UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Mike Dooris, former executive director of the Office of Planning and Institutional Assessment (OPIA) at Penn State and retired affiliate faculty in Education Policy Studies, is the 2016 recipient of the North East Association for Institutional Research’s (NEAIR) Distinguished Service Award.
The award recognizes an individual who has made significant and substantial contributions to the field of institutional research, the professional development of NEAIR colleagues and the vitality and success of NEAIR as an organization.
“Mike’s nomination specifically highlights his mentoring and in particular, the fact that every one of his scholarly contributions to the profession included another colleague, frequently a junior colleague or student,” said Mark Palladino, director of institutional research at Philadelphia University and NEAIR president. “He was a frequent volunteer in NEAIR’s mentoring program and mentored countless colleagues in the profession over nearly two decades as an active NEAIR member.”
Dooris spent 34 years with Penn State before retiring in March 2015. Prior to being named executive director of OPIA in 2011, he was the director of planning research and assessment and held positions in the University Budget Office and Academic Affairs. Dooris also served as an affiliate associate professor of education in the College of Education’s Higher Education Program, the same program from which he received his doctoral degree in 1992.
“Mike is the embodiment of the ‘professional citizenship’ ethic that the Distinguished Service Award was created to recognize,” said his colleague Patrick Terenzini, distinguished professor emeritus of education.
The award will be presented to Dooris at the NEAIR Annual Conference on Nov. 14 in Baltimore.