The Missouri University of Science and Technology Alumna and Woman Student of the Year Committee recently announced its 2011 award winners. The awards are given to alumna and female students who are dedicated to enhancing the lives of women and committed to diversity.

Dianna Tickner, vice president of early stage project development for Peabody Energy, received the Missouri S&T 2011 Alumna of the Year Award.

Tickner received her bachelor’s degree in mining engineering in 1979 from Missouri S&T and an MBA in 1992 from the University of Montana-Missoula. Her professional achievements include receiving the 2008 Outstanding Early Career Alumna Award from the University of Montana, the St. Louis Business Journal’s Most Influential Business Woman Award in 2006, the MSM-UMR Alumni Achievement Award in 2003, and a professional degree from Missouri S&T in 2001. Tickner is currently a member of the Engineering Advisory Board, Order of the Golden Shillelagh and the Mines and Metallurgy Academy at Missouri S&T.

The Missouri S&T 2011 Alumna Silver Award went to Rebecca Rost, cultural resource preservationist and historian of the state historic preservation office of Missouri.

Rost received her bachelor’s degree in history with a minor in political science from Missouri S&T in 2005 and a master’s degree in American history from the University of Hawaii at Manoa in 2007. Professional achievements include winning first place in the 2005 Missouri S&T Undergraduate Research Poster Competition, a Pacific Island Studies Scholarship in 2005, and membership in Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society. Rost is currently a History Day judge at Missouri S&T.

The Missouri S&T 2011 Woman Student of the Year Gold Award went to Anna Louise Osborne, a senior majoring in civil and architectural engineering. Osborne served as the director of design and construction and is currently the director of public relations for the Missouri S&T Solar House Team. Honors and activities include Engineers Without Borders, Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Society, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, surveying teaching assistant, and elementary fluid mechanics LEAD peer learning assistant.

The Missouri S&T Woman Student of the Year Silver Award went to Rebecca Holmes, a sophomore majoring in psychology with a minor in political science. Holmes is currently a student assistant for the International Student Cultural Center, a member of Psi Chi Psychology Professional Honor Society, Psychology Club, Zeta Tau Alpha, Christian Campus Fellowship, and camp volunteer counselor at Camp David of the Ozarks.

The Missouri S&T Woman Student of the Year Bronze Award went to Erica Collins, a 2011 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in geological engineering who is working toward her master’s degree. Collins’ activities include the American Society of Civil Engineers, Association of Engineering Geologists and Chi Omega National Fraternity.

The Alumna and Woman Student of the Year Award endowment was created by three Missouri S&T professors: Dr. Mariesa Crow, F. Finley Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering; Dr. Dee Haemmerlie Montgomery, Curator’s Teaching Professor of Psychology; and the late Dr. Ann Miller, formerly the Cynthia Tang Missouri Distinguished Professor of Computer Science.