LAS Honors and Awards Ceremony to recognize distinguished alumni

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, Oct. 23.

The ceremony takes place during Iowa State’s 2025 Homecoming Week, which will celebrate Cyclone pride with the theme “Lights, Camera, Cyclones!” 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, Oct. 24, ceremony hosted by the Iowa State University Alumni Association.

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

Iowa State University Alumni Association honorees include:

Danielle West (’11 journalism and mass communication), Outstanding Young Alumni Award

LAS honorees include:

• Benjamin Malin (’00 mathematics, economics), Citation of Merit
• Jyotishman Pathak (Ph.D. ‘07 computer science), John V. Atanasoff Discovery Award
• Sophia Magill (’05 political science), Carrie Chapman Catt Public Engagement Award
• Todd Buck (’87 biological and pre-medical illustration), Dean’s Arts and Humanities Award

Departmental award recipients include:

• Daniel Purich (Ph.D. ‘72 biochemistry), Distinguished Alumni Award, Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology
• David Lee Phillips (’84 chemistry), Outstanding Alumni Award, Department of Chemistry
• Maria Thompson (’82 computer science, statistics), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Computer Science
• Brad Small (’90 meteorology), Distinguished Alumni Award – Meteorology, Department of the Earth, Atmosphere, and Climate
• Kanlaya Barr (Ph.D. ‘09 economics), Outstanding Alumni Award, Department of Economics
• Lou Ann Sandburg (’70 English), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of English
• Shannon Hauf (’97 biology), Outstanding Alumni Award, Department of Genetics, Development, and Cell Biology
• Michael Bugeja, James W. Schwartz Award for Distinguished Service to Journalism and Communication, Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication
• CAPT Ryan Guard (’02 history), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of History
• Anand Medepalli (Ph.D. ‘92 mathematics), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Mathematics
• Ted Brimeyer (’07 music education), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Music and Theatre
• Fred Kammeier (’58 English, business administration), Guiding Star Award, Naval Science
• Mike Padgett (physics), Outstanding Alumni Award, Department of Physics and Astronomy
• Rob Denson (M.S. ‘72 higher education administration), Outstanding Alumni Award, Department of Political Science
• Zewditu Demissie (‘02 genetics, psychology), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Psychology
• Doug Jensen (‘89 statistics, journalism and mass communication), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of Statistics
• Em Puhl (‘06 Spanish, history), Distinguished Alumni Award, Department of World Languages and Cultures
• Joan Kozel (’76 biological illustration), Distinguished Alumni Award, Scientific Illustration and Visualization
• Kori Heuss (’96 interpersonal communication), Distinguished Alumni Award, Communication Studies
• Emma Runde (’14 communication studies, Spanish), Distinguished Alumni Award, Communication Studies