Academe welcomes news from WSU faculty and staff about research, teaching and service activities. This column recognizes grants, honors, awards, presentations and publications, new appointments, new faculty, sabbaticals, retirements and deaths of current and former colleagues.

AWARDS/HONORS

Head softball coach Kristi Bredbenner was enshrined in the Truman State Athletics Hall of Fame during the school’s Homecoming festivities. She played for the Truman State softball team from 1998–2001, and broke nearly every batting record during her career. She was a four-time All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) player, earning the league’s MVP award in 2000. Bredbenner has led the Shockers to two consecutive MVC Tournaments and has coached seven student-athletes to All-MVC Teams, including four to the All-MVC First Team and three to the All-MVC Second Team.

Lisa Overholtzer, assistant professor in the Department of Anthropology, has received a Hunt Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Wenner Gren Foundation. She was one of eight recipients of the award, which is designed to support young anthropology scholars while they publish completed research. The fellowship had a 7 percent acceptance rate this year, and will enable Overholtzer to take a one-year sabbatical. The fellowship will allow WSU to pay $40,000 for a visiting assistant professor to cover Overholtzer's classes. Beginning in the fall 2015 semester, Overholtzer will complete a monograph titled “Empires at Home: The Materiality of Household Production and Consumption at Xaltocan, Mexico.”

Professor Rhonda Lewis has been named the recipient of this year’s HT Sims Excellence in Education Award from the Wichita Chapter of the NAACP.

WSU Alum Mildred Edwards has received the Chester I. Lewis Distinguished Service Award.

The College of Engineering has the distinction of two National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant award winners this year, Assistant Professor Animesh Chakravarthy, Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Assistant Professor Pingfeng Wang, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering. CAREER Program grants are the NSF’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of their organization’s mission. Chakravarthy received a $400,000 award for his investigation, “Generalizations in Obstacle Avoidance Theory,” and Wang also received a $400,000 award for “Designing Engineered Systems for Resilience and Sustainability by Considering Post-design Retrofits.”

Associate Professor of Music Alan Held, Ann and Dennis Ross Faculty of Distinction, was recently invited to perform the role of Jockanaan (John the Baptist) in “Salom?,” by Richard Strauss, at the Vienna State Opera. Held has sung the role with many opera companies and orchestras around the world, most recently with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the baton of Yannick Nezet-Seguin.

GRANTS

Rick Pappas, physical educator in the College of Education’s Human Performance Studies, was lead representative in obtaining a $24,000 grant from the Kansas Health Foundation titled “Mandatory Recess.” The goal of the grant is to support the education of school leaders and other stakeholders regarding the importance of recess, to seek policy change in the State School Board in support of mandatory recess that emphasizes physical activity that cannot be withheld for punitive or academic reasons for all students in the state of Kansas.

PRESENTATIONS

Arwiphawee Srithongrung, associate professor of Public Administration at the Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs, has been invited to be the fifth speaker of the 2014-15 academic year for Permanent Seminar Ideas: Economics Population and Development seminar, organized by the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The goal of the annual seminar is to exchange academic ideas and knowledge generated by Mexico and leading International scholars who research social and economic development in medium-to low-income countries. Srithongrung’s presentation is titled “Public Finance and Monetary Policies as Economic Stabilizer: Unique or Universal Across Countries.”

Susan Unruh, assistant professor in the College of Education’s Department of Counseling, Educational Leadership, Educational and School Psychology, presented, “Struggling International Students in the United States: Do University Faculty Know How to Help?,” at the International Conference on Education in Athens, Greece, in May.

Mara Alagic, assistant professor in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, presented collaborative research on system analysis of the ThirdPlaceLearning theory at the 2014 Terminology and Knowledge Engineering Conference in Berlin.

Susan Bray, assistant professor of counseling in the College of Education’s Department of Counseling, Educational Leadership, Educational and School Psychology, presented “Research on Counselors who Work with Clients Living in Poverty: Practice and Training,” at the Association for Assessment and Research in Counseling national conference in Moline, Ill.

College of Education’s Wonyoung Kim, assistant professor in Sport Management, presented “Why do governments subsidize sports facilities? The social impact perspective,” as an invited lecturer at the 19th Annual Conference of the East Asia Sport and Exercise Science Society, Pusan, South Korea. Kim also presented, “Globalization and sport management: The trend,” as an invited lecturer at the Mokpo National University Distinguished Speaker Seminar, Mokpo, South Korea.

Mark Vermillion, associate professor in the College of Education’s Department of Sport Management, presented “Students’ perceptions of forced crowdsourcing as social change,” at the World Association for Sport Management conference in Madrid, Spain.

PUBLICATIONS

Xiao-Ming Sun, associate professor, Communication Sciences and Disorders, and WSU alum Laina Burdiek, an audiologist at Tallgrass Balance, Hearing and Physical Therapy Center in Topeka, published an article, “Effects of Consecutive Wideband Tympanometry Trials on Energy Absorbance Measures of the Middle Ear,” in the Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research. The article reported the findings of Burdiek’s doctor of audiology research project. It was the first article published in a top-ranking journal in the fields of clinical audiology and hearing science by the WSU Audiology program.

Associate Professor Xiao-Ming Sun also published an article with another WSU alum, Carla Carazo, an audiologist at Via Christi Clinic. “Effects of Consecutive Trials and Test-Retest Reliability of 1000-Hz Tympanometry in Adults” was a report of the findings of Carazo’s doctor of audiology research project. It was published in the International Journal of Audiology, a publication highly ranked by Journal Citation Reports in the fields of clinical audiology and hearing science.

Rocio del Aguila, academic lecturer of Spanish, published her article “Angeles guerreros: Gorriti y la representacion de la mujer caudillo,” in the book “Las Mujeres en los Procesos de Independencia de America Latina,” published by CEMHAL Centro de estudios de la mujer en la Historia de America Latina and UNESCO. Her article is about a Bolivian warrior woman in the process of Latin-American Independence.

Matthew Cecil, director of the Elliott School of Communication, has signed a contract with the University Press of Kansas to publish his second book, “J. Edgar Hoover’s PR Men: Inside the Creation of the Iconic FBI.” Cecil’s first book, “Hoover’s FBI and the Fourth Estate: The Campaign to Control the Press and the Bureau’s Image,” was published by the University Press of Kansas in February 2014. Using hundreds of thousands of pages of FBI documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Cecil’s new book examines the work of the Bureau’s public relations office, which created the messages and tended the relationships that helped keep the public in the dark about Hoover’s intrusive political surveillance efforts. The new book is scheduled for publication in the spring of 2016.

Katherine Mason, associate professor in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, published “Out of the Closet and onto the Playing Field: Two Decades of Lesbian Athletes in Young Adult Literature,” in the September 2014 issue of English Journal. Mason was also appointed to serve as a member of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Issues in Academic Studies Advisory Committee for the National Council of Teachers of English.

NEW APPOINTMENTS

The College of Engineering has appointed Muhammad Rahman as the chair of Mechanical Engineering. He will also hold the Sam Bloomfield Chair in Engineering. Rahman comes to Wichita State from the University of South Florida, where he was director of graduate programs. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, where he has served as chair of the Advanced Energy Systems Division. He has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator in research contracts funded by NASA, DOE, DOD, NIH, Sun Hydraulics Corporation, Tampa Electric Company, Honeywell Space Systems, E.ON Engineering and other private companies.

The College of Education has seen a number of new appointments this semester, including Shirley Lefever-Davis, who has transitioned serving as the interim dean to dean of the college.

New to the College of Education’s Department of Counseling, Educational Leadership, Educational and School Psychology are: Assistant Professor Jiaqi Li, who teaches counseling courses and has research interest in multicultural counseling, racism and mental health and play therapy; and Beata Latawiec, visiting assistant professor, who teaches Theories of Human Development, Educational Statistics and Social Psychology of Education.

New to the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction are: Brenna Hainesm, assistant professor of mathematics, who teaches Pre Student Teaching Middle Level, Secondary Math and Math Methods, and whose research interests include statistic teaching and learning and variable modeling; SoonChun Lee is assistant professor of STEAM/Engineering Education (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math); Nicole Niessen, visiting assistant professor, who has taught Pre Student Teaching and Language Arts Methods courses at WSU in the past, and is now teaching Knowledge and Beliefs about Reading, Reading Instruction and Assessment, Multicultural Education and Organizing a Reading Program, and also observes students in the Master’s Early Childhood Unified program; Aaron Rife, assistant professor of history and government, is teaching Pre Student Teaching Middle Secondary Level History/Government and History Methods, and whose research interests include the history of urban education, race and class in schools, educational opportunity and social inequality; Stacie Ogborn, licensure specialist in the Education Support Services office; and Deb West, an Elementary Education liaison for the Wichita Teacher Quality Partnership, who will observe and support Elementary Education students in their field placements.

Angela Gaughan, project specialist at the Center for Community Support and Research, was appointed to the Fort Hays State University Alumni Association Board of Directors for the 2014-18 term.

Carolyn Mosteller has joined Office of Cooperative Education and Internships as Engineering Coordinator.

Assistant Professor Matthew Muether, Department of Mathematics, Statistics and Physics, has been hired to teach Physics for Scientists. Muether studied undergraduate math and physics at the University of Missouri and earned his graduate degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He’s been a research associate on Fermilab’s NOvA project, the premier high-energy experiment in the U.S., for four years.

Marya McCrae has joined the College of Fine Arts and Ulrich Museum as the new director of development with the WSU Foundation. McCrae is a published author, and has composed three musicals and written 200 songs.

Lael Ewy, formerly certified peer specialist trainer for the past four years at the Center for Community Support and Research, has been named behavioral health systems specialist. He will be working with consumer-run organizations across the state to build their organizational health and capacity to work from a perspective of peer-supported recovery. In his new position, Ewy will continue at CCSR.

MISCELLANEOUS

Professor Emeritus Ed Flentje, Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs, was quoted in the national publication, “Governing,” about upcoming Kansas elections. Read the article at goo.gl/xu6Vjb.

Elliott School associate director and political communication scholar, Professor Jeffery Jarman, has recently been interviewed by national media including NPR, USA Today and the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Listen to the NPR story at goo.gl/oIQf9B and read the USA Today article at goo.gl/nn1xwy, or watch him on the Rachel Maddow Show at youtu.be/7-g3PXhP9nU.

Wade Robinson, vice president for Student Engagement, participated as a panelist in the national celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Upward Bound Programs in Washington D. C. Also in attendance was Deltha Colvin, associate vice president for Student Engagement. The event was a celebration of all TRIO Programs, which includes WSU’s Communication Upward Bound, Disability Student Support Services, Educational Opportunity Centers, Student Support Services, Talent Search, McNair Scholars, Upward Bound Math-Science, Upward Bound Wichita Prep and Veterans Upward Bound, as well as Gaining Early Awareness, Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) and eight College Access Grants administered by the Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education.

Gayla Lohfink, assistant professor in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, recently reviewed published children’s books in relation to teaching the Kansas College and Career Ready Standards for the Kansas Journal of Reading.

The Center for Community Support and Research’s Amy Delamaide, director of community and organizational development, completed the “For the Common Good Coach Certification” by the Kansas Leadership Center.

IN MEMORIAM

Professor Emeritus of Geology Peter Sutterlin, 84, died Aug. 7, 2014. He was born in Hamburg, Germany, and raised in Galt (Cambridge), Ontario, Canada. Sutterlin obtained his doctorate from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., then began his career as a geologist in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. His talent for research and teaching led him to the University of Western Ontario and later to Wichita State University, where he taught for 16 years and became director of General Education. He was a lifelong lover of music, an appreciative listener and enthusiastic bass singer with many vocal groups, performing everything from classical to barbershop, and everywhere from local nursing homes to Carnegie Hall. Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Ann (Woodley) Sutterlin; daughter Linda Sutterlin-Duguid (Terry); son Paul Sutterlin (Lorrie); twin sister Inge Kolberg; brother Walter Sutterlin; and four grandchildren. Arrangements through the Lannin Funeral Home, Smiths Falls. Online condolences available at lannin.ca.

Lucy Gallardo, 94, retired WSU Campus Activity Center kitchen employee, died Sept. 12, 2014. Survivors include children, Michael Gallardo (Marry), Carol Jackson (Lendon), Daniel Gallardo (Debbie), Richard Gallardo (Carol), Nancy Carlson (Mike), David Gallardo (Connie) and Thomas Gallardo (Rachelle), all of Wichita, and Linda Blochlinger of Minneapolis, Kan.; 59 grandchildren; 101 great-grandchildren; 45 great-great-grandchildren; 15 great- great-great-grandchildren. A memorial has been established with St. Jude Catholic Church in Wichita. Arrangements through Downing and Lahey Mortuary West. Online tributes available at dlwichita.com.