Durant, Okla. – Southeastern Oklahoma State University recognized members of its faculty and staff Monday at its 2025-26 Faculty/Staff Recognition Celebration in Montgomery Auditorium. 

Both the Faculty Senate and Staff Senate presented awards in several categories. In addition, employees were recognized for years of service and retirees were honored. 

The Distinguished Service Award was presented to Penny Bridwell, Student Wellness Services’ administrative assistant. 

Award-winners for the 2025-26 academic year are: 

Faculty Senate Awards

Lifetime Achievement: Dr. Shannon McCraw, Chair of the Department of Visual Art, Communication, Social Sciences, and Native American Leadership

                • From a nominator: “Dr. McCraw brings a wealth of knowledge, commitment, and creativity to his role as a professor, department chair, and faculty member of this institution. Dr. McCraw is strategic and flexible in his approach to challenges and stalwart in his support of students, faculty and the important work of SE. He consistently orchestrates win-win solutions for students, faculty, staff and administrators when dealing with challenging situations. He prioritizes student success, faculty development, and organizational excellence in his everyday actions day after day, year after year. He is an excellent mentor, a valued colleague, and a resilient transformational leader. His many years of excellent service and commitment to SE, our students, alumni, faculty, staff and administrators warrants a life-time achievement award.” 

Professor of the Year: Dr. Joshua Held, Assistant Professor of English

                • From a nominator: “Dr. Held is incredibly passionate about what he teaches. His love for the content he’s teaching is contagious and inspires a new level of investment within me. He’s an incredibly efficient teacher, as we thoroughly went over lots and lots of content. His class called for a high level of thinking and discussion, all while being very entertaining. Overall Dr. Held is hands down the most impactful professor I’ve ever had. It was truly an honor and a pleasure to be taught by him. 

“I just graduated with my M.Ed. in C&I with a specialization in English Education. Throughout the course of my studies, Dr. Held was by far the most impactful and insightful professor from whom I had the honor of learning. His courses (British Literature and World Literature) are the primary reason I believe my degree to have been worthwhile not just from a career advancement perspective but from a self-improvement and personal learning perspective as well. His courses are challenging, yet he is supportive and encouraging of students to strengthen their reading and writing skills to rise to the challenge he presents, a challenge, I might add, that is incredibly worthwhile. All this to say, I suppose, that Dr. Held is a fantastic instructor and clearly deserving of this distinction.” 

Adjunct Professor of the Year: Filip Pavlovic, Adjunct Instructor in Psychology

                • From a nominator: “He was an amazing professor who helped to engage the class in the field of psychology. He often encouraged out of class discussion and exploration in the field with the hopes of helping students foster an interest in pursuing psychology as a career. 

“A kind teacher who motivated students to go out of their way to learn and explore the field of psychology with the sole motivation of nurturing interest within the subject while doing his best to keep coursework from overwhelming us.” 

John Massey School of Business

Dr. Kendra Ingram, Excellence in Teaching
Dr. Arthur Tran, Outstanding Research and Scholarly Activity
Dr. Eric Kennedy, Meritorious Service to the University and/or Profession 

School of Arts & Sciences (Mathematics/Sciences)

Dr. Jake Pruett, Excellence in Teaching
Dr. Doug Wood, Outstanding Research and Scholarly Activity
Dr. Chris Moretti, Meritorious Service to the University and/or Profession 

School of Arts & Sciences (Arts & Letters)

Kathleen Hardgrove, Excellence in Teaching
Ruby Quinn, Outstanding Research and Scholarly Activity
Dr. Michael Scheuerman, Meritorious Service to the University and/or Profession 

School of Education and Behavioral Sciences

Dr. Kay Daigle, Excellence in Teaching
Dr. Mila Zhu, Outstanding Research and Scholarly Activity
Dr. Kay Daigle, Meritorious Service to the University and/or Profession
 

Staff Senate Awards

Storm Rookie of the Year: Pamela Neuok

Outstanding Non-Exempt Employee: Alex Crawford

Outstanding Exempt Employee: LaDawn Bisson

Outstanding Outreach Site Employee: Michelle Burton

Service to Students: Durward Cook

Outstanding Staff Senate Member: Craig Musgrove 

Service Award recipients were presented with an engraved brick thanking them for their service to the University. 

Kyle Thomas was honored for 30 years of service to Southeastern. Dana Bell, Brandon Burnette​, Karen Carter, Austin Harman​, Deann Prince​, and Karen Young​ were honored for 25 years of service to Southeastern. Stephen Harman​, Stacey Hunkapillar​, Glenda Langham, Josie Mendenhall, Brandi Pate​, and Carrie Schuh were​​ honored for 20 years of service to Southeastern. 

Those honored for 15 years of service to the university were Joni Aldridge​, Crystal Cheek​, David Cooper​, Dr. Michael Davis, Debra Fulenchek, Kelly Green​, and David Wyatt​​. Honored for 10 years of service to Southeastern were Celestial Anderson and Claudia Bacon Tonihka. 

About Southeastern

Founded in 1909, Southeastern Oklahoma State University provides an environment of academic excellence that enables students to reach their highest potential. By having personal access to excellent teaching, challenging academic programs, and extracurricular experiences, students will develop skills and habits that promote values for career preparation, responsible citizenship, and lifelong learning. Our over 6,000 students include 50% first-generation students and 28% students of Native American descent, with 82% receiving financial aid. Southeastern ranks amongst the most affordable schools in the region thanks to out-of-state tuition waivers and is proud of its exceptional affordable accredited MBA program, stellar aerospace and teacher education programs, and outstanding national ranking in graduating Native American students.