Arkansas Achievers

■ Three Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts students earned a trip to the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in May at the West Central Regional Science Fair held Feb. 26-28. Victoria Hwang of Maumelle won first place overall followed by Catherine Kwon of Little Rock in second, Jason Hoang of Hartman in third place and Roriana Burgess of Blytheville taking fourth place. Hwang, Kwon and Hoang are to compete in the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair in Anaheim, Calif., in May. Hwang’s project focused on removing a protein from cancer cells that would not allow them to reproduce and would die thus providing treatment without harsh chemicals. Kwon researched ways to predict epileptic seizures through machine learning. Hoang studied bacteria in soil that may break down a common ingredient in plastics, allowing the plastic to degrade over time.

■ Three University of Arkansas, Fayetteville faculty members have been recognized with national accolades by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture in its 2019-20 Architectural Education Awards program. Stephen Luoni, director of the UA Community Design Center, is one of five educators selected this year to receive the 2020 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Distinguished Professor Award. This award is intended “to recognize individuals that have had a positive, stimulating, and nurturing influence upon students over an extended period of time and/ or teaching which inspired a generation of students who themselves have contributed to the advancement of architecture,” according to the association’s website. Jessica Colangelo and Charles Sharpless were selected for an honorable mention in the 2020 Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Faculty Design Award category for their Salvage Swings project. This award “recognizes work that advances the reflective nature of practice and teaching by encouraging outstanding work in architecture and related environmental design fields as a critical endeavor,” according to the website. Luoni, Colangelo and Sharpless are all faculty members in the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design at UA.

■ Veronica West, a senior at Benton High School; Sydney Siler, a senior at Maumelle Charter School; and Brent Foster II, a senior at Parkview Arts and Science School, have each received a $500 scholarship from the Arkansas Chamber Singers. They are to be presented a plaque at the spring concert Thursday at St. James United Methodist Church in Little Rock.

■ Brady Billingsley, a sophomore at Springdale Har-Ber High School, participated in the Arkansas Assemblies of God Fine Arts Festival in Little Rock on Feb. 28 and 29. Billingsley competed in six categories: piano, classical piano, vocal solo, classical vocal solo, woodwind instrumental solo and brass instrumental solo. He received a superior rating in all six categories and finished first in five of the six divisions. With the superior ratings, he also received an invitation to compete in each of the six categories at the Assemblies of God National Fine Arts Festival to be held in Columbus, Ohio, in August.

■ The Association for Information Systems recognized Rolf Wigand, professor emeritus of information science, business information systems, and management at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, with the Distinguished Member Cum Laude award Dec. 15 at the association’s annual conference in Munich, Germany. Wigand is a founding and charter member of the Association for Information Systems, an international, nonprofit professional association for the advancement, promotion and study of information systems that was founded in 1994. The appointment as a distinguished member cum laude is intended to honor his research achievements and his commitment to the international information systems community.

■ An article by Justin Castro, associate professor of history and department chairman at Arkansas State University, has been published in the peer-reviewed online historiographical journal History Compass. Castro’s essay is titled “History of Technology in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Latin America.”

■ Mark Smith, station manager; Doreen Selden, director of underwriting; and Brandon Tabor, Morning Edition host on KASU radio, were announced as winners of the Media Support Award from Arkansas Delta Byways at the association’s annual banquet. The award recognized KASU’s support and promotion of Arkansas PBS’ local screening of a portion of the Ken Burns documentary, Country Music. KASU is licensed to the Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

■ Lonnie Williams, special assistant to the chancellor, and Joshua Smith, assistant director, Multicultural Affairs at Arkansas State University, have been selected to receive the JV Educational Leadership Award. The honor is determined through a nomination and review process that considers such factors as professional technique, contribution to student retention, and dedication to their discipline through scholarly advancements. They will be recognized at a national conference in October.

■ Jim Patchell, head coach of track and field at Arkansas State University, was named recipient of the Sun Belt Conference Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year honors. Patchell led the ASU teams to their first sweep of the conference championships since 1998. The awards are determined by a vote of the league’s head coaches. This was Patchell’s eighth and ninth SBC Coach of the Year awards.

Arkansas Achievers is an opportunity to give recognition to Arkansans for their achievements.

Civilian and military achievements are accepted.

Please follow these guidelines: Achiever(s):

1) Must be an Arkansan or have graduated from a school in Arkansas.

2) Received an award, scholarship, medal or promotion.

Pageants, deans’ lists, graduations or military enlistments are not accepted.

No photographs please. To submit an Achiever email us at news@arkansasonline.com with the words “Arkansas Achievers” in the subject line.