Outstanding Junior Award

Gene Koifman, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Outstanding Senior Award

Karly Liebendorfer, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Sciences

The Kerry Bruce Clark Endowed Scholarship In Marine Biology

Dylan Elizabeth Fore, Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences

Brice Allen Smith, Department of Ocean Engineering and Marine Sciences

The day before classes began in spring semester 1999, Florida Tech lost a dedicated member of its faculty. Dr. Kerry Clark, Professor of Biological Sciences, was one of the first members in the biology department when it was formed 52 years ago. Dr. Clark was largely responsible for developing the marine biology program on this campus to the high status of quality and recognition that the program now enjoys among academic programs of its kind in the United States. His excellence in teaching was recognized in 1992 when Dr. Clark received the Teaching Excellence Award that now bears his name. His excellence in research was recognized by his election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. His excellence in service to our profession and the community is known to those few here today who shared positions with him on innumerable committees during his 28 years on the faculty.

 The financial contributions by students, alumni, colleagues, friends, and family in Dr. Clark’s memory allow the marine biology program to make the 25^th and 26^th awards of the Dr. Kerry Bruce Clark Endowed Scholarship in Marine Biology. The award is to be given to a junior or senior undergraduate student in the marine biology program: a merit scholarship to one who shows promise to achieve excellence in a career related to marine biology.

  Read this article for more details about the students.

The Dr. J. Clayton Baum Chemistry Award

Jaden Howell, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Dr. Baum joined Florida Tech in 1979 and served on the Chemistry faculty for 37 years. He was an outstanding teacher of physical chemistry, published over 40 peer-reviewed papers, and obtained over $1M in research funding. He served on many university committees including the Faculty Senate, the Curriculum Committee, and the Library Committee; he was an expert at maintaining instrumentation; and he was a friend and mentor to all. These qualities led alumni, students, and friends to establish the J Clayton Baum Scholarship in 2007.

This year’s Baum awardee is Jaden Howell. A transfer junior in Chemistry from Spring Hill, Florida, she carries a grade-point average of 4.00. She is involved in research with Toufiq Reza, on carbon quantum dots.

The Donald R. Mason Chemical Engineering Award

Ryan Kitelinger, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

Dr. Donald Mason was the founder and first Head of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. To honor his legacy, the Chemical Engineering Faculty established this award in his name, presented annually to one outstanding senior, based on academic achievement, research accomplishments, and active participation in student organizations and professional and honor societies.

Ryan Kitelinger is an outstanding student who has been inducted in the Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society and served as the Treasurer of the society’s Florida Tech Chapter. He has been very actively involved with the Florida Tech Student Chapter of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, where he served first as the Chapter’s Social Media Chair and later as the Chapter’s Secretary, collecting and sharing with Chemical Engineering students information on scholarships, internships, REUs, plant trips, and other events and opportunities. He has also participated in the Florida Tech Music Program since his freshman year – having played the viola for over 10 years – and has played also in Florida Tech’s string orchestra. He has been involved in research in Dr. Reza’s biofuels laboratory and in an NSF-REU Program at Wayne State University, where he investigated the sustainability potential of various processes for the electroplating industry. His long-term career goals include furthering his engineering education and helping design sustainable chemical plants.

The Martin Zung Memorial Chemistry Award

Anna Grimm, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

This year’s Martin Zung awardee is Anna Grimm. A senior in premedical chemistry from Salisbury, North Carolina, Ms Grimm has dual minors in forensic psychology and child advocacy studies, and carries a grade-point average of 3.44. She started research in Andy Knight’s lab, and is now working in Kenia Nunes’s group, investigating the impact of an antioxidant treatment in improving vascular dysfunction in diabetes.

The John E. Miller Award

Kathryn E. Davis, Department of Aerospace, Physics, and Space Sciences

Dr. John E. Miller served as president of Florida Tech from 1986-1987. Dr. Miller was vice president for academic affairs from 1966 until 1975. Dr. Miller received a B.S. from Randolph Macon College and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. Some of his outstanding accomplishments included receiving a senior science fellowship at Stanford University and the position of Distinguished Professor of Physics at Clemson University. Dr. Miller also served in the United States Army during World War II.

After his term as president of Florida Tech, Dr. Miller spent four years teaching for the physics and space sciences department before retiring from the university. Dr. Miller passed away on December 14, 1993.

Originally from Pittsburg Pennsylvania, this year’s recipient earned her bachelor’s degrees in Astronomy and Astrophysics from Florida Tech in 2021.  She became interested in astronomy due to planetarium field trips in elementary school.  She is now a Ph. D. candidate conducting research with Dr. Csaba Palotai on the effects of meteor impacts on the planet Jupiter.   In October 2023, she presented a poster at a joint meeting of the American Astronomical Society and the Europlanet Science Congress entitled “Fragmentation and Hydrodynamic Modeling of Jupiter Impacts”.

The Potter Award

Titus Johnson, Department of Aerospace, Physics, and Space Sciences

After receiving degrees from Princeton, New York University and Yale, James G. Potter enjoyed a six-decade career as a physicist and a developer of physics departments.  He began the physics degree program at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology during the World War II years. Between 1945 and 1966, he was the head of the department of physics at Texas A & M University. At the age of 60, he joined the faculty of Florida Institute of Technology where he was professor and department head from 1967 to 1972. After stepping down as department head, Dr. Potter continued to make contributions until 1987 when he was named professor emeritus. Even after that, he was a regular presence in the department until about 1990.

After his death in 1993, the department initiated a yearly competition as the basis for this award. A competition seemed fitting given Dr. Potter’s feisty persona and his penchant for on-the-spot oral examinations when students would innocently inquire about testing out of Physics 1.

Originally from New Port Richey, Florida, this year’s winner is double major in Aerospace Engineering and Chemistry and is minoring in Music.  During his first two years at Florida Tech, this student has performed undergraduate research in the autonomous systems and electrochemistry.  He has submitted his research on the tubercle effect on cambered airfoils to the AIAA Region II Student Conference.  After graduation he plans on pursuing doctoral degrees in both Aerospace Engineering and Chemistry.  Eventually, he hopes to build a career in materials science and space structures.