Source: Jerry Frieman, 785-532-0607, frieman@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Rosie Hoefling, 785-532-2535, media@k-state.edu

Friday, May 28, 2010

THREE RECENT K-STATE GRADUATES RECEIVE SCHOLASTIC AWARDS FROM THE K-STATE PSYCHOLOGY DEPARTMENT

MANHATTAN -- Three recent Kansas State University psychology graduates have received scholastic awards from the K-State department of psychology.

The recipients were honored at the department's spring banquet for their outstanding contributions to the K-State psychology program and the overall field of psychology.

The K-Staters and their awards include:

* Maura Mills, May 2010 doctoral graduate in psychology, Manhattan, the Ronald G. and Dorothy J. Downey Award for Outstanding Dissertation Proposal in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Mills received a $750 monetary award for her dissertation on the relationship between psychological capital and the subjective well-being of employees.

* Mason Burns, May 2010 bachelor's graduate in psychology, Overland Park, E.J. Phares Prize for Outstanding Undergraduate Research. The honor includes a $200 monetary award. In collaboration with Don Saucier, associate professor of psychology at K-State, Burns has conducted research that examines the factors that lead to a person's both increased and decreased expressions of prejudice. He is currently co-author of a research manuscript under review, three research manuscripts in preparation and four conference presentations. Burns also was a recipient of the 2009 Doreen Shanteau Undergraduate Research Fellowship. He will work in the fall on a graduate degree in psychology from K-State.

* Danielle Zanotti, December 2009 bachelor's graduate in psychology, Mustang, Okla., Peterson Prize for the Outstanding Graduating Senior in Psychology. The $200 monetary award recognizes Zanotti's excellence in the classroom, her research and her service to K-State's psychology department. Zanotti worked in collaboration with K-State's Saucier to conduct research that sought to extend the justification-suppression model of the prejudice theory. She also is co-author on a research manuscript in press, two research manuscripts under review, one research manuscript in preparation and four conference presentations. She currently serves as the director of team operations for the K-State women's basketball team.