UND celebrates Founders Day Feb. 26; faculty, departments honored On Thursday, Feb. 26, the University of North Dakota will hold its annual Founders Day celebration, always the last Thursday in February. The 2009 Founders Day banquet will be held in the Memorial Union Ballroom. The social begins at 5:45 p.m. with the banquet at 6:30 p.m. This year, posters will be displayed of “More than Beads and Feathers,” and celebrate 100 years of nNursing and 100 years of Greek life. At the banquet, the University will present $20,500 in faculty and department awards, made possible by the UND Foundation, Fellows of the University, and the University of North Dakota. UND will also recognize retiring and recently retired faculty and staff, as well as those who are in their 25th year of serving the University. The faculty and three departments honored for excellence in teaching, research and service with cash awards and plaque include: *Jeffrey Weatherly, professor of psychology and department chair, and interim chair of the Department of Languages, UND Foundation/McDermott Award for Excellence in Teaching, Research or Creative Activity, and Service, $2,500; *Michael Atkinson, associate professor of occupational therapy and associate professor of anatomy and cell biology, UND Foundation/Lydia and Arthur Saiki Award for Individual Excellence in Teaching, $2,000; *Rebecca Simmons, assistant professor of biology, UND Foundation Award for Individual Excellence in Teaching, $2,000; *Patrick Carr, associate professor of anatomy and cell biology, UND Foundation/Thomas J. Clifford Award for Graduate or Professional Teaching in Excellence, $2,000; *Lori Robison, assistant professor of English and academic director of composition, UND Foundation/Thomas J. Clifford Award for Outstanding Faculty Development and Service, $2,000; *Travis Heggie, assistant professor of recreation and tourism studies, UND Foundation/Karleen Rosaaen Faculty Award for Excellence in Academic Advising, $2,000; *Eric Murphy, associate professor, pharmacology, physiology, and therapeutics, UND Foundation/Thomas J. Clifford Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, $2,000; *Department of Occupational Therapy, UND Foundation/McDermott Award for Departmental Excellence in Teaching, $2,000; *Department of Chemistry, Fellows of the University Award for Departmental Excellence in Research, $2,000; *Department of Physical Therapy, Fellow of the University Award for Departmental Excellence in Service, $2,000. Faculty and Staff with 25 Years of Service: Nancy Adsero, Energy & Environmental Research Center; Mary Askim-Loveth, marketing; Michael Collings, Energy & Environmental Research Center; Rodger Copp, Scientific Computing Center; Gary Ebel, John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences; Mary Lou Feilen, facilities; Cindy Filler, Alumni Association and Foundation; Linda Fleck, Center for Family Medicine (Bismarck); Michelle Graba, Center for Rural Health; Ruth Grzadzieleski, family and community medicine; Steven Hawthorne, Energy & Environmental Research Center; Thomasine Heitkamp, social work; Melanie Jensen, Energy & Environmental Research Center; Carolyn Keegan, student financial aid; Nancy Krom, institutional research; Michael Mann, chemical engineering; Brenda McCauley, graduate school; Mary McLaughlin, Energy & Environmental Research Center; Randolph Middleton, facilities; Susan Nelson, finance; Jill Novotny, vice president for student and outreach services office; Marsha Oss, accountancy; Cynthia Pariseau, dining services; Daniel Rice, College of Education and Human Development; Vicki Robertson, payroll office; Diane Roney, surgery (Fargo); Kelly Sander, aerospace; David Schmidt, grants and contracts administration; Cheryl Schreiner, College of Arts and Sciences dean's office; Tracey Steffes, obstetrics and gynecology (Fargo); Thomas Wiggen, computer science; Laurie Kim Young, anatomy and cell biology. Retiring and recently retired faculty and staff: Daniel Bina, facilities; Rodney Bubach, Human Nutrition Research Center; Leonard Conley, facilities; Dennis Cutshall, information technology systems and services; Kathy Dittemore, dining services; Elaine Donarski, dining services; James Ford, Energy & Environmental Research Center; Shannon Gullickson, communication; Teckla Jacobson, facilities; Marsha Larson, facilities; Wendy Meyer, Human Nutrition Research Center; Janet Kelly Moen, sociology and peace studies coordinator; Mark Oertwich, University police; Peggy Pazderic, student financial aid; Caryl Pederson, information technology systems and services; Judith Rieke, Harley French Library of the Health Sciences; Raymond Tozer, facilities; Sandra Walen, nutrition and dietetics; Jerome Werner, facilities; John Williams, educational foundations and research; Michael Yanish, facilities; Cadence Youngberg, School of Engineering and Mines; Janet Zeman, parking office. North Dakota Spirit Award: The North Dakota Spirit Faculty Achievement Award was established by the University of North Dakota Foundation to recognize significant contributions by faculty in teaching, research, and service. College of Arts and Sciences: Gaye Burgess, Sherrie Fleshman, Brett Goodwin, Birgit Hans, Mark Hoffmann, Wendelin Hume, Alan King, Melinda Leach, Gaya Marasinghe, Donald Miller, James Popejoy, Cynthia Prescott, Lori Robison, Bradley Rundquist, Daphne Pedersen Stevens, Jack Weinstein, Ryan Zerr; College of Business and Public Administration: Steve Dennis, Cullen Goenner, Mark Jendrysik, Yilei Zhang, Yanjun “Frank” Zuo; College of Education and Human Development: Dennis Caine, Richard Van Eck, Sandra Short, Marcus Weaver-Hightower, Kara Wettersten; School of Engineering and Mines: Joseph Hartman, Darrin Muggli, Richard Schultz, Zhengwen “Zane” Zeng; John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences: Tina Anderson, Mark Askelson, Emanuel Grant, Vadim Rygalov; School of Law: Gregory Gordon; School of Medicine and Health Sciences: Colin Combs, Othman Ghribi, Brij Singh, Seema Somji; College of Nursing: Cindy Anderson, Julie Anderson; The Chester Fritz Distinguished Professors: Michael Gaffey, Thomas Mohr.