USTFCCCA Creates Al Carius Program of the Year Award

The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association has announced the creation of the Al Carius Program of the Year Award, given to the top all-around Division III track & field/cross country program. The award is named in honor of longtime North Central College head track and cross country coach Al Carius who, in his 43rd year, has guided the Cardinals to unparalleled success, winning 17 National Championships.

The Al Carius Program of the Year Award will be awarded annually to the most outstanding NCAA Division III men's cross country/track & field program. The award will honor the institution that has achieved the most success in each academic year (spanning the cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field seasons) based on the institution's finish at the NCAA Division III Championships.

Occupational Therapy Professor to Lead Two-Year Research Study

Catherine Meriano, professor of occupational therapy at Quinnipiac University, is one of several lead investigators in a new two-year research study that will examine whether seniors monitored by Healthsense, Inc.'s wireless sensor technology at the Masonicare healthcare and retirement community in Wallingford, Conn., are able to remain independent for longer, delay being admitted to a hospital or nursing home, and better attend to their own basic daily needs.

The two-year study is the first of its kind in the New England area and among the first nationally to specifically examine whether integrated sensor technology can help seniors age safely and comfortably in their own homes, according to Jim Albert, Masonicare's chief information officer and vice president of information services.

Read more about the project here.

Law Professor Named Editor of Constitutionalism Journal

A Valparaiso University law professor and international human rights expert has been named editor of a scholarly journal that examines new developments in constitutional law throughout the world.

Penelope Andrews will serve as editor of the International Review of Constitutionalism, a semi-annual journal that covers topics such as constitutional models and practices, constitutional rights of minorities and non-citizens, democracy and corruption, religion and the state, rule of law, and individual and collective equality rights.

Andrews joined the faculty of Valparaiso's School of Law in 2007 and previously helped shape South Africa's post-apartheid constitution in the 1990s. She has written extensively on human rights issues in South Africa, Australia and America and is co-editor of The Post-Apartheid Constitutions: Perspectives on South Africa's Basic Laws.

Hamline Philosophy Prof's Book Examines What Happens When We "Borrow" From Science

Hamline University College of Liberal Arts Professor Stephen Kellert has authored a book that examines the use of science. In Borrowed Knowledge: Chaos Theory and the Challenge of Learning Across Disciplines, recently published by the University of Chicago Press, Kellert explores what happens to scientific knowledge when researchers outside the natural sciences bring elements of the latest trend across disciplinary boundaries for their own purposes.

"Why do people always seem so eager to borrow ideas from science? Whether it is evolution, quantum mechanics, or more recently, chaos theory, we find researchers using—and sometimes abusing—the concepts and methods of the natural sciences to understand society, art or religion,” Kellert said. “My goal in this book is to examine what makes this borrowing sometimes quite valuable and why sometimes it goes so terribly wrong."

Using philosophical and rhetorical analysis, Kellert looks at the recent explosion of interest in what is popularly termed “chaos theory” as a case study, examining cross-disciplinary borrowing by such fields as economics, law and literary studies. His work draws general lessons about how to critically evaluate interdisciplinary scholarship. It also discusses how such “borrowings” from the field of physics have played a role in debates about the need for governmental intervention in unstable financial markets.

Kellert is professor of philosophy in the College of Liberal Arts at Hamline University. Other books by Kellert include In the Wake of Chaos: Unpredictable Order in Dynamical Systems (University of Chicago Press, 1994) and Scientific Pluralism, co-edited with C. Kenneth Waters and Helen Longino (University of Minnesota Press, 2006).

Valpo French Professor Again Wins Teaching Award

A Valparaiso University French professor has won a statewide award for the second consecutive year in recognition of efforts encouraging the study of French language and culture.

Dr. Karen Berrier, lecturer in foreign languages and literatures, recently was recognized as 2008 Indiana French Teacher of the Year at the annual meeting of the state's chapter of the American Association of Teachers of French. The chapter's executive board selected her for the honor.

"My activities have truly been part of a team effort," said Dr. Berrier, noting the efforts of the French faculty in Valparaiso's Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures to establish new courses, additional options for studying in France and creating a new French House, a residence where students speak only French.

School Counselors Salute Butler Professor John Bloom's Work

The Indiana School Counselors Association for outstanding professional service has honored Butler University College of Education Professor Emeritus John Bloom.

Bloom received the JoAnn Epple Award at the association’s annual conference Nov. 7 in Indianapolis. Association President Tom Keller, who coordinates COE’s Master of Science in School Counseling program, presented the award to his former fellow teacher.

Bloom reorganized COE’s school counseling training program and helped secure its national accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs, according to Goodman. “In the College of Education, he was in charge of diversity initiatives and served with distinction on the Professional Standards Committee for many years.”

Bloom led the effort to train personnel teams under the Indiana School Guidance Leadership Project. Funded by a Lilly Endowment grant, the training focused on the overall improvement of guidance and counseling services around the state.

He served for six years on the National Board for Certified Counselors, including three years as board chair, and created the NBCC’s first set of Ethical Standards for the practice of online counseling. Bloom was instrumental in the passage of the first professional counselor licensure act in Arizona and served as a mental health counseling responder in New York City after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Butler Professor Named AAPA Distinguished Fellow

Laurie Pylitt, an associate professor in Butler University’s pharmacy program, was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

The fellows program is open to all of AAPA’s more than 43,000 members, but the honor is bestowed on less than one percent. Those selected have distinguished themselves among their colleagues, as well as in their communities, by their service to the PA profession, their commitment to advancing health care and their exemplary personal and professional development. In total, there are 417 fellows nationwide; six are from Indiana.

PLU Assistant Professor of French Publishes Book

Professor Rebecca M. Wilkin of the Department of Languages and Literatures at Pacific Lutheran University has published a new book, Women, Imagination and the Search for Truth in Early Modern France (Ashgate, 2008).

Her book focuses on how the idea of women contributed to the emergence of early modern science. Essentially, it is a reevaluation of the legacy of Cartesianism for women. It challenges scholars to revise deeply held notions regarding the place of women in the early modern search for the truth, their role in the development of rational thought, and the way in which intellectuals of the period dealt with the emergence of an influential female public.

Inside Higher Ed Publishes Column by Amy Overman

Amy Overman, an assistant professor of psychology at Elon University, had a column about her experience teaching an online course published in the Nov. 6 edition of Inside Higher Ed, a daily online news site that covers trends and issues that affect colleges and universities.

To read the full column, click here.

New York State Organization Honors Four at Ithaca College with Social Justice Awards

	Cynthia Henderson

A faculty member and three administrators at Ithaca College have been honored by the College Student Personnel Association of New York State (CSPA-NYS) for their efforts to promote social justice.

Cynthia Henderson, associate professor of theatre arts, was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Social Justice Award. Deborah Mohlenhoff, assistant director for community service and leadership development; John Rawlins, assistant director of multicultural affairs; and Doreen Hettich-Atkins, coordinator of special services and programs, were honored with the Outstanding Social Justice Innovation Award.

Henderson was recognized for making a significant contribution to the lives of some local students and to the wider Ithaca community over the past year. After Ithaca High School was shaken by a variety of racial conflicts, Henderson worked with a small group of students from both the high school and the college to produce a theatrical piece entitled “Voice Suspended” that they presented throughout the area. The students learned to write, direct, rehearse, design stages and art, and to work together as a team to produce an amazing piece of work that has been used to help the Ithaca community recognize its challenges and move toward social justice.

	John Rawlins

Mohlenhoff, Rawlins and Hettich-Atkins were recognized for their work in managing a committee of volunteers charged with planning and coordinating Ithaca College’s 2008 Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration. For the first time in its history, the college this past year cancelled classes for MLK Day, the first day that students return from winter break. The committee was charged with putting together a campus-wide series of events that would adequately represent and celebrate King’s life and legacy and would be engaging enough to encourage students to participate in what was billed as a “Day On, Not a Day Off.”

The events included a keynote address by rapper and activist MC Lyte, service projects at nearly a dozen off-campus agencies, educational presentations and discussions by faculty, a performance of “Voice Suspended” by local high school students, an interactive theater piece written and performed by the Ithaca College MLK Scholars, and a concert coordinated by the School of Music.

Due to the positive response, the college will keep to the schedule of not holding classes on MLK Day.

Professor Restores Mummy in New Guinea

Quinnipiac University health sciences professor Ronald Beckett discussed the findings of his research about smoked body mummies preserved in the remote New Guinea village of Koke.

Beckett and his team, including Josh Bernstein from Discovery Channel's "Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein," learned through photojournalist Ulla Lohmann that the Anga people of Koke wanted to restore their mummies to preserve the tradition of mummification. Beckett met Lohmann at the 2004 World Mummy Congress in Torino, Italy.

Beckett received a letter from the village chief asking for assistance. The Discovery Channel agreed to do a documentary about the Anga people as part of its new series, "Into the Unknown with Josh Bernstein." The restoration was conducted in June 2008, and the documentary aired on the Discovery Channel Sept. 8.

Using native materials, the villagers assisted Beckett and his crew to restore the mummy Moimango, father of the village chief, Gemtasu. By teaching them the restoration process, the villagers learned the ancient cultural tradition of mummification within the tribe.

Mummification within the tribe had stopped about 50 years ago, with Gemtasu's father being the last to be mummified. The process ended after German missionaries told the tribe the process was unhygienic and therefore illegal, which was untrue.

Beckett said a moving moment for everyone involved was when Gemtasu and his family came to see his Moimango just after the restoration. Gemtasu silently looked over his father's mummified body as the crew watched. He then began to speak excitedly and took Lohmann's and Beckett's hands and began to dance and sing. The crew was in tears, as was Gemtasu.

School of Business Professor Co-authors Encyclopedia of the First Amendment

Hamline University School of Business Professor David Schultz and noted expert on elections and politics, has a new book, Encyclopedia of the First Amendment, co-authored and edited with John Vile, professor at Middle Tennessee State University, and David L. Hudson, Jr., research attorney at the Freedom Forum First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University.

The two-volume set is the first reference source to fully cover the political, historical, and cultural significance of the First Amendment. It opens with incisive, in-depth essays by leading scholars about the five freedoms—speech, press, assembly, petition and religion. An A to Z section follows, with 800 detailed entries that explore concepts, personalities, events, laws, policies and every important case to date relating to the First Amendment.

Encyclopedia of the First Amendment is available for purchase online at www.cqpress.com or by phone at 1-866-427-7737.

David Schultz is a professor of public administration and government ethics in the Hamline University School of Business. He has taught classes on American government and election law for more than 20 years. Schultz is the author and editor of more than 25 books and 70 articles on American politics and law, and is a frequently quoted political analyst in the local, national and international media.

David Crowe Awarded Elon's First Full-Year Faculty Sabbatical

David Crowe, professor of history, has been awarded Elon University’s first full-year faculty sabbatical in order to do research for a new book he is writing. Crowe's book, titled "War Crimes, Genocide, and the Quest for Justice since the Enlightenment," will discuss such crimes during this period and their impact on the evolution of international law. Particular emphasis will be placed on the Armenian genocide and the Holocaust as well as the international legal response to war crimes and genocide in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Balkans since 1945.

Oxford, Cambridge Presses Publish Two Books by Beeson Faculty

Two faculty members of Samford University's Beeson Divinity School published major monographs with Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press in October.

Dr. Carl L. Beckwith had his monograph, Hilary of Poitiers on the Trinity: From "De Fide" to "De Trinitate," published by Oxford as part of its Oxford Early Christian Studies series. The book traces the evolution of the bishop and theologian, Hilary, and his work, De Trinitate, which was important in understanding the continuing debates over trinitarian matters in the mid- to late-fourth century.

At Beeson since 2007, Beckwith teaches church history and historical theology

Dr. Osvaldo Padilla had his work, The Speeches of Outsiders in Acts: Poetics, Theology and Historiography, published by Cambridge as part of its Society for New Testament Studies Monograph Series. The book takes an original approach to Luke and his work by concentrating on the speeches of outsiders, unlike previous studies that dealt primarily with insiders, or members of the early Christian church.

Padilla, who joined the Beeson faculty this fall, teaches New Testament.

Butler Professor Named “Best and Brightest” Winner

Erin Albert, assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (COPHS) at Butler University, took top honors in the health and life sciences category in Junior Achievement’s Indy’s Best and Brightest program. The awards program recognizes Central Indiana’s most outstanding young professionals, age 40 and under, in 10 industry categories. The winners receive significant benefits including enrollment in the Lacy Leadership Association LEAD program.

Albert, a 1994 graduate of Butler’s pharmacy program, has been with the COHPS since 2006. In addition to serving as an assistant professor in the pharmacy program, she is also the director of the Ribordy Center for Community Practice. In this capacity she works to advance community practice within the pharmacy curriculum.

Albert is also the founder, president and chief executive officer for Pharm LLC., a consulting firm that provides products and services to develop and enhance the careers of healthcare consulting professionals, otherwise known as medical science liaisons. Albert is also the founding member of Young Urban Single Professionals of Indiana, a social networking organization in the Indianapolis metropolitan area.

U.S. State Department Sends Hamline Prof on 2008 Election Speaking Tour Across Europe

Hamline University Professor David Schultz, noted expert on elections and politics, will spend nearly three weeks in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Finland, working with U.S. embassies, as part of a speaking tour for the United States to discuss the 2008 elections.

From September 27-October 14, Schultz will meet with the foreign press, speak at schools and universities, and talk to community groups and other organizations. Last month, at the 2008 Republican National Convention, Schultz served as a media liaison for the U.S. State Department, providing regular debriefs of convention highlights for international media and U.S. embassies. In 2007, Schultz taught in Armenia on a Fulbright scholarship. There, he worked with the U.S. embassy to educate workers and Armenian students about fair elections in anticipation of that country’s elections. He also has experience teaching and lecturing in Russia.

David Schultz is a professor in the Hamline University School of Business and teaches public administration and government ethics. He has taught classes on American government and election law for more than 20 years. Schultz is the author and editor of more than 25 books and 70 articles on American politics and law, including his most recent Encyclopedia of American Law (CQ Press, 2008), and is a frequently quoted political analyst in the local, national and international media.

The End of the American Century is Near, Professor Mason Writes

The United States is coming to the end of its 60-year reign as a global leader, Butler University Political Science Professor David Mason argues in his compelling and provocative new book, “The End of the American Century” (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., $34.95, release date Oct. 1).

Mason writes that the war on terror and the Iraq War have exacerbated American domestic weakness and malaise, as well as our country’s image and stature in the world community. As the dynamic economies of India and China and the revitalized European Union overtake those of the United States, he writes, we will witness a fundamental transformation of the global scene.

This transition will require huge adjustments for U.S. citizens and political leaders alike. But Mason argues that in the end, Americans and the world will be better off with a more modest and interdependent United States.

Mason expects belt-tightening for our country and its people to become the new way of life. That means higher prices for energy, food and consumer goods, smaller homes and cars; fewer and more modest vacations; and less disposable income.

Mason teaches international and comparative politics and has directed the University’s core curriculum course, which addresses major world civilizations at times of transformative change. For many years, he was the director of a major collaborative research effort — the International Social Justice Project — exploring attitudes on social justice in 13 countries, including the United States.

Ithaca College School of Music Faculty Member Honored For Research on Career Interests Of Undergraduate Music Students

Dan Isbell, assistant professor of music education in Ithaca College’s School of Music, has received a Center for Music Education Research Award for his paper, “The Socialization of Undergraduate Music Teachers,” which examines the influences affecting the career interests of undergraduate music students. Given to music education researchers at early stages of their careers, the award recognized the clarity of Isbell’s research purpose, appropriateness of his research design, and his writing quality.

The paper was based on Isbell’s Ph.D. dissertation, “The Socialization and Occupational Identity of Undergraduate Music Education Students Enrolled in Traditional Baccalaureate Programs,” to which the Council of Research in Music Education awarded the 2006 Outstanding Dissertation in Music Education.

In addition to a cash prize, Isbell received an invitation to present his paper at the Suncoast Music Education Research Symposium VII at the University of South Florida in February.

Journalism Professor Honored by AP

Wagner College journalism professor Claire Regan was honored recently by the New York State Associated Press Association in a statewide competition for graphic design. Professor Regan, who is also associate managing editor of the Staten Island Advance, placed third in the spots news presentation category for a front-page Sunday Advance design about Pope Benedict’s visit to New York City in April. She was recognized at the annual AP award banquet on Sept. 25.

Regan’s award-winning page was headlined, “Bless the Children.” Regan wrote the headline to accompany a poignant six-column photo of the pontiff embracing a handicapped child, reflecting one focus of his visit. The page did not include a story. Instead, Regan used summary text to direct readers inside the newspaper for more coverage of the historic event.

A lifelong Staten Islander, Claire Regan graduated from Wagner College in 1980. In addition to teaching classroom courses in journalism at her alma mater, Regan also serves as adviser to the editorial staff of the Wagnerian, Wagner College’s student newspaper, and Kallista, the student yearbook. She has also been a frequent contributor to The Link, Wagner College’s alumni magazine.

Professor Wins Indiana's Highest Book Award

Butler University English Professor Susan Neville’s book Sailing the Inland Sea has won the 2008 Best Book of Indiana Award in nonfiction from the Indiana State Library. The award is Indiana’s highest book honor.

Neville’s book collects her essays, lectures and interviews with authors. It includes conversations with author Kurt Vonnegut, as well as stories about seemingly disparate subjects such as touring the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with Salman Rushdie, visiting “sacred spaces” such as churches and cemeteries, and teaching her students how to be fierce.

A theme that runs through her essays is the need to preserve Indiana's cultural history. Neville sees her role as "a keeper of the flame – a person who cares about the flame and says, ‘Hey, don't let it go out.’”

In the official announcement of the awards, Indiana State Librarian Roberta Brooker said: “It is always a privilege to recognize, promote and honor Indiana authors. This year's finalists will join the works of great Hoosier authors like Gene Stratton Porter, Meredith Nicholson, James Whitcomb Riley and Kurt Vonnegut, among many others, in their new permanent home within Indiana Authors room.”

Butler Dean Appointed to Pharmacy Commission

Butler University Dean Mary Andritz of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences has been appointed to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Commission on Credentialing. Andritz is the only dean on the commission.

The ASHP Commission on Credentialing is responsible for the accreditation of pharmacy residencies and pharmacy technician training programs.

Andritz says her appointment to the commission comes at an exciting, yet pivotal, time for pharmacists. One of the commission’s current priorities includes overseeing a proposed change in residency training.

Andritz has been the dean of the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences since August 2006.

Pacific Lutheran University faculty members Holly Senn and Greg Youtz were among 80 Washington state artists to receive awards from the Grants for Artist Projects (GAP) program, funded by Artist Trust.

The GAP program provides support for artist-generated projects, and is open to artists of all disciplines in Washington state. In 2008, a record 975 artists applied for the awards.

Both Senn, virtual reference services librarian, and Youtz, professor of music, received the maximum award of $1,500.

A visual artist, Senn uses discarded library books to make sculptures and installations that explore the lifecycle of ideas. With her award, she’s purchased an iMac and software, which will enable her to enhance her online digital portfolio, market her work to a larger audience and mock-up large installations.

Meanwhile, Youtz used his award to defray the costs of creating a professional recording of his composition “Fragments: Three Songs of Hope.” The three-song set, originally composed in 2003 from fragments of poems, is now part of a nine-movement oratorio, “Drum Taps: Nine Poems on Themes of War.” He’ll use the recording to market “Drum Taps,” which has yet to premiere.

Professor Wins National Award for Book about Journalism During McCarthyism

Edward Alwood, associate professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University, won the national Tankard Book Award for his book “Dark Days in the Newsroom: McCarthyism Aimed at the Press.”

The Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication presented the award at the association's annual convention Aug. 6 in Chicago.

Published in 2007 by Temple University Press in Philadelphia, the book examines how radical journalists during the Depression became targets of Sen. Joseph McCarthy and like-minded anti-communists during the 1950s, and how Congress questioned journalists suspected of being members of the Communist Party.

The book includes Alwood's interviews with former New York Times copy editor Melvin Barnet, who didn't work in mainstream journalism again after he refused to answer questions about his political affiliation. The New York Times fired Barnet in 1955 for being a member of the Communist Party even though he told the Times he left the party in the 1940s.

“Dark Days in the Newsroom” also shows how conflicts journalists faced during the McCarthy era parallel modern conflicts over the right of journalists to protect sources, such as New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper, who refused to reveal sources before a grand jury.

Professor Helps to Improve Rwandan Health Care  

University of Redlands’ associate professor of Geographic Information Systems, Max Baber is leading a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) project in Rwanda. GIS, an electronic mapping system which allows different types of data to be linked to a specific location, is being used to help improve health care in Rwanda. 

Baber is currently gathering the following data on important health issues to link to Rwandan locations on a GIS map:

• Information on where health services and supplies are needed most;
• Where malaria cases are increasing or decreasing;
• The availability of drinking water.  

Baber hopes that once the map is produced it will help the developing country make better use of their resources. 

University of Scranton Faculty Member Receives PSCA Award

Kevin S. Wilkerson, PhD, assistant professor of counseling and human services at the University of Scranton, is the recipient of the Counselor Educator of the Year Award for 2008 presented by the Pennsylvania School Counselor Association at its recent awards banquet.

In order to receive such an award from the PSCA a person must demonstrate professional leadership, have an original and effective approach to the delivery of counseling services, show competence as a counselor, and show evidence of continuing interest in professional growth. He has encouraged and worked with approximately 25 students at the Jesuit university as they prepared poster presentations for PSCA conferences.

Dr. Wilkerson joined the faculty of The University of Scranton in 2004. He also serves as co-director of the university’s school counseling program. He has published numerous articles in Counselor Education and Supervision, and the Journal of Counseling and Development.

Engineering Team Improves Bible Access for the Blind

People around the world who are blind or visually-impaired will be able to read the Bible thanks to the efforts of a team from Valparaiso University’s College of Engineering who worked with volunteers at a local Lutheran church to redesign and build a Braille printing press.

The new press went into operation at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, said Dr. Scott Duncan, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering who began working on the project last fall.

Twenty members of the church have been making Braille Bibles for the past five years as volunteers with Lutheran Braille Workers Inc., a national organization founded in 1943 to meet the spiritual needs of people with visual impairments. More than 7,000 volunteers print Braille Bibles with presses located at nearly 200 churches throughout the country, but the press design is more than half a century old and many presses are nearing the end of their operational lives.

That prompted Valparaiso alumnus Robert Steinglass, a member of Prince of Peace, to contact the College of Engineering and ask for help.

“We were asked for help redesigning the press to make it safer as well as easier for some of the older volunteers to use,” Dr. Duncan said. “This was a good opportunity for the College of Engineering to use its expertise in a project that would make a significant impact on the lives of many people.”

Dan Toborowski, a mechanical engineering major, did much of the design of the improved machine and contributed greatly to manufacturing the press now in operation. Rich Gudino, mechanical technician for the College of Engineering, also worked on the project.

Their efforts have resulted in a new press that has better safety guarding, an emergency stop and on-off switch and can be produced at a lower cost, Dr. Duncan said. The team also designed a work surface that allows volunteers to slide page templates from the outlet to the inlet of the machine, making it easier for volunteers who had trouble lifting the template while printing pages.

Finance Professor’s Journey to Doctorate Profiled in Book

Byron Hollowell, assistant professor of finance at Susquehanna University, has been featured in Living the Dream, a book produced by the Ph.D. Project, sponsored by KPMG, a global network of professional services firms providing audit, tax and advisory services. The book highlights the journeys of minority business school professors through their doctoral processes. Hollowell is one of fewer than 50 minority business school professors nationwide who hold a doctorate in finance. Hollowell joined Susquehanna University in 2007 and teaches courses in finance and management. His research interests include mergers and acquisitions, agency theory, initial public offerings, spin-offs and executive compensation. He also serves on the Sigmund Weis School of Business Advisory Board and Strategic Planning Committee.

Professor Will Coach at Olympics, Again

For Colleen Hacker, being on the coaching staff of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Field Hockey Team brings her professional and athletic careers full circle.

It also marks the fourth time the Pacific Lutheran University professor of movement studies and wellness has been on the coaching staff of a U.S. Olympic Team.

Field hockey is where her athletic and coaching careers began, Hacker explained. Previously she’s served as the sport psychology consultant for the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team since 1995. But it was in field hockey that Hacker competed at the national level 10 times. It was where her PLU coaching career began, and where during her second year as head coach, the women’s team qualified for the national tournament for the first time ever. This August in Beijing, she’ll serve the field hockey team as a sport psychology consultant and mental skills coach.

Hacker is an internationally recognized authority on the psychology of peak performance. At the Olympic level, there aren’t significant differences in the physical abilities of the athletes, she said. The difference is in an athlete’s ability to manage the mental challenges.

In addition to working with athletes, this year Hacker has been charged with facilitating the Olympic friends and family program for the United States. In Beijing, she’ll provide friends and family with guidelines about how to best support their Olympian.

Astronomy Professor Receives NASA Grant

Valparaiso University astronomy professor Dr. Bruce Hrivnak has won a grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to study differences in the composition of dying stars in the Milky Way compared to those in a nearby galaxy.

Dr. Hrivnak received a $13,000 grant from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory to support his participation in the collaborative research project “Astrochemistry and Astromineralogy at Low Metalicity.”

Dr. Hrivnak and other astronomers involved in the study will investigate the composition of gas and dust around dying stars in a nearby galaxy, in order to better understand how their properties differ from those of dying stars in our galaxy. The project could provide scientists with important information about stellar evolution.

Coker Receives Grant for Plant Biology Project

Jeffrey Coker, an assistant professor of biology at Elon, and a team of two additional biology professors have received a $30,000 grant from the American Society of Plant Biologists Education Foundation for their science education outreach program. It is the second grant in as many years for the team.

Based on the “12 Principles of Plant Biology,” a set of basic concepts established by the ASPB to help students understand the subject, Coker and his team created The Twelve Activities to Accompany the Twelve Principles of Plant Biology. The program provides active-learning techniques for teachers helping students to understand the 12 principles.

Jane Ellis, an associate professor of biology at Presbyterian College, and Mary Williams, an associate professor of biology at Harvey Mudd College, join Coker on the team.

Dunham Serves as Faculty Member at National Institute for Trial Advocacy

Catherine Dunham, associate professor of law at Elon, is teaching two summer courses for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) at the organization's headquarters in Louisville, Colo.

NITA is the nation’s leading provider of legal advocacy skills training. NITA pioneered the legal skills learning-by-doing methodology over 35 years ago and has since remained the ultimate standard in continuing legal education.

Dunham taught on intensive two-week National Trial Course to practicing attorneys from the around the country in early July and will return July 28 to teach a NITA course for public service attorneys. The faculty in both courses include law faculty and trial lawyers from across the country and faculty must be invited to teach in both programs.

Professor Leibo Celebrates Latest Book on Asia with Republic of China

Steven A. Leibo, PhD, is spending part of his summer as a guest of the government of the Republic of China in Taiwan as he awaits the publication of the newest edition of “East & Southeast Asia.” The textbook comes out in August. Dr. Leibo is Professor of International History & Politics for The Sage Colleges, as well as International Affairs Commentator for WAMC: Northeast Public Radio. 

Five Elon Faculty Present at Service Learning Symposium

Elon University faculty Alexa Darby, Pam Kiser, Mary Knight-McKenna, Carolyn Stuart, and Bud Warner made presentations at the Symposium on Service-Learning and Civic Engagement at Western Carolina University on June 12, 2008.  Their presentations were:

Alexa Darby and Mary Knight-McKenna: “Different Backgrounds: Schema Awareness in Academic Service- Learning”

Bud Warner: “Service-Learning with Island Elders: Engaging an International Community”

Carolyn Stuart and Mary Knight-McKenna: “Fostering Leadership with Academic Service-Learning in Teacher Education”

Prof. Pam Kiser with fellow panelists Patti Clayton (NC State), Robert Shumer (University of Minnesota), Kathleen Brennan (Western Carolina University), and Mark Helm ( Central Piedmont Community College): “Scholarship of Engagement:  Creating Win-Win Situations for Faculty, Students, and Community”

The 2008 Symposium was the 4th annual meeting sponsored by Western Carolina University.

Professor Authors Book on Teaching Teens

Glenda Crawford, an Elon University professor of education, has written a new book to help middle and high school teachers develop class lessons that reach all kids, whether gifted scholars, special needs students or adolescents with limited English skills.

Corwin Press published Crawford’s fifth book, “Differentiation for the Adolescent Learner: Accommodating Brain Development, Language, Literacy, and Special Needs,” this spring.

The book offers practical guidance to both teachers and parents for designing lessons that not only vary the way a subject is taught, but give students a choice when showing they understand the material.

Susquehanna’s Department of Mathematics Receives Prestigious Grant

Susquehanna University's Department of Mathematics has received a Research Experience for Undergraduates grant (REU) from the National Science Foundation.

The REU grant will allow three Susquehanna mathematics professors – Lisa Orloff Clark, Alex Wilce and Jeff Graham – to work with nine undergraduates over the next three summers in an intensive course of study and a guided research program in quantum information theory.

“We have been given a great opportunity with this grant to put Susquehanna's mathematical sciences department on the map,” said Lisa Orloff Clark. “Not only are math departments all over the country paying attention to what REU programs are being offered, but also the Quantum Information Theory community is excited about what we are doing here. The team we've put together for this summer is impressive, and I am anxious to see what we can do!”

Westminster Flight Instructor Earns Prestigious Aviation Achievement

Julie Paasch

Research Grants Awarded to Valparaiso Faculty

Valparaiso University’s Committee on Creative Work and Research has awarded grants to the following faculty:

• Dr. George Pati, assistant professor of theology, for travel to India to research how low caste members of the population viewed the colonial regime in the Kerala area of south India and how the colonial influence shaped the work of writers during the regime; and
• Dr. Gregory Maytan, assistant professor of music, to purchase a violin bow for use in teaching and performance.

Grants from Valparaiso’s Committee on Creative Work and Research help foster a climate of systematic inquiry and teaching excellence on campus through the support of research and creative work and faculty-student collaboration on projects.

Valparaiso History Professor to Study Terrorism in Israel

Dr. Brent Whitefield, assistant professor of history at Valparaiso University, will travel to Israel this summer to study the threat terrorism poses to democracy as an Academic Fellow of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Whitefield is one of approximately 40 professors selected by the Washington, D.C.-based think tank to participate in its annual Academic Fellowship Program in Israel. Whitefield will meet with diplomats, military officials and scholars from Israel, India, Jordan, Turkey and the United States, as well as visit military bases, border zones, immigration facilities and security installations throughout Israel to learn the practical side of deterring terrorist attacks.

Scranton Professor Wins Fulbright

Harry Dammer, PhD, professor and chair of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Scranton, has been awarded a grant from the prestigious Fulbright Scholar Program to serve as a visiting professor in Germany during the spring 2009 semester.

Dammer will teach criminal justice and conduct research on the German criminal justice system at the University of Ruhr-Bochum, one of Germany’s largest research-driven universities.

This is Dammer’s second Fulbright to Germany. In 1993-1994, he was a visiting Fulbright Scholar at the University of Saarland, where he taught courses in American Criminal Justice and Comparative Criminal Justice Systems to graduate students at the Europa Law Institute.

Ithaca College Faculty Research Published in Science

Jack Rossen, associate professor of anthropology, and Susan Swensen, associate professor of biology, each had the results of their teams’ research findings published in Science on May 9 and May 16, respectively. Science is the world’s leading journal of original scientific research, news, and commentary.

Rossen was part of a team identifying human artifacts from a site at Monte Verde, Chile, to determine how and when people reached the tip of South America. Read the full text here.

Swensen’s team landed a cover story with their examination of the extraordinary diversity in a group of tropical herbivorous fruit flies. Read the full text here.

Prestigious Pushcart Prize Awarded to Simmons Professor

Afaa Michael Weaver, Simmons College professor of English and a nationally acclaimed poet, has won the Pushcart Prize, one of the literary world's most respected honors, for his poem “American Income.”

Winners of the Pushcart Prize are chosen from among thousands of nominations of works published each year in small magazines and presses throughout the world.  The winners’ works are published annually in “The Pushcart Prize,” an anthology of stories, poems, essays and memoirs that is called “the most eagerly awaited collection of the year” by Booklist, and “much of the best writing available in this country” by the New York Times Book Review.

Professor Honored with Visiting Chair Professorship in China

Peter K. Yu, the Kern Family Chair in Intellectual Property Law at Drake University, recently accepted the Wenlan Scholar Chair Professorship at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan, China. Yu also serves as the director of the Intellectual Property Law Center at Drake.

Bestowed only twice since its inception, this honor was given during the fifth annual conference of the Center for Studies of Intellectual Property Rights at Zhongnan University. Through this arrangement, Yu will visit the university on a regular basis to provide lectures and seminars. He also will foster academic exchange and a close collaborative relationship between the Drake Intellectual Property Law Center and the Center for Studies of Intellectual Property Rights at Zhongnan University.

Professor Yu is a preeminent expert in intellectual property law and policy in China and one of the leading experts on Chinese law. He is writing the first casebook on Chinese law, which will be published by Lexis-Nexis. He also is at the final stages of completing his forthcoming book on U.S.-China intellectual property policy, titled “Paranoid Pirates and Schizophrenic Swashbucklers.”

This summer in Hong Kong, professor Yu will co-organize the Sixth Annual Chinese Internet Research Conference, which he co-founded in 2003.

Wagner College Professor Wins Top Book Prize

Wagner College English Professor Ann Hollinshead Hurley has won the 2008 John Donne Society Award for Distinguished Publication for her book, “John Donne’s Poetry and Early Modern Visual Culture” (Selinsgrove, Pa.: Susquehanna University Press, 2005). The prize, considered the top award for academic publishing in its field, was announced last month at the 24th John Donne Society Conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Valparaiso Math Professor Wins Teaching Award

Valparaiso University’s Dr. Ken Luther, associate professor of mathematics and computer science, has won the Mathematical Association of America’s Award for Distinguished College or University Teaching of Mathematics for the state of Indiana.

Dr. Luther was presented with the award at the MAA’s Indiana Section state meeting, and he is now eligible for the organization’s national distinguished teacher award. In presenting Dr. Luther with the distinguished teaching award, it was noted that for the past 10 years he consistently has received outstanding student evaluations, and that he frequently relates mathematics to real-life situations in order to improve students’ understanding of the mathematical concepts he is teaching.

Dr. Luther joined Valparaiso’s faculty in 1998 and serves as chair of Valparaiso’s Environmental Science Program.

Westminster Professor Combines Love of Mountaineering and the Environment in Latest Book

Dr. Jeffrey McCarthy, chair of Environmental Studies and associate professor of English at Westminster College, captures a spectrum of human attitudes toward mountains and the environment in his latest book, “Contact: Mountain Climbing and Environmental Thinking.”

The 23 mountain-climbing narratives collected and contextualized in “Contact” illuminate the spectrum of human attitudes toward mountains and the natural world, and the growing symbiosis between climbing and environmental awareness.

Jeff McCarthy has climbed rock, ice and snow for 20 years, with first ascents in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, and expeditions to Africa and Asia. He was educated at Wesleyan, Edinburgh and Oregon, and has been a Fulbright Fellow to Canada, with other research fellowships at the Oregon Humanities Center, the Calgary Institute for the Humanities and the National Humanities Center.

Quinnipiac Professors Win Fulbright Grants

Pattie Belle Hastings, associate professor of interactive digital design in the College of Liberal Arts at Quinnipiac University, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to do research at the University of Oslo in Norway during the 2008-09 academic year. She will research and create interactive experiences for mobile devices.

Ronald Beckett, a respiratory care professor in Quinnipiac’s School of Health Sciences, has received a Fulbright Scholar grant to deliver a lecture series and conduct research in Ilo, Peru. Beckett, who also is co-director of the Bioanthropology Research Institute, will lecture about paleoimaging using video endoscopy, endoscopy in archeological settings and endoscopy as an adjunct to document the mummification process in the Atacama Desert. Beckett was invited by the department of bioarchaeology and forensics at the Universidad Catolica de Lima to conduct a field course for graduate students with other experts from around the world.

Hampton Professor’s Recipe for Good Health

Hampton University School of Pharmacy professor Joanne K. Morse, PhD, has a new book, How Low Can You Go?: Nutritional Limbo, that educates readers about healthy eating. Chapters include instruction on seasoning without salt, low cholesterol and protein. Recipes and a calorie calculator are available on the book's corresponding website, www.howlowcanyougobook.com.

Morse, who started college at age 38, and earned her doctorate at 47, said she wants readers to know that at any age, a change for the better is a good thing. “I changed direction and started teaching at 59. It's never too late to improve your lifestyle, and the aging process,” she said. “The younger you start, the better. This book is geared toward everyone.”

Holt Receives Conservation Award

Jack Holt, professor of biology at Susquehanna University, and his research partner, Mike Bilger, were recently named “Watershed Men of the Year” by the Snyder County Conservation District (SCCD). Holt and Bilger have been working with the Lower Penns Creek Watershed Association (LPCWA) to assess current conditions in the watershed. The pair has volunteered thousands of dollars of in-kind services to the project by training volunteers on water quality monitoring and providing technical assistance on other projects.

Simmons School of Management Advises Women Seeking For-Profit Board Membership

The Simmons School of Management found that women executives who currently serve on non-profit boards of directors actively aspire to serve on for-profit boards—where women currently are dramatically underrepresented—according to a survey of 500 successful women managers and executives. Women comprise 51 percent of the U.S. managerial work force, but less than 15 percent of board membership at large, publicly traded U.S. corporations. Research shows that Fortune 500 firms with more female board members outperform those with very few women on measures such as return on equity and return on sales.

Authors of the online survey say that the growing numbers of organizations who want more women board members need to change their traditional search procedures. And women who aspire to board membership need to develop a concrete plan to be recruited.

Study authors were Deyton and Simmons School of Management faculty members Paul Myers, Mindy Nitkin, Hugh Colaco, and Indra Guertler. For a complete look at the study, visit the Simmons web site.

Kim Traveling to Israel on Fellowship

Dr. Young-Choul Kim, assistant professor of political science at the University of Evansville, has received an Academic Fellowship on Terrorism funded by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD), a non-partisan policy institute in Washington, D.C.

In June Kim will travel with 39 other North American professors to Tel Aviv, Israel for 10 days. He will attend classroom lectures by academics, diplomats, military, intelligence officials, and politicians from Israel, Jordan, India, Turkey, and the United States, and visit military bases, border zones, and other security installations to learn the practical side of deferring terrorist attacks.

Kim, who teaches Middle East politics, said that the fellowship will enable him to teach the “latest trends in terrorists’ ideologies, motives, and operations.”

Sporting News Magazine Thinks Davis is Keen

Keno Davis, center, is interviewed after Drake won the MVC Tournament championship.

First-year Drake University coach Keno Davis, who has guided the men's basketball team to a school-record 28-4 mark, including its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament since 1971, has been named by Sporting News Magazine as its National College Basketball Coach of the Year.

Valparaiso Professor Sheds Light on Evil

Dr. Nelly Van Doorn-Harder, Patheja professor of world religions and ethics at Valparaiso University, has co-edited and contributed to a new book, “Coping with Evil in Religion and Culture,” that explores how people of different faiths imagine and cope with evil.

Dr. Van Doorn-Harder, a leading scholar of Muslim-Christian relations, contributed a chapter on the Indonesian women’s Muslim group Muhammadiyah and its ideologies of gender and marriage.

Dr. Van Doorn-Harder joined Valparaiso’s faculty in 1999 and is one of three scholars leading the Lutheran World Federation’s Committee on Interfaith, a group studying relations between Christians and Muslims around the world and preparing methods for improving dialogue between people of those faiths.

Adrenaline Rush is Basis for New Book

Wayne Johnson, writer-in-residence at Westminster College in Salt Lake City, describes his life of extreme skiing and exhilarating adventures in his latest book “White Heat: The Extreme Skiing Life” published in December 2007 by Atria Books and Simon & Schuster. Johnson, a three-time Pulitzer nominee and author of five novels, writes from his experience as a first responder with the Park City Ski Patrol team, and as a competitive ski racer and Nordic jumper. Johnson is an accomplished writer, having won several prestigious fellowships, including a Teaching-Writing Fellowship from the internationally acclaimed Writers' Workshop in Iowa City; the Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford University; and the Chesterfield Writers' Film Project fellowship from Steven Spielberg's company Amblin Entertainment.

Cooper Contributes to College Health Clinic Resource

Dr. Stewart Cooper, Director of Valparaiso University’s student counseling programs, is editor and contributor for a new book Pharmacological Treatment of College Students with Psychological Problems. He cites national studies that show 40 percent of incoming undergraduate students seeking help at college health clinics were already using prescription psychotropic drugs. The book is targeted to provide professional counselors working in a college setting with insights into best practices and procedures regarding whether or not to combine psychotherapy with medication, and when psychotherapy alone may be safer and more effective. Dr. Cooper wrote three chapters in the book, including a chapter describing the model Valparaiso follows in combining psychotherapy and medication treatments.

Miscari Argues for Child’s Play

University of Scranton professor of nursing Mary Miscari has published a book Let Kids be Kids that is a defense of what she calls a vanishing commodity—childhood. Earlier, she published two guide books for parents. Susquehanna University professor of English and creative writing, Tom Bailey, has been named the winner of the Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters fiction competition. His prize winning novel, The Grace That Keeps This World, was published last October by Shaye Areheart Books from the Crown Division of Random House and is his first novel.

Susquehanna Professor’s First Novel is a Winner

North Central College English professor Richard Guzman has published a literary anthology of sixty of Chicago’s leading African American authors, Black Writing from Chicago: In the World, Not of It? Selections are included from a range of media, e.g., poems, short stories, memoirs, essays, newspaper columns, and radio broadcast transcripts. Liam O’Brien, media production professor at Quinnipiac University, was recognized by the National Association of Broadcast Educators for his documentary, “Schweitzer: My Life is My Argument,” a project for which O’Brien was producer, director, and writer.

Who’s Who in Chicago’s Notable Black Authors

Professor of Social Work Beverly Sealey at Simmons College is one of approximately 115 Americans selected to teach or conduct research in 32 African countries during 2006-07. She will spend the year at the University of Ghana where she will continue her research on West African family culture and teach courses.WebCT has selected the online Simmons College “Faculty Institute” course from a field of 74 nominees as one of six exemplary course projects for displaying best practices in course design, meaningful technology use, and learner support. The course is designed to prepare college faculty to teach effectively online by putting faculty in the roles of both student and teacher in order to better understand how effective learning occurs.