Spotlights
Students | Faculty | Alumni | Staff
Students
Kevin Gustafson graduated with a Cartography, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and Planning concentration in Geography. Of Geography’s four concentrations, this one requires the highest number of courses and Kevin’s current Sacramento State GPA is 4.00. Beyond the classroom environment, Kevin has also volunteered for the Okizu Foundation for the past 11 years. The Okizu Foundation’s primary purpose is to provide outdoor recreation and respite to children with cancer and their siblings. In addition to working with the Okizu Foundation, Kevin has also offered his time with the American Cancer Society – R.O.C.K. Program, the Sly Park Outdoor Education Center, Folsom Cordova Unified School District and Rancho Cordova Kiwanis Club/Cordova High School Key Club. Overall Kevin has demonstrated excellence both scholastically and in contributing to our communities. Kevin is a great representative of Sacramento State and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
Jason Cooper, Chemistry Major and Physics Minor, is the 2008 College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Dean's Award Winner. Jason has been an active in research in the laboratory of Prof. Cynthia Kellen-Yuen and has been a peer instructor in chemistry. Cooper was integral in re-starting Sacramento State’s Golden Key International Honors Society chapter, and collected books to send to New Orleans after the Katrina disaster. He established a Sac State Chapter of Habitat for Humanity and helped to raise more than $23,000.
Faculty
Janusz R. Prajs, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, is this year’s recipient of the President’s Award for Research and Creative Activity and will present a lecture on his research at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, in the University Union Foothill Suite.
The award, presented by University President Alexander Gonzalez, was established in 1989 and is given each year for extraordinary research and creative activity over a five-year span by a member of the Sacramento State faculty. It includes an honorarium of $1,000. Nominees must be in their first 10 years of service at Sacramento State.
Prajs’ joined Sacramento State’s faculty in 2003. His field of expertise is topology, the mathematical study of figures that are not changed by stretching, bending, knotting or twisting and without gluing or breaking, such as rubber bands.
Prajs received his master’s in Applied Mathematics from the Technical University of Wroclaw, Poland and his doctorate in Mathematics from the University of Wroclaw.
Peter Urone, Department of Physics and Astronomy, is the 2008 Winner of the NSM Outstanding University Service Award. His award was given based on years of service to the campus and his hosting of the American Association of Physics Teachers Annual Meeting, which brought nearly 2000 high school and college physics educators to our campus.
Professor Marcus Marsh, from the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, who specializes in the study of elastic deformations on geometric objects received the University’s Outstanding Scholarly Achievement Award. Prof. Marsh received the award for his research toward discovering stronger forms of Dutch mathematician L.E.J. Brouwer’s fixed point theorem. He is an expert in topology, the study of geometrical objects that remain unchanged when deformed or distorted such as by twisting or stretching (for example a rubber band).
Sacramento State biology professor Juanita Barrena was one of three higher education leaders in California to receive the 2008 Champions of Health Professions Diversity award from The California Wellness Foundation. Barrena will receive the award on Monday, June 9, in San Francisco at the Foundation’s sixth annual "Champions of Health Professions Diversity Award" ceremony.