Provost Dan Bernardo welcomed 13 WSU faculty members to home football games throughout the fall for the Featured Faculty recognition.
“Our land grant mission is ultimately carried out by our faculty and we’re pleased to be able to recognize their contributions in front of our fans in Martin Stadium,” notes Bernardo.
This season’s honorees embody the tremendous teaching and mentorship that are trademarks of our faculty members across the University.
Mauricio Featherman took the field with his daughter, who is now a senior in high school and was just three months old when he started his career at WSU. Minutes later he was getting kudos from Japan, as former Cougar basketball standout Josh Hawkinson and his family got word of the honor and sent their congratulations.
“Some people took a photo of the scoreboard with our photo on it and texted him in Japan,” says Featherman, who mentored Hawkinson when he was an MBA student in 2016-17. “Josh felt connected back to Pullman and I heard from his parents later that day. That was special.”
Kiwamu Tanaka caught Cougar fever this season and thoroughly enjoyed his time at Martin Stadium for homecoming.
“It was a really precious opportunity,” says Tanaka, a faculty member in plant pathology since 2014. “When I came to WSU I was naïve about the Pac-12 (conference), but this year I was checking the scores every week. This year was phenomenal.”
For sociology professor Christine Horne, the thrill of taking the field won’t soon be forgotten.
“It was fun to be on the field and feel all that Coug energy,” Horne says.
Congratulations to the Provost’s Featured Faculty members for 2018. Read about all of them at provost.edu/featured-faculty.