Durecki, McMurtry, Wu and Battles Headline 84th-annual Honors Convocation
Brynn Durecki ’21 and Emma Kate McMurtry ’21 received Hanover College’s top student awards, while Mandy Jui-Man Wu and Dominique Battles earned top faculty awards during the 84th-annual Honors Convocation. The event, celebrating the academic achievements of Hanover’s students and faculty, was held April 15 in Fitzgibbon Recital Hall, Lynn Center for Fine Arts.
Durecki, a chemistry major with minors in biology and Spanish, earned the Henry C. Long Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence. She also received the Keith and Gwen White Award for Graduate Study in Chemistry.
A member of Gamma Sigma Pi and Mortar Board honor societies, Durecki has earned Dean’s List honors every semester and also received all-academic honors from the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference.
On campus, she served as captain of Hanover’s volleyball team, was a student representative on the Institutional Review Board and Ethics Committee and has worked as a peer mentor, Gladish Center for Teaching and Learning tutor and information technology help-desk worker. She was also an officer for Chi Omega fraternity, Mortar Board, American Chemical Society, Panthers Making a Difference and Earth-wide Outreach by Students.
In 2019, she was a summer undergraduate research fellow and recipient of a medical scholars externship. She served Hanover’s chemistry department as a teaching assistant, laboratory technician and chemical stockroom and safety manager.
This fall, Durecki will pursue graduate studies in biochemistry and molecular biology at Johns Hopkins University.
McMurtry, a history major with a minor in communication, received the John Finley Crowe Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence. She also earned the Robert E. Bowers History Award, A. Glenn Mower, Jr. Pre-Law Award and John B. Goodrich Prize in Oratory.
McMurtry has earned Dean’s List honors for seven consecutive terms. She competed four years as a member of Hanover’s golf team and, each season, earned all-academic honors from the Heartland Conference.
Active on campus, she has served as an officer for several organizations, including Chi Omega, Panhellenic Council, Mortar Board, Lilly Scholars Network and Student Athletic Advisory Board. She was also senior editor of the Hanover Historical Review and a student representative on the Faculty Evaluation Committee, as well as a member of the Catholic Student Organization and Hanover College Dance Marathon.
After graduation, McMurtry will attend Penn State Law, where she was selected a faculty scholar, earning a full-tuition scholarship, annual book stipend, research opportunities and a guaranteed externship.
Wu, associate professor of art and art history, earned the Arthur and Ilene Baynham Outstanding Teaching Award. Established by the College in 1969, the honoree is selected by a ballot of currently enrolled students and alumni from the past two graduating classes. To be eligible, a faculty member must be in at least the fourth year of teaching at the College. The winner receives a bronze medallion and a cash prize.
Wu specializes in Chinese art, Eastern art history and arts of the Silk Road. She joined Hanover’s faculty in 2013 and teaches such courses as “Arts and Cultures of China,” “Art for Death and Afterlife,” “Asian Art and Film” and “Art, Culture and Social Life in Taipei.”
An active conference participant and organizer, she has organized Asian-studies conferences in Colorado, Hawaii and Massachusetts. She has presented at more than 15 conferences from coast to coast in the U.S., Hawaii, Canada, Philippines and Russia.
Wu is currently on sabbatical leave while working on “Empowered Mortuary Art in the Tombs of the Northern Zhou China (557-581 CE): Materialization of Identity, Class, and Power.” The to-be-published monograph will explore social dynamics between distinct ethnic groups. Wu’s research uses newly excavated materials from sixth-century tombs in northern China to investigate cross-cultural interactions within a multiethnic and multicultural society.
Battles, professor of English, received the Daryl R. Karns Award for Scholarly and Creative Activity. The award, named for the biology professor who died in 2011, recognizes sustained scholarly or creative achievement. Faculty members nominate colleagues for the award, which are sent to three judges at liberal arts colleges similar to Hanover. The winner receives a bronze medallion and a cash prize.
Battles, who joined the College’s faculty in 2000, specializes in Middle English literature, Chaucer, Boccaccio, early literature, medieval romance, medieval tradition of Thebes, classical tradition in medieval literature and cultural identity in Middle English romance. She teaches such courses as “Mythography of the Monstrous,” “Beauty and the Beast in Literature,” “Love and Death: Star-Crossed Lovers” and “The Worlds of Middle English Romance.”
She is a frequent conference participant and has published numerous articles in her field. She was recently awarded the 2020 Wilson Prize for Article of the Year by “Studies in Philology.” The quarterly industry publication honored Battles’ two-part series, including “The Middle English Athelston and 1381: Part I: The Politics of Anglo-Saxon Identity” and “The Middle English Athelston and 1381: Part II: The Road to Rebellion,” which establish the first sustained literary engagement with the 14th-century peasants’ rebellion in Middle English literature.
| 84th-annual Honors Day | Recipient |
| The John Finley Crowe Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence | Emma Kate McMurtry |
| The Henry C. Long Citation for Scholarship and General Excellence | Brynn Durecki |
| The Arthur and Ilene Baynham Outstanding Teaching Award | Mandy Jui-Man Wu |
| The Daryl R. Karns Award for Scholarly and Creative Activity | Dominique Battles |
| The Alpha Lambda Delta Award | Sydney Amick |
| The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award | Leo Carnicelli |
| Noah Joyce | |
| The Dennis Kovener Award | Tad Kaufman |
| The Distinguished Award in Cultural Anthropology | C.J. Zmudzinski |
| The Distinguished Award in Art & Design | Maya Zink |
| The Distinguished Award in Art History | C.J. Zmudzinski |
| The M.L. Greiner Art Purchase Award | Addy Zimpleman |
| Maya Zink | |
| The Enos Pray Biology Award | Katie Perry |
| The Distinguished Award in Biochemistry | Sydney Amick |
| Gerald R. Johnson ’69 Business Scholars Program Academic Excellence Award | Brett Luker |
| Betsy Milligan Johnson ’70 Business Scholars Program Achievement Award | Jordan McElroy |
| The Ned Guthrie Chemistry Award | Aaron Peterson |
| The Keith and Gwen White Award for Graduate Study in Chemistry | Brynn Durecki |
| The Distinguished Award in Communication | Macey Franklin |
| The John B. Goodrich Prize in Oratory | Emma Kate McMurtry |
| Bri Morkal | |
| The Distinguished Award in Computer Science | Celeste Hackmann |
| The Distinguished Award in Economics | Tyler Ralston |
| The Distinguished Award in Elementary Education | Madison Reynolds |
| The Distinguished Award in Secondary Education | Abigail Anderson |
| The Distinguished Award in Special Education | Erin Browning |
| The Hilda M. Cordrey Awards | Sheridan Moore (1st Place) |
| Hannah Ireland (2nd Place) | |
| The Distinguished Award in Engineering | Ty Allen |
| The Dorothy S. Bucks Award in English | Abigail Anderson |
| The John Livingston Lowes Award in English | Annie Hermann |
| The Charles and Dorothy Lynn English Prize | Dani Hodgen |
| The Aubra Jade Hiland Award for Creative Writing | Gabriel Ratcliffe |
| The Edward J. Hamilton Essay Prize | Noah Joyce (1st Place) |
| Abigail Satow (2nd Place) | |
| The Philip R. Taylor Award for Student Publishing | Katarina Rexing |
| The Distinguished Award in Environmental Science | Kimmy Birrer |
| The Distinguished Award in Gender Studies | Samantha Grunow |
| Noah Joyce | |
| The Distinguished Award in Geology | Will Bedel |
| Holden Schaefer | |
| The Distnguished Award in German | Connor Trimborn |
| The Distinguished Award in Health and Movement Studies | Andrew Clegg |
| The Robert E. Bowers History Award | Emma Kate McMurtry |
| Katarina Rexing | |
| The M. Anwarul Haq International Studies Award | Abigail Satow |
| The Distinguished Award in Kinesiology and Integrative Physiology | Ashley Swearingen |
| Savanna Wong | |
| The Morse Mathematical Award | Aaron Stocksdale |
| The Dr. John E. Yarnelle Mathematics Prize | Ben Givens |
| Erica West | |
| The Distinguished Award in Medieval Renaissance Studies | Addie Harris |
| Katarina Rexing | |
| The Distinguished Award in Philosophy | Rosemary Kent |
| Anya Polito | |
| The Fleming Physics Award | Ty Allen |
| Isaac Ball | |
| The Distinguished Award in Political Science | Ashley Mull |
| The A. Glenn Mower, Jr. Pre-Law Award | Emma Kate McMurtry |
| The Distinguished Award in Psychology | Mayavellie Bochas |
| Tyler Ralston | |
| The George A. and Sara O. Zirkle Award in Psychology | Anya Polito |
| The Robert R. and Clara J. Beach Award in Sociology | Alyssa Shippey |
| The Distinguished Award in Spanish | Sarah Graves |
| Savannah Pendleton | |
| Distinguished Award in Theatre | Tess Smith |
| Distinguished Award in Theology | Hannah Crail |
