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College of Arts and Sciences External Honor/Award

AAAS Fellow honors for WSU faculty

Monica Johnson-KirkpatrickMonica Kirkpatrick Johnson, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, is one of three WSU faculty named as Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The honor, bestowed upon AAAS members by their peers, recognizes Johnson for her “distinguished contributions to research on life course development focusing on how adolescents transitioning into adulthood is impacted by different social relationships and economic resources.”

She is a leading researcher in understanding well-being and achievement in adolescence and the transition to adulthood, serves on the editorial board for four » More …

Mullendore receives ASPIRE award

Daniel Mullendore and Susan Stoddard Daniel Mullendore, staff scientist with the WSU Franceschi Microscopy and Imaging Center and a graduate of the School of Biological Sciences PhD program, recently received a TRIO Achiever Award from the Association of Special Programs in Region Eight (ASPIRE).

Federally funded by the U.S. Department of Education, TRIO programs provide services and resources to promote access to higher education. The annual ASPIRE awards recognize former TRIO participants who have become leaders in their professions. » More …

History professor emerita teaching in Kazakhstan on Fulbright Fellowship

Maria TomachevaMarina Tolmacheva, WSU professor emerita of history and an expert in Islamic and world history, has been awarded a four-month Fulbright Fellowship to teach and consult on academic development at KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Tolmacheva recently began teaching courses on Central Asian history in the context of world history to graduate and undergraduate students at KIMEP, a North American-style independent university, formerly known as Kazakhstan Institute of » More …

Debut book earns prestigious honor

Aaron N. OforleaAaron Oforlea’s first book, James Baldwin, Toni Morrison and the Rhetorics of Black Male Subjectivity, has earned the College Language Association’s Creative Scholarship Award for 2018. The international honor, whose previous winners include renowned scholars from Harvard, Penn and Stanford, recognizes excellence in literary criticism and is awarded at the organization’s annual convention.. The nominations » More …

Psychology professor named Group Psychologist of the Year

David Marcus holding a book titled, "The Dark Side of Personality"David Marcus, professor and chair of the Department of Psychology, was named Group Psychologist of the Year by the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Society of Group Psychology and Group Psychotherapy (Division 49).

The award recognizes Marcus’s fundamental contributions to the understanding of how people behave within the groups to which they belong and how they are affected by those groups, which include naturally formed cliques and friendships, organizational units, and self-help, therapy, and learning groups. » More …

STEM mentoring program earns national award

WSU’s Team Mentoring Program receiving the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring in Washington, D.C.The prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring recently bestowed upon WSU’s Team Mentoring Program in Washington, D.C., has brought about immense pride, increased interest in the program, and an opportunity to provide input on the nation’s strategic plan for STEM education.

Manuel Acevedo, director of WSU’s Multicultural Student Services and point-person for Team Mentoring Program (TMP), traveled to Washington, D.C., in June to accept the award from the National Science Foundation, which administers » More …

Chemistry prof to lead PAC-12 Academic Coalition

exterior of building with trees and large lawnAmy Nielsen, clinical assistant professor in chemistry and executive secretary of the WSU Faculty Senate, has been elected to a three-year term as executive director of the PAC-12 Academic Leadership Coalition.

The mission of the PAC-12 Academic Leadership Coalition is to improve the effectiveness and responsiveness of each member school’s shared governance organization and to facilitate » More …

Artist named an Oregon Hallie Ford Fellow

Avantika BawaThe Ford Family Foundation has named Avantika Bawa, associate professor of fine arts, as one of five Oregon Hallie Ford Fellows in the Visual Arts for 2018.

The foundation praised Bawa for her work “at the intersection of geographic, architectural and cultural differences in landscape, influenced by minimalism with an emphasis on reductive form, modularity and experimentation with scale. She is particularly known for her dedication to researching and responding to sites, often through wall drawings, paintings and » More …

Grad student selected as AAAS Congressional Science Fellow

Kathryn Harris Kathryn Harris, a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology, has received an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science & Technology Policy Fellowship for the 2018-19 year.

Fellows are provided a transformative career opportunity within the federal policy arena that includes not only hands-on work with policymaking, but also a series of trainings and » More …

Music professor wins American Prize for jazz composition

Greg YasinitskyGreg Yasinitsky, Regents professor and director of the WSU School of Music is the winner of the 2017-18 The American Prize in Composition in the pops/light music division.

Yasinitsky’s composition “Jazz Concerto for Piano and Orchestra” was selected over applications from across the United States. It is a “third stream work which blends classical music and jazz,” he said. » More …