The Keystone Wind Ensemble received an invitation to perform at the 2025 Texas Bandmasters Association Conference, July 24–26 in San Antonio, Texas. It is anticipated that over 6,500 people will attend the conference, including 2,400 band directors and more than 600 industry-related exhibitors.
Jackson White, a political science and economics honors double major in the Cook Honors College at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, was approved to serve as a student trustee on the IUP Council of Trustees by the Pennsylvania State System Board of Governors at its meeting on February 6.
John Wesley Lowery presented legislative and public policy updates at the ASCA annual conference in Portland. He received the inaugural Legacy of Excellence Award for his significant contributions to student conduct. A long-time ASCA member, he has received multiple awards and presented policy updates over 20 times
David Wachob, professor and chair of the Department of Career and Wellness Education, recently visited the Robinson School in San Juan, PR, to secure a student teaching agreement for IUP students.
Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management students Jade Peffer, Sky Eakin-Irwin, Sarah Johnson, and Ben Salvo, with faculty member Stephen B. Shiring, volunteered to work the information booth on Gobbler’s Knob for Groundhog’s Day 2025.
Following an eight-year hiatus, the Keystone Wind Ensemble returned to IUP in November 2023 to present a reunion concert. Based on the success of that performance, the ensemble returned in November 2024 for a second performance. Approximately 60 musicians returned to IUP for a series of rehearsals that culminated in a performance on November 3, 2024.
The Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences congratulates our students named as Provost Scholars. To be named a Provost Scholar, students must have earned a minimum of 45 semester hours at IUP with a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher. Provost Scholar recognition is given only once during a student’s time of study at IUP.
The Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences congratulates our students for being named to the Dean’s List for fall 2024. Students receive this recognition for each semester in which they earn a GPA of 3.25 or higher while taking a minimum of 12 credits.
Mimi Benjamin, Claire Hamshire, and Alan Soong Swee Kit published a study in Teaching and Learning Inquiry on peer mentoring for underrepresented students in the UK, USA, and Singapore. They developed a model highlighting social connections, shared experiences, and trust as key to belonging
Ronnie Fleck and Evan Sala were the top performers in the fall 2024 CFA Society Pittsburgh Collegiate Stock Picker Challenge session, beating out 191 students from more than 15 local universities in the largest competition to date.
On January 11, Culinary Academy faculty Chef Thomas Barnes and Chef Erin Reed attended the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg, PA, accompanied by select culinary and baking students.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Academy of Culinary Arts Ice Carving Club will be creating its annual tribute to Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day with an ice carving of Phil on Gobbler’s Knob as part of the community Groundhog Day celebration.
Matt Vetter, with co-authors Jialei Jiang and Brent Lucia, published a new article titled “From Hype to Practice: Reinterpreting the Writing Process Through Technical Writing Students’ Engagement with ChatGPT” in the journal Technical Communication Quarterly.
Following six years of “exemplary service to Indiana University of Pennsylvania,” Vice President for Administration and Finance Debra L. Fitzsimons has accepted the position of chief financial officer at Allegheny College in Meadville, IUP President Michael Driscoll said.
A team of IUP students presented their research at the Appalachian Collegiate Research Initiative (ACRI), a grant-funded program of the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC). The 2024 ACRI conference, held December 6–7 in Washington, D.C., featured projects from students representing 15 colleges and universities. These projects addressed a range of pressing regional issues, from economic revitalization to environmental sustainability, showcasing innovative, community-centered solutions.
Dr. Amanda Poole, Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences, recently participated in the 66th African Studies Association (ASA) Annual Meeting, held in Chicago, Illinois, from December 12–14, 2024. The ASA Annual Meeting, the largest gathering of Africanist scholars in the world, is the flagship event of the association and brought together over 2,000 scholars and professionals under the theme Global Africa.
The Student Managed Investment Portfolio organization just wrapped up another successful semester in fall 2024. The club welcomed numerous new members as analysts, many of them first-semester freshmen, who brought renewed energy to the organization.
The IUP Economics Club wishes to thank the alumni and other guest speakers who met with students during the fall 2024 semester! From each one, students learned valuable insights about career pathways, tips for greater academic success, and networking suggestions.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Criminal Justice Training Center has finalized an agreement with CNX Resources in Canonsburg to serve as the Pittsburgh region’s satellite site for the Center’s municipal police academy (Act 120) training.
IUP alumnus Dominic Rocco ’23 and Department of Finance and Economics student Gabe Kengersky presented breakout sessions as part of the Future Business Leaders of America Region 3 Leadership Conference held at IUP for high school students on December 16, 2024.
Treylor Shirley ’21 successfully concluded the 12-week NMT Capstone Semester at Penn State while he was at IUP. This life-altering experience kindled his enthusiasm for nanotechnology, prompting him to strive for a master’s degree and presently a PhD at Penn State.
John A. Mueller, SAHE professor emeritus, will receive ACPA’s 2025 Esther Lloyd-Jones Professional Service Award at the association’s annual convention in February 2025.
Officer Brayden Bumgardner was recently sworn into service by Indiana County Magisterial District Judge Anthony Sottile III.
Undergraduate students receive recognition on the Dean’s List for each fall, spring, or summer term(s) in which they earn at least a 3.25 GPA based on at least 12 credits of graded (not P/F) undergraduate coursework, or a combination of graded graduate and undergraduate coursework.
Bryna Siegel Finer, Department of Language, Literature, and Writing, has been selected as the incoming co-editor of the journal “Peitho.”
Bryna Siegel Finer, Department of Language, Literature, and Writing, published a new book with Peter Lang, “Confronting Toxic Rhetoric: Writing Teachers’ Experiences of Rupture, Resistance, and Resilience.”
The IUP Men’s Rugby Club, a significant part of IUP’s sports legacy, recently added another feather to its cap by winning its fourth national championship. Head Coach Seth Erwin was asked about the sport, its history at IUP, and the team.
Celebrate the achievements of our graduates with a photo gallery capturing memorable moments from our Winter 2024 Commencement Ceremony. Relive the joy, pride, and excitement of this special day!
The Pennsylvania Drone Association selected Indiana University of Pennsylvania for its 2024 Ellie Education Award, recognizing IUP as “an educational institution that has helped to elevate the drone industry in our commonwealth in a meaningful and significant way. “
Caleb Rokosky and Jessica Delaney shared their experiences from the Kopchick Summer Internship at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center at a November 1 presentation, highlighting how it boosted their academic and professional development. Funded by John and Char Kopchick, the internship offers valuable research opportunities for IUP students in relevant programs.
Kristopher Marinas, 32, will be honored during IUP’s December commencement for graduating with a perfect 4.0 grade point average—all while working as a full-time night shift custodian in the university’s Administration and Finance Division.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania will hold a commencement ceremony on December 14 for 563 graduates who have completed academic requirements for their degrees in December and January 2025.
Three students at Indiana University of Pennsylvania have been selected for IUP’s Justice Research Fellowship program offered through the IUP Administration and Leadership Studies Research and Training Center.
In conjunction with IUP’s Giving Tuesday/Month of Giving initiative, IUP Ambassadors donated $800 from the group’s Homecoming parade first-place float prize to the IUP Food Pantry and Help Center.
Students who were recognized as IUP Provost Scholars for fall 2024.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Office of International Education has been successful in helping a fifteenth international student—Sylvia Mukasa, from Nairobi, Kenya—secure an Emergency Student Fund Award from the Institute of International Education Emergency Fund.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Director of Strategic Partnerships Christina Koren has been selected for the Pennsylvania Business Central’s “Foremost Under 40 2024.”
Edited by Andrew Zhou and his colleague, the newly published book “1D and 2D Nanomaterials for Sensor Applications” showcases breakthroughs in the use of advanced one- and two-dimensional nanomaterials for sensor technologies.
Miko Rose, the founding dean of Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine, will join KDKA Newsradio host Larry Richert and Rich Fitzgerald on The Big K Morning Show on Wednesday, November 27.
John Lattanzio, Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences, published a mathematical text titled "Essential Linear Algebra." The 824-page textbook is adaptable for use in both introductory and advanced courses and serves as an invaluable resource for the fundamental aspects of linear algebra.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania has been recognized by the All In Campus Democracy Challenge as a 2024 All In Most Engaged Campus for College Student Voting.
Mattie Updyke, a second-year Student Affairs in Higher Education student, received the 2024 Nancy Newkerk Scholarship for outstanding contributions to student advocacy, especially supporting LGBTQIA students. The award was presented during the annual SAHE Thanksgiving celebration, recognizing Mattie’s commitment to student growth, inclusion, and collaboration in higher education
Parker Bradley, an undergraduate from the Madia Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics, earned recognition as one of the Top 10 Undergraduate Poster Presenters at the American Chemical Society's Central Regional Meeting.
Francis Allard has been awarded a Research Grant for Foreign Scholars by the Center for Chinese Studies in Taiwan.
Kalynne Ziegler, a senior undergraduate student in the Health and Physical Education Teacher Education program, was recognized as the 2024 recipient of the Outstanding Future Professional Award.
Asher Skiles '24 presented his innovative research on chiral active matter, using hexbug chains to model microtubule dynamics, and shared insights on REU applications and his transfer experience to the University of Pittsburgh at a recent event hosted by the Pre-Engineering and Physics Clubs.
Mike Sell shared his thoughts on the role of intertextual reference, collaborative dramaturgy, and tabletop roleplaying games on the most recent "Dungeons + Drama Nerds" podcast.
A local performance of "Fiddler on the Roof," produced by the Hope Springs Eternal Holocaust Project, featured several people with IUP connections.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania students Erika Jackson and Monserrat Lopez Villagomez, president of the IUP Latino Student Organization, presented “Uniting Through Culture: How Student-Led Programming Led to 200+ Attendees” at the 2024 PASSHE Summit: Uniting for Inclusive Student Success.
Dana Driscoll (professor of writing, Department of Language, Literatures, and Writing; director of the Center for Scholarly Communication) and Islam Farag (doctoral candidate, Composition and Applied Linguistics PhD program) published about the Jones White Writing Center's Graduate Editing Service in the latest issue of The Peer Review.
Erin Reed, a chef instructor at IUP's Academy of Culinary Arts, recently took top honors at the American Culinary Federation's Pastry Chef of the Year competition, in Phoenix, Arizona. Each of the three finalists were tasked with entering two plated desserts in the competition, and the judges picked Reed's as the best. Learn more about Chef Reed and her big win in this video.
Recently retired biology professor and university volunteer Tom Simmons moderated a session and gave two talks at the fiftieth anniversary Pennsylvania Vector Control Association meeting.
The IUP Literature and Criticism program was well-represented at the recent Festival of Monsters conference hosted by the University of California Santa Cruz’s Center for Monster Studies, October 16–18.
Miko Rose, founding dean of Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine, has been named one of Pennsylvania’s Fifty Over 50 by "City & State Pennsylvania."
IUP piano professor Henry Wong Doe performed a solo recital at the Beckwith Recital Series, University of North Carolina Wilmington, on Friday, October 25, 2024.
Twelve IUP archeologists participated in service events at Historic Hanna’s Town in Westmoreland County and at the historic Lebanon Cemetery in York, PA, on Saturday, October 26.
Abigail Hancox, a first-year student in the Student Affairs in Higher Education program, has been appointed to the PASSHE Chancellor Search Committee. She also serves on the Board of Governors and studies public affairs at the master's level.
A pair of communications media majors, Emily Marines and Riley Yonchiuk, joined a rare club when they handled the play-by-play and color commentary duties for the streaming broadcast of the IUP vs. Clarion football game at Miller Stadium.
"Untold Stories of Pennsylvania Parks and Forests" launched with a new website and presentations at the Pennsylvania Historical Association annual meeting.
Amanda Poole, Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences, joined colleagues around the world for a virtual panel discussion on October 16 focused on her cowritten ethnography, "Hosting States and Unsettled Guests: Eritrean Refugees in a Time of Migration Deterrence."
An Indiana University of Pennsylvania student has been named to the Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education Board of Governors, the chairman of the IUP Council of Trustees has been reappointed to the Board, and an IUP alumnus has been appointed to complete an unexpired term on the Board.
The following message was shared with all students on October 21, 2024:
The latest research from Devki Talwar, Madia Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Physics, explores the thermal and vibrational behavior of carbon-based superlattices composed of binary materials.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Miko Rose, the founding dean of IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine, was an invited presenter for the 2024 Osteopathic Medical Education Conference, the world’s largest gathering of osteopathic physicians.
IUP's "The Pathfinder" has debuted a new website that will house recent issues of the publication, in case you missed your weekly email.
Chauna Craig (Department of Language, Literature, and Writing) was recently awarded a competitive arts residency this past September at Craigardan, an interdisciplinary residency program located in Elizabethtown, New York.
Mimi Benjamin, professor of Student Affairs in Higher Education, served as a keynote speaker for the Association of College and University Housing Officers – International/Residential College Society’s joint conference in Portland, Oregon, on October 8, 2024.
IUP Anthropology faculty recently published research about the resolution of skeletal commingling in an invited issue of the Journal of Forensic Sciences.
Francis Allard and Ben Ford, both anthropologists in the Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences, recently presented their research as public lectures.
Family and consumer sciences education senior, Trinity Boland, won first place at the Salvation Army’s Runway Repurposed fashion show in Pittsburgh on May 22, 2024. Trinity submitted an original design and participated in the runway event.
Alexis Shirk, a family and consumer sciences education undergraduate student, received the 2024 Pennsylvania Association of Family and Consumer Sciences Undergraduate Scholarship award.
Michelle Tweardy, Family and Consumer Sciences Education program coordinator and faculty member, represented the Pennsylvania Association of Family and Consumer Sciences at the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences National Leadership Summit.
IUP music alumni Dennis ('75 MA '82) and Elizabeth Cramer ('76) and David Earnest ('23) recently performed for "Last Fridays at the Museum," sponsored by the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, PA.
Luke Nicosia M'24 published his thesis research in Westmoreland History. The research focused on an archaeological investigation of New Alexandria, PA, to understand how the damming of the Loyalhanna River affected the town.
Shijuan Liu gave an invited keynote speech at the 2024 ChinaCALL Conference and International Congress on English Language Education and Applied Linguistics, held in Beijing, China, August 23–25.
What if your internship could take you from the classroom to the White House? For Kiyana Tucker, it did! Her internship quickly became more than just an addition to her résumé, developing into an experience filled with professional growth, hands-on experience, networking opportunities, and personal enrichment.
Todd Cunningham, who has nearly three decades of experience in higher education information technology, most recently as executive director of Information Technology Services at IUP, has been named IUP’s chief information officer.
Anthropology faculty members William Chadwick and Andrea Palmiotto from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Department of Anthropology, Geospatial and Earth Sciences, were honored to be invited by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III to the National POW/MIA Recognition Day at the Pentagon in Washington, DC on September 20, 2024.
The PA Community College Consortium Cooperative Agreement (PC4A) has awarded scholarships to five community college transfer students, providing one year of free tuition in AY 2024–25.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Associate Vice President for International Education and Global Engagement and Executive Director of the American Language Institute Michele Petrucci has been honored for excellence by the Pennsylvania Council for International Education.
Francisco Alarcón of the Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences has been selected to serve a four-year term on the Haimo Teaching Award by the Mathematical Association of America.
Mimi Benjamin, professor in the Student Affairs in Higher Education program, has been appointed to the NASPA: Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education 2026 National Conference Leadership Committee.
The Office of the Provost has announced the promotion of several faculty members to full professor effect the fall 2024 semester.
The Force is definitely with Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Thomas Oraskovich, a senior sociology and political science major from Homer City. Oraskovich completed his second year in IUP’s Undergraduate Summer Opportunities for Applying Research (USOAR) program with his research project, “Rebels vs. Terrorists: Star Wars Rebels and Political Implications.”
A social studies education major and political science minor from Pittsburgh had the experience of a lifetime this summer as an intern in the office of Senator John Fetterman in Washington, DC.
Silas Gesser, a senior in Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management bachelor’s degree program from Westmoreland County, has been awarded the prestigious Statler Foundation’s Scholarship of Excellence.
Cellist Linda Jennings and pianist Chindarat Charoenwongse will present the first recital of the IUP season in Gorell Hall on Tuesday evening, September 3, at 7:00 p.m. The program will present traditional works alongside newer works, including Claude Debussy’s sonata, the slow movement of the Rachmaninoff sonata, and works by David Maslanka, Chen Yi, and Samuel Magrill. The recital is open and free to the public.
Mike Driscoll is not a university president by design. In high school, he took an interest in engineering and computers, so he went off to college to be an electrical engineer. But as it often does, life took another turn.
Mike Sell (Department of Language, Literature, and Writing) and co-editor Megan Amber Condis (Communication Studies, Texas Tech University) have published a collection of scholarly essays about the stories we tell with, about, and around video games.
IUP was well-represented at the thirty-eighth annual Pennsylvania Economic Association Conference held in Slippery Rock, PA, from May 30 to June 1, 2024.
Undergraduate students receive recognition on the Dean’s List for each fall, spring, or summer term(s) in which they earn at least a 3.25 GPA based on at least 12 credits of graded (not P/F) undergraduate coursework, or a combination of graded graduate and undergraduate coursework.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate Kristie Frederick Daugherty’s “flash” on the night of the 2024 Grammy Awards has resulted in 113 contemporary and nationally acclaimed poets—including six Pulitzer Prize writers—coming together for an anthology of poems based on songs by musician Taylor Swift.
Dean of Students Adam Jones answers questions about his position, his experience, and why a student may reach out to him. He also provides valuable advice to students about getting the most out of their college experience.
Zach Collins, professor of tuba and euphonium at IUP, recently published four new compositions with Cimarron Music Press.
IUP piano professor Henry Wong Doe recently completed a three-concert tour of New Zealand, performing on July 20, 21, and August 3. He performed two separate programs at three cities in the North Island: Waikanae on the Kapiti Coast, the capital city of Wellington, and Warkworth (one hour north of Auckland).
Summer-long research projects undertaken by students participating in the Undergraduate Summer Opportunities for Applying Research (U-SOAR) program will be on display at this free event.
Jonathan Lewis, professor of Geosciences, was granted a National Science Foundation award for a third STEM Student Experiences Aboard Ships (STEMSEAS) project.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Indiana Regional Medical Center’s joint podcast, "Rural Health Pulse," continues with an episode on Pennsylvania's evolution and current state of emergency medical services with B.J. Pino and Reba Johnson of Citizens' Ambulance.
Donovan Daniel, of Indiana, Indiana University of Pennsylvania director of student leadership and a two-time IUP graduate, has been selected to present through the TEDx program.
A year-long program developed by a team at Indiana University of Pennsylvania to recruit and retain talented teachers was selected for recognition by PA Needs Teachers in its Solutions Playbook, published recently by Teach Plus Pennsylvania and the National Center on Education and the Economy.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Academy of Culinary Arts Chef Instructor Erin Reed is the American Culinary Federation 2024 Pastry Chef of the Year.
Zach Collins, professor of tuba and euphonium at IUP, released an album of hymn arrangements for five-part tuba ensemble on Summit Records, titled "Firm Foundation."
Indiana University of Pennsylvania has received $20,000 in funding from the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) for a new initiative to inspire the next generation of special education teachers.
The renowned River City Brass Band of Pittsburgh, the only full-time professional brass ensemble in the United States, recently released an album featuring the music of 1965 IUP alumnus, Jim Self.
IUP music alumni, George Alberti '11, Mike Waddell '12, Zack Grass '14, and Logan Carnes '19, released album Keystone Kitchen, an album of new works for tuba-euphonium quartet, in June 2024.
This past May, Rosemary Engelstad was an artist-in-residence at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute in Boscawen, NH. During her residency, she collaborated with Slippery Rock clarinet professor, Amanda Morrison, on their new project, the Grant Avenue EFX Clarinet Duo.
This summer, the IUP Music Department hosted 118 campers for the third annual Summer Music Camp.
In June, Indiana University of Pennsylvania hosted a workshop on uncrewed aircraft (drones) for teachers in eight area high schools who are teaching the aviation curriculum in their schools. The workshop focused on how teachers can integrate drone education into the curriculum. Teachers represented districts in Allegheny, Clearfield, Indiana, and Westmoreland counties.
Alida Merlo, Indiana University of Pennsylvania Distinguished University Professor and professor of criminology and criminal justice, is the 2024 recipient of the Bruce Smith, Sr. Award from the Academy of Criminal Justice Science.
Here is an alphabetic list of students who graduated from IUP in May 2024.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Anthropology faculty have been selected by the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, through the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc., to continue its field study near Frankfurt, Germany, at the site of a crash of a World War II B-17 airplane.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Indiana Regional Medical Center’s joint podcast, “Rural Health Pulse,” continues with an episode on genomics research and rural health with IUP Distinguished Alumni Award recipient Nick Jacobs
On June 10, Abigail Adams participated in a "Fireside Chat" to commemorate Pride Month for Anthology, a multinational company that encompasses Blackboard, Campus Management, Campus Labs, and iModules.
Associate Professor Diane Shinberg presented a paper at the annual meeting of the Population Association of America in Columbus, OH, on April 18, 2024.
The 2024 Ricupero scholarship recipients are Baking and Pastry Arts students Myia Page from Emlenton, PA, and Kelsey Young from Tionesta, PA.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Indiana Regional Medical Center’s joint podcast, “Rural Health Pulse,” continues with “Lyme and Other Tickborne Diseases” with IUP biology professor Thomas Simmons.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Miko Rose, the founding dean of IUP’s proposed college of osteopathic medicine, has been elected as a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists by the Fellows of the American College of Neuropsychiatrists/American College of Osteopathic Neurologists and Psychiatrists.
Undergraduate students receive recognition on the Dean’s List for each fall, spring, or summer term(s) in which they earn at least a 3.25 GPA based on at least 12 credits of graded (not P/F) undergraduate coursework, or a combination of graded graduate and undergraduate coursework.
John Benhart, professor of regional planning in IUP’s Department of Geography, Geology, Environment, and Planning and director of IUP’s Geospatial Intelligence Certificate programs and Unmanned Aircraft Systems Certificate programs, is an invited panelist for the second annual Aerium Summit and will be a panelist for a program at the thirty-third annual Showcase for Commerce.
Christian Vaccaro, professor in the Department of Sociology, co-authored "Exploring Humor in Child Welfare Casework: Laugh to Get Through It or Cry Forever" with Lisa Landram, alumna of the Administration and Leadership Studies in Nonprofit and Public Sectors program (PhD ’20). Landram is an incoming assistant professor of social work at Mary Baldwin University.
Mimi Benjamin was a guest on this week’s episode of the "Student Affairs NOW" podcast. She and her co-authors discussed their new book, "Living-Learning Communities in Practice."
Matthew Vetter (Department of English) has been awarded a research grant from the Wikimedia Foundation (the nonprofit behind Wikipedia) as part of an international team that includes Brett Buttliere (University of Warsaw) and Sage Ross (Wiki Education Foundation).
Indiana University of Pennsylvania has announced recipients of the University Senate Awards and the list of new faculty emeriti.
At the May 9 University Faculty Achievement Awards Dinner, Mimi Benjamin received the University Senate’s Distinguished Faculty Service Award, which recognizes significant contributions to the university community or to the recipient’s professional community at large. Benjamin joined the faculty in 2013.
The Department of Foreign Languages congratulates our students who are graduating with a certificate, minor, or major in one of the languages we are offering.
Comm Media faculty member Rachel Fox won a spot at Delectable, a juried national exhibition of food-themed artworks held at the d'Art Center in Norfolk, VA.
Comm Media PhD candidate Lori Smith Roles recently published a book review in "Popular Culture Studies Journal."
The Department of Student Affairs in Higher Education honored graduating students and recognized two graduates for exceptional accomplishments and contributions as part of the department's annual banquet on Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
Comm Media faculty member Zack Stiegler has been awarded the 2024 Faculty Scholar Award.
Comm Media faculty member Mark Piwinsky has been working with different student teams on various projects in the Indiana community.
For the second year in a row, Comm Media's doctoral student Nafisah Sulaiman has won the Dean's Award for Excellence for a paper presented at this year's IUP Scholars Forum.
As Indiana University of Pennsylvania honors its 1,100 students receiving bachelor’s degrees during commencement ceremonies on May 11, it will celebrate a total of 48 students who completed those degrees with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.
Winners of the 2024 Scholars Forum were celebrated at a recent reception held in the Blue Room of Sutton Hall.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania will honor 1,566 graduates during commencement ceremonies on May 10 and 11 at the Kovalchick Convention and Athletic Complex and will honor Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Indiana resident Ellen Sylves Ruddock, a 1966 graduate of IUP, with honorary Doctor of Public Services degrees.
Lorraine J. Guth, Indiana University of Pennsylvania professor of counseling, has been selected as IUP’s 2024–25 Distinguished University Professor.
From IUP's first Black professor to alumni working in the outdoors and faculty and students digging for dinosaur bones, here's a look back at some of the stories that show some of the many great things––and great people––at IUP.
In fall 2023, nine IUP students interpreted for 20 new employees at Indiana factory Specialty Tires of America, hired directly from Mexico through the company's participation in an H-2B work visa program.
James Jozefowicz has been selected as the recipient of the 2024 Garvin-Kort Faculty Award for Research in Economics. Generous donations from Distinguished Alumni Award recipient John Kort ’74 and the late Alexander Garvin, economics faculty 1969–98, provided support for faculty research.
Erika Jackson, a senior psychology honors program major in Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Cook Honors College and IUP’s nominee for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Ali-Zaidi Award, has been selected for a scholarship as IUP’s nominee by IUP Provost Lara Luetkehans.
Four undergraduate students recently represented Indiana University of Pennsylvania at the Undergraduate Research at the Capitol (URC-PA) symposium on Tuesday, March 19, in Harrisburg, PA.
Mimi Benjamin, professor in the Department of Student Affairs in Higher Education, co-authored "Living-Learning Communities in Practice: A Guide for Creating, Maintaining, and Sustaining Effective Programs in Higher Education," with Karen Kurotsuchi Inkelas and Jody Jessup-Anger.
Stephanie Onkst was selected as one of Pennsylvania's State System of Higher Education Foundation Scholarship recipients for the spring 2024 semester.
This fall, Caio Gomes, who will graduate from IUP next week, will head to law school at Yale University. If you ask him the secret to his success, he will say IUP played a key part in it.
Students in IUP Art and Design faculty Sharon Massey and Sean Derry’s 3D Design and Digital Fabrication class will compete in the eighth annual Design Stars of IUP on May 7 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Waller Hall theater at IUP.
On April 11-23, the new IUP Graphic Design and Illustration program hosted the first Slenkfest, named after IUP’s first graphic design professor, Robert Slenker. Slenkfest combined current IUP students and alumni working in the field of visual design.
In mid April students and faculty from IUP and Commonwealth University – Bloomsburg gathered in Carlisle for the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Undergraduate Anthropology Conference.
The Madia Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Physics and Engineering presents its 56th Annual Academic Achievement Awards.
Zeeshan Siddique and co-authors Mehebub Sahana, lecturer of geography and environmental planning, University of Manchester (UK), and Sanjida Parveen (PhD), postdoctoral candidate in the Department of English at the University of Manchester, published a book chapter in the scholarly collection "COVID-19 in South Asia: Society, Economy, and Politics."
Matt Vetter and co-authors Jialei Jiang, Mahmoud Othman, and Mercy Muguimi, all former or current IUP doctoral students in English, have published “Navigating the Emotional Terrain of Wikipedia Writing: A Feminist Affective Analysis of Student Writers’ Engagement with the ‘Be Bold’ Guideline” in the journal Computers and Composition.
Andrea Palmiotto was recently awarded a post-PhD research grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation to explore social prescriptions and communal learning in the production of ancient bone tools on the South Carolina coast between 3,000 and 6,000 years ago.
The Kathleen Jones White Writing Center is proud to announce that two of our graduate tutors received graduate awards for their poster presentations at IUP’s spring 2024 Scholar’s Forum.
Department of Finance and Economics student research completed under the direction of several department faculty members was recognized at an awards luncheon held in the Blue Room on April 22, 2024. Volunteer faculty, alumni, and friends-of-the-university judges attended oral and poster presentation sessions during the annual Scholars Forum event held earlier in April, and based on their rubric scoring and comments, results were determined for the four award categories.
Philosophy students Gavin Yoder and Jordan Thomas presented posters at the 2024 IUP Scholars Forum on April 10, 2024.
The Department of Foreign Languages held the annual IUP Spring Methodology Conference on Foreign Language Teaching on Friday, April 19, 2024.
Hans Pedersen, Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, recently published "The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Existentialism" (co-edited with Kevin Aho and Megan Altman).
Twelve anthropology students presented a wide range of papers and posters at the IUP Scholars Forum on April 10. Topics ranged from AI to shipwrecks and from equality to animal bones. The faculty, staff, and alumni judges recognized six anthropology students with awards.
Three Applied Archaeology MA students presented research and won awards at the ninety-third annual meeting of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, held in Carlisle, PA, April 12–14, 2024. They were joined by alumni and faculty in representing IUP Anthropology.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania honored three alumni and a graduating student for outstanding volunteerism through the Award of Excellence in Volunteer Leadership program, held during the annual Volunteer Recognition Breakfast on April 13.
The Department of Finance and Economics is very pleased that numerous students participated in the nineteenth annual Scholars Forum held at the IUP KCAC on April 10, 2024. We wish to thank volunteer judges, faculty mentors, and the Scholars Forum planning committee who organized this event and gave of their own time and talent to afford our students this exceptional opportunity to participate in a professional conference atmosphere.
The Department of Finance and Economics is pleased to recognize two economics majors who shared the results of their research completed as part of the econometrics course sequence in economics at the 2024 Pennsylvania Sports Business Conference, “Creating the Gold Standard,” on the IUP main campus on Friday, April 12.
Ammar Mahmoud, a doctoral candidate in the Curriculum and Instruction program, won the Dean’s Award for his project “Developing a Plan to Handle Any College-level Writing Assignment’ at the 2024 IUP Scholars Forum.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania anthropology professor Ben Ford, IUP’s 2023–24 Distinguished University Professor and chair of IUP’s Department of Anthropology, has been selected as a Fulbright US Scholar for 2024–25.
As assistant director of Student Involvement and Leadership Development, Donovan Daniel guides students and organizations, he leads workshops and conferences—all to help students get involved and grow as leaders. Find out where he gets his inspiration in this Q&A.
Chi Sigma Iota held its initiation ceremony on Friday, April 5th!
Congratulations to Dr. Matthew Nice, who was awarded today as this year's Outstanding Researcher for the College of Education and Communications!
IUP’s Department of Counseling program, along with Counselors for Social Justice, hosted its second in-house Social Justice Conference at IUP Pittsburgh East! Dr. Deborah Duenyas was the keynote speaker.
Abigail Hancox, of Albion, a senior political science major with a minor in homeland security in the Cook Honors College at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, has been selected for a competitive James A. Finnegan Foundation Fellowship.
Mimi Benjamin, professor in the Student Affairs in Higher Education Department, presented at the ACPA convention on the findings of an international research project on peer mentoring, focusing on establishing belonging through peer support programs for underrepresented students.
John Wesley Lowery authored a chapter on student conduct administration in Rentz's "Student Affairs Practice in Higher Education" (6th edition).
As part of 2024 Research Appreciation Week schedule of events, Department of Finance and Economics faculty member Brandon Vick received the Dean’s Award for the Eberly College of Business. This award was presented during the annual Research Awards Reception, which recognizes and celebrates outstanding research by faculty and graduate students and a commitment to sponsored research by faculty and staff.
Alex Tseng traveled to Harrisburg with three other IUP students to participate in the Undergraduate Research at the Capitol—Pennsylvania event held on March 19, 2024.
Cleo McMahan, a biology major from Indiana, received the 2024 Patricia Hilliard Robertson Memorial Scholarship for Outstanding Female Science Student, presented April 8 during IUP’s annual STEM Women’s Summit, highlighting current women scientists and alumnae working in the science fields.
Sixty students and three faculty in IUP’s Department of Music were the invited local chorus to sing with THE Andrea Bocelli—the international superstar—at his concert in Pittsburgh, the first stop on his current tour schedule.
Crystal Machado, professor in the Department of Professional Studies in Education, published a chapter titled "Beyond Coursework: Creating Digital Co-Mentoring Spaces for Graduate and Post-Graduate Student-Faculty Productivity" in Laura E. Gray and Shernette D. Dunn’s edited book Incorporating the Human Element in Online Teaching and Learning.
The director of the IUP Institute for Cyber Security and current PI of several major federally funded grants, Waleed Farag, visited the Homer-Center Senior High School on March 8 to share information about IUP’s cybersecurity education efforts, including current grant information and opportunities for scholarships.
Join the School of Graduate Studies and Research and the IUP Research Institute at the nineteenth annual Scholars Forum, held at the KCAC. This event celebrates student research at IUP and includes the annual Three-Minute Thesis competition.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania will celebrate innovation, student and faculty research, and creative work during IUP’s 2024 Research Appreciation Week, planned for April 8–12. STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.
Drawing on his strong personal connection to environmental advocacy, Zeeshan Saddique, a doctoral candidate in IUP's Literature and Criticism PhD program, designed his fall 2023 section of the course to foster environmental stewardship through the study of narrative.
IUP Comm Media faculty member Stephanie Keppich has received the Teaching Excellence for Temporary Faculty award.
A teaser scene from Jeremy Waltman's movie "The Veteran" has been released.
John Wesley Lowery, professor and department chair of Student Affairs in Higher Education, delivered the 2024 Saddlemire Lecture at Bowling Green State University on Tuesday, April 2.
The College of Education and Communications has completed its second artist residency of the year, with teacher education candidates taking a ECED/ECSP creative experiences courses.
IUP piano professor Henry Wong Doe taught a masterclass and performed a solo recital at Hunter College/City University of New York, March 19th and 20th, 2024.
Dana Lynn Driscoll (professor of English and director of the Jones White Writing Center) and Andrew Yim (composition and applied linguistics doctoral student, tutor in the Writing Center) have published a new article in an edited collection, titled “The Loss of We: An Empirical Investigation of Synchronous and Asynchronous Tutoring Experiences before and During the Pandemic.”
On Saturday, March 23, the IUP Dance Team took part in their first intercollegiate dance match outside of Pennsylvania, the Precision Intercollegiate Dance Competition, held in Manassas, VA. Despite this being the team's first competition in several years, the team was successful, earning the judges' award for "most entertaining" performance and other accolades.
IUP celebrated employees who completed 10, 15, 20, 25, and 35, years of service to the university during the Employee Service Awards luncheon in the Blue Room on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
Miko Rose, the founding dean of IUP's proposed college of osteopathic medicine, never dreamed about being a doctor. But in her "second career," she’s making a difference in the lives of patients and the physicians providing their medical care.
Sarah Brown, Professional Studies in Education, is also head coach of the undefeated Indiana High School Swimming and Diving teams.
The chapter by Asmaa Radwan and Jacqueline McGinty, titled "Towards a Conceptual Generative AI Ethical Framework in Teacher Education," delves into the transformative potential of GenAI in education, highlighting its capabilities to enhance teaching and learning experiences.
Emma McAnulty, a senior hotel, restaurant, tourism, and event management major with a concentration in tourism and special events at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, has been awarded the prestigious Statler Foundation’s Scholarship of Excellence.
John Wesley Lowery presented at the 2024 NASPA Conference in Seattle last week on law and policy issues and the history of student affairs profession.
A list of students who graduated from IUP in December 2023 and January 2024.
Chin Yi Huang and Julie W. Ankrum’s article, “Exploring Taiwanese EFL Teachers’ Resilience Based on their Experience of Working through the Pandemic,” was recently published in Airiti’s "Journal of Sciences & Humanities." Airiti is a Taiwanese online journal.
Farheen Mahmood and Julie W. Ankrum co-authored an article in "Early Childhood Education Journal" describing research exploring the effects of a postcolonial mindset on the accessibility to instructional literature (picturebooks, storybooks, and anthologies/readers) in Pakistan.