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USC College > College Magazine > Fall 2005 > Academic Convocation
College Magazine

USC Hails Its Best

USC College faculty members and students were honored at USC’s 24th annual Academic Convocation in March.

2005 Presidential Medallion

Kevin O. Starr, University Professor, professor of history and California State Librarian Emeritus, was awarded the university’s highest honor.

2005 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

Mathew Curtis, department of psychology. Curtis, a doctoral student in social psychology from Britain, has taught classes in statistics, research methods, social psychology, and drugs and human behavior.

USC Associates Awards for Excellence in Teaching

Alison Dundes Renteln, professor of political science, for the range of courses she teaches, her use of innovative teaching techniques and her supervision of independent student projects.

USC Associates Awards for Creativity in Research and Scholarship

Larry W. Swanson, the Milo Don and Lucille Appleman Professor of Biological Sciences and professor of biological sciences, psychology and neurology, for his pioneering work in the field of neuroanatomy.

Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Awards

Bettine Birge, associate professor of East Asian languages and cultures, for her book, Women, Property and Confucian Reaction in Sung and Yuan China: 960-1368.

Paul F. Lerner, associate professor of history, for his book, Hysterical Men: War, Psychiatry and the Politics of Trauma in Germany, 1890-1930.

USC Faculty Lifetime Achievement Award

Robert B. Kaplan, emeritus professor of linguistics, for his seminal work on contrastive rhetoric and his 40 years of contributions to language education, policy and planning, academic writing and mentoring.

Awards for Student Achievement

Wan Sonya Tang, Spanish, and Katherine Trefz, history and political science, Emma Josephine Bradley Bovard Awards.

Aarthy Kannappan and Rahul Kasukurthi, biological sciences, Phi Beta Kappa Undergraduate Awards.

Kenneth Basin, international relations, University Trustee Award.

Phi Kappa Phi Student Recognition Awards

Rahul Kasukurthi, biological sciences, for a research paper, “The ‘Great Game’ Revived: The Afghan Pipeline Battles of the 1990s.”

Kaytie M. Lee, professional writing, for an unpublished novel, Missing: A Novel in Short Stories.

Melissa Rosen, professional writing, for a screenplay, “The Hidden Equation.”