Latest Faculty Accomplishments
News
GRANTS (awarded February 2014)
Dr. Heather Griscom (Associate Professor, Biology) received $1,500 from The American Chestnut Foundation for “Habitat Preferences of American Chestnut in an Appalachian Cove Forest.” This project will help to determine whether chestnut performs better in Appalachian cove forest habitat than in the oak-hickory forest habitat of the Ridge and Valley province and within larger gaps rather than within smaller gaps.
Kimberlee Hartzler-Weakley (Administrator, Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services) received $164,010 from the Virginia Department of Education for Migrant Education 2013-2014. Hartzler-Weakley also received a supplement of $16,941 from the Virginia Department of Education for the same project. These grants will help provide supplemental educational services to the children of migrant farm workers in collaboration with local school districts and to assess language and educational experience and progress of individual students.
Dr. Tatjana M. Hocke-Mirzashvili (Assistant Professor, Communication Studies) received $550 from Shenandoah Women’s Healthcare for “Pregnancy sense-making and prenatal healthcare decisions” to address some of the perceived shortcomings of prenatal care within the medical model.
Nick D. Swayne (Coordinator for External Relations, College of Education; Interim Director, Education Support Center; Instructor, Learning, Technology and Leadership Education) received grants of $7,200 and $2,300 from Virginia city and county donors for the Virginia/DC FIRST LEGO League to provide sponsorship of the robotics teams.
Dr. Brian C. Utter (Associate Professor, Physics and Astronomy), Joseph Mahler (Teacher in Residence, Physics and Astronomy) and Dr. David A. Slykhuis (Associate Professor; Middle, Secondary and Mathematics Education) received $235,819 from the Virginia Department of Education for “Enhancing Student Achievement Across Virginia Through Modeling Instruction.” This project will provide summer professional development to 166 Virginia science teachers in Introductory and Advanced Modeling Academics in physics, chemistry, biology and physical sciences at the 2014 Content Teaching Academy.
Dr. Jacqueline A. Williams (Professor, Kinesiology) received $54,000 from the Virginia Department of Education for The 2014 Health and Physical Activity Institute. The grant will fund high-quality health and physical education content and teaching at the institute, and will fund the Health Education, Physical Education and Driver Education Standards of Learning review team meeting.
HONORS
Daisha M. Merritt (Doctoral Student, Strategic Leadership Studies) has been selected to participate in the 2014 Academy of Management’s Doctoral Student Professional Development Consortium of the Public and Nonprofit Division. Merritt will be working with top faculty in the field on her governance study and networking with other doctoral students from around the country. Her proposal involves an endeavor to digitize IRS 990 forms of Human Service Public Charities and understand different structural measures of governance. The Academy of Management is a professional association for scholars of management and organizations.
Dr. Kenneth R. Rutherford (Director, Center for International Stabilization and Recovery; Professor, Political Science) is the 2013-2014 recipient of the Human Security Award presented by the Center for Unconventional Security Affairs at the University of California at Irvine. The Human Security Award recognizes the remarkable efforts of individuals and groups working to empower and protect the world’s most vulnerable communities.
Desirae Zingarelli-Sweet (Business Librarian, Carrier Library) received the Business Expert Press Award for Academic Business Librarians from the Reference and User Services Association. Zingarelli-Sweet was selected for her outstanding efforts in collaboration with business faculty, students, community partners, library instruction and business reference research at JMU. The RUSE Achievement Awards Ceremony and Reception will be held in June at the ALA Annual Conference in Las Vegas.
PUBLICATIONS
The late Dr. Paul E. Bierly III (Professor Emeritus, Management), Dr. Scott R. Gallagher (Head and Professor, Management; Professor, International Business) and J.-C. Spender of the Leeds University Business School wrote “Innovation decision making in high-risk organizations: A comparison of the US and Soviet attack submarine programs,” which was published in Industrial and Corporate Change by Oxford University Press in January 2014.
Dr. David Owusu-Ansah (Professor, History; Special Assistant to the President for Faculty Diversity) wrote “Historical Dictionary of Ghana, 4th Edition,” which was published by Scarecrow Press, a division of Rowman and Littlefield, in February 2014. This dictionary attempts to outline the complex course of Ghana's history since the probable human habitation at Jiman, on the Oti River.
Dr. J. Barkley Rosser (Professor, Economics) wrote a chapter in the recently published book, “Secrets of Economics Editors.” His chapter is titled “Tales from the Editors Crypt: Dealing with True, Uncertain, and False Accusations of Plagiarism.” In this book, past and present editors of economics journals discuss navigating the world of academic journals. The book was published in January 2014 by The MIT Press.
Dr. Margaret F. Sloan (Assistant Professor, Strategic Leadership Studies) wrote “The Substance of Things Hoped For: Federal Funding of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives,” which was published in Nonprofit Policy Forum. Sloan also wrote, with Wie Yusaf, “Effectual Processes in Non-profit Start-ups: Another Way to Understand Decision Making,” which was published in The American Review of Public Administration.
SERVICE
Nicole Lamoureux (Graduate student, Master’s of Occupational Therapy) has been elected vice-chairperson to the Assembly of Student Delegates of the American Occupational Therapy Association. According to program adviser, Dr. Jeffrey Loveland, Lamoureux is the JMU MOT program’s first student to run and be elected to national office. She will travel to Baltimore in April for the ASD annual meeting during the AOTA Annual Conference and Exposition. The AOTA is the national professional association to represent the interests and concerns of occupational therapy practitioners and students of occupational therapy and to improve the quality of occupational therapy services. The ASD provides a mechanism for the expression of student concerns, and offers a means whereby students can have effective input into AOTA affairs. The ASD also encourages the development of student’s leadership skills and political awareness.
