Four Recognized with J.H. Felgar Pursuit of Excellence Awards
In 2015, the Gallogly College Pursuit of Excellence Awards were established to honor those who have regularly and unselfishly served our college with excellence in all they do and in motivating others.
Cheryl Carney
Assistant to the Director
School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Wilson Merchan-Merchan
Associate Professor
Paxton Leaf
Undergraduate Student
Paxton is an undergraduate student pursuing a double major in Industrial and Systems Engineering (with Honors) and Instrumental Jazz Performance, and a minor in Math. He is a senior with a near-perfect GPA over his six semesters at OU and has made the Presidential Honor Roll in five of those semesters. In the School of Music, he has won awards for best individual jazz performer and best jazz small ensemble, as well as releasing an album with his OU Jazz Combo.
Adella Kuster
Assistant to the Director
School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Cheryl has served as the assistant to the director for the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering for fifteen years. She has been diligent in administering external research grants, student payrolls, software licensing agreements, equipment calibration schedules, and faculty travel (including candidate visits for faculty positions and graduate seminar speakers).
In balancing and managing accounts, she shows magnificent attention to detail. She is an outstanding communicator, pleasant, helpful and always keeps her cheer and sense of humor. No one works harder, more efficiently and effectively. It is very rare to find a person with such a combination of skills, abilities, and willingness. I cannot think of a better ambassador!
Associate Professor
School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Merchan works on a variety of research topics including flame synthesis of transition metal oxide nanostructures, flame synthesis of carbon nanotubes and fullerenes, combustion of liquid biodiesel, and the study of pollution of carbon particulates from flames released to the environment, among other topics. He has served as the faculty advisor of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers- OU Chapter and also is the founder of the Junior Science & Engineering Excellence and Diversity summer program in the School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering. This program is designed to encourage high school students from underrepresented groups to pursue a STEM field of study. Moreover, he provides research opportunities to undergraduate students from underrepresented groups in his laboratory.
In recognition of his efforts, in 2019 he was selected as the “Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year” by the University of Oklahoma LATINX Coalition. He has significantly contributed to the AME department by serving multiple terms on Committee A, as chair of the AME Undergraduate Committee and as one of the participants representing AME in the Transforming Engineering Culture to Advance Inclusion and Diversity program.
Undergraduate Student
School of Industrial and Systems Engineering
Paxton is an undergraduate student pursuing a double major in Industrial and Systems Engineering (with Honors) and Instrumental Jazz Performance, and a minor in Math. He is a senior with a near-perfect GPA over his six semesters at OU and has made the Presidential Honor Roll in five of those semesters. In the School of Music, he has won awards for best individual jazz performer and best jazz small ensemble, as well as releasing an album with his OU Jazz Combo.
Paxton has been involved with the OU Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, OU College Democrats, the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, the OU Wind Symphony and OU’s top jazz ensemble. His most important position is serving as the Drum Major for the Pride of Oklahoma. As Drum Major, he is the most visible member of the largest student organization on campus. He has created an Anti-Racism Task Force for the Pride of Oklahoma, tasked with creating a code of conduct that has established the organization’s stance as actively anti-racist; creating a reporting system for members to anonymously report instances of discrimination; and building a culture of anti-racism.
Graduate Student
School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science
School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science
Adella began working at the Oklahoma Water Survey in 2017 as an undergraduate researcher studying compost filter socks, which has eventually turned into an ODOT-funded project that is now supporting the work of two other M.S. students. She has since moved to new research as part of her Master’s program in Environmental Engineering working on a stream stability project, also funded by ODOT.
As an undergraduate, and part of the accelerated M.S. program, she took ownership and management of this complex and difficult project. Currently, as a graduate student, she organizes twice-weekly field trips with multiple students for river surveying and every-other-week virtual update meetings with the funding agency. She has been a consistently-great researcher and employee during this time, all the while balancing her schoolwork (where she has an excellent GPA) and extracurricular activities, such as being president of Sooners Without Borders. She is a Holmes Leadership Associate, on the Dean’s Leadership Council, the editor of The Transit for Chi Epsilon, and participated in a service learning trip to northern Uganda as part of her WaTER minor.
