Latest Faculty Accomplishments
News
Submit scholarly news—publications, paper presentations and professional awards and service (appointment to boards, etc.)—to Janet Smith in Public Affairs at smithjl@jmu.edu or 568-8008.
GRANTS (awarded Feb. 2013)
Emily K. Akerson (Associate Director, Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services) and Jane Hubbell (Associate Director, Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services) received two grants from Rockingham Memorial Hospital – $130,315 for "Healthy Families Page County-RMH Support" and $130,315 for "Healthy families Shenandoah County-RMH Support" to provide integrated activities and services that are designed to improve the well-being, increase the permanency and ensure the safety of children who are in or at risk being place in an out-of-home placement as a result of a parent’s or caretaker’s substance abuse. Akerson and Hubbell also received $2,000 from Page Memorial Hospital for "Healthy Families Page County-Page Memorial Hospital Support" to provide written and video materials and supportive education to at least 100 new and expectant parents regarding Shaken Baby Syndrome, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome and other serious early childhood health and safety issues.
Dr. David F. Brakke (Dean, College of Science and Mathematics; Professor, Biology and Geology and Environmental Science) received $35,021 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for "Smith Creek Virginia Headwaters Brook Trout Restoration: Phase II" to make substantial improvements in the brook trout resources in the eastern United States by converting riparian and upland pastures to bottomland and upland forests.
Dr. Timothy J. Carter (Head, Department of Sociology and Anthropology; Professor, Sociology) received $9,475 from the Shenandoah Valley Battlefields Foundation for "Middle Field Historical Archaeological Project" to focus on locating the historic north-south fence line and evaluate the adjoining terrain to search for evidence of associated military action including the possible placement of XIXth Corps battle lines.
Dr. Costel Constantin (Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy) received $3,000 from Nanoscale Informal Science Education for "Shenandoah Valley Nanoscience Outreach Collaboration" to help K-12 teachers incorporate nanoscience concepts and applications into the framework of Virginia’s Standards of Learning for Science.
Dr. Scott J. Hammond (Professor, Political Science) received the JMU Faculty Emeriti Association’s Legacy Grant in August 2012.
Kimberlee Hartzler-Weakley (Administrator, Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services) received $11,150 from Page County Public Schools for "Gus Bus Site Visits" to provide weekly support in the surrounding area to encourage early learning and literacy.
Dr. Christy L. Ludlow (Professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders) received $78,645 from the National Institutes of Health for "Dystonia Coalition: Validity and Reliability of Diagnostic Methods and Measures of Spasmodic Dysphonia-Year 4" to develop and validate tools to diagnose Spasmodic Dysphonia, measure severity and determine the impact of SD on disability and quality of life via a multicenter clinical study.
Amber N. McBride (IT Specialist, Furious Flower Poetry Center) received $500 from the Target Corporation for "The Furious Flower Reading Club-Target Headquarters" to use the upcoming Tribute to Toni Morrison to establish a reading club that invites students, parents and faculty members from area high schools to read and discuss poetry and prose as a community.
Dr. Edwin M. O’Shea (Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Statistics) and Dr. Eva M. Strawbridge (Assistant Professor, Mathematics and Statistics) received two grants from the Center for Undergraduate Research in Mathematics – $3,125 for "A Multiscale Model of Wiggling Worms" to investigate the locomotion of the nematode worm Caenorhabdidis elegans to explore how molecular level mechanics are converted into organismal motility and $3,125 for "Geometry of Integer Partitions" to study another potential generalization of Euler’s result called the "Alder conjectures" by utilizing techniques coming from the enumeration of lattice points in polyhedra.
Remy M. Pangle (Outreach and Education Director, Virginia Center for Wind Energy) received $5,000 from the Dominion Foundation for "Virginia Kid Wind Challenge" to support the challenge, allowing students to compete in constructing wind turbines to generate the most electricity while learning about the advantages of wind energy.
HONORS
Dr. Jonathan W. Keller (Associate Professor, Political Science) received the 2012-2013 Madison Scholar Award for the College of Arts and Letters.
Dr. David Pruett (Professor Emeritus, Mathematics and Statistics) was selected by Choice Reviews Online for his academic work with its Outstanding Academic Titles status. Pruett’s book, "Reason and Wonder: A Copernican Revolution in Science and Spirit," which was published by Praeger in 2012, was one of this year’s 10 recipients in the category Science and Technology.
PUBLICATIONS
Dr. Jonathan W. Keller (Associate Professor, Political Science) and Dennis M. Foster wrote an article, "Presidential Leadership Style and the Political Use of Force," which was published in the October 2012 issue of Political Psychology.
Dr. Denise C. Perritt (Associate Professor, Strategic Leadership Studies) wrote an article, "Using Faculty Survey Data to Make School Improvement Decisions: One School’s Story," which was published in the National Teacher Education Journal 6 (1) in February 2013.
