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Iowa State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) will recognize the achievements of its distinguished alumni at the annual LAS Honors and Awards Ceremony on Thursday, Nov. 2.

The ceremony takes place during Iowa State’s 2023 Homecoming Week, which will celebrate Cyclone pride with the theme “Carnival and Gold.” Iowa State student a capella group Count Me In will provide music and vocals at the LAS ceremony.

In addition, LAS and Iowa State University Alumni Association award recipients will be honored at a Friday, Nov. 3, ceremony hosted by the Iowa State University Alumni Association.

“I’m thrilled to commemorate Homecoming Week with an opportunity to reconnect with our alumni,” Beate Schmittmann, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said. “LAS has more than 60,000 living alumni who are achieving the highest levels of excellence in a diverse array of fields and also making an impact on communities around the globe. We are extremely proud to honor their outstanding accomplishments.”

Three groups of award winners will be honored during the ceremonies:

Iowa State University Alumni Association honorees include:

• Kay Kretschmar Runge (’69 history education), Alumni Medal
• Kevin Bieniek (’11 biology, psychology), Outstanding Young Alumni Award

LAS honorees include:

• Danny O’Neill (’83 political science, international studies), Citation of Merit
• Jennifer Jacobs (’93 English), Carrie Chapman Catt Public Engagement Award
• Paxton Williams (’00 political science), Carrie Chapman Catt Public Engagement Award
• Clayton Mooney (’12 English), Young Alumni Award

Departmental award recipients include:

• Aranthan (AJ) Jones II (’99 anthropology, sociology), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of World Languages and Cultures
• Barb Hunt (’89 statistics, MS ’91 statistics), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Statistics
• Brenda (Hagen) McGuire (’94 psychology, interdisciplinary studies), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Psychology
• John Holcombe (’88 political science, economics), Outstanding Alumni Award, Department of Political Science
• Jen Scharff (’98 physics), Outstanding Alumni Award, Department of Physics and Astronomy
• Scott Jean (’93 mathematics), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Mathematics
• Mark Chidley (’89 history, international studies), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of History
• Alan Mores (’80 journalism and mass communication), James W. Schwartz Award for Distinguished Service, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication
• Steve Mores (’67 journalism), James W. Schwartz Award for Distinguished Service, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication
• Ken Harding (’86 meteorology), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences
• Shannon Harris (’95 zoology), Outstanding Alumni Award, Department of Genetics, Development and Cell Biology
• Duane Harris (’66 industrial administration, MS ’68 economics), Distinguished Service to Private Enterprise, Department of Economics
• Bobby Richey Jr. (MS ’86 economics), Distinguished Service for the Public Good, Department of Economics
• Karthik Balakrishnan (MS ’93, Ph.D. ’98 computer science), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Computer Science
• Jibing Lin (Ph.D. ’95 organic chemistry), Outstanding Alumni Award, Department of Chemistry
• Manjula Noone (’91 biochemistry), Distinguished Alumni Award, Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Molecular Biology
• Brock Purdy (’21 communications studies), Outstanding Achievement by a Young Alumni, Communication Studies Program