Pictures from faculty and staff appreciation

2025 Faculty and Staff Appreciation Event

We have much to celebrate this year and we are glad you’ve chosen to join us to celebrate our colleagues. You may have noticed the slides rotating through all of the award winners in our college. We are proud to see all that our faculty and staff accomplish and we know the recognition is a reflection of the work you put into teaching, research and extension.

2025 Faculty & Staff Appreciation Photos

As we think about all this college has accomplished this year, some of the most notable accomplishments of our faculty are:

  • Brian McCornack being named Presidential Outstanding Department Head of the year
  • Alex Shanoyan being named the Coffman Chair for Distinguished Teaching Scholars
  • Jeremy Marshall being named one of the 2025 Commerce Bank and W.T. Kemper Foundation Undergraduate Teaching Award
  • Kaliramesh Siliveru being named the University Distinguished Faculty for Mentoring of Undergraduate Students in Research. Previously, fellow College of Agriculture faculty Dr. Cassie Jones was the recipient of the previous year.

Looking into the future, we are excited to announce that we are expanding the awards offered by the College of Agriculture.

At the event, we also announced the launch of several new annual awards designed to recognize excellence across our college community.

Staff Award of Excellence

We are introducing the new Staff Award of Excellence. This award honors up to three outstanding staff members each year, including both unclassified professionals and university support staff, who exemplify the mission and values of K-State and the College of Agriculture.

Whether through exceptional teamwork, productivity, creativity, leadership, or distinguished accomplishments, these awards celebrate staff who go above and beyond in their roles. Each recipient will receive a $1,000 cash prize.

Medal of Excellence for the Agriculture

This year we created the Medal of Excellence for the College of Agriculture. Our inaugural recipient for this award is Eldon Gideon. With his notable achievements as a livestock producer, community leader, and educator, Eldon elevated the agriculture industry across Kansas. His legacy will continue for generations to come due to his philanthropic contributions to our college, which include naming the Deanship and many scholarships throughout the college.

We look forward to continuing this new tradition and honoring other notable leaders in the agriculture industry with this award.

Faculty Awards for Excellence

We are also proud to announce two new annual college-level faculty awards, each honoring excellence in a specific mission area of the College of Agriculture:

  • Mugler Teaching Award, which we have given out previously will continue to do so
  • College of Agriculture Research Award
  • College of Agriculture Extension Award

These awards will recognize one faculty member per mission area each year who demonstrates sustained, significant contributions in teaching, research, or extension. Each recipient will receive a $1,000 cash prize

In the first year, recipients will be selected by the College of Agriculture administrative team.

From the second year onward, award winners will serve on a six-person selection committee responsible for choosing the next round of awardees. If a committee member leaves the university before the next cycle, the dean will appoint a replacement.

Each year’s final slate of awardees will be submitted to the dean for approval.

These new awards reflect our deep commitment to recognizing and celebrating the outstanding people who make the College of Agriculture a place of excellence, service, and innovation.

Thank you for your continued dedication — and we look forward to highlighting and honoring our exceptional colleagues in the months ahead.

David Mugler Teaching Award

In 1999, the K-State University College of Agriculture Alumni Board of Directors established an annual award, the David Mugler Teaching Award, to recognize Dr. Mugler's many years of dedicated service to students in the K-State College of Agriculture.

Gaea Hock recieving awardThis year’s David Mugler Outstanding Teaching Award goes to Dr. Gaea Hock, a professor in the Kansas State University Department of Communications and Agricultural Education. As an alumna of Kansas State University, Hock received her bachelor's in agricultural education and master's degree in curriculum and instruction in 2003 and 2006, respectively, and she earned her doctorate atTexas Tech University in 2012.

Hock is thoroughly involved throughout the K-State campus. Within the College of Agriculture, she is part of the Teaching Development Committee and the Committee on Planning and has led two study-abroad trips. For the Department of Communications and Agricultural Education, she serves as the graduate program coordinator, co-advises the Agricultural Education Club and is the coordinator for the Agricultural Education Advisory Committee. In the College of Education, she represents the agricultural education program at curriculum and instruction departmental meetings. She has bettered students and staff through her roles across the university.

Hock has received numerous accolades from the National Association of Agricultural Educators and the Kansas Association of Agricultural Educators. In 2019, she was awarded the North American Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture Educator Award, and in 2024, she was given the North Central AAAE Special Recognition Award. These honors acknowledge Hock’s lifelong commitment to improving the fields of education and agriculture.

Congratulations to the 2025 David Mugler Teaching Award recipient, Dr. Gaea Hock.