Contact: Sammy McDavid
Annemarie E. Pimentel
A graduating Mississippi State University senior who plans a career in physical therapy is being recognized by America's oldest and largest honor society.
Annemarie E. Pimentel, a physical education/fitness management major from Mason, Ohio, is among 30 selected for a 2001 Phi Kappa Phi Award of Excellence. A three-year player on the MSU Lady Bulldog Soccer Team, she'll apply the $1,000 scholarship towards a master's degree.
Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the collegiate academic honor organization for superior students in all fields of study. Membership currently includes some 30,000 students, faculty and alumni at nearly 300 colleges and universities.
The society's first fellowships were awarded in 1932. Today, each chapter may nominate one member a year for the national organization's top scholastic recognition.
Pimentel also is receiving a $5,000 scholarship from the Southeastern Conference for being among this year's Boyd McWhorter Award finalists. Named for the long-time former commissioner, the annual award recognizes top scholar-athletes at the 12 SEC member schools.
Earlier this year, she was selected for a David Halbrook Award, Mississippi's highest academic achievement recognition for athletes at state colleges and universities. The Halbrook award was created in 1984 by the Mississippi Legislature to honor one of its former members.
In addition to being inducted into MSU's Phi Kappa Phi chapter in 1999, Pimentel was named last year to the university's highly selective Society of Scholars group. She is a member of numerous other campus honor societies and scholarship programs.
Pimentel is completing two consecutive terms as president of the athletic department's M-Club varsity letter organization. Last year, she received the department's G.T. Thames Christian Leadership Award.