SIUC's Karen Having earns national recognition

June 16, 2006

SIUC's Karen Having earns national recognition

by Pete Rosenbery

 CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Karen M. Having, an associate professor in Southern Illinois University Carbondale's radiologic sciences program, is receiving national recognition for her work.

Having is a 2006 recipient of the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography Distinguished Educator Award for educational contributions to the profession. Having will receive the award during the organization's annual awards dinner Oct. 13 in Denver.

Diagnostic medical sonographers perform ultrasound examinations. Students in SIUC's program are eligible to sit for the national registry examination for abdominal, obstetrics and gynecology. The radiologic sciences program is in the School of Allied Health, which is part of SIUC's College of Applied Sciences and Arts.

"I am really honored," Having said. "There are people whom I really hold a lot of esteem for in our society. To receive such recognition from this body of peers is humbling."

Dean Paul D. Sarvela said the college is "pleased, but certainly not surprised" at Having's selection.

"Anyone who knows Karen and her work ethic would say that she has earned and deserves this prestigious national award," he said. "Karen was hired in 1998 to develop our ultrasound program, from scratch. She developed a curriculum, convinced regional hospitals to donate equipment, recruited students, taught those students, found internship sites for the students, and received full accreditation for her new program.

"This was a task of Herculean proportions, especially for a new faculty member," Sarvela said. "This honor, bestowed on her by her colleagues, recognizes these efforts."

Prior to developing the ultrasound program at SIUC eight years ago, Having was a sonographer/instructor for Cox Health Systems in Springfield, Mo. Her prior experience includes serving as an adjunct faculty/radiology technology internship supervisor at SIUC from 1980 to 1989, and supervisor of radiology at the Carbondale Clinic.

The best part of being an educator is seeing students succeed, Having said.

"To me, that is the best reward you can get," she said.

Having and her husband, Terry, live in rural Murphysboro. They have two grown children.

Celebrating faculty excellence is among the goals of Southern at 150: Building Excellence Through Commitment, the blueprint the University is following as it approaches its 150th anniversary in 2019.