Purdue Notebook

December 3, 2004

Appointments and promotions

– Dan Rhodes has joined the Purdue Alumni Association staff as assistant director of membership and marketing. His responsibilities include coordinating the Purdue Alumni Association Student Ambassadors and establishing the alumni association's student membership program. He is also the staff contact for alumni clubs in Region 2 and will assist in the development of affinity membership initiatives.

Faculty and staff honors

– John Greene and Brant Burleson, professors of communication, received the Gerald R. Miller Book Award for their co-edited book "The Handbook of Communication and Social Interaction Skills." The award is from the National Communication Association Interpersonal Communication Division. The association also awarded Robin Clair, associate professor of communication, the outstanding book of the year award for her book "Expressions of Ethnography." This award is from the Ethnography Division.

– Robert Novak, clinical professor and associate head for the Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, received the Fellows of the Association Award during the 2004 convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association in Philadelphia. Novak was recognized for his 27 years of contributions to the discipline of communication science and disorders.

– Lyle L. Lloyd, a professor in Purdue's departments of Educational Studies and Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences, was one of four people awarded fellowship status by the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication at during the society's biennial conference in Natal, Brazil. Lloyd is the first American to be awarded fellow status, one of the society's highest awards. Lloyd's contributions have been primarily in the area of preparing professionals and researchers in the field of augmentative and alternative communication, and for his extensive publications in the area of alternative and augmentative communication. His recognition also honors his contributions to the group, including an eight-year tenure as the editor of the society's journal.

Alumni honors

– Brett Able, a 1974 Purdue mechanical engineering graduate, has been named Dow Corning executive director of global supply chains. He is based in Tokyo. Able has been with Dow Corning since 1974 and has held positions in the company in the United States, Belgium and Japan. During 1987-88, Able served on a special assignment as a member of the President's Commission on Executive Exchange in the U.S. Department of Defense.

Student honors

– Oliver Wendt, a doctoral student in the College of Education, received the first place award for the outstanding student research presentation in augmentative and alternative communication at the 2004 annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The award, which is sponsored by the Augmentative and Alternative Communication Institute, emphasizes the importance of evidence-based practice in the field. Oliver's paper was titled "AAC for Children with Autism: A Meta-Analysis of Intervention Outcomes," and presented the initial results of a larger research project, which will be completed as his dissertation in special education.

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