Faculty and Staff Sketches

September 14, 2021 (Volume 45, Number 2)

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In the News

B. Donta Truss, vice president for Enrollment Development and Educational Outreach, was one of 40 community members selected for the Leadership Grand Rapids Class of 2022. The program is sponsored by the Grand Rapids Chamber.

Miloš Topic, vice president and chief digital officer, is a finalist in the "Large Corporate" category for the Michigan CIO of the Year ORBiE Awards. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony on October 8.

Kimberly McKee, associate professor of integrative studies, was a guest and discussed the Netflix series "The Chair" on the Academic Aunties podcast.

 

TRIO program earns grant
Grand Valley's TRIO Educational Talent Search program received a five-year, $1.99 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

Sarah Keranen-Lopez, program director,said the grant allows staff members to expand services to Godwin Heights Middle and High Schools, Wyoming Junior High School and Grand Rapids Public Schools' Southwest Community Campus. 

Educational Talent Search staff members already provide resources and services to 719 student participants at these Kent County schools: Innovation Central, Union, Ottawa Hills, and Wyoming high schools; and Burton, Westwood and Riverside middle schools. 

Keranen-Lopez said services include college application and financial aid application assistance, career services, academic study skills, SAT test prep, financial literacy and pre-college activities and workshops. Staff also assist with re-entry to high school completion programs and GED and re-entry to undergraduate completion programs.

"These are students who would be first in their families to attend college and our pipeline program encourages them to graduate from high school and continue on to, then complete, postsecondary education," she said.

 

Retired faculty member dies

Walter Foote, an English professor emeritus who co-founded the Latin American Studies program, died on August 25, 2021.

Foote joined GVSU in 1968. He co-founded the Latin American Studies minor in 1993 and was its first coordinator. He also was instrumental in the founding of the GVSU Writing Center. He retired from GVSU in 1997.

 

Sketches

Faculty and staff members who have given virtual presentations or had their research published are detailed below. The campus community can self-submit a sketch online for future publication. 

Richard Rediske, professor of water resources, was appointed to the Community Advisory Work Group of the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team and gave a presentation, "Plankton and Algae Issues Related to Drinking Water Treatment," at the regional meeting of the Michigan Chapter of the American Water Works Association.

Al Steinman, director of the Annis Water Resources Institute, was inducted as a Fellow of the Society for Freshwater Science at the organization's annual meeting.

John Weber, professor of geology, received a grant from the American Chemical Society-Petroleum Research Fund for a project, "Toward Resolving Some Caribbean-South American Tectonics and Petroleum Systems Problems through Using Detrital Zircon Geochronology, Raman Spectroscopy, and Clumped Isotope Analysis," and was a co-author of an article, "Strain Partitioning and Interseismic Fault Behavior Along the Caribbean-South American Transform Plate Boundary," published in the journal Tectonics.

Catherine Meyer-Looze, associate professor of education, and Rick Vandermolen, assistant professor of education, were co-authors of an article, "A Regional Case Study: Effective Administrator Feedback To Inform Teacher Performance," published in Delta Kappa Bulletin.

Public health faculty members Sarah Nechuta and Heather Wallace were co-authors of an article, "Screening and Diagnostic Mammography Utilization during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Public Health Implications and Future Research Needs," published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Tim Penning, professor of advertising and public relations, gave a presentation, "The Public Relations of American Presidents in the Expansion Era," at the International History of Public Relations Research Conference.

Adrienne Wallace, associate professor of advertising and public relations, was named assistant editor of digital communication for The Journal of Public Relations Education.

 

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Faculty & Staff Sketches