Dr. Sherwood and Elizabeth Berg Young Faculty Award
Sherwood O. Berg and Elizabeth Berg, late president and first lady of South Dakota State, established an endowment to identify young, promising faculty members with an award that will provide seed money for research and scholarly activities.
The monetary portion of the award is to be used to support the recipient’s research and scholarly activities, such as support of undergraduate or graduate students working on research with the award winner, travel, operating expenses, equipment or other items that will enhance the research efforts and production of the faculty member. The funds may not be used for salary for the recipient.
During the fall semester, a call for nominations is sent to the college deans, from whom the nominations must originate. Nomination materials are then reviewed by a selection committee, consisting of the vice president for research and economic development, vice president for academic affairs, dean of the Graduate School, chair of the research and scholarship committee and president of the Faculty Senate.
The award recipient is announced during the Celebration of Faculty Excellence, typically held in February of each year.
Key Data Notes
- Asterisks (*): These mark colleges or departments that have since changed their names.
- Gap Year: The missing year in 2015 is intentional. The committee changed the naming convention in 2016 to reflect the presentation year rather than the performance year.
- Double Awards: The year 2014 includes two distinct recipients from different colleges.
2020 - Present (The 2020s)
- 2024: Dr. Brandon Varilek, College of Nursing, Undergraduate Nursing
- 2023: Dr. Alison Coulter, College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences (CAFES), Department of Natural Resource Management
- 2022: Dr. Yue Zhou, College of Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- 2021: Dr. Alham Abuatiq, College of Nursing, Undergraduate Nursing/Graduate Nursing
- 2020: Dr. Nicholas Butzin, College of Natural Sciences, Biology and Microbiology
2010 - 2019 (The 2010s)
- 2019: Dr. Staci Born, College of Education and Human Sciences, Counseling and Human Development
- 2018: Dr. Joy Scaria, College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences*, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
- 2017: Dr. Rebecca K. Britt, College of Arts and Sciences*, Journalism and Mass Communication
- 2016: Dr. Cedric Neumann, College of Engineering, Mathematics and Statistics
- 2015: [No award listed due to committee selection change]
- 2014: Jennifer Anderson, College of Arts and Sciences*, Communications Studies and Theatre
- 2014: Patel Hasmukh, College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences*, Dairy Science
- 2013: Jeffrey Jacquet, College of Arts and Sciences*, Sociology and Rural Studies
- 2012: Wei Wang, College of Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
- 2011: Adam Hoppe, College of Arts and Sciences*, Chemistry and Biochemistry
- 2010: Erin Cortus, College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences*, Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering
2000 - 2009 (The 2000s)
.2009: Haifa Abou Samra, College of Nursing, Undergraduate Nursing
- 2008: Amanda Weaver, College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences*, Animal and Range Sciences*
- 2007: Kelley Tilmon, College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences*, Plant Science
- 2006: Solomon Harrar, College of Engineering, Mathematics and Statistics
- 2005: Jihong Cole-Dai, College of Arts and Sciences*, Chemistry and Biochemistry
- 2004: Ann Michelle Daniels, College of Family and Consumer Sciences*, Counseling and Human Development
- 2003: Alan Young, College of Agriculture and Biological Sciences*, Biology and Microbiology
- 2002: Matthew Vukovich, College of Family and Consumer Sciences*, Health and Nutritional Sciences
- 2001: Kendra Kattlemann, College of Family and Consumer Sciences*, Health and Nutritional Sciences
- 2000: Scott Gardner, College of Family and Consumer Sciences*, Consumer Sciences
