Last month, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences held their annual spring convocation to honor the outstanding work of the faculty and staff of the college.

Twenty-eight College of Agriculture faculty members were presented with awards recognizing their hard work and dedication to the school over the past year.

“The college has an awards committee, and the awards committee does the selection on almost all the awards,” said Wendy Wintersteen, dean of the College of Agriculture. “The committee in the college receives nominations and the committee reviews the nominations, and makes a decision on who should be selected. There are criteria in the nomination packet for the nominators to follow.”

The awards focused on significant research and teaching, including awards such as the Early Achievement in Research Award and the Outstanding Achievement in Teaching Award.

One of the award winners was Aileen Keating, an assistant professor of animal science. Keating won two awards at the ceremony.

The first was the Early Adviser Award for her work with students, helping them plan out their career goals. The second award was the Early Achievement in Research for her work studying infertility in pigs, and investigating whether or not there is any human application with her work.

“I was delighted [when I discovered I won the awards],” Keating said. “It was great, and it’s nice to be recognized for doing your work. It’s not the only reason you should do it — you should do it anyway — but it’s nice. I love research, and I love teaching.”

The highest award of the ceremony was the Dean’s Citation for Extraordinary Contributions. The winners were chosen by Wintersteen, who had the final say in the recipients.

“Every year we consider if there is an individual or group of individuals who have done something of extraordinary nature to asset that college,” Wintersteen said.

To decide who wins, Wintersteen said she sits down with the associate deans in the College of Agriculture and has a conversation about who to recognize based on big events within the college.

“This particular year, it was the opening of the Hanson Ag Student Learning Center,” Wintersteen said.

This year’s Dean’s Citation went to two individuals. They included Maynard Hogberg, a professor of and chair in animal science, and Ray Klein, who is the executive director of development for the College of Agriculture, because the Hanson building was accomplished through their leadership.

“Together, those two individuals did the extraordinary work to raise the funds, do all the planning and get the facility opened here in January 2014,” Wintersteen said.

Construction for the learning center began in May 2013, costing more than $7 million.

“It’s one of those things that you weren’t expecting at all,” Hogberg said of receiving the award. “You’re kind of a little bit surprised, but appreciative of the fact that somebody recognized how much time it took.”

Wintersteen said the awards ceremony is a way to recognize and acknowledge the work going on within the College of Agriculture.

“When I think about awards, it’s one of the ways that our college can thank our faculty and staff for the work they do, because we have such a committed group of people in the college, and awards are important,” Wintersteen said. “People need to be recognized, and highlighted for their efforts, and especially when they’ve achieved significant success.”