Norman – While seated in a staff meeting in the Department of Zoology at the University of Oklahoma, Randall Hewes never dreamed he would be the main topic of discussion.  While Hewes and his colleagues were listening to other reports in the department, Paul B. Bell Jr., dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, entered the room with balloons and a surprise announcement.  Hewes was named the Kinney-Sugg Outstanding Professor in the college.

“Randy is an outstanding teacher and scholar and well-deserving to receive the Kinney Sugg Award,” said Dean Bell.  “We are proud to have him as a colleague and look forward to his continuing to be a role model for the rest of us.”
As the 2007 outstanding professor of the college, Hewes will receive a plaque and a check for $5,000 at a luncheon to be held in his honor later in the semester and his name will be added to a plaque on permanent display in Ellison Hall, home to the College of Arts and Sciences.

“Hewes absolutely epitomizes what we all look for in a university professor: an energetic colleague, with tremendous energy, zeal for his research and teaching and superb potential to become a ‘superstar’ in teaching and research on our campus,” said Bill Matthews, director of the Department of Zoology.

Hewes is an associate professor of zoology with research interests in cell type-specific mechanisms of insulin neuroprotection, genetic and molecular pathways controlling differentiation and plasticity of neuroendocrine cells, control of neuropeptide secretion and cellular and molecular mechanisms of steroid action in neuroendocrine systems.

A magna cum laude graduate of Carleton College in Minnesota, Hewes received his doctorate from the University of Washington and joined the OU faculty in 2001.  He also serves as an adjunct associate professor in cell biology at the OU Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City.

The Kinney-Sugg Outstanding Professor Award, established by OU alumna Sandy Kinney and her husband, Mike Sugg, was first awarded in 2002 to help the college reward and retain outstanding professors. Past award recipients include Dan Glatzhofer in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Harold Grasmick in the Department of Sociology, John Cowan in the Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, Melissa Stockdale in the Department of History and Charles Kenney in the Department of Political Science.