Richard T. Baillie | Department of Economics, College of Social Science; and Department of Finance, Eli Broad College of Business

Richard T. Baillie specializes in econometrics and the applications of econometric methods to questions in finance, especially international finance. He is one of the world’s leading experts in the dynamics of exchange rates and in the analysis of long memory time series data.

He first became prominent at MSU through his work on the asymptotic properties of predictions in dynamic models, focusing on the relevance of parameter estimation, changes in the conditional variance of the innovations and the forecasting of exogenous variables. Baillie was a pioneer in tests of market efficiency using vector autoregressive models and accounting for a time-varying risk premium. His most recent work, focusing on nonlinear models, is particularly seminal in its combining of nonlinearity and long memory.

Baillie has been everything to MSU: a leading research scholar in econometrics, a superb teacher and an outstanding mentor.

Says Baillie: “I am very honored to receive this award. I have greatly appreciated the opportunities and resources that MSU has made available to me. I have always felt that the objectives of MSU have nurtured my own development as a scientist; and it has been a great help to have a joint appointment. It has also been very pleasurable to work in an environment that encourages such diversity and brings together faculty and students from such international backgrounds.”

Christoph Benning | Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Natural Science

Christoph Benning, internationally recognized as one of the leading scientists in the area of plant lipid metabolism, has pushed the boundaries of the fundamental understanding of lipid synthesis and function in plants.

He has made major breakthroughs in lipid trafficking, transcriptional control of lipid metabolism and deciphering the role of lipids in photosynthetic membranes that together have shaped the way scientists think about lipids in plants.

In recent years Benning has pursued applying the fundamental information obtained in his lab to engineering and developing the next generation of agricultural crops for use as biochemical feedstocks and biofuels. His research has been documented in 50 peer-reviewed publications, 26 reviews and through his filing of 10 patents.

Numerous leadership roles, including associate editor on a myriad of journals, service on national and international grant panels and review teams, and editor-in-chief of The Plant Journal, exemplify his service to the international plant biology community.

Says Benning: “I am honored to receive this award and am happy for the members of my lab, as the award provides acknowledgement of their accomplishments as well. Where no one has gone before provides the thrill of science, but training young scientists and seeing them advance to their first jobs is just as satisfying. Being a faculty member at MSU has allowed me to pursue these two ideals and I am grateful for the opportunity.”

Robert P. Hausinger | Departments of Microbiology and molecular genetics, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Natural Science; and Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station

Robert P. Hausinger’s international reputation initially derived from his seminal contributions to metal ion homeostasis in biology. His research group has defined the assembly of nickel into the enzyme urease, which is responsible for urea metabolic breakdown, and the foundational understanding of nickel trafficking for specific reconstitution of apo forms of proteins in cells. As the leading expert in this field, he was selected to write an authoritative review on metallocenter assembly.

Additionally, his pioneering work on a second class of metalloenzymes, the Fe(II) hydroxylases, is receiving international attention. This class of enzymes carries out hydroxylation at non-activated carbon sites of substrates, which is ecologically central to microbial degradation.

Hausinger has served on numerous editorial advisory boards and has been a grant review panel member for the National Institutes of Health and the United States Department of Agriculture. He is the elected chairperson of the Division of Microbial Physiology and Metabolism of the American Society for Microbiology.

Says Hausinger: “I am very honored to be selected for this award which, in part, reflects the outstanding efforts of the many undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral researchers who have been associated with my laboratory. I am extremely fortunate to have worked with, and learned from, my superb colleagues in microbiology, biochemistry, quantitative biology and other programs at MSU.”

Sheng-Yang He | MSU DOE-Plant Research Laboratory and Department of Plant Biology, College of Natural Science

Sheng-Yang He is an internationally recognized leader in research on plant–pathogen interactions. He has made numerous seminal contributions to the understanding of the molecular mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens infect plants and by which plants resist pathogens.

He and his colleagues were the first to demonstrate that bacteria have a specialized bacterial appendage, called the harp pilus, which they have used to inject essential virulence determinants into plant cells. His work has been published in major peer-reviewed journals, including Science, Nature and Cell.

His research program is funded by major grants from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture. He has served as panel manager of the USDA competitive grants program and is an honorary scientist of the Rural Development Administration of the Republic of Korea. He was elected to the board of directors of the International Society for Molecular Plant–Microbe Interactions.

Says He: “I feel very honored to receive this award. For the past 13 years I have had the privilege of working with many talented students, post-docs and collaborators who really deserve all the credit for the work in my lab. MSU provides a particularly stimulating environment for our research because we study both plants and microbes. MSU has exceptional faculty in both disciplines. I am also very happy that my colleague Christoph Benning receives this award this year.”

Gary C. Hoppenstand | Department of Writing, Rhetoric and American Cultures, College of Arts and Letters

Gary C. Hoppenstand is one of the most nationally and internationally recognized scholars and editors in the field of popular culture studies. He has written or edited major books on such literary figures as Clive Barker, Anne Rice and Stephen King, and his many articles and chapters address multiple genres of popular literature and film.

As editor of the Journal of Popular Culture since 2003, Hoppenstand has overseen its impressive growth and its transition from a major American journal to a highly selective venue to which scholars worldwide submit their work. In 2007 he was general editor of the six-volume Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Popular Culture, the first work of its kind. The Popular Culture Association has honored Hoppenstand with four major awards since 1997.

Hoppenstand’s American studies courses challenge students to engage in critical thinking on popular media, driving them to question the impact of the material beyond its entertainment component.

Says Hoppenstand: “I am both pleased and honored to represent MSU which, because of the groundbreaking efforts of Russel B. Nye, helped to establish the important scholarly area of popular culture studies. MSU now stands as the undisputed international academic leader in the field. I am also deeply honored to represent the College of Arts and Letters, the Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures, and the American Studies Program, working side-by-side with some of the finest faculty to be found not only at MSU, but also nationally and internationally.”

Joey Walter Huston | Department of Physics and Astronomy, College of Natural Science

Joey Walter Huston is an elementary high energy particle physicist who combines experimental, theoretical and computational techniques to investigate the fundamental building blocks of matter as well as the natural laws and forces that govern it.

He is a world leader in this field that seeks to provide a complete description of how the universe was created and the laws that govern it. Huston is a recognized expert on jet and photon physics. He has performed analyses to measure the inclusive jet cross section and has worked toward better ways of identifying jets by means of detectors during experiments involving high energy particle accelerators. Huston established a group of theoretical physicists whose goal is to better explain and quantify the world’s understanding of quantum chromodynamics.

His publications are the most highly cited in his department, with more than 10,000 citations, including 13 papers with more than 100 citations each.

Says Huston: “I am proud that I have spent almost my entire professional career at MSU. This award was made possible by the support provided by the university, by the encouragement of my colleagues and, most especially, by the inspiration of my father.”

Thomas A. Reardon | Department of Agricultural, Food and Resource Economics, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; and Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station

Thomas A. Reardon investigates international agricultural development and agrifood market transformation in developing countries. He is known globally for his contributions regarding the rise of supermarkets in developing countries and their impact on agrifood systems and small farmers, the transformation of global horticultural markets and the development of the rural nonfarm economy. This research influences development assistance programs in Asia, Latin America and Africa. In 2007 he cofounded the MSU/International Food Policy Research Institute Joint Program on Markets in Asia.

Reardon brings home field research insights on markets in Asia and Latin America to Michigan agrifood businesses through his partial appointment with the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station.

He has been principal investigator or co-principal investigator for $4 million in grants and has managed a further $10 million. He has published 89 journal articles, 13 special issues of academic journals, four books and 138 monographs and reports.

Says Reardon: “It is a pleasure and honor to receive this award. I am grateful for the mentorship I have received from Carl Eicher since I arrived in 1992 to now with his vision of long-term commitment to hands-on field research and dedicated direct collaboration with developing country research institutions. I am grateful for the encouragement and unflagging support from Steve Hanson, chairperson of our department, who has recognized the value of diversity of approaches and who encourages faculty through constant listening combined with his vision. I owe much of the success I have enjoyed to those two persons and honor them here.”

Mark D. Reckase | Department of Counseling, Educational Psychology and Special Education, College of Education

Mark D. Reckase’s research focuses on psychological measurement, specifically computerized adaptive testing, multidimensional item response theory, standard setting on educational and psychological tests, and the use of performance tasks for assessment.

He is an expert on standardized tests in K–12 education, where his research focuses on developing models of the interactions between students and educational tasks and evaluating the quality of students’ classroom performance.Reckase also has worked with the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Navy to develop and evaluate testing methods.

Reckase has written more than 78 articles that have been cited more than 340 times. He is the past editor of Journal of Educational Measurement and Applied Psychological Measurement. He has been president of the National Council on Measurement in Education of the American Psychological Association and has served as an advisory board member to 19 research journals.

Says Reckase: “Receiving this award sends a very important message to me that collaboration with colleagues, working with graduate students and developing a long-term program of research is valued by the university. Even though I am receiving this award, it also belongs to my colleagues who nominated me and the many people with whom I have worked over the years. By accepting the award, I honor all of them.”

Joan Rose | Departments of Fisheries and Wildlife, and Crop and Soil Sciences, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources

Joan Rose has advanced the field of water resources and human health by examining key microbes, parasites and viruses as waterborne pathogens, using innovative, advanced genomics techniques to decipher their fates and effects within an ecosystem as well as how they have affected human populations.

Her research has greatly enhanced understanding of the risk these pathogens pose, providing solutions for improving water quality and public health protection throughout the world. Her ongoing research and outreach programs have had local, national and international impact on water safety and global health, particularly a program in which she and her colleagues continually survey the health of our waters globally.

She is well-known for her studies of beach health, sewage impacted waters, water reclamation systems and drinking waters; her most recent studies regard the effect of climate change on water quality. In all her work, Rose has brought environmental monitoring into a risk, evidence-based decision-making process to protect public health.

Says Rose: “At MSU I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best and most passionate scientists and engineers. Together, we have built a program that can help meet the global water and health challenges as well as those we face in our own Great Lakes. Sometimes it occurs to me that what we do is save lives; if we can prevent one waterborne outbreak and prevent pollution, we can make a real difference in this world.”

J. Mark Scriber | Department of Entomolgy, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources; and College of Natural Science

J. Mark Scriber’s international reputation derives from his passion for studying, documenting and publishing how the genetics, morphology, physiology and behavior of the various North American lineages of swallowtail butterflies have diverged in the face of shifts in host plants, geography and climate. Through more than 300 publications, he has elevated this study into a classic model system, producing knowledge with implications across biology.

His most recent work on how reproductively isolated recombinant hybrids can drive rapid evolution and speciation is another of his scientific contributions that will stand for all time.

Scriber has been a pillar of interdisciplinary collaborations at MSU, exemplified by the Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior program. During the 11 years he chaired the Department of Entomology, it has become one of the top five entomology departments nationally. He remains the driving force behind the Bug House outreach program and has served on countless committees for local, national and international science agencies.

“The high quality and uncommonly cooperative nature of the faculty drew me here 23 years ago to chair the Department of Entomology for 11 years. Our students and staff have made it especially enjoyable. With these colleagues and friends, I have had the pleasure of enjoying research, teaching and outreach during and after my administrative tour of duty. My deepest thanks to all of you!”