Nominations are sought for the 2013 Mary McCannel Gunkelman Recognition Award, which annually recognizes one NDSU student or employee who has made the most significant and unselfish contribution to creating a happy environment for NDSU students. 

NDSU students and employees are invited to nominate one student, faculty or staff member. Nominators are asked to provide specific examples of how their nominee has had a direct impact on making NDSU a pleasant, cheerful campus during the 2012-13 academic year. Multiple nominations from one individual will not be accepted. 

The Mary McCannel Gunkelman Recognition Award was established in January 1987, by the late John L. Gunkelman and his family in memory of Mary, who was a 1942 graduate of the NDSU College of Home Economics. 

From when she was a student on NDSU’s campus to her unselfish life as a wife, mother and active citizen in the Fargo-Moorhead community, Mary found greatest expression and satisfaction in creating an atmosphere of happiness for others. Mary was firmly dedicated to the principle that a student would be more apt to attain his or her full potential if he or she were working and living in an enjoyable environment. She further believed the more enjoyable the campus and programs of NDSU, the better university it would be in the future. It is in the firm endorsement of Mary’s belief that this award was established. 

Nomination information can be found on the Staff Senate’s website at www.ndsu.edu/staff_senate. Nomination forms will be shared with the nominee. Nominations must be submitted by Friday, April 5. 

NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.