The National Society of Black Engineers Iowa State chapter honored some of its best and brightest members Wednesday evening.

The awards were held in the South Ballroom of the Memorial Union, with George Jackson, assistant dean of the Graduate College, serving as keynote speaker for the event.

“I see a lot of young people who are very deserving of a great education at a great university,” he said.

Jackson, who has been involved in NSBE since he came to ISU in 1978, said he has seen “the organization contribute to the success of many young people.”

However, instructors also play an instrumental role in the success of students, he said.

“To increase the retention and graduation of black engineering students, we needed to make a connection, and that connection was with the faculty,” Jackson said.

Faculty members need to be mentors, get actively involved with students and give them encouragement, he said.

“Most students can fly, but some just live on the runway and never learn how to take off,” he said. “Faculty members that accept nothing less than maximum effort create an environment of high expectations.”

Some NSBE members went beyond many expectations and were presented with corporate sponsor awards for leadership, community involvement and academic achievement.

Marcus Sallis, sophomore in pre-computer engineering, received the Rockwell-Collins Award; Chandace Richardson, sophomore in pre-chemical engineering, received the Alcoa Award; Tynesia Hill, sophomore in anthropology, received the Procter and Gamble Award; Jasmine Staggers, freshman in pre-computer engineering, received the Motorola Award; Geovanti Steward, junior in industrial engineering, received the Pella Corporation Award; and Shavonne Nash, senior in advertising, received the John Deere, Des Moines Works Award.

Steward, chairman of the ISU chapter of NSBE, said the organization emphasizes academic excellence and achievement. Aside from the six company-sponsored awards, about 20 other awards were given to individuals for various reasons such as academic achievement, commitment to the organization, cabinet participation and academic program participation, he said.

“This is the first year that we’ve been able to have it on such a large scale,” Steward said. “Our membership this year really set a lot of standards for the future and created a lot of things that weren’t in existence in the past.”

NSBE’s membership at ISU grew from seven members to 57 members in the last academic year, Steward said. The group is composed not only of engineers but students in all majors, he said.

“Everyone received a certificate of appreciation and of membership, and about a third received individual awards for their accomplishments,” he said.

Steward said the corporate awards were given only by companies that have supported NSBE at a certain level.

“They were excited to have the opportunity to participate in such a fashion,” he said, “and I was definitely excited to be a recipient of one.”

ISU President Martin Jischke also was in attendance at the awards ceremony.

“I am genuinely excited to see students with such enthusiasm and energy doing good things,” he said. “It’s an honor to have an organization like NSBE here at ISU.”