Recipients of the Mizzou Alumni Association’s Mizzou 18 and Mizzou ‘39 awards were revealed at an evening ceremony at Traditions Plaza on Tuesday. Recipients lined the stage and were recognized for their achievements, with a crowd of peers, faculty and family cheering them on.
Annie Adrian, Alumni Association Student Board member and MU senior, stressed the honor associated with being recognized.
“When you think about how many students and how many seniors and graduate students are on this campus, it’s a huge number,” she said. “So many people apply each year.”
Both of these awards are presented annually by AASB. Each recipient is asked to choose a faculty or staff member to be acknowledged as an impactful adviser throughout their time at MU.
The Mizzou 18 award is given to 18 graduate and professional students in the last year of their degree eligibility. Recipients are chosen for their outstanding research, collaboration and leadership.
The Mizzou ‘39 award is given to 39 undergraduate seniors. They are chosen for their academic accomplishments as well as their commitment to leadership and service, both at MU and in the community.
One Mizzou ‘39 recipient who took the stage Tuesday evening is Tyler Hoffmann, a senior triple majoring in finance, math and statistics. Hoffmann plans to work at a Kansas City firm, Tradebot, after graduating in the spring.
In his four years at MU, Hoffmann has taken on many roles.
“I’ve been a class coordinator for the Cornell Leadership Program, captain of [MU’s club roller hockey team and co-captain of MU’s club racquetball team], and have made it a pretty big part of my Mizzou experience to help others learn and grow from tutoring,” Hoffmann said.
When Hoffmann learned that he was a Mizzou ‘39 recipient, he was traveling to a leadership conference through his business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi.
“I just remember feeling this wave of overwhelming emotion,” Hoffmann said. “This is an awesome recognition.”
For Hoffmann, Tuesday’s celebration is one for the books.
“At the end of the day, I didn’t expect recognition for anything that I’ve done here at Mizzou,” Hoffmann said. “But it really does mean a lot to be able to celebrate today and my last four years [at MU] with a lot of the other students that I’ve become friends [with] over the course of this time who have also been leaders on campus. It’s definitely one of the most memorable moments that I’m going to take away from Mizzou.”
There is an application process to become a recipient of either of these awards. The application includes three essays, a mentor essay and a peer letter of recommendation. The applicants who are selected by faculty and alumni, then go through an interview stage.
“They’re short interviews that are really focused on discussing what you believe leadership is and how we represent Mizzou,” Jason Entsminger, Mizzou 18 recipient and Ph.D. candidate in agricultural and applied economics, said.
Currently, Entsminger is on the job market.
“I’m hoping that next year I’ll still be here at Mizzou in a postdoctoral position continuing my research and doing some teaching while I get ready to look for a faculty job,” Entsminger said.
As a graduate student at MU, Entsminger is a member of the Graduate Professional Council General Assembly and the president of Rollins Society, a group that recognizes graduate and professional students for their service to communities outside of their academic work. Some of his additional service and professional work have dealt with marginalized communities, like LGBTQ populations in the agricultural industry and rural communities across the country.
For Entsminger, Tuesday night was about more than his own accomplishments.
“I’m really excited to see all of the work that my colleagues, who have been recognized tonight, have done over the last five years,” Entsminger said. “I love looking at our undergraduate students that are being recognized right now, as well, onstage. There’s no better feeling, as a graduate or professional student, than to also see some of your own students being recognized alongside you.”
_Edited by Alex Fulton | afulton@themaneater.com_