Middle Tennessee State University

Middle Tennessee State University's first cohort of Physician Assistant Studies students and their families gathered recently to celebrate a milestone with the inaugural "white coat" ceremony that symbolizes the next step in their academic careers. Students are trading in their gray scrubs for white coats as they shift from the classroom to clinical rotations over the coming year in preparation for an in-demand profession.

Catheryn Bolick of Smyrna, Tennessee, has been awarded an $8,500 fellowship by The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

Phi Kappa Phi recently announced the recipients of a 2023 Fellowship. The prestigious $8,500 fellowships were awarded to 54 students nationwide.

Middle Tennessee State University is congratulating the students who received their degrees at its spring 2023 commencement ceremonies. MTSU's two-day commencement event in May split the members of the first Class of 2023 into four Murphy Center ceremonies to receive their degrees.

Eight MTSU undergraduates took their research projects across the pond to the annual World Congress on Undergraduate Research, also known as WorldCUR, at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, earlier this spring.

Middle Tennessee State University Honors student Matthew Siciliano, a political science major, has received a scholarship for an academic internship at the Washington Center for Fall 2023.

Kevin Bicker, associate chemistry professor, and his mentee Janna Abou-Rahma, undergraduate researcher and biochemistry major, appeared on this month's "Out of the Blue" episode to share about Abou-Rahma's recent win at a highly competitive health challenge and her experience working in Bicker's lab.

The Ralph and Elizabeth Gwaltney Centennial Scholarship, a centennial scholarship funded by Don and Carolyn Midgett, has been awarded to Hailey Harrison.

MTSU's Diversity Dissertation Fellowship program will welcome three new fellows from across the country to campus this fall to support them in completing the final year of their doctoral degrees and to bring their expertise to the classroom and larger campus community. Nia Allen, pursuing her degree in hospitality and retail management, will work out of the Department of Human Sciences; Sandra Jacobo, pursuing her degree literature, will work out of the Department of English; and Toni Owens, pursuing her degree in human and community development, will work out of the Department of Social Work.

The Hanna Romans Witherspoon Scholarship is awarded annually to a junior or senior Honors student at Middle Tennessee State University.

The Windrow Scholarship was established in 2009 by Middle Tennessee State University alumni Vincent and Stacy Windrow.

Middle Tennessee State University political science major Victoria Grigsby has received one of the most competitive overseas fellowships in the country - the Fulbright Summer Institute in Wales in the United Kingdom.

The Paul W. Martin Sr. Scholarship is named in honor of the father of Paul and Lee Martin, who made the Honors building at Middle Tennessee State University possible. Paul Martin, a member of the Honor College Board of Vistors, presented the awards to the students.

Middle Tennessee State University honors student Elizabeth Kowalczyk was recently named as a 2023 Goldwater Scholar. She is one of only eight students from Tennessee institutions to receive the award this year and the only one from MTSU.

The Ingram-Montgomery Honors College Thesis/Research Scholarship is a research-based scholarship offered by the Honors College at Middle Tennessee State University. Winners of the Ingram-Montgomery Scholarship receive $1,000.

Each year, the Middle Tennessee State University Honors College awards Outstanding Student Awards to high-achieving Honors students who set themselves apart from their peers through academic achievement and extra-curricular activities both on and off campus.

Middle Tennessee State University is congratulating the 5,430-plus students who appear on the dean's list for the spring 2023 semester. To qualify for this distinction, an undergraduate student must maintain a current semester grade-point average of 3.5 or above and earn at least 12 semester hours. The complete list of honorees, compiled by the MTSU Registrar's Office and alphabetized by the students' surnames and home counties, also is available as a searchable PDF in this story at MTSUNews.com, the university's news site: https://mtsunews.com/deans-list-spring2023/.

Three Middle Tennessee State University students were recently awarded Academic Achievement Scholarships from the University Honors College.

The Julia Powell Scholarship is funded by one of the members of the Middle Tennessee State University Honors College Board of Visitors. This year's recipient is Fison Bogale.

The Joseph and Teresa Olmstead Scholarship is funded by one of the past members of the Middle Tennessee State University Honors College Board of Visitors and his wife. This year's recipient is Aykut Iri.

The June McCash Founders Award Scholarship is named after the first Director of the Middle Tennessee State University Honors Program, June McCash. This year, Ruby Neu has been given this award.

The John and Linda Vile Award, sponsored by the current Middle Tennessee State University Honors College Dean and his wife, goes to Laney Denton.

The Middle Tennessee State University Honors College recognized dozens of students who were initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi during a special ceremony late in the spring 2023 semester. Membership is by invitation only and requires nomination and approval by a chapter. Only the top 10 percent of seniors and 7.5 percent of juniors are eligible for membership. Graduate students in the top 10 percent of the number of candidates for graduate degrees may also qualify, as do faculty, professional staff and alumni who have achieved scholarly distinction.

MTSU recently sent 16 undergraduates to participate in the National Conferences on Undergraduate Research and one student, Janna Abou-Rahma, was part of the team that won a highly competitive challenge putting her in the top 1% of hundreds of applicants. More commonly known as NCUR, the annual conference took place this April at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.

The Bart McCash Scholarship, which is named after a former chair of the Middle Tennessee State University History Department, goes to Transfer Fellow Cai Ward.

Three MTSU students were among 80 undergraduate and graduate students nationwide selected for the U.S. Department of State's Critical Language Scholarship program Spark Award for Summer 2023.

This year, five MTSU graduates were accepted into the Japan Exchange and Teaching, or JET, Program. These individuals will work in schools, boards of education, and government offices throughout Japan.

Psychology and sociology double major Hannah Antrican was awarded the Lawrence R. Good Scholarship, which is named after the husband of a former faculty member. The $350 award is funded by Dr. Elaine Good Royal and Matthew Royal. Preference is given to psychology majors and minors who are in good standing with the Honors College.

Two MTSU students were awarded the Hannah/Harris Study Abroad Scholarship this spring. The scholarship is named after the late Dr. Richard Hannah, a former professor of economics, and Dr. Watson Harris, who was an administrator in the Provost Office and a graduate faculty member in the College of Education.

The Michael Martinelli Memorial Scholarship is named in honor of one of our former students. This year's recipient is Cole Jones who is an Honors Transfer Fellow majoring in Management and Leadership with minors in Business Administration and University Honors. He says being at the Honors College changed the trajectory of his life, and he is now studying to be a licensed marriage and family therapist.