UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The College of Health and Human Development announced its Faculty and Staff Awards for 2014. A reception honoring the awardees will be held Nov. 13 at the Bennett Pierce Living Center in Henderson Building.
The recipients are:
The Carol Clark Ford Staff Achievement Award: Jodi Heaton, administrative support coordinator for the Department of Biobehavioral Health
Heaton’s duties include supervising departmental staff, serving as administrative assistant to the Biomarker Core Laboratory, overseeing general and research budgets for the department, and working with the department head to plan the yearly departmental budget. She joined biobehavioral health in 1992.
This award recognizes outstanding achievement by a staff, clerical, or technical service employee of the college who “makes it easier for others to accomplish their objectives effectively and efficiently.” The award was endowed by Donald H. Ford, dean emeritus of the former College of Human Development, in honor of his wife Carol Clark Ford.
The Carol Clark Ford Staff Achievement Award: Brenda Oberlin, administrative support assistant for the School of Hospitality Management
Oberlin has served as the administrative assistant to the director in the School of Hospitality Management since 2003. In this role she greets visitors and monitors phone calls for the director’s office; attains airfare reservations through the University’s travel system; secures lodging on campus for visitors to the school; generates the school’s acknowledgements for all donations, scholarships and endowments; and manages data and prepares reports from the faculty application.
This award recognizes outstanding achievement by a staff, clerical, or technical service employee of the college who “makes it easier for others to accomplish their objectives effectively and efficiently.” The award was endowed by Donald H. Ford, dean emeritus of the former College of Human Development, in honor of his wife Carol Clark Ford.
The Evelyn R. Saubel Faculty Award: Jeffrey Heim, senior instructor of hospitality management and internship coordinator at the School of Hospitality Management
Jeffrey Heim has served as adviser and instructor in the School of Hospitality Management since 2005. He formally advises roughly 40 students and informally advises hundreds of others, in addition to serving as adviser of the school’s largest student organization, the Penn State Hotel & Restaurant Society. He also teaches various hospitality courses.
This award recognizes faculty members for service to students. Among its criteria are a commitment to human service; accessibility as an adviser; and a caring, professional style. The award was established in honor of Evelyn Saubel, a 1935 alumna in home economics and a longtime assistant to the dean in the former colleges of Home Economics and Human Development.
The Evelyn R. Saubel Faculty Award: Elizabeth “Lisa” Myers, academic adviser in the Department of Kinesiology
Elizabeth “Lisa” Myers has served as an academic adviser for students pursuing the kinesiology major since 2002. In 2010, she became coordinator of the department’s advising center. In these roles she supervises, mentors and motivates three academic advisers and a staff assistant. She was nominated for the Excellence in Advising Award at Penn State in 2008, 2011 and 2012 by students. Myers advised nearly 2,300 students between 2011 and 2013.
This award recognizes faculty members for service to students. Among its criteria are a commitment to human service; accessibility as an adviser; and a caring, professional style. The award was established in honor of Evelyn Saubel, a 1935 alumna in home economics and a longtime assistant to the dean in the former colleges of Home Economics and Human Development.
The Leadership in Outreach Scholarship Award: Peter Bordi, associate professor of hospitality management and director of the Center for Food Innovation in the School of Hospitality Management
Peter Bordi has served as director of the Center for Food Innovation within the School of Hospitality Management which has been widely recognized for setting the standard for taste research in the U.S. food industry, since 2004. He is also an associate professor of Hospitality Management. Bordi is recognized as an international expert in the area of research pertaining to food innovation in commercial food service organizations. He also holds the International Certified Food Scientist certification through the Institute of Food Technologies in Chicago, Illinois.
This award honors an individual who has made significant leadership contributions to the outreach mission of the college.
The Diversity Achievement Award: Joyce Ann Hopson-King, director of diversity enhancement in the Department of Diversity Enhancement
As assistant to the dean and director of diversity enhancement programs in the College of Health and Human Development, Joyce Ann Hopson-King is responsible for college-wide leadership, coordination, development and implementation of programs and policies that enhance recruitment, retention and graduation of undergraduate and graduate students from under-represented groups. Additionally, Hopson-King provides advisory and collaborative functions with administrative and academic units within the college and other university offices in efforts to advance diversity issues across the university.
This award recognizes a person who demonstrates commitment to the value of diversity and has been instrumental in creating or facilitating a climate of inclusiveness in the college.
The College of Health and Human Development Alumni Society Excellence in Teaching Award: Jim Pawelczyk, associate professor of physiology and kinesiology in the Department of Kinesiology
Jim Pawelczyk teaches KINES 350 - Exercise Physiology, to roughly 170 students as part of the required core curriculum. Additionally, he teaches two smaller elective courses he developed himself: KINES 425 - Applied Cardiovascular Physiology and KINES 497 - Ergogenic Aids. At the graduate level, Pawelczyk has team taught PHSIO 571 - Animal Physiology and delivered guest lectures in a number of courses, including KINES 588 and multiple courses in aerospace engineering. He has taught at Penn State for 19 years.
This award honors a faculty member for excellence in teaching and contributions to the art of teaching. It is supported by an endowment from the Health and Human Development Alumni Society.
The Evan G. and Helen G. Pattishall Outstanding Research Achievement Award: Dennis Scanlon, professor of health policy and administration and director of the Center for Health Care Policy and Research in the Department of Health Policy and Administration
As professor and director of the Center for Health Care and Policy Research in the Department of Health Policy and Administration, Dennis Scanlon’s research focuses on the use of information and incentives to improve quality and efficiency in health care markets, with a special focus on the impact of market-based and multi-stakeholder efforts to improve outcomes. He is currently leading an evaluation of a demonstration to reduce preventable and avoidable hospital readmissions and has led evaluations of the impact of a multi-site diabetes care management program based in Federally Qualified Health Centers and of the Boeing Company’s “Hospital Safety Incentive,” which tiers employee hospital co-payments according to published hospital patient safety indicators.
This award recognizes research contributions occurring or culminating within the past several years. The award was endowed by Evan Pattishall, dean emeritus of the former College of Human Development, and his wife, Helen Pattishall, a 1985 alumna in individual and family studies. The recipient will present a special lecture in spring 2015.
The Pauline Schmitt Russell Distinguished Research Career Award: Cynthia Stifter, professor of human development and psychology in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies
Cynthia Stifter is a leading researcher on social-emotional development in infants and young children. Since 1987, she has been conducting research at Penn State, and has made major contributions to our understanding of individual differences in emotional reactivity and the regulation of emotions, with significant implications for the well-being of children. Stifter’s research has made important contributions to the factors that help shape early emotion regulation and has investigated how early differences in temperament, physiological reactivity, and parent’s behaviors contribute to the emergence of self-regulation of emotions, particularly anger and fear.
This award honors a senior faculty member who has made outstanding research contributions to the field across a major portion of his or her career. The award was endowed by Leo P. Russell, a 1941 alumnus in engineering, in honor of his late wife, Pauline Schmitt Russell, a 1948 alumnus in home economics. The recipient will present a special lecture in fall 2015.
For more information about the College of Health and Human Development visit hhd.psu.edu.