Faculty and staff recipients of the university’s most distinguished awards were honored on Monday, September 26, in the Memorial Union Great Hall.

The BBMB Scholarship Committee is very proud to announce that Lauran Chambers, Alex Donelson and Andrew Tonsager are the Stupka Scholars for 2017-2018. Stupka scholars are recognized for their involvement in research, as well as for their leadership in the BBMB Undergraduate Club and the Stupka UGRS. Lauran, Alex and Andrew are outstanding members of our student group and are worthy recipients of BBMB’s most prestigious undergraduate scholarship.

The Committee wishes to thank Olga Zabotina, Marit Nilsen-Hamilton and Alexis Campbell for the wonderful nomination letters, and a special thank you to Bob and Diane Stupka for their continued support of the program and the students.

Associate VP for Research and professor in the Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology, Guru Rao, was one of six Iowa State University researchers honored in November by the American Association of the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for their contributions to statistics, bioinformatics, plant biology, crop improvement, astrophysics and plant pathology.

John Robyt, a member of the Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology faculty from 1967 to 2015, died February 25, 2017 at the age of 82. Dr. Robyt’s groundbreaking research was featured in numerous professional publications and two textbooks, including "Essentials of Carbohydrate Chemistry".

Dr. Robyt enjoyed coaching hockey and baseball, and served as President of the Ames Minor Hockey Association for many years. In his memory, Dr. Robyt's family has asked that memorials be sent to the Ames Minor Hockey Association in lieu of flowers.

The CALS Spring Awards to honor faculty and staff achievements were held in the Memorial Union Sun Room on March 9, 2017. Two faculty members of BBMB received awards this year -- Desiree Gunning, under the "CALS 2017 Teaching Award" category, received the "Learning Community Coordinator Award" and Robert Jernigan, under the "CALS 2017 Research and Diversity Award" category, received the "Outstanding Achievement in Research Award". A complete list of winners for 2017 are listed on the CALS website.

Ryan Andrews and Naazneen Sofeo have each been awarded a $1,000 Print and Grace Powers Hudson Scholarship in Agriculture by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) for the 2017-18 academic year. This scholarship is designated for students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences pursuing a Ph.D. or M.S. degree.

Ryan is a first-year graduate student who joined Prof. Walter Moss’s lab group this spring. In the short period since joining the lab, Prof. Moss notes that Ryan is making extensive progress on his research, which required him to learn a new scripting language (PERL), and to begin learning how to create and manage databases (using MySQL Workbench and phpMyAdmin), far exceeding Prof. Moss' expectations for a first-year graduate student.

Sannie Olson, a fifth year biochemistry Ph.D. candidate, was awarded a Brown Graduate Fellowship of $10,000 for 2017-18. Sannie’s research in Professor Shogren-Knaak’s lab involves the SAGA family of nuclear complexes and how they are regulated in the process of nucleosome acetylation. With the work Sannie has accomplished, she could graduate this spring. However, the Brown award will help provide support for her to work towards finishing a developing story on how various SAGA subunits contribute to its regulation, and it is expected these results will be published several months into her fellowship.

Two BBMB outstanding seniors, Jeffrey Carley and Samuel Schulte, have been selected to receive the very prestigious 2017 Wallace E. Barron All-University Senior Award. The Alumni Association established the Wallace E. Barron Award in 1968 to recognize outstanding seniors who display high character, outstanding achievement in academics and university/community activities, and promise to continue these exemplary qualities as alumni. The 167 past awardees are fulfilling the spirit of this award by staying involved with Iowa State University in numerous ways.

Jeff and Sam, together with the 5 other recipients, will be featured in the VISIONS publication this spring and receive their award at a special luncheon in April.

Rob Stupka continues to inspire those who study in the Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology (BBMB). Follow the journey of students becoming scientists by way of the Stupka Symposium.