Bridge Builder: Donal Buckner

As a first-generation college graduate, Buckner has a true passion for underrepresented and first-generation students who may not know how to access the people and resources they need to succeed in college. He has helped to bridge that gap by building meaningful relationships across campus and in the community to connect current and future Health Sciences students with the skills, people, and resources they need to be successful at Mizzou.

Excellence in Clinical Service: Andrea Aderton

One of Aderton’s responsibilities is matching online MSW students with practicum placements. These students are typically adult learners with families and are almost always already employed full-time. Despite the students’ restricted schedules, Aderton is described as being “quite magical in how she makes this happen. She quiets our students’ anxieties and helps the student negotiate with agencies to find the right learning experience that fits their needs.”

Dean’s Service Award: Adria Koehn

Koehn’s nominator praised her for fostering a collaborative, efficient and supportive environment, and having a knack for process improvement. “Across multiple departments, she consistently finds and implements easier and more efficient ways of doing things. Her strengths and accomplishments, including her willingness to assist, initiative to improve processes, commitment to the well-being of the college community, technological proficiency, and positive and caring attitude, make her an outstanding candidate for the award.”

Excellence in Education – Early Career: Greg Cox

Cox is described as being committed to professional development, having completed certificates in medical education research, effective online teaching practices, and teaching with artificial intelligence. In response to departmental and student needs, he developed two new courses. The most recent course, “Artificial Intelligence in Health Care” will be offered for the first time this fall. On top of all of this, he maintains licensure as a physical therapist and continues to treat patients through PhysZOU.

Excellence in Education: Jennifer Keely

In her role as respiratory therapy program director, Keely is focused on sustaining exceptionally high teaching standards for the faculty in her program. As a result, the program’s outcomes data consistently exceed accreditation benchmarks and have garnered national recognition by the Commission on Accreditation for Respiratory Care and the American Association for Respiratory Care. Keely’s nominator also praised her ability to share “honest, humorous reflections that can help other people express – and learn from – her own uncomfortable experiences.”

Exemplary Staff Award: Rose Hayden

Hayden’s nominators highlighted her professional skills and ability to foster a positive work culture. She is described as “a resource, friend, and confidant to many in the college. Not only does she have a great deal of institutional knowledge from her many years working in the college, but she also has a warm and capable approach to engaging with all of us that leads many to think of her first when they don’t know where to turn with a request or question. Much of her best work is done behind-the-scenes, providing support and guidance to help us all work better.”

Excellence in Mentoring: Erin Robinson

In the seven years Robinson has been at MU, she has mentored 3 undergraduates, 56 master’s students, and 19 graduate certificate students, and served on 4 PhD committees. She is regularly sought out by junior faculty and post-docs for formal and informal mentorship. Students shared countless testimonials about her mentorship impact, crediting her “dedicated work ethic and rigorous approach to research,” “consistent encouragement,” and “ability to foster a nurturing and inclusive environment.”

Faculty Engagement: Tiffany Bolton and Brittney Stevenson

Bolton and Stevenson have established partnerships with several Columbia preschools to offer services to children as part of our pro-bono student practicum experiences. Their nominator credited them for creating “new opportunities for our students to engage in evidence-based practice and hands-on learning” and said “they epitomize best practice in integrating our department and CHS missions of teaching, service, and scholarship.”

Inclusive Excellence: Alice Townsend

Townsend has become a role model within and outside her department for implementing teaching strategies and structural changes to create an inclusive learning environment. As the diagnostic medical ultrasound program director, she recently convened a multidisciplinary team to review and implement several changes. These changes focused on reducing barriers for students, with a specific focus on equity for underrepresented student populations.

Lewis and Clark Discovery – Early Career: Kate Trout

Trout has secured over 10 million dollars in external funding from the National Science Foundation and the CDC/MO DHSS, competed for 46 million dollars across 21 grant proposals, and received two impressive new external awards in 2023. She has two provisional patents filed with her colleagues established through her work with safe food supply chains. Her work has been featured by the National Science Foundation, NPR, Farms.com, and the Seattle Times, among others.

Lewis and Clark Discovery – Excellence: Kelli Canada

An accomplished scholar, Canada is described as having an unparalleled ability to mobilize large groups of interdisciplinary experts. Her nominator wrote that Canada “has single-handedly changed the way solution courts operate in Boone and Calloway Counties, influenced prison policy at state and national levels, and shaped how legal systems [interact] with the mental health and well-being of the people who encounter them.” She is currently leading a $2.8M grant that will drive changes at several Missouri prisons.

Core Values: Aerin Melvin

Melvin is described as “hardworking, punctual, eager to learn new skills, a team player, very friendly, very kind, and very funny.” One of Melvin’s nominators described her as the backbone of our college’s hiring team, having implemented several business practice changes — including the creation of a comprehensive onboarding process and welcome packet for new employees — that positively impact the workplace culture. She is praised for not only enhancing the experience of new hires, but also contributing to a more cohesive and supportive work environment.

Early Career Award: Alese Thompson

Since joining the university in 2021, Thompson has proposed two new educational programs to address critical workforce needs and create opportunities for student career advancement. She is involved in a high-impact R01 grant proposal focused on the early detection of Alzheimer’s. Her nominator wrote that Thompson’s “scholarly accomplishments and research endeavors underscore her commitment to advancing knowledge and addressing pressing health challenges.”