The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources
To view the 2007 ANR Alumni Association Award recipients, click here.
To view the 2006 ANR Alumni Association Award recipients, click here.
To view the 2005 ANR Alumni Association Award recipients, click here.
To view the 2004 ANR Alumni Association Award recipients, click here.
For a complete list of past recipients of ANR Alumni Association Awards, click here.
The 2008 ANR Week Luncheon included award presentations to outstanding alumni and supporters of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources. George Good and Margaret (Maggie) Bethel were presented with Honorary Alumnus Awards; Clarence (Al) Stewart received the Alumni Service Award; James D. Nichols and Larry P. Walker received Outstanding Alumnus Awards and Kelly Millenhah was presented with a Distinguished Faculty Award. A new award, the Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, was presented to Cimberly Hickerson.
For a copy of the ANR Week Luncheon program, click here.
For a list of past recipients of ANR Alumni Association Awards, click here.
George Good served as shepherd at the Michigan State University Sheep Teaching and Research Center from 1969 to 2005, where his efforts put MSU at the forefront of purebred sheep breeding and ensured that the university maintains a focus on breeding high-quality sheep. His flock, however, consisted of more than the sheep as he touched the lives of many students, as a mentor, role model and friend. He taught many future leaders in animal science and veterinary medicine through lectures, labs and hands-on experience at the center. Maintaining high standards of animal care was one of Good’s main focuses – a lesson he passed on to his students.
Good, who relocated to Wyoming after his retirement, is a graduate of Kansas State University. He is widely respected for his work with sheep and his love of people. He has been recognized with the Michigan Association of Agriscience Educators Honorary Membership Award and the MSU Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff Award.
A lifelong educator, Maggie Bethel began volunteering for the Michigan State University Extension (MSUE) 4-H programs while teaching high school in the 1970s and soon joined Extension as a home economist in Osceola and Wexford counties in 1976. She quickly moved up the ranks to become a County Extension director, regional supervisor, and regional director. Bethel was appointed director of MSU Extension in 2002 and saw the organization through the worst budget crises in its history. Faced with the potential loss of funding for the MSUE and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station (MAES) in 2003, she mobilized teams of staff and community members to ensure that legislators and the public would be aware of the value of these programs.
Bethel received a bachelor’s degree in education from Central Michigan University in 1974 and a master’s degree in adult and continuing education from MSU. Her many honors include the MSU Distinguished Academic Staff Award, the Michigan Cherry Industry Award and induction into the Michigan 4-H Emerald Clover Society.
Larry Walker is a professor of biological and environmental engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, and an exemplary representative of the land grant mission. As director of the Northeast Sun Grant Initiative, he has tenaciously pursued government support that has resulted in significant funding not only for Cornell, but for other land grant institutions in the regional compact, including MSU and Ohio State. His breadth of understanding of environmental and engineering issues, together with his strong belief in regional research cooperation, brings a strong focus to these issues and strengthens the land grant university system.
Walker has played significant leadership roles in efforts to improve the utilization of renewable resources in industrial biotechnology and energy production. He has served as program leader for the Sustainable Agriculturally Based Bio-Industry Cluster and program coordinator of the Biomolecular Devices and Analysis, Nanobiotechnology Center, and is a member of numerous advisory boards and committees focused on renewable energy and biotechnology at state, regional and national levels. Walker is a three-degree graduate of Michigan State University, with a B.S. in physics and both an M.S. and Ph.D. in agricultural engineering. He has been a life-long supporter of MSU and has returned to campus many times to visit and collaborate with his mentors.
James D. Nichols is a senior scientist with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within the U.S. Department of the Interior, conducts research on animal population dynamics and management and is internationally known for his work in theoretical and applied quantitative ecology. An author and acclaimed academic lecturer, he has been widely published (including two books, four edited volumes, eight monographs, and numerous book chapters, conference proceedings volumes and peer-reviewed scientific journal articles). He has also been a long-term editorial board member for Avocetta and the Journal of Applied Ecology, and he regularly serves as a referee for more than 80 scientific journals.
Nichols received a B.S. in biology from Wake Forest University (1971), an M.S. in wildlife management from Louisiana State University (1973) and a Ph.D. in wildlife ecology from Michigan State University (1976). He has worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the USGS since his graduation from MSU and has been at the vanguard of numerous advancements in waterfowl population ecology analysis and management throughout the world.
Al Stewart began his career with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) as a student at the Rose Lake Wildlife Pathology Laboratory, and he was soon hired full-time as a wildlife technician, in addition to his service as a member of the Young Adult Conservation Corps. He has worked to become a wildlife biologist before obtaining his current position as the upland game bird specialist for the entire state.
As vice president of the Harold and Jean Glassen Memorial Foundation, he has supported the CANR and the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife through his involvement in establishing endowments and scholarships in wildlife conservation and stewardship and in shooting sports. Stewart was recognized with the 1992 Teddy Roosevelt Conservation Award, was named Outstanding Conservationist by the National Wild Turkey Federation in 1998 and was awarded a diamond life sponsor membership for his service to the organization.
Prior to receiving her undergraduate packaging degree in 2001, Cimberly Hickerson was a creative force in promoting opportunities for aspiring packaging professionals, as a member of the Pi Kappa Gamma honor society for the School of Packaging and an active member of the Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP). Hickerson has also been an active member of the MSU Packing Alumni Association’s executive board for the past year and a half. As chair of the association’s young alumni committee, she has implemented networking opportunities for young packaging alumni in Chicago, California, New York and New Jersey.
Hickerson is a technical sales manager for Pira International, where she creates and maintains client relationships for Pira laboratories in California and Michigan. As a student, she interned at both Steelcase Inc. and Lansmont Corp, and was hired by Lansmont in 2002, working there until Lansmont sold its testing services division to Pira in 2007.
Kelly Millenbah, associate professor in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, is known and respected for a teaching style that inspires students and admired for her administrative skills and strong research portfolio, which focuses on endangered species conservation and management and the restoration of disturbed ecosystems. However, it is her reputation as a teacher and mentor that have truly set Millenbah apart. She consistently receives among the highest possible marks from former students in the Student Instructional Rating System and is sought after by graduate students as an adviser and mentor. She has established herself as a scholar on teaching and learning, in part as an outgrowth of her participation in the Lily Teaching Fellows program. She was recently commissioned to write a book for MSU Press regarding the scholarship and practice of learning and engagement in fisheries and wildlife.
In addition, Millenbah has worked to involve students in international experience. She has led study abroad courses to Kenya and Australia, and co-taught a month-long program in South Africa last summer. As a result of her commitment, she was recently asked to serve on a provost-led working group on internationalizing the student experience.