The Musser International Turfgrass Foundation has selected Dr. Emily Merewitz, Assistant Professor in Molecular Turfgrass Biology at Michigan State University, as the 2013 Award of Excellence recipient. 

The award is given to outstanding Ph.D. candidates who, in the final phase of their graduate studies, demonstrate overall excellence throughout their doctoral program in turfgrass research. 

Dr. Merewitz received her B.S. degrees in Plant Science and Plant Biotechnology from Rutgers University.  She went on to earn her Ph.D. at Rutgers under the tutelage of Dr. Bingru Huang in molecular turfgrass physiology which is now the focus of her teaching and research at MSU. 

 “I am very grateful to be considered and to have received such a prestigious award,” said Merewitz. “It is quite an honor and it will motivate me even more to excel in the turfgrass industry.  The industry has been extremely supportive of my research and this award is something that means a lot to me.”

The criteria for selecting award recipients include graduate work, academic record, dissertation, publications, leadership and extracurricular activities. To date, awards have been granted to doctoral students from universities including; Arizona, Auburn, Cornell, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina State, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Michigan State, Rutgers, Tennessee, and Texas A & M.

To learn more about Professor H. Burton Musser, the foundation’s history and past recipients of the award, visit www.musserfoundation.org.