Skip to main content Skip to navigation
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Honors and achievements

Members of the College of Arts and Sciences community do excellent work that is recognized across the University and around the world.

Spread the good news about your accomplishments using this simple online form.

Greg AtkinsGregory Atkins, doctoral candidate, history, authored “Creating the Western Resort City: Boosters and Their Use of Religion in Colorado Springs, 1871-1909,” accepted for presentation at the Western History Association’s 2015 conference in Portland, Ore.

Gerald BerthiaumeGerald Berthiaume, professor, music, was selected to deliver the 2015 WSU Showcase Distinguished Faculty Address, “From the Practice Room to the Stage: Do Your Research.” Berthiaume, who was recently named a Foundation Fellow by the Music Teachers National Association, also recently released a new CD, Struck By Lightning, on the peer-reviewed WSU Recordings label. Among premiere recordings of works by Northwest composers is the title composition, “Struck by Lightning,” by Greg Yasinitsky, Regents professor and director, music.

Nancy BellNancy Bell, associate professor, English, will deliver two coauthored presentations based on an invited paper for the inaugural issue of the EuroAmerican Journal of Applied Linguistics and Languages: “Re-conceptualizing Language Teaching through Humor and Language Play” at the American Association for Applied Linguistics; and “Crossing Borders between Serious and Playful Language: Strategies for Teaching” at the Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) International Convention.

Ruth BodenRuth Boden, assistant professor, music, released a new CD, Off the Cuff, on the peer-reviewed WSU Recordings label.

Nicholas CerrutiKathleen McAteerNicholas Cerruti, senior instructor, physics and astronomy, and Kathleen McAteer, clinical assistant professor, biological sciences, and assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs, WSU Tri-Cities, are recipients of the 2015 WSU President’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Non-tenure Track Faculty.

Aurora ClarkAlex SamuelsYasaman GhadarAurora Clark, associate professor, and Alex Samuels and Yasaman Ghadar, and PhD candidates, chemistry, coauthored “Solutes at the liquid: liquid phase boundary-solubility and solvent conformational response alter interfacial microsolvation,” in the Journal of Chemical Physics.

Bill CondonBill Condon, professor, English, delivered an invited lecture, “DIY/WAC: Increasing Engagement, Boosting Critical Thinking, and Helping Students Join a Disciplinary Discourse Community” at Rice University’s Center for Teaching Excellence.

Sheila Kearney ConverseSheila Kearney Converse, clinical associate professor, music, received the 2014-15 Samuel H. Smith Leadership Award from the WSU Association for Faculty Women, which recognizes “an AFW member whose leadership has advanced the role of women in the WSU system and/or who has demonstrated leadership in higher education, the community, or her profession at the local, state, regional, national, or international level.”

Paula CoomerPaula Coomer, instructor, English, authored the poem “Halls in our Blood,” which is to appear in a new anthology Teaching as a Human Experience (Cambridge Scholars Publishing).

Ann-Marie GoochAnn Marie Gooch, finance/personnel manager, dean’s office, was honored with a 2015 WSU President’s Employee Excellence Award, which recognizes outstanding contributions in work quality, efficiency, productivity, problem solving, work relations, and community service.

Desiree HellegersDesiree Hellegers, associate professor, English, WSU Vancouver, authored a new play, No Room of Her Own: Women’s Stories of Homelessness, Life, Death and Resistance, based on her 2011 book of the same name and slated for production in late spring/early summer in Portland, Ore. Hellegers will deliver the annual Values-based Lecture at Georgetown University, “Disposable Bodies: Homelessness, the War on the Poor, and Death on the Streets of Livable City USA,” and her article “From Poisson Road to Poison Road: Mapping the Toxic Trail of Windigo Capital in Linda Hogan’s Solar Storms” is forthcoming in SAIL (Studies in American Indian Literature).

Joseph HerreraJoseph Herrera, doctoral candidate, critical culture, gender, and race studies, authored a chapter “Hmm… Abortions for Some, Miniature American Flags for Others: The Simpsons, Cultural Memory, and Unpaid Labor Behind ‘Oogle Goggles'” in the edited collection The Simpsons Did It! Postmodernity in Yellow.

George HinmanGeorge Hinman, professor emeritus, environment, was named winner of the 2015 WSU Emeritus Society Legacy of Excellence Award in recognition of his sustained contributions to academia, exemplary personal accomplishments, and continued service to the University and humanity.

Christine Horne

Christine Horne, professor, sociology, coauthored “Lab Experiments in Demographic Fieldwork: Understanding Gender Dynamics in Africa” in Demographic Research, and “Does Education Mitigate the Negative Effects of Bridewealth on Women’s Reproductive Autonomy” in Genus.

Larry Hufford, professor and director, biological sciences, was named WSU’s Outstanding Department Chair/School Director of 2015.

Lois JamesDavid BrodyZach HamiltonLois James, assistant research professor, David Brody, professor, and Zachary Hamilton, assistant professor, criminal justice and criminology, were recognized in the American Psychological Association’s Psychology of Violence for authoring one of the 10 best violence research articles of 2013: “Risk factors for domestic violence during pregnancy: A meta-analytic review.”

Erik JohnsonErik W. Johnson, assistant professor, sociology, published “Toward international comparative research on associational activity: Variation in the form and focus of voluntary associations in four nations” in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly.

Michael Johnson, critical culture, gender, and race studiesMichael Johnson, instructor, critical culture, gender, and race studies, will present “Racial Homophily and Homogeneity as Post-Racial Commodification on Broke Straight Boys TV” at the Society for Cinema and Media Studies annual conference. Johnson also will present “Familial Arrhythmias in the Reynolds Family: A Study of Queer Kinship Relations on It’s Always Sunny” at the National Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association conference.

Julie KmecAmy WhartonSociology professors Julie A. Kmec and Amy S. Wharton, director, arts and sciences, WSU Vancouver, coauthored “Academic Parents and Pro-Work Behaviors: How Does Departmental Culture Matter?” in Disrupting the Culture of Silence: Confronting Gender Inequality and Making Change in Higher Education (Stylus Publishing).

Paul KwonPaul Kwon, associate professor, psychology, was appointed associate editor of the journal Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, published by the American Psychological Association.

Jorge MoragaJorge E. Moraga, doctoral candidate, critical culture, gender, and race studies, authored “You Made El Team-O: Complicating the Framing of the NBA’s Noche Latina” to appear in a special issue of Social Inclusion titled “Sport for Social Inclusion: Critical Analyses and Future Challenges” (Cogitatio Press). Moraga also recently was awarded a Graduate Student Conference Fellowship from the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education.

Clayton Mosher
Mosher

Clayton Mosher, professor, sociology, WSU Vancouver, and Scott Akins (PhD ’02) coauthored two articles: “From ‘Just Say No!’ to ‘Well, Maybe’—The War on Drugs & Sensible Alternatives” in Criminal Justice Policy (Sage Publications); and “Medical Marijuana in Science and Politics: An A to Z Guide” in Issues and Controversies (CQ Press).

Michael MyersMichael Myers, professor, politics, philosophy, and public affairs, authored The Pacific War and Contingent Victory: Why Japanese Defeat Was Not Inevitable (University Press of Kansas).

Ken NashKen Nash, professor, chemistry, received the 2015 WSU Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Research, Scholarship, and Arts.

Thomas RotoloThomas Rotolo, professor, sociology, coauthored two articles: “Informal Lending Networks in Rural Ethiopia” in Social Networks; and “Social Heterogeneity and Volunteering in U.S. Cities” in Sociological Forum.

Linda RussoLinda Russo, clinical associate professor, English, authored Participant, a book of poetry selected as a semi-finalist for Fordham University’s Poets Out Loud Prize.

Veronica SandovolVeronica Sandoval, doctoral student, critical culture, gender, and race studies, authored the poem “How to be La Llorona for the City of Sullivan that has no Sidewalks” in New Border Voices: An Anthology (Texas A&M University Press). Sandoval authored five other poems published under her pen name, Lady Mariposa, in Volutions: 2014 Savant Poetry Anthology, which was named runner-up in the Pacific Rim Book Festival and earned honorable mention awards in the London Book Festival and the Los Angeles Book Festival.

Brian SharplessBrian Sharpless, assistant professor, psychology, authored “Exploding head syndrome is common in college students” in the Journal of the European Sleep Research Society.

Marina TolmachevaMarina Tolmacheva, professor, history, was an invited participant in the Second World Conference on the History of King Abdulaziz at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Tolmacheva’s other recent international activities include publication of two articles: “Two East African Toponyms: a Case Study in Intercultural Transmission of Knowledge” in Studies of the Department of African Languages and Cultures (Warsaw University Press, Poland); and “American-Model College Education Comes to Kuwait,” in Second International Symposium ‘Modern Literature and Applied Linguistics: American and British Studies’ (Ministry of Education and Science, Kiev, Ukraine).

Roger WhitsonRoger Whitson, assistant professor, English, presented both “A Media Archaeology of Circuits” and “Steampunk Recursions and Computational Retrofutures in Bioshock Infinite” at the 2015 Modern Language Association conference in Vancouver, Wash.

Greg YasinitskyThe WSU Jazz Big Band, under the direction of Greg Yasinitsky, professor and director, music, received an Outstanding Performance award at the 2015 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho in Moscow. The band also was selected to perform in the festival’s Young Artists Concert.