Early Bird

Kudos

Celebrate the achievements of MSU Denver faculty, staff and student scholars.

By Josie Lavender

July 8, 2021

In addition to Faculty Citings, the Early Bird shines a spotlight each month on the accomplishments of Metropolitan State University of Denver faculty, staff, students and University partners.

If we missed an award, accolade or opportunity to celebrate an accomplishment big or small, please email us at earlybirdeditor@msudenver.edu.

Fantastic faculty

Stacy Barton, associate professor of Journalism and Media Production, is sharing her industry knowledge in MSU Denver classrooms and beyond. The website Zippia, which provides information and support for job seekers, solicited Barton’s expertise for an article on how the pandemic changed job-market trends. Barton shared her perspective on technical trends within media and offered advice to graduates entering an ever-changing workforce. Out of the 3,741 responses Zippia collected from experts, Barton’s response landed on the article’s home page. Congratulations, and thank you for being such a great representative for your department and MSU Denver.

Every year, StateScoop, which reports on news and events impacting technology decisions in state and local government, recognizes innovative and influential people behind leading technology projects. Among this year’s winners is MSU Denver’s Greg Williams, Ph.D., affiliate professor of Computer Information Systems, who was recognized as State Cybersecurity Leader of the Year. Williams has been serving in the Governor’s Office of Information Technology for almost five years as security risk and compliance director. In that time, he has demonstrated a passion for risk management and holistic problem-solving. A big round of applause for this inspiring leader and educator.

Congratulations to James Simmons, Ph.D., professor of Aviation and Aerospace Science, on his retirement after 46 years of service to the Roadrunner community. Simmons first joined the Sociology Department as a part-time instructor in spring 1975, and he officially joined the Aviation and Aerospace Science Department as a full-time professor in 2001. Since then, he has influenced countless students and colleagues with his wealth of knowledge, enthusiasm for learning and sense of humor. MSU Denver wishes you all the best in your retirement.

Outstanding leaders

Join in a Roadrunner cheer for Alfred Tatum, Ph.D., provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, who was recently elected to serve as vice president of the Literacy Research Association. Tatum joined the Roadrunner community in January and has built a long and distinguished career advancing literacy theory, research and practice. Hats off to you, Provost Tatum, for your unrelenting commitment to professional and academic development.

Superstar students

Four MSU Denver students are celebrating a shared $500 prize from a LogWars cybersecurity event in June. Hosted by American security-intelligence company LogRhythm, the virtual capture-the-flag event challenged student teams to compete against the clock to find hidden files in a virtual environment. MSU Denver’s student team included Klaus Streicher, Brent Krakel, Sydney Vialpando and Damian Tabis, who were are all encouraged by the support of Richard MacNamee, director of the Cybersecurity Center. Not only did this superstar team gain valuable hands-on cybersecurity experience through the competition; they proved to be top computer-science scholars, earning first place among six other college teams, including Arapahoe Community College, the University of Colorado Denver, the University of Denver, Pikes Peak Community College, Red Rocks Community College and the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Well done, Roadrunners!