Friday, October 31, 2014

Northeastern Illinois University closed out the month of October with an awards-filled bang. Check out the week in honors, media coverage and more.

Around the Commons

NASPA service award

Congratulations to Vice President for Student Affairs Frank E. Ross, who will receive the 2014 Outstanding Service to NASPA Award for Region IV-East. The award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding achievement to the student affairs profession and Region IV-East.

Distinguished teacher

Communication, Media and Theatre professor Cynthia Moran has won the 2014 Audrey Reynolds Distinguished Teaching Award. The award is given annually to a tenured member of the University faculty who best demonstrates distinguished teaching.

A historical difference

Northeastern alumnus and former member of the University Board of Trustees Dan Goodwin was presented with the first Making a Historical Difference Award by the DuPage Historical Museum on Wednesday, Oct. 29. In honoring Goodwin, chairman and CEO of The Inland Real Estate Group of Companies, the museum cited his company’s contributions to the DuPage County economy as well as his charitable giving and volunteer efforts.

Flamenco on film

“Over the Waves: A Story of Flamenco in the U.S.,” a movie that features Northeastern’s resident Ensemble Español, has been selected into the educational market by PRAGDA, a film distribution company that promotes and maintains the legacy of Spanish and Latin America through international cultural initiatives. The film, which highlights the life of Jose Greco, Carmela Greco, Dame Libby Komaiko and Ensemble Español, was presented at Chicago's Latino Film Festival in 2013.

And there’s more!

 

  • Victor Montañez of the Center for College Access and Success appears in a new documentary series titled “The School Project” that premiered Oct. 28.
  • Emma Battaglia has been nominated as the Northeastern 2014 Lincoln Academy Student Laureate.
  • Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics assistant professor Jennifer Banas published in the American Journal of Public Health in collaboration with David Victorson of Northwestern University.
  • Economics associate professor Christina Ciecierski has been awarded a teaching grant from the Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program for 2014-15.
  • Mike Martindale, a supervisor of mathematics tutoring in the Learning Support Center, presented a seminar on “How Studying Mathematics is Different” on Oct. 24 at the Illinois Learning Specialists & Developmental Educators conference.
  • Rich Rutschman of the Center for College Access and Success was the lead presenter at the fifth Polish Society of Incentive Therapy conference Oct. 13-14 in Warsaw, Poland.
  • Associate Dean of Libraries Dave Green will present Nov. 1 at the ACCA Scholarship of Pedagogy Symposium in Elmhurst.
  • Psychology professor Masami Takahashi and recent graduate Cathy Samatas will present their research at the Gerontological Society of America annual conference.
  • The inaugural issue of The Journal Petra, an online literary journal co-edited by English instructor Olivia Cronk, has gone live. This issue features work by November Visiting Writers Series writer Andrea Rexilius.

In the media

COVER WORTHY

As we told you two weeks ago, Biology assistant professor Aaron Schirmer and instructor Frederick Prete were part of a team whose research on praying mantises was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. Now we can reveal: Their research made the cover! (A special nod goes to Northeastern photographer Joe Davis, who took the cover image.)

And on the radio

Graduate music student Konrad Pawelek, who recently won an outside scholarship, was interviewed in Polish by the Polish Daily News and Radio Deon Chicago after he performed on clarinet for the scholarship committee.

Also in the media ...

  • Former Northeastern assistant professor Parv Sethi was featured by The Roanoke Times for creating a series of virtual, geology-based tours in 15 national parks.
  • Northeastern alum Bishop Mar Gewargis Younan was mentioned in the Illinois Review for participating in U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk’s Human Rights Caucus Field Hearing to discuss ISIS’s threats in the Middle East.

To do

Modern Mandolin Quartet

Northeastern will host the Modern Mandolin Quartet on Nov. 21 as part of the Jewel Box Series. The quartet is a chamber group using instruments exclusively from the mandolin family (two mandolins, a mandola and a mando-cello). The group will perform arrangements of music from the classical and contemporary canons.

Coming soon

Don’t forget: Ensemble Español will present “Rotas,” a theater and dance production that examines issues related to domestic violence, next month. Performances will take place in the Auditorium on Nov. 8 and Nov. 9. A question-and-answer session will be presented following each performance.

Mark your calendar!

#FollowFriday

Meet Aaron Cortes

The director of the TRIO Upward Bound Math and Science program at the Center for College Access and Success promotes STEM education. He focuses on project-based, experiential learning and college readiness for low-income and first-generation college-bound students. He also likes to tweet about robotics, science, government services and industry opportunities for educational and professional support. Drop him a tweet and say hello!

Do you have a story tip? Let the public relations office know!

Mike Hines, director of public relations, m-hines@neiu.edu, (773) 442-4240