Faculty librarians conduct scholarly research across disciplines and with far-reaching impacts. Penn State University Libraries faculty librarians’ research is not only impactful, it is highly productive, as evidenced by a study published in the July 2023 issue of College & Research Libraries, the official, peer-reviewed scholarly research journal of the Association of College and Research Libraries.
The Crop Science Society of America recently announced that Michael A. Fidanza, professor of horticulture at Penn State Berks, has been honored with the Fred V. Grau Turfgrass Science Award. The annual awards are presented for outstanding contributions to crop science through education, national and international service, and research.
Brett Spencer, reference and instruction librarian for the Thun Library at Penn State Berks, received the 2024 Innovation and Advocacy in Library History Award presented by the Library History Round Table (LHRT) of the American Library Association (ALA). The award acknowledges those who have made recent substantive contributions to LHRT or the wider library history community by promoting library history in exceptional or new ways or by reaching new audiences.
Sadan Kulturel-Konak, professor of management information systems and director of the Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center at Penn State Berks, will be formally recognized with the 2024 American Society of Engineering Education Middle Atlantic Section Distinguished Teaching Award at the association’s fall conference at Farmingdale State College, Oct. 25-26.
Penn State announced the recipients of the inaugural Commonwealth Campus Undergraduate Community-Engaged Research Awards, a new program designed for faculty who specifically support undergraduate student participation in research that aims to improve community well-being.
Six Penn State Commonwealth Campuses recently named faculty members as Open Champions, recognizing their work with open education in the third year of Penn State's Open and Affordable Educational Resources Champion Awards.
Sarah Hartman-Caverly, reference and instruction librarian at Berks Thun Library, Penn State Berks, was recognized June 6 for her work co-leading a peer community that explores heterodoxy in the context and practice of academic librarianship. Hartman-Caverly’s community, Heterodox Libraries, received the inaugural HxA Community Excellence Award from the Heterodox Academy.
Lolita Paff, associate professor of business and economics at Penn State Berks, is the recipient of Penn State’s 2024 Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching. The award is presented to only two faculty members annually. It is the most prestigious award that a faculty member can receive, recognizing excellence in teaching and student support.
Lolita Paff, associate professor of business and economics at Penn State Berks, and Scott Showalter, professor of chemistry and of biochemistry and molecular biology in the Eberly College of Science, are the recipients of the 2024 Milton S. Eisenhower Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Penn State Berks announced has that two of its professors have been elected as 2024 INFORMS (Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences) DEI Ambassadors. In this role, Sadan Kulturel-Konak, professor of management information systems and director of the college’s Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development Center, and Abdullah Konak, distinguished professor of information sciences and technology, will complete a project titled “Innovation in Operations Research: Fostering Equity and Justice in Problem Formulation.”
