This spring, two faculty members were honored with awards sponsored by the Alumni Association: the Alumni Master Teacher Award and the Alumni Award for Outstanding Achievements in Research.
The Alumni Master Teacher Award for outstanding undergraduate classroom instruction is presented to a faculty member nominated by the student body and selected by the Student Alumni Council. The Student Alumni Council hosts a reception each spring to recognize this professor and his or her dedication to students, faculty and staff, and to Clemson.
Professor of history and geography Rod Andrew M ’93 is this year’s recipient of the Alumni Master Teacher Award. Andrew specializes in the history of the American South and U.S. military history. His biography of Wade Hampton won the Mary Lawton Hodges Prize in Southern Studies in 2009, and his biography of Andrew Pickens won the Harry M. Ward Book Award. He is a retired colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and recently served as officer-in-charge, Field History Branch, U.S. Marine Corps History Division.
The Outstanding Research Award is presented annually at the May faculty/staff meeting to a faculty member. The award is administered by the Office of University Research Grants Committee.
Paula Agudelo is a professor of plant pathology, and her research focuses on management of plant-parasitic nematodes in agricultural crops. The larger context for her work is to contribute knowledge and tactics that enhance soil health and resilience of agriculture.
Agudelo is the principal investigator for the largest single grant awarded to Clemson. The $70 million project, Building Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities in South Carolina, has 34 co-investigators from Clemson and starts this year. The five-year project will provide technical support to farmers, including small-scale and underserved producers, to adopt climate-smart production practices. The project will measure the carbon and greenhouse gas benefits associated with the practices and will support the development of markets for climate-smart commodities.
Agudelo currently serves the College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences as associate dean for research and director of the S.C. Agricultural Experiment Station.
