November 26, 2018

We are pleased to recognize the recent grants, publications, presentations, awards and honors of members of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Grants

Meghan Butryn, PhD, associate professor of psychology, was awarded a grant from Weill Cornell Medical Center as a subcontract PI to help deliver and evaluate a phone-based lifestyle modification program for African American breast cancer survivors.

Honors and Awards

Melissa Ayers, research program administrator for the WELL Center and the departments of chemistry, mathematics and physics, received the President’s Award for Excellence for Professional Staff. The award is the highest honor recognizing excellence or innovation that enables the University to fulfil its mission and achieve its goals.

Scott Tattar, instructor of communication, was awarded the Anthony Fulginiti Award for Commitment to Education from the Philadelphia chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. The award honors a person who excels in education through mentorship and teaching, and whose efforts and contributions shape the careers of future PR professionals and have had a positive impact on the Public Relations Student Society of America.

A poem by Lynn Levin, adjunct professor of English, was selected to appear in a digital art installation in the new Comcast Technology Center. The poem, titled “If You Are Reading This,” is displayed in scrolling LED text along with poems by William Carlos Williams, Marianne Moore, Philadelphia school children and others.

Presentations and Conferences

Michael Lowe, PhD, professor of psychology, chaired and gave an invited, plenary session talk at Obesity Week 2018 in Nashville, Tennessee, titled “Food Addiction or Hedonic Eating? Setting the Record Straight” (November 11-15, 2018).

Gwen Ottinger, PhD, associate professor of politics and of science, technology and society, staged a reading of her play “AJ’s Place on the Planet,” at the Louis Bluver Theatre at the Drake. The play was directed by Maura Krause and supported by a Faculty Scholarly and Creative Research Award from the Drexel University Office of Faculty Affairs.

The Department of Physics hosted the 22nd annual Kaczmarczik Lecture with Francis Halzen, PhD, Hilldale and Gregory Breit Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and principal investigator of the IceCube Collaboration. The department also hosted an open house that was attended by over 600 high school students and teachers.

Publications

Alison Kenner, PhD, assistant professor of politics and of science, technology and society, published the book “Breathtaking: Asthma Care in a Time of Climate Change,” University of Minnesota Press.

Alison Novak, PhD, and Melinda Sebastian, PhD, alumnas of the communication, culture and media doctoral program, published the book “Network Neutrality and Digital Dialogic Communication: How Public, Private and Government Forces Shape Internet Policy,” Routledge.