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Youngstown State University faculty and staff presented scholarly work at conferences around the world, published books on topics ranging from firearms to poetry, and were featured in art exhibits, on podcasts and even in a heartwarming story on ESPN. Read all about it in this edition of YSU Excellence @ Work.
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Christopher M. Bellas, associate professor of Criminal Justice, participated in the Black and Blue Symposium at Case Western Reserve University School of Law. Bellas discussed juror decision-making as part of a panel titled “Use of Force and Officer Demographics.”
Bellas also recently co-edited and contributed to the book Guns 360: Differing Perspectives and Common-Sense Approaches to Firearms in America. “Firearms will never disappear from our society, nor will the controversy surrounding firearms suddenly turn into agreement,” says the preface to the book. “What can be accomplished, however, is an increased knowledge, understanding and discussion of the complex topics of firearms.”
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The Department of Physics, Astronomy, Geology and Environmental Science received the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award in a ceremony at the FBI field office in Boardman. The award recognizes YSU for assisting the FBI Evidence Response Team in several recent criminal investigations. Jeff Dick, professor of Geology, and Tom Jordan, adjunct professor of Geology, accepted the award. The recognition is part of a larger research project that also includes Susan Clutter, associate professor of Forensic Science; Joe Sanson, associate professor of Engineering Technology; and Diana Alexander, adjunct faculty of Applied Geology. Also involved are graduate students Christopher McFarland, Tori Blandine and Enas Selim, and undergraduate students Victoria Dilliott and Keivunia Wallace. Read more.
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Sharon Schroeder, director in the Office of College Access and Transition, received the Ohio Alliance of Dual Enrollment Partnerships Higher Education Excellence Award during the OADEP annual meeting. The award is given yearly to one professional in higher education who has championed dual enrollment through significant participation with OADEP across the state. Schroeder holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, a master’s in Education (Student Affairs) and a graduate certificate in Professional Writing and Editing, all from YSU.
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A painting by Dragana Crnjak, professor of Art, was selected by U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill to be on display at the Serbian Embassy in Belgrade until 2025. The painting is titled “No Luck Unlocking.” Crnjak said it is her second painting in the Art in Embassies program. She previously had a painting displayed at the U.S. Embassy in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina for four years.
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Garrett Kellar, professor, Exercise Science, was honored with the 2022 Indiana University of Pennsylvania Young Alumni Award. Kellar, who holds a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Pittsburgh, also is the facilitator for the Northeast Ohio School of Medicine’s Interdisciplinary Education Program, serves as the group exercise coordinator for Mercy Health Diabetes program, and is on multiple committees for national organizations. While working as director of Cardiac Rehab at the VA Hospital in Pittsburgh, Kellar won three patient care awards. He also received a patient care award while at Jefferson Memorial Hospital in Pittsburgh. Kellar is co-investigator for two research studies: YSU-Mercy Health Fall Prevention Project and Resident Wellness and the importance of exercise.
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Ron Davis, assistant professor of Social Work, is featured in an “Ask an Expert” series presented by MSW Online, an internet-based guide to social work and mental health degrees. In the piece, Davis talks about the challenges and opportunities for social workers in Ohio, important factors to consider when choosing an MSW program and advice for MSW graduates pursuing a license in Ohio.
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Vamsi Borra, assistant professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Nate Myers, associate provost for International Initiatives, presented “Sustainability and STEM: How students and professors at Youngstown State University are integrating sustainability in teaching and research” to students in Vietnam via the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi and EducationUSA. Also participating was Le Bao Tien, YSU’s representative to Vietnam.
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Gail Y. Okawa, emeritus professor of English, is a visiting professor at the Center for Biographical Research at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. This Spring she lectured and signed copies of her book at the Nisei Veterans Memorial Center in Hawaii. The book is titled Remembering Our Grandfather’s Exile: U.S. Imprisonment of Hawaii’s Japanese in World War II.
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Johnathan Farris, associate professor of Art History, presented his paper "Youngstown's Crandall Park: An Interwar Speculative Neighborhood and Stability in a Landscape of Boom and Bust" at the International Planning History Conference 2022. The paper is also published as an article in the conference proceedings . The conference in Delft, the Netherlands, was attended virtually by scholars worldwide.
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Jake J. Protivnak, professor and Counseling Program director, was a guest on “The House of You” podcast (Episode 9) earlier this year. The podcast is sponsored by Voices for Voices, a mental health advocacy organization. The purpose of the presentation was to share initiatives to reduce the stigma of mental health issues and increase opportunities for seeking treatment. Meanwhile, Protivnak also delivered two virtual presentations: “Servant Leadership: It is and Isn't About You” for the North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision, and “Building Communities: Servant Leadership in Professional Associations” for the North Atlantic Region of the American Counseling Association Institute for Leadership Training.
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“notions,” an art exhibit featuring works from Missy McCormick, associate professor of Art, was part of the Summer Exhibitions at the Medici Museum of Art in Trumbull County. McCormick is coordinator of 3D and runs the Ceramics program at YSU.
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Chelsey Zoldan-Calhoun, adjunct faculty, Psychological Sciences and Counseling, received the Dissertation Excellence Award from The Professional Counselor, the official journal of the National Board for Certified Counselors. She received the award for her work entitled “The Contribution of Spiritual Well-Being to the Self-Efficacy, Resilience, and Burnout of Substance Use Disorder Counselors.” Zoldan-Calhoun, who holds a master’s of Clinical Mental Health Counseling from YSU and a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Akron, is a previous recipient of the Ohio Counseling Association’s Graduate Student Award and the Association for Humanistic Counseling’s Emerging Leader Award.
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YSU faculty Pam Epler and Jodee Jacobs are the authors of the book, Guide to Integrating Problem-Based Learning Programs in Higher Education Classrooms. The 246-page publication provides faculty with ways to use and evaluate successful problem-based undergraduate or graduate programs. Epler, assistant professor of Education, holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from Capella University. Jacobs, an adjunct professor who teaches online in the master’s of Special Education program, holds an EdD in Organizational Leadership from Grand Canyon University.
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Five YSU faculty and a student published “A Coupled Thermo-Mechanical Dynamic Characterization of Cylindrical Batteries” in the IEEE Access Journal. Khaled I. Alsharif, a graduate student in the Rayen School of Engineering, is the lead author. Co-authors include Alexander H. Pesch, assistant professor; Kyosung Choo, associate professor; Vamsi Borra, assistant professor, Frank X. Li, assistant professor; Pedro Cortes, associate professor.
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Kyosung Choo, associate professor, and Jae Joong Ryu, assistant professor, both in Mechanical Engineering in the Rayen School of Engineering, recently published a scholarly article in Energies Journal. The article, “Thermal Stress Characteristics of Dissimilar Joints Joining Ti-64 and CCM via Linear Friction Welding,” was also authored by Aspen Glaspell and José Angel Diosdado-De la Peña, students in the PhD program in Material Science and Engineering.
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| Corey Andrews, professor of English, is the author of the new book, Inventing Scotland's Bard: The British Reception of Robert Burns, 1786-1836. The book appears in the South Carolina Scottish Literature Series and provides a year-by-year bibliographic record of critical and creative responses to the life and work of Robert Burns. Andrews said it is the first book since 1881 to provide a comprehensive record of Burns's extensive reception history. The book is Andrews’ third that examines the nature of Burns’poetic reputation in 19th century Britain.
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| Mary Beth George, assistant athletic director/Sports Performance, was the focus of a Mother’s Day feature on ESPN’s Sports Center in the Spring. The story chronicled George’s five-year-old son, Danny, and his need for a kidney transplant. George was working as a Strength and Conditioning coach at the University of Pittsburgh at the time when a friend/co-worker volunteered to donate her kidney. The transplant was successfully accomplished late last year. George, who holds a master’s degree in Physiology from Salisbury University, began working at YSU in April. To learn more and to donate to the Daniel Strong campaign, visit COTAForDanielStrong.com.
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