The Drake chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America was recently recognized as a Star Chapter at the 2017 PRSSA National Conference in Boston.

—Kathleen Richardson, School of Journalism and Mass Communication

Professor Robert Stensrud was awarded the Collier Baker Endowed Professorship, a four-year award that carries a stipend and research fund, by the Drake Board of Trustees on Oct. 7. He plans to use the award to continue research on the Clubhouse model of employment and training for special needs populations.

Stensrud is serving his 30^th year as a professor in the Leadership and Counseling Department of the School of Education. He has served as department chair from 1991 to 1995, redesigning the counseling specializations that have become national accredited by two major governing boards. He was the director of the School of Education’s Collaborative Leadership in Education, which included the oversight of an $8 million budget. From 1989 to 1999, he was director of the National Rehabilitation Institute, and in 1994, he received the Outstanding Program Award from the U.S. Department of Education Rehab Services. Since coming to Drake, Stensrud has received $15.7 million to support the training of rehabilitation counselors, research on disability, and projects serving the Drake and Greater Des Moines communities. To date, he has written more than 60 refereed publications on disability, health care, and employment.

—Janet McMahill, School of Education

Deborah Kent, associate professor of mathematics, is a finalist for a state award that recognizes innovation in STEM education.

The Technology Association of Iowa announced that Kent is one of five educators in the running for a 2017 Women of Innovation Award in the category of Academic Innovation and Leadership.

Students in Kent’s courses benefit from her strategic approach to incorporating classroom technology into the educational experience.

“Mathematical ideas must be powerfully integrated with technology in the modern world and I work hard to do this in the classroom,” Kent said. “I use technological tools to support the strengths of traditional thinking and to enable students to do things they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.”

For example, Kent recently introduced a Numerical Linear Algebra course in which students used MATLAB, a high-performance language for technical computing—including data analytics and algorithm development. The MATLAB software empowers students to manipulate and visualize large data sets.

The award nomination also recognizes Kent’s national reputation for excellence in mathematics writing and her emphasis on teaching students effectively to communicate technical information.

See the news release for more.

The Chi Chapter of Gamma Iota Sigma (GIS) at Drake received the following outstanding and notable awards at the 46th Annual GIS International Conference in Dallas on Sept. 28–30. Gamma Iota Sigma is an international risk management, insurance, and actuarial science collegiate fraternity.

The Edison L. Bowers Award
The highest honor a chapter can receive. The award recognizes the GIS chapter that demonstrated an exceptional, well-rounded, and organized program throughout the past academic year.

Superior Chapter Award
Recognizes chapters that have excelled in all areas of chapter management.

Black and Gold Award
Presented to any chapter for single achievements or events considered exceptional and possible only through extensive planning, organization, and participation by a significant number of the chapter’s members. This award was received for the Paint Your Future service event and Mock Career Fair event.

Individual member awards:

Kate McCoy – Alan C. Williams Award
Recognizes the individual member of GIS that sets the best example for all other members and is the best “ambassador” to the insurance, risk management, and/or actuarial science industries at the international level as well as at the local and regional levels. This is the highest honor that can be bestowed on any member of GIS, and it is only presented when there is a worthy recipient.

Trevor Carlson – Thomas J. Miles Actuarial Award
Recognizes an individual member of GIS that best represents the qualities of scholarship, leadership, character, and service exemplified by Dr. Miles.

—Dianna Gray, College of Business and Public Administration

The World Food Prize Foundation announced in September that Lauren Blum, a third-year pharmacy student from Groveland, Ill.; Madeline Cheek, a senior writing and anthropology major from Barrington, Ill; Caroline Hogan, a junior public relations major from Edina, Minn.; Sarah Schroeder, a senior strategic political communications major from Waukee, Iowa; and Gustav Swanson, a junior international business and marketing major from Chicago, Ill.; are among the 15 students to be selected as The World Food Prize’s George Washington Carver Interns for the fall 2017.

The students will work alongside an individual staff mentor at the Foundation to plan and execute many of the Foundation’s events and programs. They will help to plan the Borlaug Dialogue International Symposium, guide the Global Youth Institute, stage the Iowa Hunger Summit, and welcome Laureates, government officials, business leaders, and research scientists from more than 40 countries.

Read the news release for more information.

Eric Ferring, tenor and 2014 Drake alumnus, was recently accepted as a an artist in the Ensemble of the Ryan Opera Center with the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Eric, a former student of Leanne Freeman-Miller and a 2014 Drake graduate with a degree in vocal performance, is the first Drake music alumnus accepted into this internationally renowned professional company.

This summer he was an apprentice artist with the Sante Fe Opera, the top summer apprenticeship program in the United States. Also, for the past two years, he has been a full-time resident artist at Pittsburgh Opera.

During his time at Drake, Eric was a member of the Drake Choir under the direction of Aimee Beckmann-Collier, professor of conducting, and starred in several roles with the Drake Opera Theater, led by Ann Cravero, associate professor of music.

Eric is the first singer from Drake, since Sherrill Milnes, who is on his way to having a professional operatic career. His success is a reflection of Drake’s excellent voice/opera program.

—Leanne Freeman-Miller, Department of Music

Data2X announced the winners of the Big Data for Gender Challenge, a competition that offers funding to research teams with innovative solutions to filling global gender data gaps. Through this challenge, Heath Henderson, assistant professor of economics, and a team of researchers from the International Food Policy Research Institute, Food and Agriculture Organization, and Makerere University Business School were awarded $100,000 for their project: “Gender and Mobile Money Networks.” The project seeks to use transaction-level data from mobile money users in Uganda to examine gender-related differences in mobile money access and usage.

Data2x is an initiative hosted by the United Nations Foundation that seeks to promote women’s empowerment by informing policy through improved collection of sex-disaggregated data and gender statistics.

—Dianna Gray, College of Business & Public Administration

More than 250 central Iowa high school students attended a day-long summit at Drake designed to help them identify, prevent, and advocate against sexual assault and gender-based violence. Participants will leave the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Leadership Summit with developmentally appropriate skills for preventing verbal, physical, and emotionally harmful behaviors, including bullying, domestic abuse, and sexual assault. They’ll also be equipped with the ability to pass their knowledge on to classmates.

The Summit, which is the first such summit to be held in central Iowa, was co-hosted by Drake and University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Violence Prevention. Drake offers MVP training for its own students as part of a robust set of services aimed at reducing gender violence and sex-based discrimination, and the University is proud to take a leadership role in extending that training to local high school students. The event will take place throughout Olmsted Center today.

Many students start dating, or start thinking about dating and sex, in middle school or high school. Therefore, it’s important to begin providing bystander training and education on violence prevention, especially in the context of dating and interpersonal relationships, long before students arrive to college.

Drake students and staff members joined other community members to facilitate breakout sessions on topics, including:

• Gender stereotypes
• Healthy relationships
• Sexting vs. sexual exploitation
• Sports, leadership, and respect
• Becoming a master facilitator
• Joining the fight against human trafficking

For more information about the MVP Summit, or if you are interested in joining Drake’s MVP team, contact Tess Cody at 515-271-4141 or tess.cody@drake.edu.

—Tess Cody, Violence Prevention Coordinator

Drake student work is once again among the finalists for the Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker awards, the top awards in college journalism. The finalists and categories are:

Online Finalists:
Urban-Plains.com
DrakeMagazine.com

Magazine Finalists:
Drake Magazine
The Annual

Best Infographic Finalist:
Linzi Murray, JO’17, Drake Magazine

Best Magazine Cover Finalist:
Maddie Hiatt, magazine and graphic design junior, Drake Magazine

The winners will be announced at the Associated Collegiate Press/College Media Association annual convention in Dallas on Oct. 25–29.

—Kathleen Richardson, SJMC