2020-2021 Awards and Honors
NC State’s faculty, staff, students and alumni received recognition for their accomplishments over the past year. Following is a list of awards and honors recently earned by the Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management department:
- Sport management alumna Gabriele Cunningham competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women’s 100-meter hurdles.
- Parks, recreation and tourism undergraduate Tatyana Forbes competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Mexico’s softball team.
- Sport management alumnus Lucas Kozeniesky won a silver medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the air rifle mixed-team event.
- Sport management undergraduate Andrea Podmanikova competed in swimming at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women’s 100- and 200-meter breaststroke.
- Alumnus Carlos Rodon played in the 91st Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
- Rashawn King, program coordinator in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, received the University Award for Excellence for public service.
- Kathryn Stevenson, assistant professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, was named a Goodnight Early Career Innovator.
- Caitlin Reilly, Courtney Hotchkiss and Roslynn Powell, graduate students in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, received the Chancellor’s Creating Community Award for Outstanding Student.
- Kimberly Bush, associate teaching professor and director of undergraduate programs in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, received the Faculty Advisor Award in the 2020-21 Undergraduate Academic Advising Awards.
- Sport management majors Crista Bain and Zane Mondschein received the Isaac Frank Ormond III Memorial Scholarship from the Department of Health and Exercise Studies.
- Sport management alumnus Bharat “BK” Karunakaran, program assistant for sports programs in University Wellness and Recreation, received the John F. Miller award.
- Jason Bocarro, professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, received the 2020 Alumni Association Outstanding Extension and Outreach Award.
- Whitney Knollenberg, assistant professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, received the 2020 Outstanding Extension and Engagement Award from the Office of Outreach and Engagement and was inducted into the Academy of Outstanding Faculty in Extension and Engagement.
Institutional Awards and Rankings
The 2021 Times Higher Education Impact Rankings named NC State No. 1 in the United States and No. 6 in the world for advancing sustainable industry, innovation and infrastructure.
Forbes’ annual ranking of the nation’s top employers ranked NC State the No. 4 employer in North Carolina.
In its annual list of America’s best colleges, U.S. News & World Report ranked NC State 80th among national universities and 32nd among public institutions. That’s an increase of nine spots overall and six spots among publics since 2016.
NC State Athletics posted its second-highest finish in school history in the Learfield Directors’ Cup, as the Wolfpack placed 23rd nationally for the 2021-21 academic year. Fourteen squads scored points in the final rankings, with six top-10 finishes and three top-three showings.