News

Excerpt from April 2008 Monthly Memo pdf.

Eric Abbott recognized with four awards

By Erin O'Gara

Eric Abbott, Greenlee School professor and director of the graduate program, recently won four prestigious awards for his dedication to students, excellence in research and impressive work with international issues.

Photo by Erin O'Gara

Abbott recently earned the Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Distinguished International Service award for his service over the past 40 years. Abbott has worked in communication-related areas within the World Food Institute in Latin America and the Caribbean, the World Bank in Asia and Russia, United States Agency for International Development in Nigeria and Kyrgyzstan, and recently, in Uganda with Iowa State University’s Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods.

This adds to the collection of international service awards Abbott has already won, among them, the Wilton Park International Service Award which he garnered in 1998. The Wilton Park International Service Awardis the highest honor given by the university for international service.

In addition to the LAS International Service award, Abbott was also named the 2008 recipient of the Harry Heath/Lou Thompson Jr. Advising Award, which is given to one undergraduate or graduate adviser within the Greenlee School each year. The award was created by Greenlee Advisory Council member, Lou Thompson, who named it after his own academic adviser at Iowa State. Student nomination letters are collected and reviewed to select the winner.

This is also the second time Abbott has won an advising award. In 1984, the ISU Student Alumni Association gave him their Outstanding Academic Adviser Award.

Abbott was also awarded two honors from the Association for Communication Excellence (ACE). He will receive the Award of Excellence for his international service, and won the top faculty award, along with Greenlee School professor Lulu Rodriguez, for a research paper they co-authored on genetically modified crops in developing countries. The ACE awards will be presented at the June 10 conference in Traverse City, Michigan.

Abbott has been at Iowa State since 1974.

2008-04-30