Latest Faculty Accomplishments
News
GRANTS (Awarded in February)
Dr. Kenneth E. Barron (Professor, Psychology) received $50,000 from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching to form an improvement team to bring academic research on the psycho-social factors that affect learning together with the discipline of improvement science methods to design valuable classroom experiences.
Dr. Dennis B. Blanton (Assistant Professor, Anthropology) received $1,962 from the city of Staunton to conduct an archaeological survey of the area around the reconstructed Montgomery Hall residence in the city.
Jaclyn D. Carroll (Graduate Student, Communication Studies) received a travel grant to present “Soysage gests and the fragile sex: Paranoid eating in men's health magazine” at the Western States Communication Association Convention in Spokane, Wash., Feb. 20-24.
Dr. Costel Constantin (Assistant Professor, Physics and Astronomy) received $13,588 from the National Science Foundation to study the surface topography, morphology and elemental composition of PEDOT:PSS nanolayers as a function of thickness with atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy.
Alex Davenport (Graduate Student, Communication Studies) received a travel grant to present “Problematic Populations, Critiquing and Repairing a Sierra Club Program The Rhetorical Construction of Queer Motherhood: Investigating the Rhetoric of Judy Bonds” at the Western States Communication Association Convention in Spokane, Wash., Feb. 20-24.
Diane L. Halke (Development Director and Assistant Manager, WMRA) received $136,944 from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to provide a community service grant for public radio.
Kimberlee Hartzler-Weakley (Director of Children and Youth, Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Services) received $172,157 from the Virginia Department of Education to provide specialized medical, psychological, psychosocial, educational and speech/language/audiology services to children and young adults under the age of 21.
Joshua Kingett (Graduate Student, Public Administration) received a travel grant to present “Step It Up: Improving Health & Nutrition Outcomes for At-Risk Youth” at the Beyond School Hours National Conference in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 18-21.
Joyce H. Krech (Director, Small Business Development Center) received $2,500 from Rockbridge County to support the Small Business Development Center.
Remy M. Pangle (Associate Director and Education and Outreach Coordinator, Integrated Science and Technology) received $20,000 from the Dominion Foundation to raise awareness and improve public perception of wind energy.
Mark Pataky (Graduate Student, Kinesiology) received a travel grant to present “The influence of caffeine ingestion and mouth rinsing on 3km cycling performance” at the Southeast American College of Sports Medicine in Jacksonville, Fla., Feb. 13.
Dr. Kenneth R. Rutherford (Director, Center for International Stabilization and Recovery; Professor, Political Science) received $441,302 from the U.S. Department of State to provide a three-week senior managers’ course in Vietnam on explosive remnants of war (ERW) and mine action to support national programs in Southeast Asia.
Alexandra Short (Graduate Student, Communication Sciences and Disorders) received a travel grant to present “Relative weight of temporal envelope for speech perception across speech frequency regions in children & adults” at the Association for Research in Otolaryngology Midwinter Meeting in Baltimore, Feb. 21-25.
Dr. Rhonda M. Zingraff (Associate Dean, College of Health and Behavioral Studies; Director, Institute for Innovation in Health and Human Servces), Cheryl Henderson (Co-director and Instructor, Training and Technical Assistance Center) and John McNaught (Co-director and Instructor, Training and Technical Assistance Center) received $206,766 from the Virginia Department of Education to continue to support state directed and regional/local activities for the Virginia Department of Education Training/Technical Assistance Centers.
HONORS
Dr. B.J. Bryson (Professor, Social Work) and Dr. Lisa McGuire (Head and Associate Professor, Social Work) were honored by the Women’s Council of the Council on Social Work Education meeting for their contributions as mentors in the field of social work. Bryson was nominated by her mentee Dr. Victoria Anyikwa, whom she taught at Barry University in Miami Shores. McGuire was nominated by her mentee Dr. Kathy Lay, whom she met while working at Indiana University.
PRESENTATIONS
Dr. Edward J. Brantmeier (Associate Professor, Learning, Technology and Leadership Education; Assistant Director, Center for Faculty Innovation) presented an interactive lecture titled “Toward a critical peace education for sustainability” at Georgetown University for their Master’s in Conflict Resolution Program on Feb. 13.
Dr. Mark Peterson (Assistant Professor, Rare Books and Research Services) spoke at a Renaissance Print Culture – Aldine Quincentennial Symposium at the Newberry Library.
Dr. Kenneth R. Rutherford (Director, Center for international Stabilization and Recovery; Professor, Political Science) presented “Dangerous Urban Development: Spontaneous and Unplanned Ammunition Stockpile Explosions” on Jan. 20 at the International Student Conference on Global Citizenship at Parahyangan Catholic University in Bandung, Indonesia. Rutherford also presented “Decreasing the Risk of Man-Made Disaster and Lessons Learned to Nullify the Hazard of Natural Catastrophe” on Feb. 20 at the International Studies Association Annual Conference in New Orleans.
Dr. Jennifer A. Taylor (Assistant Professor, Political Science) presented results from the 2014 Military Lifestyle Survey to the Joint Military Family Caucus, Department of Defense, the White House Joining Forces Initiative and Veterans Service Organizations Sept. 16, 2014, at the U.S. Capitol Atrium.
Dr. Stephen J. Whitmeyer (Associate Professor, Geology and Environmental Science) organized a session of the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in San Jose, Calif., on Feb. 15. The session was titled “Geospatial Innovations in Imaging Information Intelligently” and featured six panelists. Dr. Robert A. Kolvoord (Dean, College of Integrated Science and Engineering) presented “Using Geospatial Technologies to Help K-12 Students Image and Analyze Information” at the session.
PUBLICATIONS
Dr. Barbara A. Reisner (Professor, Chemistry and Biochemistry) published two articles, “In-Depth Coursework in Undergraduate Inorganic Chemistry: Results from a National Survey of Inorganic Chemistry Faculty” and “Foundation Coursework in Undergraduate Inorganic Chemistry: Results from a National Survey of Inorganic Chemistry Faculty” in the Journal of Chemical Education with Dr. Jeffrey R. Raker, Dr. Sheila R. Smith, Dr. Joanne L. Stewart, Dr. Johanna L. Crane, Dr. Les Pesterfield and Dr. Sabrina B. Sobel.
The articles examine the diversity of content taught in undergraduate inorganic chemistry classes.
Dr. David A. Stringham (Assistant Professor, School of Music) published a book chapter, “Engaging Students in Instrumental Music Assessment,” in “Engaging Musical Practices: A Sourcebook for Instrumental Music.”
Dr. Jennifer A. Taylor (Assistant Professor, Political Science) published “Are We Really On the Same Page? An Empirical Examination of Value Congruence Between Public and Nonprofit Managers” in January in VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations with Dr. Katrina Miller-Stevens and Dr. John C. Morris. The article addresses differences in values between private and nonprofit organizations and the importance placed on those values.
SERVICE
Jonathan R. Alger (President) was appointed as Virginia’s representative to the American Association of State Colleges and Universities’ Council of State Representatives, a body that helps formulate AASCU’s public policy agenda and interacts with federal policymakers. This appointment will allow JMU to have a greater voice at the national level in federal higher education policy.
