Three BMB professors recognized at 2024 NatSci Awards
Twenty-nine people from the Michigan State University College of Natural Science were recognized for their outstanding achievements and service at the college Annual Meeting and Awards Ceremony, including three faculty from BMB—professors Ben Orlando, Robert Last, and Robert Hausinger.
The November event honored faculty, staff and students nominated by their peers from across the college. Those nominations were evaluated by the Natural Science, or NatSci, Awards Committee and the Center for Integrative Studies in General Science staff. Each year, NatSci holds an awards ceremony to celebrate exceptional members of the college community.
“We are incredibly fortunate to have such talented and passionate individuals among us,” NatSci Dean Eric Hegg said. “Each of these faculty, academic staff members, and students elevates the profile of our college and university, and their work leaves a lasting impact. We look forward to the exciting work they will continue to do.”
Orlando, the J.K. Billman Endowed Research Professor, received the Early Career Research Award for his work with membrane protein complexes and cutting-edge applications of cryo-EM.
"I am both humbled and excited by this award, which highlights the breakthroughs my lab has made in understanding bacterial membrane protein complexes involved in antibiotic resistance,” Orlando said.
“I’m especially grateful to the senior faculty who have supported and recognized the impact of our work over the past several years, and I look forward to continued breakthroughs in this area in the near future. We still have much to learn about the molecular mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in a variety of serious human pathogens."
Robert Last, a University Distinguished Professor and Barnett Rosenberg Professor in BMB and Plant Biology, was recognized with the Junior Faculty Mentoring Award for his guidance and support among NatSci’s growing community of rising researchers.
“Peer recognition is special and getting such strong positive feedback from the next generations of scientists is especially meaningful. We at MSU are surrounded by wonderful colleagues,” Last said. “I look forward to watching them continue to shine and increasingly contribute to the success of others at MSU and across the globe.”
“Rob is my go-to person for honest and insightful advice,” offered assistant professor Polly Hsu, who’s worked closely with Last in BMB.
Robert Hausinger, University Distinguished Professor in BMB and the Department of Molecular, Genetics, and Immunology, received the NatSci Research Leadership Award, which recognizes outstanding, impactful research and internationally recognized leadership in the field.
“I am honored to receive the NatSci Research Leadership Award, for which the credit really belongs to my wonderful colleagues across the college,” Hausinger said, who researches the role of metal ions in biological reactions.
“It has been a real pleasure to lead or assist team efforts to promote the research quality and productivity on campus.”
Here is this year’s full list of award recipients:
Outstanding Faculty Award
Shin-Han Shiu, Department of Computational Science, Math and Engineering / Plant Biology
Christoph Adami, Department of Microbiology, Genetics and Immunology/PMA
Dean Lee, Department of Physics and Astronomy/FRIB
Teacher-Scholar Award
Haolei Weng, Department of Statistics and Probability
Undergraduate Teaching Award
Daryl McPadden, Department of Physiology
Junior Faculty Mentoring Award
Robert L. Last, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology/Plant Biology
Postdoctoral Mentoring Award
Alfred J. Robison, Department of Physiology
Distinguished Academic Staff Award
Chris Shaltry, Department of Physiology
Undergraduate Academic Advisor Award
Michele Larson, Department of Statistics and Probability/Earth and Environmental Sciences
Graduate Academic Advisor Award
Jennifer Green, Department of Statistics and Probability/Program in Mathematics Education
Support Staff Award
Allyson Hutchens, Kellogg Biological Station
Sachi Gorzenski, Biological Sciences Program
Excellence-in-Teaching Citation
Riley Pizza, Department of Plant Biology
Anuki Wethalawe, Department of Chemistry
Undergraduate Learning Assistant Award
Maclain McAllister, Biological Sciences Program
Sarah Spindler, Biological Sciences Program
Lorena V. Blinn Endowed Teaching Award
Osvaldo Hernandez, Integrative Studies in General Science
James D. Hoeschele Endowed Teaching Award
David Ramsey, Integrative Studies in General Science
Ronald W. Wilson Endowed Teaching Award
Steven Gray, Department of Community Sustainability/CANR
Harlo Mervyn Mork Memorial Excellence in Teaching Award
Thomas Do, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Ray Wang, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Faculty Teaching Prize
Phillip Delekta, Department of Microbiology, Genetics and Immunology
Paul Nelson, Human Biology Program
Juli Uhl, Human Biology Program
Fritz Award
Michael Murillo, Department of Computational Math, Science and Engineering
Early Career Research Award
Benjamin J. Orlando, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Mark Iwen, Department of Mathematics, Department of computational Math, Science and Engineering
Mid-Career Research Award
Laura Chomiuk, Department of Physics and Astronomy
Research Leadership Award
Robert P. Hausinger, Department of Microbiology, Genetics and Immunology
