Angela Ufheil, a 2017 graduate of the Drake School of Journalism and Mass Communication, placed 14th in this spring’s national Hearst personality/profile-writing contest. There were 114 entries from 61 schools received in the 58th annual William Randolph Hearst Foundation’s Journalism Awards.

Ufheil was recognized for a feature she wrote for her senior capstone project, the multimedia website Urban Plains. The article profiled Frank Cordaro, a former Catholic priest who is a human rights advocate and anti-war activist. Since graduation, Ufheil has worked at The Des Moines Register, as a freelance writer and recently took a job with 5280, the award-winning Denver city magazine.

— Kathleen Richardson, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Catherine M. Staub, the Fisher-Stelter Chair of Magazine Journalism, has won the inaugural VisCom Teaching Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Visual Communication Division.

Staub was recognized for her JMC 119 Magazine Publishing curriculum, during which the students come up with the concept for a new magazine, conduct market research, meld the visual and written elements, and create a prototype. The award will be presented on Aug. 6 during the annual AEJMC conference in Washington, D.C.

— Kathleen Richardson, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

The College of Business and Public Administration recently honored several of its staff and faculty during an awards ceremony. Congratulations to the following award recipients!

Annette Watson — Brooks Excellence Award
The Brooks Excellence Award is given to a staff member who fully embodies the values of the College of Business and Public Administration and provides outstanding service to the College and our stakeholders.

Yiqing Chen — Harry Wolk Research Award
The Harry Wolk Research Award is given to an outstanding researcher.

Lance Noe — College of Business and Public Administration Excellence in Teaching Award for Adjunct or Part-Time Instructors

Lisa Gardner — College of Business and Public Administration Service Appreciation

Greg Christie — College of Business and Public Administration Unsung Hero Award. The Unsung Hero Award goes to someone who makes a substantive yet unrecognized contribution, a person who often works behind the scenes and plays a key supporting role.

Mary Edrington — College of Business and Public Administration Outreach Award. The Outreach Award goes to an individual who has served as an outstanding ambassador for the College, making connections with community and industry leaders, alumni, donors, and colleagues across campus.

Pat Heaston — College of Business and Public Administration Extra Blue Mile Service Award. The Extra Blue Mile Service Award recognizes a person who has provided a lifetime of service to the College.

Danette Kenne — College of Business and Public Administration Blue Star Award for Leadership. The Blue Star Award for Leadership was created to recognize an individual who played a key role in advancing the College.

Scott Johnson — College of Business and Public Administration Blue Star Award for Impact. The Blue Star Award for Impact goes to an individual who created a program from scratch. That program has grown in size and has become a hallmark and differentiating feature of the College.

Randy Blum — College of Business and Public Administration Legacy Award. The Legacy Award goes to a departing colleague who has left a lasting mark on the College.

J. Royce Fichtner — College of Business and Public Administration Paragon Award. The Paragon Award and goes to a person that is viewed as a model of excellence, someone who is exemplar in one or more ways.

Susan Watson — David B. Lawrence Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher of the Year

Brad Meyer — Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award

— Dianna Gray, College of Business and Public Administration

Each year, the Iowa Chapter of the American Marketing Association, along with Meredith Corporation as a sponsor, recognizes outstanding leadership, high academic achievement, and active participation in the marketing profession by awarding a $500 scholarship to an AMA Iowa Collegiate student member. This year, Rebecca Crepeau, recent Drake graduate of the College of Business and Public Administration, received the scholarship. She currently serves as the Vice President for the Drake AMA Chapter.

— Dianna Gray, College of Business and Public Administration

Debora Christensen, associate professor of biology, and Thomas Rosburg, professor of biology, recently received distinguished science awards from the Iowa Academy of Science. Christensen was presented with the Distinguished Iowa Science Teaching Award and Rosburg with the Distinguished Iowa Scientist Award during the academy’s annual meeting at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa, on April 20. The awards honor and promote educators for their innovative teaching practices and exceptional scientific research at the post-secondary level.

Christensen has been teaching at Drake since 2008. She has taught 10 different courses. Her main courses include the physiology portion of the general biology course and the mammalian physiology course and lab. Known for her collaborative instruction in the classroom and laboratory, Christensen utilizes diverse strategies to engage students, including video clips, in-class demonstrations, computerized virtual experiments, small group discussions on case studies, and prerecorded lectures. Christensen is also a mentor to approximately 10 research students each semester. Her students have also served as coauthors on research papers and posters at professional meetings.

Rosburg has been teaching at Drake since 1996. He has taught 14 different courses primarily in the subjects of ecology, botany, biological research and statistics, natural history and nature photography. He is known among his peers for his scholarly activity, which includes authoring over 125 scientific papers and reports, contributing to four field guides, and presenting hundreds of lectures and conference papers/posters, many with Drake undergraduates. Among his students, he is known for enhancing learning opportunities through hands-on trips to natural areas and by serving as a mentor to those conducting research.