Students, faculty honored at Academic Honors Convocation

Published on April 21, 2021

Ashland University

04/21/2021 ASHLAND, Ohio -- Ashland University recently held its annual Academic Honors Convocation and Academic Mentor Recognition to recognize the achievements of many of its students and faculty from academic programs across campus.

The academic honors awards were presented to the students by the dean or representative from each college. The purpose of the convocation is to celebrate academic achievement, promote community, and recognize outstanding sophomores, juniors and seniors. The criteria for awards are scholarly achievement, completion of at least 30 credit hours over two semesters at AU, and a GPA of 3.25 or above.

Following the honors awards, the recipients of this year's Mentor Award were recognized. The mentors are nominated by senior undergraduate and graduate students, and then ranked by the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees. Student mentees were invited to join their mentor for this recognition.

Listed below are the recipients of the academic and mentor awards:

Ashland University’s Edward and Louaine Taylor Excellence in Teaching Award: Dr. Nicholas Johnson, associate professor of Chemistry

Ashland University’s Excellence in Scholarship Award: Dr. Chris Chartier, associate professor of Psychology

Ashland University Mentor Award Recipients:

Dr. Allyson Drinkard, assistant professor of Criminal Justice
Dr. Marc Hedrick, professional instructor of Criminal Justice and Sociology
Dr. David McCoy, associate professor of Journalism and Digital Media
Shawn Orr, professional instructor of Communication Studies
Dr. Dan Fox, associate professor of Law
Dr. Victoria Kaskey, associate professor of Accounting
Dr. Jason Stevens, visiting assistant professor of History & Political Science
Rebecca Parillo, director of Study Abroad programs

College of Arts and Sciences

Department of Art:

Junior Award: Mariel Leatherman
Senior Award: Joellen Badertscher

Department of Biology/Toxicology:

Sophomore Award: Allison Kesner
Junior Award: Joshua Davis II
Senior Award: Kassandra Blackburn

Department of Chemistry/Geology/Physics:

Sophomore Award: Omar Ajwa
Junior Award: Mya Lockwood
Senior Award: Jazmyn Batista

Department of Communication Studies:

Sophomore Award: Shila Hartzel
Junior Award: Jalyn Allen
Senior Award: Rachel Miller

Department of Computer Science:

Sophomore Award: Kane Feldhake
Junior Award: John-Tyler Sprankle
Senior Award: Josiah Moore

Department of Criminal Justice:

Sophomore Award: Jasmine Anderson
Junior Award: Brianna Fourman
Senior Award: Alexandra DiPaolo

Department of English:

Sophomore Award: Michael Clark
Junior Award: Madeline Worcester
Senior Award: Melan White

Department of Foreign Languages:

Junior Award: Tyler Easton
Senior Award: Emily Ramseyer

Department of History:

Sophomore Award: Ellie Richardson
Junior Award: Ashli Lucio
Senior Award: Faith Elert

Department of Journalism and Digital Media:

Junior Award: Carrie Smith
Senior Award: Isabella Pacinelli

Department of Mathematics:

Sophomore Award: Abigail Locke
Junior Award: Hannah Smigel
Senior Award: Emily Schordock

Department of Music:

Sophomore Award: Lila Wolfe
Junior Award: Jenna Niedermier
Senior Award: Jedidiah McFadden

Department of Philosophy:

Sophomore Award: Joshua Stickney
Junior Award: Lexi Weyer
Senior Award: Mikayla Gypton

Department of Political Science:

Sophomore Award: Elijah McKay
Junior Award: Lexi Weyer
Senior Award: Joshua Jasmin

Department of Psychology:

Sophomore Award: Sarah Fisher
Junior Award: Erin Sievers
Senior Award: Agatha Loucks

Department of Religion:

Junior Award: Tiffany Sims
Senior Award: Alec Dunlap

Department of Social Work:

Junior Award: Taylor Burnison
Senior Award: Sierra Carraway

Department of Theatre:

Junior Award: Sydney Genter
Senior Award: Macy Campbell

College of Business & Economics

Department of Accounting/Management Information Systems:

Sophomore Award: McKenna Shaw
Junior Award: Jenna Hoffer
Senior Award: Jonathan Wurm

Department of Economics/Finance:

Sophomore Award: Nicholas Ponzi
Junior Award: Mark Blitz
Senior Award: Molly Gregory

Department of Management/International Business/Entrepreneurship/Supply Chain Management:

Sophomore Award: Jack Sanders
Junior Award: Mary Grace Haney
Senior Award: Michael Flemming

Department of Marketing/Hospitality Management/Fashion Merchandising/Sport Management:

Sophomore Award: Alexandra Harrod
Junior Award: Alexis Fisher
Senior Award: Kevin Huber

College of Education

Department of Teacher Education:

Middle Grades Education:

Sophomore Award: Alyssa Crytzer
Junior Award: Brianna Behnke
Senior Award: Emily Ramseyer

Early Childhood Education:

Sophomore Award: Lauren Stotzer
Junior Award: Jae Weaver
Senior Award: Yudan Xiao

Intervention Specialist Early Childhood:

Sophomore Award: Sarah Drees
Junior Award: Sarah Snyder
Senior Award: Elizabeth Hohler

Intervention Specialist:

Sophomore Award: Morgan Mauller
Junior Award: Hallie Heidemann
Senior Award: Emily Peiffer

College of Nursing & Health Sciences

Department of Nursing:

Sophomore Award: Bethany Kula
Junior Award:Sarah Zusman
Senior Award: Carrie Sanders

Department of Health Sciences:

Sophomore Award: Cincere Freeman-Jones
Junior Award: Connor Stuart
Senior Award: Abigail Butler

Ashland University is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) offers each of its student constituencies The Ashland Promise, including “teaching students how to think, not what to think”. Committed to affordability, the University now offers incoming residential freshman the Tuition Relief Scholarship, as well as a variety of new forms of financial assistance for both new and continuing students. ###