Business faculty recognized with Sweatt Medal for service
Contact: Rene Abadie
Date: March 28, 2013
BUSINESS FACULTY RECOGNIZED -- Southeastern Louisiana University College of Business faculty members Dawn Wallace, left, and Minh Huynh, right, are pictured with dean and faculty member emeritus B. Owen Sweatt. Wallace and Huynh received the 2013 Sweatt Medal from the college for their service to the community and the university.
HAMMOND – The B. Owen Sweatt Medal, named for a former dean at Southeastern Louisiana University,
was awarded to two members of the College of Business for their service commitments.
Associate Professors Minh Huynh in the Department of Marketing and Supply Chain
Management and Dawn Wallace in the Department of Management and Business Administration
were recognized with the medal, named in honor of Dr. Sweatt, professor emeritus of
Business Administration and dean emeritus of the College of Business.
Sweatt, who attended the recognition ceremony, joined the university in 1955
and currently resides in Fayette, Ala. While at Southeastern, he also served as dean
of the Division of Applied Sciences.
This is the second time the Sweatt Medal has been presented. The first was awarded
in 2011 to Joseph Miller of Hammond, former dean of the college and vice president
for University Advancement.
College of Business Dean Randy Settoon said the Sweatt Medal recognizes "ordinary
people doing extraordinary things."
Huynh was recognized for his community and university service activities, chief
among them his involvement with the Tangi Food Pantry. In addition to serving on the
organization's board of directors, he has involved his students in a number of service
learning projects that included the development and support of computer applications
for the agency. The students developed a client database, implemented a computerized
program for annual client re-certification, helped with monthly data input and are
currently hosting the agency's website.
"This is a tremendous win-win," said Toni Phillips, interim assistant dean. "Our
students are gaining hands-on experience and helping a valuable community service
agency at the same time."
Wallace was recognized for a project that may help the College improve record-keeping
processes through the use of technology. Academic departments have the responsibility
to maintain detailed records of each student's academic progress—classes taken, grades
earned and classes remaining—and accuracy is essential. Currently, departments manually
transfer data from official university records to each student's individual curriculum
sheet, a process that is time-consuming and subject to normal human error. Using her
knowledge of technology, Wallace developed an automated process to transfer university
data to departmental records, saving time and reducing errors.
"Dawn spent countless hours gathering information and designing a complex, customized
program," said Phillips. "Pilot tests began in 2012, with very promising results.
Once fully implemented, the program will help increase accuracy and save much time
and effort."
"I am very proud to have Minh and Dawn as members of the College of Business
faculty," Settoon said. "I am grateful for their dedication to the college and its
students and for their selfless commitment of time in service to others."
