Accomplishments - April, 2025
A photograph of a 1927 portrait of socialite, publisher and early feminist Caresse Crosby from Morris Library’s Special Collections Research Center graces the front page of an April 22 special section of The New York Times’ “A Guide to U.S. Museums to See This Year.” The painting by Polia Chentoff is among the materials Crosby donated to SIU in 1969. The portrait is on loan as part of “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939,” an exhibition organized by the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.
Subhash Sharma, an emeritus professor of economics at SIU Carbondale and former member of the SIU Board of Trustees, was appointed April 18 by Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker to the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Sharma taught at SIU for 35 years before retiring in August 2018, and he served on the SIU board from 2019 to 2025. The appointment is pending confirmation by the Illinois Senate.
Corné Prozesky, director of Recreational Sports and Services, has been chosen to compete in the U.S. Open Pickleball Championships in Naples, Florida, on April 28. His partner for the world’s largest pickleball tournament is Ivan Sanchez. Prozesky and Sanchez will compete in the men’s doubles open division ages 40-44. Prozesky is an SIU alumnus and former Saluki swim team member as is Sanchez, who then became an SIU swimming and diving assistant coach before moving on to the same position at the University of Kentucky.
Paul Frazier, vice chancellor for anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion, was honored at the 21st annual National Diversity and Leadership Conference as one of the top diversity officers in the United States. Frazier also served as a moderator and presenter during the April 7-10 event in Los Angeles.
Three books published by SIU Press have been named finalists in the history category in The Society of Midland Authors 2025 Awards. The books are “They Both Reached for the Gun: Beulah Annan, Maurine Watkins, and the Trial That Became ‘Chicago’” by Charles H. Cosgrove, “Sudden Deaths in St. Louis: Coroner Bias in the Gilded Age” by Sarah E. Lirley and “Olmsted’s Riverside: Stewardship Meets Innovation in a Landmark Village” by Cathy Jean Maloney. Winners and honorable-mention selections will be announced over the next several weeks ahead of the awards banquet on May 13 in Chicago.
Saluki head men’s basketball coach Scott Nagy was recently honored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes with the John Lotz “Barnabas” Coaching Award. The award is given annually to honor a basketball coach who best exhibits a commitment to Christ, integrity and encouragement to others, and lives a balanced life.
Molly Parker-Stephens, assistant professor in the School of Journalism and Advertising, and Beth Hundsdorfer, Capitol News Illinois, will receive the Illinois Journalist of the Year Award on April 11. Parker-Stephens and Hundsdorfer are being honored for their “outstanding contributions to journalism,” especially their work covering the abuses at Illinois mental health facilities and the lack of oversight of homeschooling in Illinois.
