Gloria Stragier Award for Dedicated and Creative Service
This award is presented annually to a staff member in the College of Engineering to recognize exceptional and creative job performance and/or concerned and creative leadership.
Since 2017, Heather Hazzard, business manager for the Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering (IQ) and the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME), has served as a model for the growth and advancement of knowledge across disciplines.
She designs and engineers connections across colleges, manages multi-unit finances connecting three colleges, supervises nine full-time staff members, including a team of research administrators who manage pre- and post-award, and supports faculty from seven colleges and 18 departments, creating a complex integrated interdisciplinary system. She is a great asset as Michigan State strives to increase its prominence in biomedical research.
She exhibits exceptional, committed service, and leadership in advancing MSU’s core values of quality, inclusiveness, and connectivity within IQ and BME, and with multiple colleges at MSU. Her creative leadership has resulted in effective solutions, addressing the challenges with honesty and integrity.
She creatively developed and implemented a “vision for change” that required fostering new partnerships and sharing of knowledge across multiple academic and administrative channels. Her efforts are advancing collegiality and social connectivity in IQ and BME. Her sense of fairness and equity has helped shape a culture of caring and dedication.
Her nominators explained: she is the epitome of a thoughtful leader who can manage dynamic situations, forge strong alliances, and build strengths while considering the needs of individuals and the overall mission. She is a visionary leader who always seeks the best in others and enables their achievement through mentoring and leading by example. She has contributed to the infrastructures that support the development of tools, technologies and knowledge that will ensure a brighter and healthier future for all people.
Withrow Teaching Excellence Award
Spartan Engineering students in the MSU College of Engineering have again nominated their favorite faculty members for the highly prized annual Withrow Teaching Excellence Awards. The teaching distinction is for distinguished service to the university and the student body.
The honors are part of the annual Withrow Endowed Award program, which was established through a gift from Jack Withrow (BS, MECH EGR, ’54; MBA ’71) and Dottie Withrow (BA, speech therapy and elementary education, ’55).
Assistant Professor Brian Johnson is an interdisciplinary researcher who engages students in a broad range of biomedical engineering topics. His NIH-funded research applies digital manufacturing tools (primarily CAD, CAM, and CNC machining) to construct biomimetic models of human development and disease.
He leverages his experience patenting and commercializing technologies to cultivate entrepreneurial interests and skills in his students. He applies scientific teaching pedagogy he learned via a Howard Hughes Medical Institute teaching fellowship to develop an inclusive, goal-oriented, and engaging teaching philosophy that he applies in the classroom.
He also drives students to be forward-thinking about their career goals by organizing career panels and encouraging students to identify the skills and experiences needed to pursue their own unique career interests. (Note: because BME does not have undergraduate students, only graduate students were invited to participate in the Teaching Excellence Award survey.)