineering and director of the Center for Bone and Tissue Repair and Regeneration at Missouri University of Science and Technology. Their collaborative research during the past eight years has explored bioactive glass applications in skeletal repair and tissue-engineering of cartilage.
Student Entrepreneur Award:

Orbe, a senior majoring in marketing, won MU’s New Venture Idea Competition with the idea for providing frozen homemade meals for college students. She competed nationally with this same idea at the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization and finished fourth. She currently serves as president of the Flegel Academy for Aspiring Entrepreneurs and is vice president of growth and networking for the MU Entrepreneurs organization.