Teaching and Mentoring Award:  Dr. Laura Gunn

As the discipline liaison for Biostatistics since January 2005, Dr. Gunn has assisted with the completion of the MPH Biostatistics curriculum and the development of the DrPH Biostatistics curriculum.  In her brief career at Georgia Southern, Dr. Gunn has taught 11 courses of Biostatistics, directed 8 student teaching activities and independent studies, and has been a member of 5 master’s thesis committees.  Dr. Gunn’s unprecedented commitment toward student mentoring is self-evident, with her door open at all hours of the day for students to stop by and receive advice.  Her student evaluations are further evidence of her commitment as a teacher and mentor, with multiple responses of “outstanding professor,” and “most helpful professor I have ever had.”  Dr. Gunn clearly exceeds expectations in her teaching role through her outstanding support of students.

Scholarship Award: Dr. Mondi Mason

For almost 20 years, Dr. Mason has utilized her skills as an applied anthropologist in her work as a researcher and practitioner in public health. Within the short span of 2007 to 2009, Dr. Mason has accrued contract, grant and sponsored research funding for over $300,000 related to public health education and community health research. Dr. Mason has published 11 manuscripts in top tiered scholarly journals, including the Journal of Health Promotion Practice, Journal of Health Communication, and the American Journal of Community Psychology. In addition, Dr. Mason has given numerous referred presentations at national and local venues, including the 2007Academy Health Annual Research Meeting. Dr. Mason’s extensive research career gives evidence to her true commitment to rural public health, health disparity elimination, and community based research.

Service Award: Dr. Cassandra Arroyo

Dr. Arroyo has served in a number of capacities at the college level, including the MPH Program Coordinator from August 2008, Epidemiology Faculty Search Committee member, and the Epidemiology Discipline Liaison from October 2007 to present. At the university level, Dr. Arroyo serves as the GA Southern Faculty Liaison to the Society for Epidemiologic Research Student Caucus. Dr. Arroyo has been a member of the Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program Advisory Board since 2007, teaches the McNair Scholars Research Methods Course, and has served as a Faculty Mentor to a McNair scholar. Dr. Arroyo’s outstanding professional service includes being actively involved in the Epidemiology Section of APHA, most recently as a Section Councilor responsible for the section website, reviewer for several distinguished journals, and guest speaker at the Harvard University School of Public Health. Dr. Arroyo’s service record at Georgia Southern is extensive and reflects her passion for giving back to the community, the profession and the university.