FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 3, 2010
Contact: Nikonie Brown
(662) 329-7119
nnb1@muw.edu

MUW’s Pinchuk and Newsome to be recognized at HEADWAE program

COLUMBUS, Miss. - Mississippi University for Women faculty member Dr. George Pinchuk and student Brandon Newsome will be recognized as nominees for the 24th Higher Education Appreciation Day, Working for Academic Excellence (HEADWAE) program.

Pinchuk and Newsome are among 70 outstanding faculty members and students from 35 institutions in Mississippi to be honored.

On Appreciation Day, which takes place in February in Jackson, the honorees will visit the State Capitol, where they will be welcomed by the lieutenant governor and recognized in each chamber of the Legislature. A luncheon will follow, where each student and faculty member is recognized by name in front of their guests, institution leaders, corporate sponsors and legislators.

Pinchuk, associate professor of biology, is the 2010 Faculty Member of the Year at MUW. Born and raised in Ukraine, he graduated from Kiev Medical School in 1981 and went on to complete an M.D./Ph.D program in medical genetics at the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR. After being invited to work as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Southern California in 1990, he taught at Mississippi State University from 1998-2004. He joined MUW in 2004.

Newsome is a senior chemistry and psychology major from Jackson. He is the president of MUW’s Student Government Association and Senior Class Council and vice president of Phi Kappa Phi. Newsome has worked as a tutor and is also involved in activities such as Alpha Epsilon Delta Premedical Honor Society, Hearin Leadership Council and Kappa Mu Epsilon Mathematics Society. He plans to attend the University of South Alabama Medical School in the fall.

"I didn't even know I was in the running, but when I found out just what HEADWAE was, I was honored that I'd even be considered. This will just be one of the many wonderful memories that I've gained from being at this amazing campus," Newsome said.

HEADWAE was established in 1988 to honor individual academic achievement and the overall contribution of the state’s Institutions of Higher Learning. For more information about HEADWAE, visit http://www.mississippi.edu/headwae/.