Appointments, honors and activities

• Faculty and staff honors:

- Haley Franks Oliver, assistant professor of food microbiology, was among recipients of the 2014 Excellence in College and University Teaching Awards for Food and Agricultural Sciences. The awards, which honor university faculty for their use of innovative teaching methods and service to students, were presented Nov. 2 at the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities annual meeting in Orlando, Florida. Oliver received a New Teacher Award. She was recognized for her efforts leading to the development of microbiology, food microbiology laboratories, food plant sanitation and graduate food microbiology courses as well as a service learning course in Haiti. The awards are sponsored by APLU, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Oliver will receive a stipend of $2,000, to be used for improving teaching.

- Phillip VanFossen, the Ackerman Professor of Social Studies Education and department head of Curriculum and Instruction, recently received the Kehler Technology Award from the National Association of Economics Educators. VanFossen was given the award in recognition of his work on the Council For Education's website EconEdLink. The site features 435 lessons, videos, interactive games, activities and other resources to assist teachers and students in the United States and the rest of the world. He received the award at the annual Financial Literacy and Economic Education Conference in Dallas.

• Alumni honors:

-  The School of Mechanical Engineering has named five alumni to receive its 2014 Outstanding Mechanical Engineer Award. They are:

 * Jack Clark, senior vice president and chief technical officer for Novelis Inc. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue in 1981.

*  Jason T. LeRoy, director of advanced solutions, residential HVAC at Ingersoll Rand. He earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue in 1997.

* Thomas W. Sederberg, associate dean of the College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Brigham Young University. He earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Purdue in 1983.

* Detlev Seidel, managing director operations at Piller Group. He earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Purdue in 1988.

* Brent Webb, academic vice president and professor of mechanical engineering at Brigham Young University. He earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Purdue in 1986.

More information on the honorees is available at https://engineering.purdue.edu/ME/People/OME/index.htm