During SMC’s graduation ceremony Saturday, May 4, Professor Kris Neely and Professor Eunice Knouse were announced as the winners of this year’s Archie Vernon and Margaret Wannamaker Huff faculty prize. The award is given annually to a faculty member who exemplifies outstanding professional qualifications, teaching ability and service.

The Huff award winners are determined by SMC faculty. The award is typically given to one faculty member, but faculty voted to give both Neely and Knouse the honors.

Neely, professor of art and director of Interdisciplinary Studies, has been at SMC since 2016. He is a popular local artist and art instructor. An advocate for the liberal arts, Neely developed SMC’s Interdisciplinary Studies program to unite and promote the variety of readings, performances, speakers and art experience across different disciplines on campus. He received his M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College and his B.A. in Religion from Wofford College.

Knouse, professor of biology and chair of SMC’s Science, Health, Math and Computer Science Division, has taught at SMC for 41 years. She received her M.S. in Zoology from the University of Tennessee and her B.A. in Biology from Bryan College. Knouse is known on campus for her love of nature, which she incorporates into her courses.

The Huff Award includes an $800 stipend for further study, travel for professional purposes or to defray the cost of publication expenses for scholarly work. The award was created in 1970 when Dr. A. V. Huff, Jr., a former member of the SMC Board of Trustees and a retired faculty member of the history department at Furman University, along with his wife, Kate, established the endowed award in memory of his parents, Archie Vernon and Margaret Wannamaker Huff.