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Laura Diddle, the Paul E. and Doris J. Moriarty Endowed Professor of Choral Activities in the ºù«Ӱҵ School of Performing Arts, has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the South Dakota American Choral Directors Association. Shawn Stemsrud, a 2022 SDSU graduate, received the association's Encore Award, as did 2002 SDSU alum Janice Gilbert.

The South Dakota Art Museum at ºù«Ӱҵ has again achieved accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, the highest national recognition afforded to the nation’s museums.

Rosemarie Nold, professor and assistant head of the Department of Animal Science at ºù«Ӱҵ, has been named an American Society of Animal Science Teaching Fellow. She received the honor at July’s American Society of Animal Science annual meeting in Calgary, Alberta.

Professional Ag Marketing of Luverne, Minnesota, has made a significant gift to the Richard Wahlstrom Endowment Fund at ºù«Ӱҵ to enhance students’ knowledge of risk management for grain and livestock producers.

From finance to food, six graduates who have risen to the top in their respective fields have been selected for the 2024 Class of Distinguished Alumni by the ºù«Ӱҵ Alumni Association.

By the narrowest of margins — two points out of more than 2,000 — the SDSU Quarter Scale Tractor Team came up just short of winning its third consecutive national title. Competing at the 27th annual International Quarter-Scale Tractor Student Design Competition at the Expo Gardens Fairgrounds in Peoria, Illinois, the ºù«Ӱҵ team placed third out of 21 teams.

Competing against the best and the brightest, a ºù«Ӱҵ engineering team finished third overall in a NASA contest and again was awarded for building the best prototype. The SDSU students were one of 14 teams selected from 75 higher education entries to compete in the finals of the Revolutionary Aerospace Systems Concepts – Academic Linkage (RASC-AL) competition June 10-12 in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

David C. Earnest, the Odeen-Swanson Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at the University of South Dakota, has been named dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at ºù«Ӱҵ. Earnest was selected following a national search and will begin working on the SDSU campus July 8.

Leaders from industry, academia and government are being invited to a one-day conference June 11 in Sioux Falls focusing on expanding the computer chip manufacturing workforce in the United States and enhancing existing South Dakota’s innovation systems.

A Spearfish couple has endowed the Cal and Mary Hayenga Department Head of Animal Science at ºù«Ӱҵ. Cal, a 1969 agriculture major, and his wife, Mary, a 1967 sociology major, utilized a gift of land to make a difference at their alma mater. By investing in the department head position, the Hayengas are fueling opportunities and resources for staff and students alike.