More than 70 writers, artists and musicians, including award-winning novelists Alexander McCall Smith and Pat Conroy, are set to participate in the Celebration of Books, Sept. 29-30, at OSU-Tulsa.

 

Tickets for the festival, including “An Evening with Pat Conroy and Alexander McCall Smith,” are $65 for the general public, $55 for patron members of the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers, and $25 for full-time students.

 

Tickets to “An Evening with Pat Conroy and Alexander McCall Smith” may also be purchased separately for $20. Tickets are available by calling 918-596-7111 or by visiting www.myticketoffice.com.

Kathy Elliott, associate vice president and controller, OSU and OSU System, received a National Association of College and University Business Officers’ Rising Star Award at the 2006 annual meeting of the organization held this month in Hawaii.

 

The award identifies future leaders in higher education who possess high potential to advance to leadership roles in the field of higher education business, finance and administration.

 

Elliott was one of only two Rising Stars recognized by the organization’s 2,500 member institutions.

OSU announced at its regular board of regents meeting that the OSU Foundation has purchased through negotiations 86 of the 87 properties in the initial athletic village expansion area north of Boone Pickens Stadium between McElroy Road and Hall of Fame Avenue.  Negotiations continue to purchase the last property in the area.

Following board approval OSU System CEO and President, David Schmidly joined Stillwater Mayor, Roger McMillian in a press conference to announce an agreement between the city and the university to re-open Hall of Fame Avenue.  

For more details on these and other regents related stories including personnel actions visit http://osu.okstate.edu/index.php?optionfiltered=com_content&task=view&id=343&Itemid=90  

An Oklahoma State University faculty member has received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the U.S. government’s highest recognition of the nation’s most promising young scientists and engineers.

Dr. Jim Smay, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at OSU, was among 20 PECASE recipients honored by President Bush at the White House July 26. Recognized for extensive research accomplishments and noteworthy educational contributions, the 2005 winners of the National Science Foundation-sponsored awards bring the total number to 200 since the program began in 1996.

Awardees are chosen from the 350 to 400 assistant professors who have received grants from NSF’s Faculty Early Career Program (CAREER) in the same year of their nomination for the president’s award. Only the top proposals funded by NSF are submitted to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy which ultimately determines the PECASE winners.

“The PECASE recognizes the most outstanding of the small pool of faculty members who receive CAREER Awards, and the CAREER Awards are given to only a few, exceptional faculty members who have outstanding ideas for both research and instruction,” said Dr. R. Russell Rhinehart, Bartlett Chair and head of OSU’s School of Chemical Engineering. “We are very proud that Jim is bringing this exceptional honor to OSU.”

 

For more information, click here.

Oklahoma State’s Athletics Department has set Saturday, Aug. 5, as the date for its annual Fan Appreciation Day. The Fan Appreciation Day, scheduled from 1 - 4 p.m. on the concourse level of the OSU Athletics Center, provides the opportunity for Oklahoma State football and soccer fans to receive autographs of their favorite coaches and student-athletes.

 

The format is broken down into four different zones. Single-file lines will shuttle fans through each zone. Fans are allowed to have one item autographed by each student-athlete. No photographs with cameras or camera phones will be allowed with student-athletes or coaches.

Tickets for Orange Peel 2006 are now on sale. Fans can see Alan Jackson and guests at this year's event scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 30.

 

Field and premium reserved tickets cost $58, reserved is $38 and general admission is $28. Student bursar charges begin July 31. For tickets or further information visit the Orange Peel Web site at www.osupeel.com or call 1-877-OSU-PEEL.