A Mississippi State University professor has received a national award recognizing achievements in university engineering instruction, making her the first recipient in Mississippi since the award was instituted in 1972.
Dr. Noel N. Schulz, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, received the 2002 C. Holmes MacDonald Outstanding Young Electrical Engineering Teacher award.
The award should come with little surprise, as Schulz has accumulated quite a number of achievements in her short time here at MSU.
“I’ve been here about a year and a half and I really love it. The Mississippi State engineering department is really strong and is going in a great direction,” Schulz said.
The award is given annually from the Eta Kappa Nu organization, which represents the international honor society for electrical engineers. EKN is internationally recognized with over 200 chapters in the United States, Europe and Asia.
“To be singled out for this award among a high caliber of nominees denotes a remarkable record of scholarship and the highest standards of classroom teaching and service,” said A. Wayne Bennett, dean of MSU’s James Worth Bagley College of Engineering.
“It is among the most prestigious awards presented to young professionals in the electrical engineering field.”
Schulz’s teaching evaluations place her among the highest-ranked faculty members in the MSU engineering college. She also holds a research record that includes projects funded by electric utilities and manufactures for electric utilities.
To be eligible for the award, candidates must be less than 35 years old and received their bachelor’s degree not more than 10 years ago. A distinguished jury selects the winner and honorable mentions. An award dinner is held in their honor on the East Coast.
Schulz holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Virginia Tech University near her hometown of Blacksburg, Va. She completed her doctorate at the University of Minnesota and taught at Michigan State University for six years.
Schulz said that the city of Starkville and MSU’s engineering department are what drew Schulz and her husband, who also teaches in the engineering department, to make the move.
“The MSU engineering department has a lot of excitement within it. I also have two sons, and my husband and I both believe Starkville is a great place to raise them,” Schulz said.