Jonathan J. Bean, professor of history, has been selected to receive a Hall of Fame Award from Saint Michael's College in Vermont, where he graduated with a B.A. in 1984. Bean also was an invited speaker at the Center for the Study of Black Business History in Austin, Texas. The title of his presentation was "How We Got Here: Affirmative Action and Black Business."

Robert Benford, professor of sociology, was an invited participant at the National Institute for Sports Reform as a panelist in the "Advancing Reform Proposals" session. The institute was Nov. 7-9 in Lake George, N.Y. He also has been named president-elect of the Midwest Sociological Society.

Claudia Blackman, assistant professor emerita in physical education, was named the 2003 Illinois State Red Cross Volunteer of the Year at the Red Cross State Conference in Bloomington, Oct. 28. The Volunteer of the Year award is presented to the individual who consistently demonstrates extraordinary imagination, creativity and organization to achieve the betterment of Red Cross issues at local, state, and national levels. Blackman was honored for 36 years of exceptional volunteerism.

She began as a volunteer water safety instructor while in college, later became a board member and treasurer for the Jackson County Chapter of the American Red Cross and a representative to a new task force reviewing service delivery issues in southern Illinois. Thanks to her contributions, the task force received a $40,000 grant from the National Red Cross to begin a new pilot "alternative service delivery unit" named Little Egypt Network (LEN) of the American Red Cross. This new unit covers the 14 southernmost counties in Illinois.

Thomas Calhoun, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, will have his North Central Sociological Association presidential address published in the November issue of Sociological Focus, Vol. 36(4). It is entitled, "Students and Faculty Perceptions of Social Problems: How Different Are They 'Really'?"

V. Chandrashekar

Varadaraj Chandrashekar, research professor of physiology, has been invited to be a member of the editorial board of Biology of Reproduction, a leading journal published by the Society for the Study of Reproduction, USA. Recently he accepted another invitation to become a managing editor of Frontiers in Bioscience. Chandrashekar's research is on the "Role of Insulin-like Growth Factor-I on Neuroendocrine and Gonadal Functions in Gene-Altered Mice," supported by an N.I.H. grant.

William Henk

William Henk, professor and chair of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, received the Al Mazurkiewicz Service Award from the College Reading Association Oct. 31, in Corpus Christi, Texas. The award is given for meritorious service to the organization, and it is named after a longtime literacy educator who played a significant role in the history of children's reading instruction in this country.

Holly S. Hurlburt, assistant professor of history, will present a paper, "As Good as her Word: The Dogaresse of Venice in the Ducal Oath," at the Sixteenth Century Studies Association Conference in Pittsburgh.

Stella Iwuagwu, doctoral student in health education, was be inducted as an Ashoka Social Entrepreneur in recognition of her work in advocacy, research and service to promote the human rights of people in Nigeria living with HIV/AIDS. The meeting and induction were held Oct. 28-30, in Nigeria. Ashoka is a global nonprofit organization based in Arlington, Va., that recognizes and supports the work of social innovators.

Mark J. Kittleson, professor of health education, was selected as a 2003 member of the Health Education Hall of Fame, a grassroots peer recognition organization honoring outstanding professional contributions in the field of health education, health promotion and disease prevention.

Mike Lawrence

Mike Lawrence, University professor and associate director of the Public Policy Institute, was inducted into the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association's prestigious "Lincoln League of Journalists" in October. The award honors men and women who have provided exemplary service to other journalists and daily newspapers in Illinois. Lawrence served as press secretary for Jim Edgar during his tenures as secretary of state and governor. He worked as statehouse bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times and at the Galesburg Register-Mail and the Quad City Times before joining Edgar's staff.

Robbie Lieberman, professor of history, was invited to be a discussant for a panel "Working Class Antiwar Activism and Internationalism in the 1940s and 1950s" at the North American Labor History Conference in Detroit. She was also elected to the board of the Historians of American Communism Organization.

Sue P. Liemer

Sue P. Liemer, assistant professor of law and director of the Lawyering Skills Program, is the author of "Many Birds, One Stone: Teaching the Law You Love, in Legal Writing Class," published in volume 53 of the Journal of Legal Education (2003).

Roberta J. Ogletree

Roberta J. Ogletree, professor of health education, was honored in October with the Eta Sigma Gamma National Distinguished Service Award. It was presented during a business meeting of that group that was held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the American School Health Association in El Paso, Texas. Ogletree currently is editor of the Eta Sigma Gamma journal, The Health Educator, and sits on the board of directors for the national health education honorary group.

Dr. Quincy Scott, associate professor of family/community medicine in Carbondale and Laurie Dunn, interim director of the Physician Assistant Program, presented their poster "Spread the Word about DES: PA Program Opportunities for Augmenting Physician Assistant Education" at the Association of Physician Assistant Programs National Conference Oct. 22-26, in Phoenix, Ariz. Dunn also authored, in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a new Problem Based Learning Module addressing the clinical ramifications of diethylstilbestrol use. Scott, current chair of the Standards Committee of the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA), also moderated the ARC-PA Update session at the conference on Oct. 26. The standards outline the 202 different requirements to which an accredited PA program is accountable.

Darren Sherkat, associate professor of sociology, has had an article, "Religious Intermarriage in the United States: Trends, Patterns, Predictors," accepted for publication in Social Science Research.

Rachel Stocking, associate professor of history, led a very lively history department workshop on "Pedagogy and Prosecution: Teaching about Christians and Jews in the Middle Ages."

S. Jonathan Wiesen, assistant professor of history, has returned from Copenhagen, Denmark, where he was invited to give presentations on his book, West German Industry and the Challenge of the Nazi Past, 1945-55, at the University of Southern Denmark and the University of Copenhagen Business School. He also conducted a roundtable discussion on "Business History as Cultural History."

Natasha Zaretsky, assistant professor of history, had an essay "In the Name of Austerity: Gender, the Middle Class Family, and the OPEC Oil Embargo of 1973-4" published in the anthology, The World the Sixties Made: Culture and Politics in Recent America, edited by R. Moser and V. Gosse. Zaretsky also was invited to be a discussant for a panel "Road Trips" at the National American Studies Association annual meeting.