FMU Faculty Recognized During 2024-2025 Awards Ceremony

Francis Marion University recognized four faculty members for their outstanding work during the university’s annual faculty awards night held Thursday evening at the FMU Performing Arts Center in downtown Florence.

Dr. Deborah Hopla, Professor of Nursing, was awarded the Charlene Wages Shared Governance Award by the university’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors. This award is given to a faculty member who has made substantial contributions to shared governance at the university.

Hopla joined the faculty of Francis Marion in 2012. She is the director of the Family Nurse Practitioner tracks in the Master of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice programs. She received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the Medical University of South Carolina’s satellite program at FMU and earned both the Master of Science in Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of South Carolina.

Three faculty members were honored for their outstanding individual work during the 2024-2025 academic year.

Dr. Hari Rajagopalan, Professor of Management, received the Award for Excellence in Teaching; Dr. Matthew Hagler, Assistant Professor of Psychology, was honored with the Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship; and Dr. Kimberly McCuiston, Associate Professor of Education, received the Award for Excellence in Professional Service.

Rajagopalan completed his Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering at Anna University in 1995, Master of Business Administration at Delhi University in 1999, and both the Master of Science in Computer Science in 2004 and Ph.D. in Information Technology: Operations and Quantitative Management in 2006 from the University of North Carolina – Charlotte.

Hagler earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and English from Sewanee, the University of the South in 2013, the Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology in 2017 and the Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 2021, both from the University of Massachusetts, and completed a Post-doctoral Fellowship in Clinical and Community Psychology at the Yale University School of Medicine in 2022.

McCuiston received a Bachelor of Arts in English from Maryville College in 1999, a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from Tusculum College in 2010, and a Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in Literacy Studies from the University of Tennessee in 2015.

Also during Thursday’s ceremony, five retiring faculty members were recognized and named Professor Emeriti. They are: Tim Hanson, Dr. Barbara L. Holliman, Dr. Samuel H. Howell, Jr., Dr. L. Dawn Larsen, and Dr. Neil F. Riley.