2022 Borealis Night of Excellence honors CFANS community accomplishments and contributions

May 5, 2022
Campus Affairs

The CFANS Alumni Society, Undergraduate Student Board, Graduate Student Board and Postdoc Board co-hosted the 2022 Borealis Night of Excellence, held in-person on Thursday, April 21, 2022. This annual event recognizes outstanding alumni, students, staff, faculty and friends for their service to the College and for their professional achievements.

View photos from the event

Borealis Award recipients
Left to right: Borealis Award recipients Ryan Murphy, Matt Russell, Luiza Lucena, and Trey Feuerhelm

This year, 16 Borealis Award recipients were honored along with Alumni Society scholarship recipients, Mentor Program honorees and Borealis Circle inductees. Emcees Roberta Ryan (Alumni Society), Kendal Schmidt (Graduate Student Board) Erin Treiber (Postdoc Board) and Lillian Prybil (Undergraduate Student Board) presented the awards.

New this year, the Community Builder Borealis Award was awarded to Myah Walker, BS ‘10 Animal Science. 

“It means so much to know that the impact that I am making in this world is being seen by others, and I just encourage everybody else to say yes to opportunities of making change,” said Walker.

Dean Brian Buhr and Mary Ann Bannerman
Left to right: CFANS Dean Brian Buhr and Mary Ann Bannerman (BS ’72 Home Economics), Lifetime Achievement Award recipient

Upon receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, alumna Mary Ann Bannerman (BS ‘72 Home Economics) shared, “My experiences have been... meeting so many wonderful people across the state of Minnesota and I’ll long be thankful to the University of Minnesota for those experiences.”

The 2022 award recipients are:

  • Student Leadership Award — Undergraduate Student — Trey Feuerhelm, Forestry and Natural Resource Management
  • Student Leadership Award — Graduate Student— Sonali Raghunath (MS ’19 and PhD ‘22 Food Science)
  • Exemplary Undergraduate Student Organization — Ag Business Club
  • Exemplary Graduate Student Organization — CFANS Graduate Student Board
  • Outstanding Club Advisor — Matthew Russell, Forest Resources
  • Exemplary Staff — Tammi Pekkala Matthews, Entomology
  • Exemplary Faculty — (less than 5 years)— Amelia Lindsey, Entomology
  • Exemplary Faculty — (more than 5 years)— Jim Anderson (BS ’87 Agronomy), Agronomy and Plant Genetics
  • Exemplary Post-Doc — Benjamin Cull, Entomology
  • Little Red Oil Can (individual or group of individuals) —Ryan Murphy (MPS ’14 Horticulture)
  • Outstanding Friend — Chris Gindorff, Hy-Vee
  • Community Builder (New) — Myah Walker (BS ’10 Animal Science)
  • Rising Star (New) — Emily Krekelberg (BS ’13 Animal Science, MS 18 Agricultural Education)
  • Alumni Service — Michael Mulder (BS ’81 Agricultural Education)
  • Distinguished Alumni — Paul Hugunin (BS ’89 Agricultural Business Administration)
  • Lifetime Achievement — Mary Ann Bannerman (BS ’72 Home Economics) 

Thank you to all who submitted nominations for the 2022 Borealis Awards! Learn more about the Borealis Night of Excellence Awards.