Julie Andsager’s four cats aren’t excited about their owner’s prestigious research award.

In fact, the felines, including a couple of tabbys, only really care about their pampered home life — ample petting and food included.

But what the cats probably don’t know are the great feats Andsager has accomplished through her love for research, including recently winning the John F. Murray Research Scholar award, which, in part, recognizes “significant and sustained research.” Add it to the growing list of accolades on Andsager’s résumé.

“It was totally unexpected. I was very surprised and very grateful,” the 45-year-old said.

David Perlmutter, the director of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, helped determine the recipient.

“I was very impressed with the level of scholarship and professional production of the faculty, and Julie … was already recognized as a star,” Perlmutter said.

Andsager’s path to research started when she was a junior in college. Taking a journalism class, the professor noticed she was interested more in research than field reporting.

She finished school, earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, and took a job in public relations for a couple years. She eventually found her way back to school again.

Now, the Kansas-born woman has written two books, has more than 40 peer-reviewed scholarly journal articles, and became the associate editor for Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, one of the leading journals in the journalism field.

“I’m more interested in questions and putting together the methods to study to figure out how to answer those questions,” the teacher of 16 years said.

Andsager also has a solid teaching method, students said. She teaches Media and Health and Social Scientific Foundations of Communication.

“In the classroom, she brings in real-life examples, weekly examples of what’s going on in the news, and it’s more interesting than just learning from the textbook,” student Morgan Krause said.

Andsager’s new dedication is captured by her impending work. Her upcoming book will be released in 2011 — Medicine and the Media: Communicating health through news and entertainment.

“The thing is that a huge number of people get most of their information about health from the media,” Andsager said.

Engineering Professor Athanasios Papanicolaou, Andsager’s husband, said he always knew his wife’s work was promising. So he wasn’t too shocked when he heard about her winning the John F. Murray Research Scholar award.

“She is an outstanding researcher, and I’m fortunate to be her husband,” he said. “[The award] was a long time overdue. That’s her life; she stays on top. I’m extremely proud.”

Andsager’s hard work and dedication to journalism continues to play a part in her trek through academia.

“I never thought I would end up as a professor,” she said. “I had no clue that there were jobs that you could do like this where you could actually just research and write.”