Turner College Faculty Win Big at 2017 Recognition and Excellence Awards Ceremony

Turner College business and computer science faculty were big winners at the 2017 Faculty & Staff Recognition and Excellence Awards ceremony, held in CSU’s Lumpkin Center on May 2, 2017.  Especially impressive was the success of faculty of the TSYS School of Computer Science, which included Rania Hodhod, who received the 2017 CSU Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award.  Hodhod, an assistant professor of computer science, has published more than 40 reference articles in the areas of intelligent systems, machine learning, educational games and computational creativity.  She recently led her undergraduate students to present their research at the Big South Undergraduate Research Symposium in North Carolina, where they won Best Science Paper Award.  Joining Hodhod was Radhouane Chouchane, an associate professor of computer science, who received the 2017 CSU Excellence in Online Teaching Award.  Chouchane has taught courses in computer security, supervised master’s theses, and served as research advisor for a number of undergraduate and graduate students who have had their work published.  Chouchane was also one of three Turner College faculty nominated for the 2017 Educator of the Year Award, while in 2014 he was the recipient of the Chappell Graduate Faculty Award.

 

Other big winners include John Finley and Frank Mixon, who were recognized, respectively, with the 2017 CSU International Educator of the Year Award and the 2017 CSU Teaching Excellence Award.  Finley, an associate professor of international business, has developed, led or participated in 10 study abroad programs.  Since 2005 he has served on the International Education Committee, which, among other service duties, selects visiting scholars for CSU.  Finley was the 2016 recipient of the Phi Beta Delta Outstanding Faculty Award.  Mixon, a professor of economics, currently serves as the Director of the Turner College’s Center for Economic Education, an

affiliate of the Georgia Council on Economic Education.  In addition to teaching principles of macroeconomics and microeconomics, he teaches an economics course in the Turner College’s master’s degree program in organizational leadership.  Mixon currently serves on the editorial boards of two pedagogical journals – Journal of Economics & Finance Education, which is affiliated with West Virginia University, and Perspectives on Economic Education Research, which is affiliated with Idaho State University.

 

Joining these faculty is an impressive list of nominees from the Turner College.  Included among these is Jennifer Pitts, an associate professor of management information systems, who was nominated for the 2017 CSU Faculty Service Award, and Andres Jauregui, an associate professor of economics, who was nominated for the 2017 CSU Faculty Research and Scholarship Award.  Assistant professor of management, Kevin Hurt, was a Turner College nominee for the 2017 Chappell Graduate Award.  Lastly, Dianne Phillips, an administrative assistant in the TSYS School, was nominated for the 2017 President’s Staff Excellence Award.  In addition to these, a number of Turner College faculty and staff received services awards at the ceremony.  James Coleman, an associate professor marketing, Brett Cotten, an associate professor of finance, and Danielle Navarrete, an administrative assistant, received 5-year service awards.  Receiving 10-year service awards were Jong Ha, a professor of marketing, and Deidre Tilley, a Student Services Specialist in the Turner College.

 

Wayne Summers, professor of computer science and Chair of the TSYS School, received a 15-year service award, while Phillips and Linda Hadley, Dean of the Turner College, received 20-year and 25-year service awards, respectively.  Finally, Vladimir Zanev, a professor of computer science in the TSYS School, was recognized as a 2017 retiree.