BYU’s annual University Conference began Monday morning with the announcement of the 2024 faculty and staff awards.
The most prestigious faculty award went to a professor who has studied the acoustics of rockets, airplane toilets, sports crowd noise and the high-pitched, staccato crackle of jet fighters.
Kent Gee received the Karl G. Maeser Distinguished Faculty Lecturer Award, reserved for a professor who has demonstrated clear superiority in both scholarship and teaching.
“Professor Gee is an outstanding teacher and mentor, continuing to teach large introductory courses in physical science. He’s a strong scholar and great representative of BYU,” BYU President Shane Reese said.
Gee has received more than $7 million in external funding for his research and has published over 120 peer-reviewed studies.
His work also generates a lot of publicity.
The Jerusalem Post, for example, wrote a story about a study Gee co-authored that debunked the myth that the 1960s rockets that sent U.S. astronauts to the moon could melt concrete with their sound. The study was published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America.
“The Saturn V has taken on this sort of legendary, apocryphal status,” Gee said at the time. “We felt that, as part of the JASA special issue on Education in Acoustics, it was an opportunity to correct misinformation about this vehicle.”
Other articles have looked at Gee’s research on reducing the loud noise made by the vacuum-assisted toilets on airplanes, the sound at BYU football games and most recently, the noise made by NASA’s Artemis 1 rocket, which could help mitigate impacts to wildlife and communities near launch pads.
Gee is the chair of BYU’s Department of Physics and Astronomy.
Who won BYU’s 2024 faculty and staff awards?
Ben E. Lewis Management Award: John Young, managing director of the benefits office in the Human Resources Department.
Fred A. Schwendiman Performance Award: Michael Ball of Physical Facilities.
President’s Appreciation Awards:
- Julie Averett, School of Accountancy
- Cindy Cromar, Philosophy
- Colby Day, Office of Information Technology
- Russell Hansen, Humanities
- Shasta Hamilton, Humanities
- Andrea Howard, Howard W. Hunter Law Library
- Jennifer Johnson, Continuing Education
- Michael Ralls, Office of Information Technology
Karl G. Maeser Excellence in Teaching Awards:
- Jeffrey R. Chadwick, Church History and Doctrine
- Pace P. Nielsen, Mathematics
- Janis B. Nuckolls, Linguistics
Karl G. Maeser Research and Creative Arts Awards:
- Gus L.W. Hart, Physics
- Michael J. Larson, Psychology
- Michael J. Wirthlin, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Karl G. Maeser Professional Faculty Excellence Awards:
- Jason K. McDonald, Instructional Psychology and Technology
- Justin Earl Weidman, Construction Management
- D. Pauline Williams, Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science
University Professorship Award: Carl Lee Hanson, Public Health.
Alumni Professorship Award: Brad Barber, Media Arts.
General Education Professorship: Jon Ostenson, English.
Abraham O. Smoot Citizenship Award: Kelly D. Patterson.
Wesley P. Lloyd Award for Distinction in Graduate Education: Anton Edis Bowden, Mechanical Engineering.
Phi Kappa Phi Award: Terisa P. Gabrielson, Counseling Psychology and Special Education.
Adjunct Faculty Excellence Awards:
- Jaime Lyn Bartlett, Anthropology
- Nicole Holley Bay, Linguistics
- Shelley Tuckfield Graham, Theatre Arts Studies
- Jenn L. Larson, School of Accountancy
BYU Class of 1949 Young Faculty Award: Paul B. Frandsen, Plant and Wildlife Sciences.
Sponsored Research Recognition Award: Mike Goodrich, Computer Science.
Early Career Scholarship Awards:
- Michael Barber, Political Science
- Andrew Fry, Chemical Engineering
- Samuel H. Payne, Biology; Stephanie Plamondon
Technology Transfer Awards:
- Robert Davis, Physics
- Richard Vanfleet, Physics
Early Career Teaching Awards:
- Spencer Hilton, Information Systems
- Andrew Ning, Mechanical Engineering
- Stephen Richard Piccolo
- Corinna Trujillo Tanner, Nursing
Creative Works Award: Fred E. Woods.
Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship: Candace Berrett, Statistics.
Richard P. Roskelly Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship: Jennifer Brooks, Mathematics
C. Joseph Rowberry Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship: John Chaston, Plant and Wildlife Sciences.
Steven M. Rose Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship: Pamela R. Hallam, Educational Leadership and Foundations.
Edwin Cozzens Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship: David O. Lignell, Chemical Engineering.
Douglas K. Christensen Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship: Jeff Parker, Linguistics.
Dean Fairbanks Teaching and Learning Faculty Fellowship: G. Scott Webb, Marketing and Global Supply Chain.