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ACHIEVERS
James A. Myers, Virginia Cooperative Extension unit director at Buckingham County received the 1998 Martin F. Strate Industry Service award from the Virginia Cattleman Association for his work and support with educational programs to improve the beef cattle industry throughout Virginia.
Deborah Mayo, professor of philosophy, has received a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Studies Scholar's award for research in philosophy of science and statistical inference for academic year 1998-99. She also presented a paper, "Making Progress With Laudan's Problems," at an International Conference in honor of Larry Laudan in July 1997 at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. She presented "Models of Error and the Limits of Experimental Testing" at the Pittsburgh-Konstanz conference on "Science at the Millennium: The Limits of Science" at the Center for the Philosophy of Science, the University of Pittsburgh. In a recent issue of Philosophy of Science focusing on scientific inference, Mayo published "Duhem's Problem, the Bayesian Way, and Error Statistics, or `What's Belief Got to Do With It?'" along with her published response to other contributors to this volume.
Joseph Pitt, professor of philosophy and head of the department of philosophy, recently presented a paper, "The Technological Infrastructure of Science," at the 10th International Conference of the Society for Philosophy and Technology in Dusselldorf, Germany.
Layne Watson, department of computer science, presented "A Fortran 90 genetic algorithm module for composite laminate structure design" to the Australasian Conference on Structural Optimization in Sydney, Australia.
Roger Ehrich, department of computer science, presented "Can Student and Family Access Promote Student Achievement?" to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Conference in Philadelphia. He presented "Experience with an Immersive Technology-Based Environment for Constructivist Learning" at the Teaching Inquiry with the Latest Technologies (TILT) Conference in Roanoke.
Several members of the Virginia Tech Center for Human-Computer Interaction participated in the annual Winter Workshop of the Human-Computer Interaction Consortium in Fraser, Co. Edward A. Fox, department of computer science, presented one of the major talks at the workshop, "A Scalaable Digital Ecology for a Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD)." Three Virginia Tech graduate students presented posters: Suvit Nopachai and Nathan Pienkowski, department of teaching and learning, presented "An architecture for a continuous performance improvement push-server," and Constantinos Phanouriou, computer science, presented "Approaches in Visualizing Large Information Collections."
Deborah Hix, assistant professor of computer science, attended the Virtual Reality Annual International Symposium Conference in Atlanta, and led a panel discussion titled "Usability is from Venus; Virtual Environments are from Mars: User-Centered Evaluation Methodology in a New Medium."
Edward Fox, professor of computer science, gave presentations on the National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations to the University of Denver and to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Fox attended the Invitational Workshop on Information Retrieval Tools (found at the address http://www.sis.pitt.edu/~erasmus/workshop.html) at the University of Pittsburgh, where he presented "Effects on Education, and a Proposal for Collection of Tools." Fox presented "Update on the Virginia Tech Dissertation Project" to the 35th Annual GSLIS Clinic on Successes and Failures of Digital Libraries (http://edfu.lis.uiuc.edu/dpc98/) at the University of Illinois. He also chaired the Steering Committee meeting of the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Washington, D.C.
Peggy S. Meszaros, senior vice president and provost, has been appointed to a three-year term on the executive committee for the Council of Academic Affairs of the National Association for State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASUALGC). In this role, she will help identify issues and plan programs for academic officers at institutions of higher education around the country.
Don Creamer, professor of higher education and student affairs in the College of Human Resources and Education, is the recipient of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators' Robert H. Shaffer Award for Academic Excellence as a Graduate Faculty Member. The NASPA Shaffer award is given to a faculty member who is integrally involved in teaching and research in graduate programs in student affairs, has served on doctoral committees, has a distinguished record of scholarly achievement and publication, and is a personal inspiration to graduate students.
Mahmood A. Khan, professor and head of the department of hospitality and tourism management in the College of Human Resources and Education, was invited to be one of the three judges at the March of Dimes Gourmet Gala dinner at Marriott Hotel in Roanoke. The state-wide competition included culinary teams from different hotels and institutions. Khan has also been invited to serve on the board of directors of the Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association. He will also serve on the Lodging Advisory Council of the association. Khan was recently recognized for his contributions to the Virginia History Initiative to benefit Virginia's citizens and communities.
Sharon Brusic, a technology education faculty member in the College of Human Resources and Education, is one of 26 exemplary technology educators from the United States selected to participate in an 18-day technology study tour of China this summer. As a member of the study tour, Brusic will be visiting the cities of Beijing, Tianjin, Xian, Chengdu, Guilin, and Hong Kong. In each city and region, the technology educators will be studying the history, geography, culture, technology, and education system to gain a better understanding of the role of technology in China. A significant part of the tour will be time spent in various industries in China as well as local schools and universities.
Marsha Mead, a recent doctoral graduate in counselor education, is the recipient of the Researcher of the Year Award from the 9,000-member American Mental Health Counselors. This award is presented each year to a member of the association who published the most outstanding research study in the area of mental health counseling. Mead won for an article published in the Journal of Mental Health Counseling which described her dissertation research completed at Virginia Tech. The article disseminated the results of a national study of how counselors throughout the United States diagnose various types of learning and behavior problems of children and adults. The article was co-authored by College of Human Resources and Education faculty members Kusum Singh and Tom Hohenshil, who also chaired Mead's dissertation committee. The award will be presented at the American Counseling Association World Conference.
Howard Feiertag, a faculty member in the department of hospitality and tourism management in the College of Human Resources and Education, has been named a fellow to the 1998 board of trustees for the Educational Institute of the American Hotel and Motel Association. Fellows of the Educational Institute are selected on the basis of their achievements in the hospitality industry and academia, and their demonstrated support of hospitality education. Their role is to provide expertise and advice to the board's officers and trustees and to broaden the institute's perspective on the industry and on the business environment around the world.
Sherry J. Haar, a graduate student in clothing and textiles in the College of Human Resources and Education, was the winner of two awards in the International Textile and Apparel Association's juried design competition. Haar won the Best Wearable Art award for a graduate student for "Leafscape" and, with co-designer and faculty member Valerie Giddings, won the Best Functional Design award for a graduate student for "Haarvest: Weighted Vest for Deep Pressure Therapy." Giddings' "Putting on the Ritz Kente Style" was among the competition finalists. Also announced at the ITAA annual meeting was an ITAA Faculty Development Fund grant to faculty member Catherine A. Cerny for using multi-media to bring the historic costume collection into the apparel design lab. An ITAA Fellowship for dissertation research was awarded to Haar for her research and development of a deep pressure garment for young children with sensory integration dysfunction. Other Tech faculty members and graduate students participated in the ITAA annual meeting in oral presentations, poster presentations, special sessions, and discussions. They include Doris Kincade, Jessie Chen-Yu, Hsui-I, Marjorie Norton, Mikyung Lim, Joann Boles, Renee Jackson, and Vandana Shah.
The Technology Education Collegiate Association (TECA) received two major awards at the International Technology Education Association conference held March 8-10 in Fort Worth, Texas. The 1998 TECA Outstanding Chapter award was given to TECA of Virginia Tech to recognize the chapter's "significant dedication, loyal support, and professional involvement in TECA." TECA of Virginia Tech is co-sponsored by College of Human Resources and Education faculty members Sharon Brusic and Tom Jeffrey. TECA is a student organization which provides opportunities to enhance the professional development of students majoring in Technology Education. Members participate in competitive events, leadership activities, professional development opportunities, and service functions. There are about 45 TECA chapters throughout the United States.
Don Lloyd Cook, a Ph.D. candidate in marketing, and Eloise Coupey, assistant professor of marketing, co-authored an article, "Consumer Behavior and Unresolved Regulatory Issues in Electronic Marketing," that was published in the latest issue of Journal of Business Research (41: 231-238).
Wolfgang Glasser, professor of wood science and forest products and associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Forestry and Wildlife Resources, has been invited to joint the editorial advisory board of Mokuzai Gakkaishi, the official research publication of the Wood Research Society of Japan, and a leading wood-science journal internationally. He currently serves on the editorial advisory boards of Holzforschung, the leading German wood-science journal, as well as Cellulose from the United Kingdom, Cellulose Chemistry and Technology in Romania, and the Journal of Applied Polymer Science in the U.S.
Glasser attended a retreat by the Deutsche Forschungs Gemeinschaft (DFG) to evaluate research proposals on cellulose. DFG, which is the equivalent to the National Science Foundation in the U.S., started a German-wide focus research program on cellulose two years ago, with the goal of advancing the use of cellulose as a naturally occurring and renewable resource in such advanced materials systems as membranes, sensors with optical and enzymatic activity, physiologically active sorbents, and highly ordered nano-structures. The focus on cellulose is motivated by environmental and sustainability concerns and involves 35 research groups in Germany. Glasser was the only reviewer from outside of Germany; 100 scientists attended the review session.
Glasser has been appointed visiting research scholar of Kyoto University by the Ministry of Education of Japan. The appointment runs from August 23 through December. The Board of Visitors has granted him a study research leave.
Bill Hyde, forestry professor in the College of Forestry and Wildlife Resources, visited Indonesia, March 7-15. He was part of a World Bank and U.S. government team that advised the government of Indonesia on economic policies and its current financial problems. Hyde advised on matters of export duties, natural-resource taxes, and resource degradation. These are key issues where forest exports alone are 1 1/2 percent of the GDP, yet where perhaps 4.5 million acres of forest have burned in 1997 alone and more acres continue to burn. Various estimates show the damages from these fires as upwards to the equivalent of $1.5 billion.
Ted Settle, director of Continuing Education, recently chaired the University Continuing Education Association national forum "Closing the Gap: The Information Technology Skills Shortage" in Washington, D. C.
Virginia Tech's Division of Continuing Education was recently awarded the University Continuing Education Association's 1998 Innovative Award in Continuing Education. The award was for the division's northern Virginia Initiative in Continuing Higher Education project. The project team consisted of Linda Leffel, project director; Mark Schaefermeyer, assistant director; Jyl Smithson-Riehl, assistant director; and Shanan Gwaltney, research associate.