Communication professor Frank Boster wishes his mentors could see him receive his Distinguished Faculty Award.

"I wish they had been around to see that the time they invested in me wasn't a waste," Boster said, remembering his former MSU professors who recently died. Both were also past recipients of the award.

"They would probably tease me and say something to the effect of, 'oh well, they're giving these around to everyone these days,'" he said laughing.

Boster is one of 10 professors to receive the award during the annual MSU Awards Convocation at 3 p.m. today in the Wharton Center's Pasant Theatre.

Each of the 10 recipients will receive a stipend of $3,000 to recognize his or her outstanding contributions to academics at MSU.

Eighteen others will receive awards at the event, including excellence in teaching citations for six graduate students.

The awards carry stipends from $1,000 to $2,500.

Boster received recognition for his knowledge about social influence and group dynamics.

He said he studies how people try to persuade others to make decisions and solve problems, as well as how they work with others in a group situation.

Another recipient, Roger Haut, professor of osteopathic surgery, said it's unusual for someone in his field - an engineer in the medical world - to receive an award like this.

"Obviously, I was rather elated," he said.

"A large part of the reason for this is there's not a lot of us who do research in the medical school, and I do."

Haut, who has been at MSU for 16 years, said he takes an engineering approach to studying how diseases occur.

He primarily studies the effect of osteoarthritis in humans after a traumatic event.

Leonard Fleck, professor in the Center for Ethics and Humanities in the Life Sciences and the Department of Philosophy, will also receive a Distinguished Faculty Award today.

Fleck has been studying health care ethics for 30 years. During that time, he said he watched a newly born area of study grow.

He has been at MSU since 1985 and said he will be sharing the ceremony with his son, Matthew Fleck.

He said he was surprised when he found out he will be a recipient.

"You never expect these things," he said. "I was very gratified.

"I'm always very humbled because you see other people equally as qualified as you."