Faculty and staff sketches

August 20, 2024 (Volume 47, Number 21)

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Faculty and staff members who have given presentations, were recognized for outstanding contributions or had their research published are detailed below. The campus community can submit a sketch online for future publication. 

In the News
B. Donta Truss, vice president for Enrollment Development and Educational Outreach, was interviewed by Crain's Grand Rapids Business, for a story about a push by colleges and universities for FAFSA completions.

Julie Goldstein, associate professor of visual and media arts, was interviewed by WGVU Public Media for a story about Michigan film industry leaders visiting Grand Rapids.

Whitt Kilburn, associate professor of political science, was interviewed by MLive for a story ahead of the primary election in Ottawa County.

Sketches
Danny Vélez, associate vice president for Admissions and Recruitment, was among seven people selected for the 2024 cohort of Excelencia in Education policy fellows. The fellows come from institutions that have earned the Seal of Excelencia, a national certification recognizing institutions that go beyond enrollment to intentionally serve Latino students across key areas of data, practice and leadership.

Information Technology's eLearning Team received the Catalyst Award by Anthology, the university's partner in the implementation of the Blackboard Ultra Learning Management System. As a Leading Change category winner, the team was recognized for its dedication to implementing Ultra in innovative and comprehensive ways, successfully driving this change across the entire campus.  

Alexis Brown, Laker Food Co. chef, earned a bronze medal at the National Aramark Culinary Excellence Competition in San Antonio, Texas. To advance to the national competition, Brown won the Midwest ACE Competition in June by preparing a Thai curry pork tenderloin.

Jennifer Smart, associate professor and graduate program director of audiology, received the 2024 Outstanding Service Award from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association for her work with Special Olympics. Each year, the award is presented to an individual or group who has made a significant contribution on behalf of people in their communities with unserved speech, language or hearing needs. The award will be presented at the ASHA conference in Seattle this fall.

Two students, Andrew Franklin and Joel Kreiner, were finalists for National Association of Collegiate Esports awards. Franklin was nominated as broadcast producer of the year and Kreiner as social media producer of the year. 

Kylie Ambu, inclusion host and producer for WGVU Public Media, has been named one of Current’s 2024 Rising Stars in Public Media. Ambu is among 35 exceptional early- and mid-career professionals recognized for their outstanding contributions to the public media industry.

William Neal, professor emeritus of geology, was a co-author of articles, "Navigating Coastal Sewage Pollution," published in Science magazine, and "Addressing the Global Challenge of Coastal Sewage Pollution," published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. Neal was interviewed by The Revelator for a story about coastal restoration. 

Andrew DiLernia, assistant professor of statistics, was a co-author of an article, "Inference of Partial Correlations of a Multivariate Gaussian Time Series," published in Biometrika.

Valerie Peterson, professor of communication studies, wrote an article, "Synchronous Online Class Meets Hollywood Squares," published in Explorations in Media Ecology.

Kelley Senkowski, instructional technology project specialist, wrote a book, Titanic Jessie & Lifeboat #9, about her great-grandmother's experience aboard the Titanic.

Dana Hebreard, Talent Link program specialist for the CLAS Center for Experiential Learning, gave a presentation on the inaugural Laker Accelerated Talent Link Program at the Michigan Career Development Association conference.
 

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Faculty & Staff Sketches