Faculty and Staff Notes

Of Note...

Braden Named Interim CHASS Dean

Jeffery P. Braden has been named interim dean of the College of Humanities and Social
Sciences (CHASS). He succeeds Toby L. Parcel, who is returning to the faculty in the CHASS Department of Sociology and Anthropology.

Braden will step down from his current position as associate dean for research and graduate studies within the college. He will serve as interim dean until a new dean is appointed.

In addition to serving as associate dean for research, Braden is a professor in the Department of Psychology. He has been on the CHASS faculty since 2003 and directed the School Psychology Program from 2004 to 2007. Read More.

Brookins Receives Minority Mentoring Award

Craig Brookins, associate professor of psychology, earned the ethnic minority mentoring award from the American Psychological Association.

21 Graduate from Equal Opportunity Institute

Twenty-one individuals recently graduated from the university's Equal Opportunity Institute (EOI). The EOI is a certificate program open to all NC State faculty, staff, students, and to the general public. The institute is designed to provide participants a means for developing a comprehensive understanding of equal opportunity issues. The 2007-08 graduates include:

• Jon Barnwell, Campus Police
• Karen Blackmond, Graduate School
• Michael Bumbry, University Housing, graduate student, higher education
• Sherrie Byrd, Rex Healthcare
• Sherlonda Clarke, University Housing
• Megan Delph, University Housing, graduate student, agricultural education
• Ebony Ebron, University Housing
• Mike Ellis, First Year College
• Kristina Hawkins, Environmental Health & Safety
• Vanessa Hicks, African-American Cultural Center
• Elizabeth Jones, Rex Healthcare
• Selby Lo, student, biological sciences
• Rebekah McLaurin, Rex Healthcare, student
• Wendy Brown-Nelson, Provost's Office
• Paul Neubert, University Housing, graduate student, higher education administration
• Randy Phelps, Facilities Operations
• Jill Pisano, student, Business Management
• Elizabeth Snively, Office for Equal Opportunity
• Joy Tongsri, Parks Scholarships
• Jessica Tucker, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Personnel
• Kristen Will, Campus Police

Gamma Sigma Delta Honors CALS Faculty

Five College of Agriculture and Life Sciences faculty members became members of Gamma Sigma Delta, the Honor Society of Agriculture, during the society's recent 54th Initiation Program and Awards Banquet.

Faculty initiates were Bob Edwards, North Carolina Cooperative Extension North Central District director; Dr. Candace Haigler, professor of crop science and plant biology; Dr. Steven Lommel, interim associate dean for research, CALS, and assistant vice chancellor for research; Dr. Thearon McKinney, associate department head and associate state 4-H leader, Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family and Consumer Sciences; and Dr. James Moyer, head, Department of Plant Pathology.

Four Individuals Selected as Fulbright Scholars

Three faculty members and one graduate student have been chosen to participate in the Fulbright Scholar program to study and teach abroad during the 2008-09 academic year.

• Dr. Tony K. Stewart, professor of south Asian religions and literatures, has received one of only 22 Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad awards given this year. Stewart will spend the 2009 calendar year in Bangladesh working on a research project, "Romance of the Pirs: Popular Visions of Muslim Community in Early Modern Bengal," which focuses on the religious traditions (Hindu and Muslim) of the early modern Bengal region.

• Dr. Elizabethann O'Sullivan, associate professor of public administration, has received a teaching and research fellowship that will send her to Malaysia, where her work will focus on international nongovernmental organizations and Malaysian public agencies.

• Dr. Ronald V. Fodor, professor of geology, has received an award to travel to Hungary for the spring semester of 2009 to teach graduate geology courses at Eotvos Lorand Technical University in Budapest.

• Yiyi Wong, who will receive her master's degree in marine science in August, will be traveling to the Institute for Estuarine and Coastal Studies in Shanghai to continue her research on the global carbon cycle and focus on the interaction between the atmospheric and ocean interfaces.

Fulbright grants are awarded each year to leading researchers, teachers and administrators at universities worldwide, allowing the recipients to travel, conduct research and teach abroad at host universities for up to one year.

Miller Wins National Distance Learning Award

Dr. Tom Miller, vice provost for Distance Education and Learning Technology Applications (DELTA), received the outstanding leadership by an individual in the field of distance learning by the United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA). The award was presented in conjunction with the USDLA 2008 National Conference in St. Louis. Read More.

Narayan Receives Eisenhower Fellowship

Rajeev Narayan, associate director of the Kenan Institute for Engineering, Technology & Science, has received the Research Triangle International Leadership Initiative Fellowship from Eisenhower Fellowships.

As an Eisenhower Fellow, Narayan will travel on a six-week individualized professional program to Brazil and Argentina where he will investigate innovative programs and meet with individuals and organizations doing cutting edge work in the areas of applied research, technology commercialization, K-12 science and math education, and public policy.

Eisenhower Fellowships is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization which seeks to foster international understanding and leadership through the exchange of information, ideas, and perspectives among emerging leaders throughout the world. For more information, visit the Eisenhower Fellowships Web site.

Sobrero Named Associate Vice Chancellor

Dr. Patricia Sobrero, professor of agricultural and extension education at Virginia Tech, has been named associate vice chancellor for extension, engagement, and economic development.

Warren  Appointed Director of McKimmon Center

Alice S. Warren has been named assistant vice chancellor and director of the McKimmon Center for Extension and Continuing Education for the Office of Extension, Engagement, and Economic Development.

White Named Director for Economic Development Partnership

Thomas J. White, director of business and industry for the Division of Workforce Development with the North Carolina Department of Commerce, has been named director of the economic development partnership for the Office of Extension, Engagement, and Economic Development.

In Print...

Swarts' Paper Named Best Article by Technical Communication Journal

Jason Swarts, associate professor of technical communication, wrote "Mobility and Composition: The Architecture of Coherence in Non-Places," which was named the best article of 2007 in Technical Communication Quarterly.

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