2015 Honorees

Dr. Charles Abramson is a Regents Professor of psychology at Oklahoma State University. His teaching interests include Learning and Memory, Comparative Animal Behavior, Biological Psychology and History of Psychology...

Dawn Behrens lives in the magical windy kingdom of Stillwater, Oklahoma, with her two magnificent cats, Miss Tuxedo and Mister Whiskers, and many fun toys like Benjamin Boo about whom she writes children's story books...

Cindy Brakhage, a senior editor at Fire Protection Publications, has more than 30 years' experience editing or managing many of the IFSTA/FPP training manuals currently marketed...

Matthew S. Brown is a senior student affairs practitioner with expertise in student development theory and management of auxiliary services. His professional work history includes positions at three different land-grant institutions...

Elkie Burnside served as the curriculum manager at Fire Protection Publications from 2011 to 2013. Shortly after completing work on the Essentials of Fire Fighting Instructor Package, she took a position as an assistant professor in the professional department of the University of Findlay in Ohio...

Joseph F. Byrnes is Professor of Modern European History at Oklahoma State University. He is the author of "Catholic and French Forever: Religious and National Identity in Modern France" (Penn State, 2005)...

Dr. Goutam Chakraborty is the director of graduate certificate in business data mining, the director of graduate certificate in marketing analytics and Ralph A. and Peggy A. Brenneman professor of marketing at Oklahoma State University...

Dr. Dursun Delen is the holder of William S. Spears and Neal Patterson Endowed Chairs in business analytics, director of research for the Center for Health Systems Innovation, and professor of management science and information systems in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University...

Jovette R. Dew received her BS degree in industrial engineering and management from Oklahoma State University. After working in industry, she returned to OSU to become an academic advisor and the coordinator of the Multicultural Engineering Program in the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology...

Jeff Fortney is a senior editor at Fire Protection Publications. He has served as project manager on International Fire Service Training Association's Plans Examiner, 1st edition, Industrial Exterior and Structural Fire Brigades, 1st edition, Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting, 5th edition, Vehicle Extrication, 3rd edition, Orientation and Terminology, 5th edition, Company Officer, 5th edition, Chief Officer, 3rd edition, and Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting, 6th edition manuals...

Perry Gethner is Regents Professor, Norris Professor of French, and head of the department of foreign languages & literatures...

W. Wyatt Hoback joined Oklahoma State University in summer 2014 after a 15-year career as a professor of Biology at the University of Nebraska at Kearney...

Edward Jones is a Regents Professor of English and the editor of the Milton Quarterly. He is completing an edition of Milton's state papers for the Clarendon Complete Works of John Milton from Oxford University Press and the General Editor of a three volume Milton Encyclopedia recently commissioned by Wiley Blackwell...

Sue C. Jacobs is the Ledbetter Lemon Counseling Psychology Diversity Professor and a professor in the School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology in the College of Education at Oklahoma State University...

Mary Larson is the Associate Dean for Special Collections at the Oklahoma State University Library, where she joined the faculty in July 2009 as director of the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program. She has been conducting oral histories for 25 years...

Bob Larzelere holds the Endowed Professorship in Parenting in the department of human development and family science. He came to Oklahoma State University in 2006 after prior positions at Rosemead School of Psychology, Boys Town and the University of Nebraska Medical Center...

Dr. Mahalingam (Mali), obtained his B.S. degree in agriculture with a major in plant breeding from the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India. He obtained his M.S. degree in agronomy and Ph.D. in genetics with a minor in statistics from Clemson University, South Carolina...

Khaled Mansy graduated with a Ph.D. in architecture, with honors, from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, 2001. Master of Architectural Engineering, Helwan University, 1992. Bachelor of Architectural Engineering, Cairo University, 1984...

Rose McLarney has published two collections of poems, "Its Day Being Gone" (Penguin Books) – winner of the National Poetry Series – and "The Always Broken Plates of Mountains" (Four Way Books). McLarney has been awarded fellowships by the MacDowell Colony, Bread Loaf and the Fellowship of Southern Writers' New Writing Award...

Leslie A. Miller was born and raised in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English with honors from Oklahoma State University. An editor with Fire Protection Publications since 2002, she has written and edited a variety of fire service training manuals...

Lynne Murnane has worked as a senior editor at Fire Publications for the past 30 years. She has also worked for the state as a curriculum developer and an editorial assistant at U.S. News and World Report in Washington, D.C...

Melissa Noakes holds a Bachelor of Science degree in English education from Oklahoma Baptist University. Noakes is an instructional developer for Fire Protection Publications and has worked for FPP for over 12 years...

A South Carolina native, Bailey dreamed of living in a state like Oklahoma where many others roped cattle and competed in rodeos. After receiving degrees from Clemson, Kansas State, and North Carolina State University, he got that chance...

Steven O'Hara is a professor of architectural engineering and licensed engineer who has taught architectural engineering at the Oklahoma State University School of Architecture since 1988. His primary areas of interest include the design and analysis of masonry, steel and timber structures...

Carisa Ramming is a graduate of Oklahoma State University with a bachelor's degree in architectural engineering degree and dual master's degrees: Master of Science in civil engineering with an emphasis in construction engineering and a master's degree in architectural engineering...

Ramesh Sharda is vice dean of the Watson Graduate School of Management, director of the Ph.D. in business for executives program and the institute for research in information systems, ConocoPhillips chair and a Regents Professor of management science and information systems in the Spears School of Business at Oklahoma State University...

Peter Shull is an associate professor of physics and director of OSU's H.S. Mendenhall Observatory, which is home to Oklahoma's largest optical telescope. He holds degrees in astrophysics from Rice (Ph.D) and Princeton...

Betty J. Simkins, Ph.D., is the Williams Companies chair and professor of finance at Oklahoma State University's Spears School of Business. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering and a MBA and received her Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University...

Professor Tom Spector has been with the School of Architecture since 2001. He is the author of three books, including "The Ethical Architect: The Dilemma of Contemporary Practice." Spector's specialty is design ethics...

Fred Stowell was a senior editor at Fire Protection Publications for 12 years and the author of many FPP publications. He retired in 2013 after completing work on the Essentials Fire Fighting, 6th edition manual...

Z. Randall Stroope is the director of choral and vocal studies at Oklahoma State University. He is also an American composer, conductor and lecturer on music. He has conducted at Carnegie Hall every year since 2001...

Stacy Takacs is the associate professor and director of American studies at Oklahoma State University, a member of the core faculty in gender and women's studies, and an associate member of the faculty in screen studies...

Pedro P. Velasco is a doctoral student and visiting instructor in the Leisure Studies program of the College of Education at Oklahoma State University. In 2014, he co-founded and is the chief operating officer of a Technology Start-Up in Stillwater...

Dr. Yanqi Wu is an Associate Professor in Grass Breeding and Genetics, and holds the Meibergen Endowed Professorship in Plant Breeding of the Plant and Soil Sciences Department at Oklahoma State University. Dr. Wu earned his Ph.D. from Oklahoma State University in 2004...

Dr. Zhang earned his B.S. degree from Nanjing Agricultural University, China, M.S. degree from Iowa State University, and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He served as the soil chemist for the Navajo Agricultural Products Industry in Farmington, New Mexico for six years before joining OSU in 1996...