Appointments, honors and activities
August 16, 2013
• Faculty and staff honors:
- Susie Swithers, professor of psychological sciences, has been selected as the first Dean's Fellow in the College of Health and Human Sciences. During the 2013-14 academic year, she will focus on issues related to undergraduate education, such as identifying reasons for delays in graduation and possible strategies to improve the graduation timetable, as well as interdisciplinary opportunities for students. Swithers was selected based on her work in developing and revising the undergraduate majors in the Department of Psychological Sciences.
- A program coordinated by Bo Beaulieu, director of the Purdue Center for Regional Development, won the 2013 Outstanding Program Award from the Community Development Society. The award recognizes the Stronger Economies Together (SET) program, which pulls together traditional and nontraditional players to work on regional development. In its third year, SET has been launched in 26 states. Regional teams have secured more than $6.2 million in leveraged funding, not including in-kind services from the teams and support from land-grant university Extension educators and U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development staff. Recognized with Beaulieu were Rachel Welborn of the Southern Rural Development Center at Mississippi State University, and David Sears and Suzette Agans of USDA Rural Development. The Community Development Society is an organization of researchers and practitioners from throughout the United States and abroad.
- Ayse Ciftci, associate professor of educational studies, has been named a fellow of the American Psychological Association. The APA website says fellows "have shown evidence of unusual and outstanding contributions or performance in the field of psychology." Earlier this year, Ciftci received an Early Career Psychologist Award from the APA.
• Alumni honors:
- Dwayne Sawyer, a 1989 graduate of the College of Technology, has been appointed state auditor by Gov. Mike Pence. A senior software engineer at Positron, Sawyer has served on the Brownsburg Town Council since 2009. He is scheduled to be sworn into office on Monday (Aug. 19).
• Student honors:
- John W. Wood, a graduate student studying food and agribusiness management, has received a 2013 W.D. Farr Scholarship from the National Cattlemen's Foundation. The $12,000 award "recognizes superior achievement in academics and leadership and will allow the students to further their study in fields that benefit the cattle and beef industry."
