Contact: Sasha Steinberg
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Student Association President Michael Hogan and Mississippi State mathematics instructor Kimberly "Kim" Walters are Mississippi State's 2014 HEADWAE student and faculty honorees.
An acronym for Higher Education Appreciation Day, Working for Academic Excellence, the program has been held since 1987. Administered by the Board of Trustees, State Institutions of High Learning, the event annually recognizes individuals on campuses "who have made outstanding contributions in promoting academic excellence."
Joining students and faculty members from 34 Mississippi public and private institutions, Hogan and Walters travel to Jackson Tuesday [Feb. 18] to visit and tour the state capitol, where they will be recognized formally by the Mississippi Legislature.
The honorees also will be recognized at a luncheon at the nearby Marriott Hotel.
A senior management major from Memphis, Tenn., Hogan said on-campus involvement has been the backbone of his four-year experience at MSU. He has been a member of the Division of Student Affairs' Roadrunner student recruiting team and a leader in its year-round orientation program for new students. Before being elected last year to lead the Student Association, he served as a Career Center Student Ambassador and chief programming officer for the SA Executive Council.
The vice presidency of the Interfraternity Council's executive council and philanthropy chairmanship for Phi Delta Theta fraternity are among his other leadership roles.
Hogan said he feels "Mississippi State University views its students as more than a number on a grade scale."
He added, "As an out-of-state student, winning this award is a huge honor. I have been given so many incredible blessings throughout this year and receiving an award that is accompanied with such honor is truly icing on the cake.
"With so many well-rounded students on our campus, being selected to receive this award adds the benefit of being able to represent those great students in a new light," Hogan said.
A faculty member since 1995, Walters was selected in 2010 for the MSU State Pride Faculty Award and, in 2013, the John Grisham Master Teacher Award. She is a mathematics graduate of MSU who also holds a master's degree in the subject from the University of Alabama at Huntsville.
In describing the HEADWAE award's meaning for her, Walters said Mississippi State "is not only where I work, but it is also my alma mater.
"To be selected to represent this institution is a great honor," she continued. "I hope that I have a positive impact on the students that I teach, and I hope that they see math as something in which they can be successful."
Walters primarily provides instruction to freshmen. In that critical role, she said she strives "to give them a good introduction to college courses and to Mississippi State, in general. I want them to see teachers as resources that still will be available to them after they complete their course."
To learn more about the HEADWAE program, visit www.mississippi.edu/headwae.
Information about MSU can be found at www.msstate.edu.