Appointments, honors and activities

• Notables:

- A book co-authored by Randy Roberts, a distinguished professor of history, titled “A Season in the Sun: The Rise of Mickey Mantle,” will be published by Basic Books in March. In the book, Roberts and co-author Johnny Smith recount the defining moment of Mantle's legendary career, when, in 1956, he overcame a host of injuries and critics to become the most celebrated athlete of his time.  

• Student honors:

- Molly Mersmann, a graduate student studying history, won the inaugural Walter Nugent Best Graduate Student Paper Prize for her entry, “Foreign Aid to the Rescue: Global Interests in Rebuilding the Post-Civil War South.” She will receive the award Feb. 24 at the 38th annual meeting of the Indiana Association of Historians.  

• Rankings:

The Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine's Veterinary Teaching Hospital ranked highest among 26 participating companion veterinary teaching hospitals across North America in the most recent CalPro Research Referring Veterinarian Survey. To date, only one other college of veterinary medicine has achieved the same benchmark rating, called the "Overall Hospital Rating." The national survey evaluates veterinary teaching hospitals on the basis of referring veterinarians' feedback concerning such categories as responsiveness, communication, client and patient experience, and quality of medicine. Referring veterinarians described the high quality of medicine and the clarity of instructions for follow-up care as defining features of the Purdue’s patient services. The hospital was ranked above average in almost every specialty service category surveyed. For more information, click here.