SignatureSB O W L I N G G R E E N S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y

College of Health and Human Services

Inside this Issue | Fall 2010

v A message from the dean

v Accomplished Graduates

v Centennial Alumni Awards

v Ned E. Baker Lecture

v Student Success

v Classes at Levis Commons

BGSU is an AA/EEO institution.

The Ohio Board of Regents on Feb. 19 formally accepted Bowling Green State University as a center of excellence in “Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan.” Gov. Ted Strickland and OBOR Chancellor Eric Fingerhut made the announcement during a meeting in Cleveland that Dr. Linda Petrosino, dean of BGSU’s College of Health and Human Services, attended.

“Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan” becomes BGSU’s second center of excellence following “Sustainability and the Environment,” which was designated last October. Under the University System of Ohio and according to the governor’s 10-year Strategic Plan for Higher Education, centers of excellence should be multidisciplinary, of high enough quality to attract students and faculty, and contribute to the economic development of the state.

BGSU’s health and wellness programs comprise a “networked center of excellence without walls,” according to

The Ohio Board of Regents approves Health and Wellness Center of Excellence

Petrosino. Under the umbrella of health and wellness, the University currently has more than 100 faculty members and nearly 5,000 students in 78 academic programs, research units and student activity groups; $10.7 million in research grant awards and $900,000 in student support grants, plus 300 partnerships with health organizations and agencies in the community.

By forming a center of excellence, the University recognizes the “strength, depth, breadth and tremendous impact of health and wellness across the lifespan programs at BGSU,” Petrosino said. And rather than a trendy development, she added, community partnerships “have been the very fabric of our health and wellness programs here for many years.”

Bowling Green’s distinctive approach centers not on the medical aspect of curing disease, like the University of Toledo and its medical college, but on the promotion of wellness and improved quality of life–which in turn can help produce lower costs for health care and less lost time at work for Ohio’s citizens.

“Byformingacenterof

excellence,theUniversity

recognizesthe‘strength,

depth,breadthand

tremendousimpactof

healthandwellnessacross

thelifespanprogramsat

BGSU.’” —Linda Petrosino, Dean

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Signature

Pictured are (from left) Dr. Bruce Dart, Keith Krinn, Ned Baker, Dean Linda Petrosino, Dr. Margo Wootan and Dr. Claudine Kavanaugh.

Message from the DeanI am happy to report that the Center of Excellence for Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan is now a reality at Bowling Green State University. The Ohio Board of Regents accepted our proposal in February, which gives a stamp of approval from the state to move forward with our focus. Just as exciting is the news that the University has received a donation from Medical Mutual of Ohio that will help support the Health and Wellness Center of Excellence. You can read more details about both announcements within this newsletter

As Dean of the College of Health and Human Services, I am enthusiastic about the role we will play in advancing the Center of Excellence across campus, the state, the region and the nation. The collaborative nature of the Center will ensure that the faculty, staff and students in our College work closely with faculty and staff from other colleges, programs and departments toward a common goal – promotion of wellness and quality of life among community partnerships.

In this issue of the newsletter, you also can read about some of our outstanding students and faculty, as well as stories about the College’s Accomplished Graduates and our alumni who are among the University’s “most prominent” alumni of the century. We are always proud of our alumni and appreciate knowing about your accomplishments. Please let us know where you are and what you are doing by filling out the Alumni Accomplishments form on the back of the newsletter or online at www.bgsu.edu/colleges/hhs/dean/page30446.html.

Warm regards,Linda Petrosino, Dean

“A Growing Hunger: The Nation’s Demand for Food Safety and Nutrition Information” was the focus for the 11th annual Ned E. Baker Lecture in Public Health on April 8.

Three speakers addressed the topic on BGSU’s campus.Following the Baker Lecture, a special public health

symposium was conducted for professionals. The topic was “Issues Related to Managing People and Developing Policies in Large, Multi-location Organizations.”

Dr. Bruce D. Dart, president of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), was the panel moderator for the lecture. Panelists included Dr. Claudine J. Kavanaugh, an interdisciplinary scientist with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA); Keith Krinn, administrator of the Environmental Health Division of Columbus (Ohio) Public Health, and Dr. Margo Wootan, director of nutrition policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).

Kavanaugh and Wootan led the symposium discussion.Sponsors of the symposium included the BGSU College

of Health and Human Services and the BGSU Center of Excellence for Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan.

Lecture sponsors included the College and the Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health in partnership with the National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH). Additional supporters included the Cove Charitable Trust of Boston and the Wood County Hospital Foundation.

Each year the lecture is made available to the public via a webcast by WBGU-TV at wbgu.org/baker/and is available for viewing via the College website. v

Baker Lecture looks at food and nutrition

Bowling Green State University and its Center of Excellence for Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan received a huge shot in the arm recently with a donation of nearly $500,000 from Medical Mutual of Ohio.

According to James Beaverson, BGSU’s corporate and foundations giving officer, the majority of the gift – $400,000 – will provide operational and programmatic support of BGSU’s Center of Excellence for Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan. The gift will ensure that wellness counseling and programming will continue to be offered to faculty, staff and students. The University community will benefit from an assortment of programs and promotional materials that focus on topics such as nutrition, exercise and stress management.

Additionally, faculty research that addresses health and wellness issues also will garner support as part of the donation. Under the umbrella of the new Center of Excellence for Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan, collaborative research will receive a boost.

Linda Petrosino, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, and one of the organizers of BGSU’s health and wellness center of excellence, said, “With Medical Mutual’s support, we are able to further focus on our strengths.Our distinctive approach centers on the promotion of wellness and improved

quality of life instead of on the medical aspect of curing disease,” Petrosino explained. “We will be better aligned to advance our distinctive educational role, nationally recognized research programs and strong community partnerships for disease prevention and healthy behaviors.”

The gift also supports two additional areas: the Excellence Fund for BGSU and BGSU’s Centennial. Approximately $65,000 will provide flexible support for urgent priorities of the university, and $25,000 will sponsor a portion of the Alumni Association’s Centennial Homecoming festivities.

“We are well aware of BGSU’s strength in the area of health and wellness,” said Rick Chiricosta, president and CEO of Medical Mutual and a 1993 MBA graduate of BGSU. “Our gift is our way of saying ‘thanks’ for being a valued long-time customer and for the role Bowling Green plays in northwest Ohio.”

“We are honored that Medical Mutual of Ohio has demonstrated its belief in Bowling Green State University and our ability to make a difference in the area of health and wellness,” said BGSU President Carol A. Cartwright. “We appreciate their commitment to Bowling Green State University and the northwest Ohio community.”

Medical Mutual, which has nearly 2,600 employees, has been a healthcare partner in Ohio since 1934. The mutual health insurer is the oldest and largest

Medical Mutual of Ohio gift enhances BGSU health, wellness programs

health insurance company based in Ohio. For more than 75 years the company has served its customers through high-quality, affordable group and personal health insurance plans, and third-party administrative services to self-insured group customers. For more information, visit the company’s award-winning website at www.MedMutual.com. v

{continued from page 1)

The center of excellence advances the University’s distinctive educational role, builds on its nationally recognized research programs and focuses renewed emphasis on community partnerships for disease prevention and healthy behaviors. The center encompasses dual perspectives: human ecology, or the interaction of people with their natural, social and created environments, and lifespan development, or the growth and development of an individual from before birth through old age. From programs in environmental health to speech and hearing to marriage research, BGSU addresses both perspectives, Petrosino said. And with career shifts predicted due to the changing economy, many older workers are expected to return to school, she added. “Since health and wellness will become increasingly important, this presents an opportunity for BGSU.” v

Health and Wellness Center of Excellence

The dean was featured on a BGSU “Take 5” podcast focusing on the health and wellness center of excellence. To listen: http://blogs.bgsu.edu/bgsutakefive.

New name reflects program focusThe Department of Communication Disorders is now known as the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders. The Board of Trustees approved the change to better align the department with its national academic body. The new name also better reflects the current coursework and faculty scholarship within the department. The name is already effective and it will be evident in the course catalogs for the 2010-11 academic year.

Domestic violence is topic at symposiumMore than 100 people attended the 6th annual Homecoming Symposium held last fall. Michelle Clossick, executive director of the Cocoon Shelter, a local shelter for women, presented “Domestic Violence: You Can Make a Difference.”

Social Workers get media attentionStudents from Peggy Adams’ social work class were featured on a local television newscast when they presented a check for $1,000 to the Toledo area Food Bank.

Nursing program is accreditedBGSU’s nursing program is nationally accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education and has full approval of the Ohio Board of Nursing. The nursing courses and clinical experiences are provided by the

COlleGe Capsules

College of Nursing at the University of Toledo Health Science Campus in Toledo. Accreditation standards and criteria are established with the best interests of the community that it serves, the discipline of nursing, nursing students, and ultimately their patients and populations who will receive their care. Accreditation exists to evaluate the success of the program and foster continuous improvement.

Ned Baker earns additional honorsNed E. Baker ‘50, alumnus and one of the College’s honorees during the Centennial Alumni Awards, also earned two additional honors during the 2009-10 academic year. The nationally known

public health advocate was among the 30 people–faculty, staff, students and alumni–inducted into BGSU’s Circle of Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK). The initiation ceremony for one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious leadership honor societies was held in Prout Chapel in April. Baker also was presented an honorary doctorate of public health from BGSU during the December 2009 commencement.

New faculty welcomed to CollegeThe College welcomes three new faculty members this fall. They are Emily Rusnak, communication sciences and disorders; Mamta Ojha, social work, and Adam Watkins, criminal justice. v

Faculty earn promotionsIn May, the BGSU Board of Trustees recognized three faculty members from the College. Dr. John Liederbach, criminal justice, and Dr. Hans Schmalzried, public and allied health, were granted tenure by the Board. Social work faculty member Judy Kiser was named an assistant professor emeritus.

Dr. Hans SchmalzriedDr. John Liederbach

B O W l I N G G R e e N S TaT e U N I v e R S I T y aT l e v I S C O M M O N S

Public health classes part of community outreach

In addition to the public health classes, Levis Commons will offer the Professional MBA program (College of Business Administration) and classes through BGSU’s Continuing and Extended Education. v

Bowling Green State University has extended its community outreach with the opening of classes at Levis Commons in Perrysburg, Ohio. Among the programs that are holding classes in the renovated facility is the College of Health and Human Services’ master of public health program.

The program is part of the Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health.

The Perrysburg site is being utilized to bring education and services to working professionals near where they work, live and play. All BGSU Levis Commons classes are aimed at professionals and adult learners and are held in the evenings. Classes are in 1655 N. Wilkinson Way, behind the shops at Levis Commons.

Linda Petrosino, dean of the College of Health and Human Services, and Rodney Rogers, dean of the College of Business Administration, show BGSU President Carol Cartwright some of the classrooms and space at the University’s new site at Levis Commons in Perrysburg, Ohio.

Dr. Fleming Fallon, director of BGSU’s master of public health program, speaks to a public health class at the Bowling Green State University at Levis Commons site.

How might your life be different had you been exposed to millions fewer words in your home as a preschooler?

For children from low-income homes, that may not be a hypothetical question. At least one study has estimated that parents in middle- and high-income households use a minimum of four million more words around a child by age 3 than parents in low-income homes, according to Emily Rusnak, who is in the process of completing her Ph.D. from BGSU and joined the faculty here.

Rusnak, communication sciences and disorders, has been looking at the effects of poverty on early language development. Her research was helped last fall when she received a $10,000 grant from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation

for her dissertation research. The former speech-language pathologist in southeast Michigan schools was among only seven graduate students nationwide to receive one of the awards for dissertation research.

If children aren’t exposed to some words in lower-income homes, “they’re not ready for school,” said Rusnak, who designed a feasibility study to see if the effects of poverty-related risk factors on language development can be eased through a parent-training program.

If those children haven’t picked up what they need at home, they’re ill equipped to learn how to read at school, she added, noting that oral language development affects literacy skills.

Head Start is among the existing programs that attempt to combat the situation and, beginning next month, her dissertation project will constitute a new intervention program. Children in low-income households are affected by their families’ lack of resources, which may include such things as quality health care, day care, nutrition and housing, as well as finances, Rusnak explained. Parents dealing with those issues are stressed, may feel they can’t care for their children and may not talk to them as much, giving the preschoolers less stimulation, she said.

Her project targeted areas where parents need support. She worked to teach them to be more sensitive to their children’s language development needs, Rusnak continued. Over the nearly three-month study, they received information about vocabulary and richness of words, language stimulation and creative conversations, plus child temperament and how preschoolers interact with others. v

Rusnak received national grant for research

Emily Rusnak

Each spring, the College of Health and Human Services recognizes its outstanding seniors and the scholarship recipients. Students recognized at the April scholarship luncheon included:

Scholarship Recipients

applied Health ScienceKayla Johnston (pre-physical therapy),

Cynthia Walling Pemberton Scholarship

Quanisha Burnett (pre-physical therapy), Dr. Mary McKinney Edmonds Scholarship

applied MicrobiologyShivani Jethwa, Dr. Marjorie Conrad

Peatee Allied Health Profession Scholarship

Communication Sciences and DisordersAmy Lagzdins, Lima Noon Sertoma

Speech-Language Pathology Scholarship

Cara Maag, Dr. Marjorie Conrad Peatee Allied Health Profession Scholarship

Colleen Vetter, Elizabeth Neidecker Communication Disorders Undergraduate Scholarship

Jonelle Diefenthaler, Elizabeth Neidecker Communication Disorders Graduate Scholarship

Alison Farinaccio, Hal McGrady Speech-Language Pathology Scholarship

Lindsey Lindenbaum, Melvin Hyman Scholarship for Graduate Students in Communication Disorders

Kimberly Hosley, Albert E. Dyckes Health Scholarship

Community HealthJasmine Vickers, Dr. Marjorie Conrad

Peatee Allied Health Profession Scholarship

Criminal JusticeAndrew Marshall, Gerald Rigby Honor

Student Award

Logan Lentz, Andrew Lawrence Rowe Memorial Scholarship

GerontologyTraci Holland, John Hiltner Gerontology

Scholarship

Julia Moore, Harold and Ivalou Bordner Scholarship in Gerontology

Health Care administrationCara Henry, Albert E. Dyckes Health

Scholarship

Abigail Schlater, Advocates Board Scholarship

Students earn accolades, scholarships

Outstanding Seniors:

Cody MillerApplied Health Science (pre-dental)

Lindsey LindenbaumCommunication Disorders

Katelyn CrottyCriminal Justice

Jacqueline BergmanMedical Technology

Erin CreutzNursing

Jennifer KarnoSocial Work

Medical TechnologyBritta Barron, Wood County Hospital

Foundation Scholarship

NursingAlyse Gonya, Alea Hart, Kristin Hedrick,

Ericka Maas, Lauren Moyer, Samantha Russell, Logan Smith and Morganne Swartz, each received an Olive H. Schlink Nursing Scholarship

Emily Bischoff, Nursing Foundation Scholarship

Kristi Cain, Claire Dumas and Brittany Floyd, each received a Dr. Ruth L. Kelly Alumni Nursing Scholarship

Social WorkMegan Erwin, Joseph K. & Virginia L. Balogh Scholarship

Sara Predieri, Children & Youth Social Work Scholarship

Traci HollandGerontology

BGSU and College recognize top alumniCentennial event honors 100 of the “most prominent alumni”

Nearly900peoplegatheredApril24tocelebrate100yearsand100peopleofBGSU.TheCentennialAlumniAwardseventcelebratedtheaccomplishmentsof100veryspecialpeople,aswellasthehistoricmilestoneoftheUniversity’s100thanniversary.

“Yourepresentthemorethan160,000BGSUalumnilivingaroundtheworld,”BGSUPresidentCarolCartwrighttoldthehonoreesattheevent.“FromBostontoBuenosAiresandfromMainetoMoscow,BGSUgraduatesaremakingsignificantcontributionstotheirprofessionsandareshapingtheworldforthenextgeneration.

“Theaccomplishmentsofourhonoreesarecertainlytransformational.YourepresenttheverybestofBowlingGreenStateUniversity,andeveryoneassociatedwithBGSUcongratulatesyouforyouraccomplishments.YousetthestandardforallofourcurrentstudentsandallwhowillattendBGSUinthefuture,”Cartwrightsaid.

EightindividualsaffiliatedwiththeCollegeofHealthandHumanServiceswereamongthosehonored:NedBaker’50&’09,AlbertDyckes’53&’58,HaroldMcGrady’54,WilliamHarper’76,KevinWebb’79&’82,RichardNedelkoff’80,ShawnUlreich’80andGaryFahle’86.

Ned Baker has had a long career in public health, starting as chief sanitarian for the Wood County Health Department. He was director of the Northwest Ohio AHEC Program at the Medical College of Ohio and was instrumental in forming the National Association of Local Boards of Health (NALBOH), serving as its first president in 1992 and as its first executive director in 1995. In 2000 NALBOH and the College started the Ned E. Baker Lecture Series in Public Health.

albert Dyckes has spent a large part of his life keeping Ohio healthy. In 1963, he was named deputy director of the Ohio Department of Health. He then went on to be associate coordinator of the Ohio Regional Medical Program at Ohio State University, deputy director of the Mid-Ohio Health Planning Federation, and senior vice president for the Ohio Hospital Association where he was a legislative liaison with federal and state governments.

Harold McGrady spent more than 45 years studying and teaching in the areas of communication disorders and learning disabilities. He most recently served as executive director of the Division for Learning Disabilities, a national organization that is part of the International Council for Exceptional Children. McGrady testified before Congress on behalf of the Learning Disabilities Act of 1969, was invited to a White House conference on learning disabilities at the request of President Gerald Ford in 1975, and in 2000 met with First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton

regarding the Initiative for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders.

William Harper is executive director of the United Way of Greater Lorain County. His first job was as a social worker at Lima State Hospital. Before beginning his administrative career, he was an assistant professor for social work at BGSU from 1986 to 1994. He previously served as assistant director at the Ohio Department of Mental Health. Before being appointed to the state position in 2007, he served as executive director of the Lorain County Board of Mental Health; Mental Health Recovery Services of Warren and Lincoln counties; and Four County Board of Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services in Archbold. He has been honored twice as the Administrator of the Year by the Ohio Advocates for Mental Health.

Kevin Webb has been a medical professional and expert in healthcare administration for more than 25 years. Early in his career he was an audiologist and manager at The Toledo Hospital and Lima Memorial Hospital. For nine years, he held various management positions culminating in being named corporate director of business development for ProMedica Health Systems in 2000. Later that year he was appointed president of Flower Hospital in Sylvania, and in 2008 he was named president of The Toledo Hospital and Toledo Children’s Hospital. He is a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and a member of the Ohio Hospital Association.

Richard Nedelkoff has rejoined Eckerd Youth Alternatives, a national non-profit where he was formerly Chief Operating Officer. Recently, he served as conservator of the Texas Youth Commission where he was appointed by the Governor of Texas to initiate major reforms of an agency in receivership. He was appointed by the President of the United States and unanimously

“Theaccomplishmentsof

ourhonoreesarecertainly

transformational.You

representtheverybest

ofBowlingGreenState

University,andeveryone

associatedwithBGSU

congratulatesyouforyour

accomplishments.” — Dr. Carol Cartwright, at the

Centennial Alumni Awards

confirmed by the Unites States Senate to oversee 26 federal criminal justice grant programs and a $6 billion funding portfolio. As an administrator in five states, he has created juvenile justice and criminal justice programs that serve as models for agencies across the country. Nedelkoff also has provided consulting services to several states across the country on a variety of juvenile justice reform projects, criminal justice information system improvements, and other management consulting engagements.

Shawn Ulreich has spent her career providing leadership to various healthcare organizations. As chief nurse executive and vice president of patient care services for Spectrum Health Hospital Group, she is responsible for nursing practice at four hospitals, associated urgent care centers and clinics, and a medical transportation service. She is the chairman of the West Michigan Nurse Advisory Council, sits on several community advisory boards and is currently the local event chairman for the Go Red for Women Campaign of the American Heart Association. Through her leadership, Ulreich has guided two organizations to the achievement of Magnet status, a prestigious award designated to healthcare organizations for excellence in nursing practice. Before joining Spectrum Health, Ulreich served as chief nursing officer and chairman of the division of nursing for The Cleveland Clinic.

Gary Fahle is the director of the Microbiology Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md. After graduating from BGSU with a bachelor’s degree in medical technology and microbiology, he worked as a medical technologist in the microbiology departments of St. Vincent Medical Center in Toledo and Georgetown

University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He began his career at NIH in 1989 as a medical technologist and then as a supervisor in the Clinical Center Microbiology Laboratory before entering molecular diagnostics research. Fahle has published in more than 20 professional journals, mostly notably TheNewEnglandJournalofMedicine, and has received both the NIH Director’s Award and the Clinical Center Director’s Award.

Three graduates of the College were recognized as Accomplished Graduates at last year’s BGSU Alumni Association’s Accomplished Graduates event. The College’s honorees included Dr. Harold McGrady ’54 of Scottsdale, Ariz.; Arlene Stearns ’47, Hilton Head Island, N.C., and H. Melanie Stretchbery ’81 of Bowling Green.

Before retiring in 2002 Harold McGrady spent more than 45 years studying and teaching about communication disorders and specific learning disabilities, most recently serving as executive director of the Division for Learning Disabilities (DLD), a national organization within the International Council for Exceptional Children. He has held professorships at the following universities: Emory, Colorado State, Northwestern and Virginia Tech. His articles have been published in several professional journals and texts,and he has made countless presentations at local, state and national professional meetings.

arlene Stearns retired in 1992 from Wayne State University, the Kresege Eye Institute and the Children’s Hospital of Michigan with 42 years of service. In 1950 she developed and directed the Orthoptic Training School for the Kresege Eye Institute. She conducted the clinical training of ophthalmology residents in Detroit General, Harper, Grace and Children’s Hospitals from 1950-92. She designed, and later established, a four-year curriculum for Wayne State University granting a baccalaureate degree in orthoptics. She has been an active member of the American Association of Certified Orthoptists, serving as vice president and chairperson for various professional committees.

Melanie Stretchbery is superintendent of the Wood County Board of Developmental Disabilities, where she has worked in various capacities since starting there as a support services supervisor and social worker in 1983. Her 27-year career in social services and administration began at the Ohio Department of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities. Her experience also includes work as a field instructor and adjunct instructor for social work methodology and policy, as well as a social work consultant at the Tiffin Developmental Center. Since 1998, she has also served as a national program surveyor for CARF - The Rehabilitation Accreditation Commission.

Three alumni named Accomplished Graduates

Detailed information about the 2010 Centennial Alumni Awards event and all of the honorees can be found at www.bgsu.edu/offices/alumni/programs/page18614.html. v

AsBGSUcelebratesitscentennialthisyear,theCollegehasplanneditsowneventsandbeeninvolvedinmanyoftheUniversity-wideactivities.

Field Supervisor eventIn February, the College welcomed field supervisors and mentors for a special recognition program and dinner. “Supervising with Intention” was the focus of the afternoon program, presented by Randy Cohen, LPC-S, NCC, ACS, and Phillip Yassenoff, M.Ed., LPCC-S. Following the program, field supervisors were honored by the College for their leadership and commitment to students during their field experiences.

advocacy at the Ohio State Capitol Students from the College’s social work program traveled to the state capitol in March to meet with legislators, where they advocated for social work issues.

annual Scholars’ luncheonAt this year’s Scholars’ Luncheon for students, faculty, alumni and friends of the College, the Outstanding Seniors in each of the College programs were honored, scholarship recipients were introduced, and donors and supporters of the College were thanked.

autism WorkshopThe College welcomed back BGSU alumna Dr. Diane Williams for an April 16 presentation about autism. Williams, who earned a Ph.D. in speech-language pathology in 1999 presented “Learning and Using Language with Autism: Insights from Neuroscience.” The BGSU graduate is an assistant professor in the department of speech-language pathology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and is co-director of the Autism Center of Excellence at the University of Pittsburgh. She conducts behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of social cognition and language processing in autism with colleagues at the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging at Carnegie Mellon University.

College events highlight Centennial year

William P. Harper ’76

Dr. Diane Williams

She is an American Speech-Language Hearing Association Board-Recognized specialist in child language and certified speech-language pathologist with extensive clinical experience working with toddlers, preschoolers, school-age children and adults with a wide variety of developmental language disorders.

World voice Day activitiesSponsored by the College of Health and Human Services, the College of Musical Arts and the Center of Excellence for Health and Wellness Across the Lifespan, the local celebration of the international day included lectures and activities related to vocal health and function, voice screenings and vocal performances. v

Centennial Homecoming

Centennial events planned this falllecture College of Health and Human Services alumnus William P. Harper ’76 will speak on Friday, Oct. 1 from 8:45 a.m. to noon in 228 Bowen-Thompson Student Union on BGSU’s campus. The executive director of the United Way of Greater Lorain County, and former assistant director of the Ohio Department of Mental Health, will present “Servant Leadership and Recovery from Severe and Persistent Mental Illness: Consumer Empowerment in the Context of Healthcare Reform.” Continuing education units (CEU) have been approved for counselors, marriage and family therapists, nurses, psychologists, rehabilitation counselors, social workers and substance

abuse counselors. For more information, visit: http://www.bgsu.edu/colleges/hhs/page71134.html, or contact jawagne@bgsu.edu.

Centennial academic Convocation One of the capstone events for the BGSU Centennial will be the Centennial Academic Convocation on Tuesday, Nov. 9 in Memorial Hall, Anderson Arena. Ron Clark, the 2000 Disney Teacher and founder of the Ron Clark Academy, will be the keynote speaker for the convocation. The entire campus community, alumni and friends are invited to attend the formal ceremony, which starts at 2:30 p.m. with the processional. Following the convocation, a reception will be held in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union. Details will be available soon on the BGSU Centennial website: www.bgsu.edu/centennial.

Students had fun skating as they helped raise funds for the Susan G. Komen Foundation during a Skate for the Cure event organized by students in the Health and Wellness BGSU 1000 University Seminar last fall.

Students help organize Skate for the Cure

Health and Wellness BGSU 1000 University Seminar students helped plan the first Skate for the Cure on Nov. 1, 2009 at the BGSU Ice Arena. Skate for the Cure is a student-organized recreation and wellness event modeled on the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure events conducted across the U.S. to raise awareness and funding for breast cancer prevention and research for a cure.

The event involved an evening of skating fun, breast cancer awareness and community education. Participants skated or walked around the perimeter of the rink to recognize friends or relatives who have battled breast cancer. The money that was raised during the event was donated to the Northwest Ohio Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Stephanie Wilson, student staff supervisor at the ice arena, and Ben Berghaus, an event planning intern at the ice arena, planned and organized the details. First-semester freshmen students from the Health and Wellness section of the BGSU 1000 University Seminar class, assisted as one of the required activities for their course. v

For BGSU gerontology students, learning is inseparable from service, and the community of elderly people constitutes their “research lab,” thanks to the efforts and philosophy of gerontology program director Dr. Nancy Orel.

For her extraordinary commitment to service-learning, Orel was selected as one of four finalists for Campus Compact’s 2010 Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service-Learning following her nomination by BGSU President Carol Cartwright.

“Although the external reviewers selected another as this year’s recipient of the award, it is an honor to have Dr. Orel among the finalists for this most prestigious national award,” said Dr. Linda Petrosino, dean of the College of Health and Human Services. Orel will represent BGSU as a finalist at the annual Association of American Colleges and Universities in January.

Orel is well known in the Bowling Green community and nationally for the programs she has created and for using her groundbreaking research to develop curriculum and practices and provide outreach to meet community needs. For example, her community-based research into the previously unrecognized growth of HIV infection rates among the elderly resulted in a University-community partnership that planned and implemented the “No One Is Immune” HIV/AIDS prevention program.

Orel has provided exemplary leadership in the scholarship of engagement, Cartwright said. She has been a promoter of service-learning and a generous mentor to other faculty across campus. Orel has revised the gerontology curriculum to ensure that a focus on civic and community engagement permeates the program, with many tangible results. The ongoing partnership with the Wood County Committee on Aging has yielded staff and student training in such issues as opportunities for senior citizens with

Orel honored for dedication to service learning

developmental disabilities and elder-abuse prevention. Students are engaged on all levels, as participants, volunteers and interns.

“Partnerships are at the heart of Dr. Orel’s work,” Cartwright said. Recently, she has developed a service-learning partnership with Hospice of Northwest Ohio that resulted in gerontology students’ becoming fully trained as hospice volunteers and completing a period of service. As Orel said, her work has the “common goal of bringing visibility to those who have been overlooked and/or ignored by the scientific community and society at large.” Under her example and mentorship, BGSU is producing a new generation of gerontologists who will continue to revolutionize the field for the benefit of some of our most vulnerable, and valuable, citizens. v

Dr. Nancy Orel

Bowling Green State UniversityCollege of Health and Human Services100 Health CenterBowling Green, Ohio 43403-0154

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Please make checks payable to BGSU Foundation, Inc. and designate where you want the donation to go. Or make a gift online at www.givetobgsu.com

Contributions are tax deductible.□ Please contact me about an estate gift.

Return to: College of Health and Human ServicesBowling Green State University 100 Health Center Bowling Green, Ohio 43403-0154

Phone: 419-372-8243

Nonprofit OrgU.S. Postage PAIDBowling Green, OhioPermit No. 1