August 24, 2007

Purdue notebook

Faculty and staff honors

— The Purdue Center for Economic Education, funded through Krannert School of Management and supported by the Indiana Council on Economic Education, has been selected for the 2007 Albert Beekhuis Award. The honor is given annually to one of the approximately 250 college and university centers in the National Council on Economic Education national network for "outstanding performance in working with teachers and exhibiting excellence in practice, delivery of high-quality programs, and outreach to its community." The center will receive $1,000 to be presented at the annual National Council on Economic Education meetings in Denver on Oct. 4.

Local teachers who help deliver center workshops and programs for area teachers during the academic year are Callie Marksbary and Mary Sturgeon from Vinton Elementary School in Lafayette; Robert Troyer, assistant principal at West Lafayette Junior/Senior High School; and Ann McCracken at Battle Ground Middle School. The center, which is directed by Michael Watts, professor of economics, offers both formal economics courses and non-credit programs for teachers, employee groups and other adult audiences; develops new instructional materials and programs; conducts research on the economic literacy of students, teachers and the general public; and conducts formal evaluation studies of instructional materials and programs. Phil Van Fossen, the James F. Ackerman Professor of Social Studies in the College of Education, is the center's associate director, and April Fidler is the program coordinator. 

— Kenneth J. Musselman, strategic collaboration director for the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering in Discovery Park, has been elected president-elect and chief financial officer of the Institute of Industrial Engineers. Musselman will hold a three-year position on the institute's board, transitioning from president-elect to president and then to past president. In his first year, he serves as chief financial officer, responsible for long-range organizational planning, sponsorship activities and financial affairs. As president, he will oversee societies within Institute of Industrial Engineers, including the Society for Health Systems, whose mission is to contribute to the improvement of health-care delivery systems through systems engineering, analysis and process improvement methods. The organization has 15,000 members and 280 chapters worldwide. Musselman received his bachelor's degree in mathematics from Western Michigan University and his master's degree in statistics and doctoral degree in industrial engineering from Purdue. A publication-quality photo of Musselman is available at https://www.purdue.edu/uns/images/+2007/musselman-k07.jpg  

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