Three members of UMKC family will receive 2012 UM System Presidential Awards

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe today announced that three outstanding members of the University of Missouri-Kansas City community will receive 2012 UM System Presidential Awards.

President Wolfe surprised faculty members Joy Swallow, American Institute of Architects, and Anthony Caruso, Ph.D., and law student, Kristin Kenney, with the news of the awards at a special event held in the newly renovated UMKC Katz Building. The official presentation of the awards and prizes will be made by President Wolfe at a Board of Curators’ dinner in June.

President’s Award for University Citizenship-Leadership

Joy Swallow, associate professor and chair of the UMKC College of Arts and Sciences Department of Architecture, Urban Planning + Design, will receive the 2012 President’s Award for University Citizenship-Leadership.

This award recognizes a faculty member who has provided exemplary leadership for the university. Swallow was responsible for the formation of AUP+D, creating two UMKC professional degree programs. The architectural studies program – a collaboration between UMKC and Kansas State University – prepares first- and second-year students for the K-State architecture program.

The Urban Planning + Design undergraduate program places design studio experience at the center of the planning curriculum, which is one of only four undergraduate programs in the U.S. that incorporate the kind of undergraduate planning and design curriculum envisioned by Swallow.

Said one nominator: “From the start, Joy helped set recruitment criteria, watched over faculty hiring and raised scholarship money for qualified students. Everyone involved in this venture credits its success to Joy’s perseverance.”

Presidential Award for Early Career Excellence

Anthony Caruso, Ph.D., associate professor, UMKC College of Arts and Sciences Department of Physics, will receive the Presidential Award for Early Career Excellence, which recognizes faculty who exhibit exceptional promise in scholarship, research or creativity within their first seven years.

Within four years of his 2007 hiring, Caruso was awarded more than $6 million in external funding to support his research projects, including neutron detector work for Homeland Security and energy recovery for next-generation hybrid vehicles. Other areas include the study of the relationship between metallicity and magnetism and unconventional mediation mechanisms for magnetic exchange. Caruso teaches graduate and undergraduate classes. His “Physics for Future Presidents” class is popular for non-science majors.

In 2011, he was promoted to associate professor with tenure. He has co-authored more than 50 internationally-recognized peer-reviewed journal articles, three review articles and two book chapters. He also has two issued patents and four pending patents.

One of Dr. Caruso’s colleagues wrote: “Not only has Tony established himself as a top-notch researcher and educator, he has performed invaluable service for the department and the university as a whole.”

Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Kristin Kenney, UMKC School of Law, will receive the Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award, awarded to a student who demonstrates innovativeness, originality and entrepreneurial spirit in developing processes, products or technologies of commercial potential and/or of benefit to the University of Missouri.

Kenney – a third year law student and 2011 Class Member of the UMKC Entrepreneurship Scholars Program – created RE:Cite, a legal research productivity and collaboration tool that can improve legal research and writing by enabling remote, electronic collaboration among attorneys.

RE:Cite recently was a finalist in the worldwide Google-sponsored Gigabit Challenge, where it ranked in the top sixth of all worldwide competitors. The tool has a potential addressable market of more than $500 million.

A nominator said of Kristin: “Over this past year, I have watched Kristin find her niche as a future successful attorney/entrepreneur who has been remarkably successful at laying the groundwork for the launch of her high-potential venture.”

About UMKC

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a four-part mission: life and health sciences; visual and performing arts; urban issues and education; and a vibrant learning and campus life experience. For more information about UMKC, visit www.umkc.edu. You can also find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and watch us on YouTube.


Tags: , , , , .
  • Recent UMKC News

    $20 Million Scholarship Article in The Kansas City Star

    KC Scholars partnership also in U.S. News and World Report … Read more

    Geosciences Professor’s Research Cited in New York Times

    Fengpeng Sun co-authored study on California wildfire seasons The 2015 … Read more

    Bloch Faculty Interviewed on NBC Nightly News

    Brent Never teaches about Kansas City’s racial dividing line Never … Read more

    More