(JACKSON, Miss.) – Jackson State University faculty member Alamgir Hossain and student Dereka Carroll will be honored during the annual Higher Education Appreciation Day, Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE) program February 28 at the Mississippi State Capital. The HEADWAE program was established in 1987 by the Mississippi Legislative to annually honor the academically talented students and faculty members of Mississippi’s higher education institutions who have made outstanding contributions in promoting academic excellence.
Carroll, 22, a senior meteorology major from Dallas who touts a 3.91 grade
point average, is the winner of the JSU Student of the Year HEADWAE award.
“I am very humbled,” she said. “When you work hard, sometimes you get discouraged. But this award shows that I have what it takes to succeed. So I’m very excited.”
Carroll’s academic honors and memberships include the Minorities Striving and Pursuing Higher Degrees of Success in Earth System Science 2011-2013 Cohort, the Golden Key International Honor Society, the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, and the W.E.B DuBois Honors College. She’s also currently a mentor in the Increasing Minorities in Atmospheric Science through Research, Application and Partnership program and a student leader in the JSU campus ministry Reform University Fellowship.
Hossain, winner of the JSU Faculty of the Year HEADWAE award, is an assistant professor in the JSU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
“This is a great honor,” Hossain said. “It brings prestige for my department and for the university.”
Hossain received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh and a Ph.D. in supramolecular chemistry from Hokkaido University in Japan. He was a recipient of a prestigious Alexander Humboldt Fellowship for his postdoctoral work in Germany. Hossain’s research includes supramolecular and macromolecular chemistry focusing non-covalent interactions between synthetic hosts and guest species, and to develop new biomimetic sensors for anions of environmental and biological relevance. Hossain has published more than 50 research articles in chemistry journals, which were cited more than 700 times by other researchers.
The goal of the appreciation day program, which is hosted by the state Legislature each February in Jackson, is to encourage excellence among those involved in higher education as a way to further leadership, increase knowledge, and to promote good citizens capable of thriving in today’s society and prepared to meet future challenges. To this end, one student and one faculty honoree are annually selected from each of the 36 public and private member institutions of the Mississippi Association of Colleges. The honorees are welcomed by the Lieutenant Governor, recognized in each chamber of the Legislature and recognized by name at a luncheon attended by institution leaders, corporate sponsors, and legislators.
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by Spencer McClenty
spencer.l.mcclenty@jsums.edu