College of
Human Environmental Sciences
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Powerful
Partnerships
To collaborate is Latin for “to labor together.” Webster says to collaborate is to work jointly with others especially in an intellectual endeavor. It seems collaborate could be another word for the College of Human Environmental Sciences. I have discovered that is
In this issue of the annual CHES Magazine, faculty, students, alumni and you will see examples of staff create this place. collaborative research between faculty and students and among CHES departments, other OSU departments and other campuses. Faculty collaborations have led the college to a position in international esteem in the areas of nutrition, protective apparel, family science and international hospitality. We have exciting news to report on collaborations with universities in Scotland, Finland and China that will provide reciprocal international learning experiences and degrees for CHES students and the students from the partner institutions. Collaborations with talented alumni, hospitality leaders in the state of Oklahoma, and School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration faculty and students secured the success of the inaugural Wine Forum of Oklahoma. Technology drives opportunities for collaboration. With the establishment of the CHES Facebook pages, you can stay connected with the college. To become a fan, go to http://www.facebook.com/ chesokstate. As costs for mailing increase, we post the CHES Magazine online. You will be able to receive the magazine and other college news electronically. If you would like to help your college save a little money (postage and printing) and would like to receive the magazine
exactly what happens here as
photo / genesse photo systems
College of Human Environmental Sciences Dean Stephan Wilson congratulates Taryn Tate, nutritional sciences major and the CHES Outstanding Undergraduate Student for 2009. (See page 18.)
electronically rather than by snail mail, please let us know — just send your e-mail address to julie.barnard@okstate. edu to join the mailing list. CHES Career Services Coordinator Brecca Farr uses the latest social media to advise students on strategies for successful job hunting. Two colleges, industry partners, state agencies and county educators have collaborated to create an exciting educational experience for Oklahoma children to learn about the relationship between food, its production and health. Collaboration with 10 other public research universities created the Great Plains IDEA that now offers seven online degree programs. Currently, 47 CHES students are enrolled in this multi-institutional endeavor. Faculty, staff, student, alumni and friends spent much time outlining a plan for the future. Collaboration has set the direction for the next five years for the college. These and many other examples of collaboration in this issue reflect the college’s role in OSU’s land-grant mission. Our efforts in human sciences extend our educational resources to the state, the nation and beyond. The college will fully promote and support this goal as staff, faculty and students work together with alumni, industry and community leaders to fulfill the college motto to “solve human problems and enhance human lives.”
Stephan Wilson, Dean
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About the cover
Regents Professor Barbara Stoecker, international authority on micronutrients, mentors nutritional sciences senior Adam Greer, whose research under Stoecker’s direction gives him a solid foothold on his premed career path. Photo by Phil Shockley.
Professional Evolution
Photo / Phil Shockley
OSU’s interior design program has evolved from drafting tables to computers, but its ability to graduate professionals who create comfortable, safe and attractive environments has remained constant for a century. The story is on page 8.
Stephan M. Wilson Dean, College of Human Environmental Sciences Julie Barnard CHES communications Manager Eileen Mustain Ed i t o r Paul V. Fleming Art Director Gary Lawson Phil Shockley P h o t o g r a ph e r s Austin Hillard Ass o c i a t e D e s i g n e r Janet Varnum Ass o c i a t e Ed i t o r Kyle Wray Director, University Marketing CHES Magazine is a publication of the Oklahoma State University College of Human Environmental Sciences. Its purpose is to connect this college with its many stakeholders, providing information on both campus news and pertinent issues in the field of human environmental sciences. © Oklahoma State University 2009
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For Health’s Sake
OSU nutritional science research and patients benefit from collaborations with the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.
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An Experience Worth Repeating
Reaching Out to Make a Difference
From an experiential learning exercise to a new endowed scholarship, Oklahoma’s first wine forum proves a resounding success for all the participants.
From meeting nutritional needs to strengthening higher education systems, the College of Human Environmental Sciences acts globally as well as locally to help solve human problems and enhance lives.
When you join the OSU Alumni Association, a portion of your membership comes back to the college to fund programs such as homecoming and other alumni events. Contact us for more information ches.okstate.edu 101 Human Environmental Sciences Stillwater, OK 74078-6116 (405) 744-5053 telephone (405) 744-7113 fax Oklahoma State University in compliance with Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Executive Order 11246 as amended, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and other federal laws and regulations, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, religion, disability, or status as a vet eran in any of its policies, practices or procedures. This includes but is not limited to admissions, employment, financial aid, and educational services. Title IX of the Education Amendments and Oklahoma State University policy prohibit discrimination in the provision of services of benefits offered by the University based on gender. Any person (student, faculty or staff) who believes that discriminatory practices have been engaged in based upon gender may discuss their concerns and file informal or formal complaints of possible violations of Title IX with the OSU Title IX Coordinator, Director of Affirmative Action, 408 Whitehurst, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078, (405)744-5371 or (405)744-5576(fax). This publication, #2826, issued by Oklahoma State University as authorized by the College of Human Environmental Sciences, was printed by OSU Marketing, University Printing Services. at a cost of $16,100.00. 14,000/Nov/09.
15% PCW SOY INK
Stoecker
Swinney
Headliners Regents Professor and nutritional scientist Barbara Stoecker (featured on the cover), received the 2008 OSU Eminent Faculty Award, recognizing the highest level of scholarly achievement. Byoungho Jin, design, housing and merchandising, received the 2008 Regents Distinguished Research Award, and Jane Swinney, design, housing and merchandising, received the Regents Distinguished Teaching Award. The Department of International Education and Outreach through the School of International Studies further honored Stoecker, a leading researcher in trace minerals and malnutrition, with the 2008 International Education Faculty Excellence Award, which recognizes faculty who have distinguished themselves through excellence in international teaching, research and outreach programs.
Smith
Qu
Hirschlein
OSU honored three professors in the College of Human Environmental Sciences during the university’s 2008 convocation and three during its 2009 convocation.
Brenda Smith, associate professor and graduate program coordinator in nutritional sciences, received the 2009 Regents Distinguished Research Award. Hailin Qu, Regents Professor and William E. Davis Distinguished Chair in hotel and restaurant administration, received the Regents Distinguished Teaching Award. Recipients of the Regents Distinguished Research Award achieve national and international recognition as they demonstrate a distinguished record of past and continuing excellence in research. Smith’s research areas include the role of immune and antioxidant systems on bone biology, nutrition and aging and the effects of phytochemicals and exercise on bone health.
Colleagues nominated Swinney and Qu to receive the Regents Distinguished Teaching Award and a committee of students, faculty members, department heads and the provost selected them based on their success in mentoring, advisement and instruction. Beulah Hirschlein, family science professor, received the University Service Award for her many contributions to the overall betterment of OSU. During her 40 years as a dedicated teacher and strong advocate for students, Hirschlein has directly influenced hundreds of former students who now work as schoolteachers, child life specialists and family life educators. Her former students, who continue to seek her counsel, serve in health and human services, community education, advocacy centers and parent or family centers. Julie Barnard
Photo / Genesse Photo Systems
The College of Human Environmental Sciences 2009 Seniors of Excellence are, front row from left, Shannon Sullivan, Jimikaye Beck and Anna Kelly; and, back row, Melissa Oliver, Amanda Humphrey, Whitney Burns and Amanda Moore. Not pictured is Misty Gillespie.
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RYNO Challenges Arthropods
A pair of OSU professors has entered into a contract with Har-Son Industries to conduct research on protective fabric. Cheryl Farr, design housing and merchandising associate professor, and co-principal investigator Michael Reiskind, entomology and plant pathology assistant professor, are testing the effectiveness of Rynoskin as a barrier against arthropod pests, mosquitoes, biting flies, ticks and chiggers in all three stages of development: larval, nymph and adult. The nuisance of a biting mosquito or crawling tick can prevent peak performance for those in critical work situations as well as those at recreation. Exposure to these pests is a threat to health through the transmission of disease. In addition to carrying infectious diseases, these biting pests can also cause severe allergic reactions, and ticks can cause paralysis due to a toxin found in their saliva.
Historically, preventing exposure to these disease vectors has been the most effective method of limiting disease transmission and preventing annoying bites. Chemical barriers can be effective at preventing exposure to biting arthropods, but they require reapplication and involve strong chemicals. Julie Barnard
Cheryl Farr, design housing and merchandising, pictured, and Michael Reiskind, not pictured, entomology and plant pathology, are testing Rynoskin’s use as protection against biting insects.
Photo / Gary Lawson
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Photos / Phil Shockley
Och!
That’s guid! Alumni can now show their pride with the official OSU tartan thanks to Stephanie Michalko’s design that weaves together the orange and black. Stadium blankets and scarves are the first items to display the interior design junior’s original plaid. The College of Human Environmental Sciences kicked off a competition to design an original plaid that would reflect the OSU spirit in the fall of 2008 when design, housing and merchandising students submitted original computer-aided designs using the official OSU colors. A committee of faculty, students and alumni selected the four finalists whose designs
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competed for a six-week online balloting period that began in October. Michalko’s design received the most votes. “I am very excited to have my design chosen,” she says. “I hope OSU alums will enjoy it for many years.” Michalko, who is interested in textiles, thought the competition would be a challenge. “I hope to eventually design textiles for use in interiors, and this was a great experience,” she says. “The project was a wonderful opportunity for students to apply their knowledge to actual products that the community can embrace, and the quality of the final designs is exceptional,” says Stephan Wilson, dean of the
“We see all kinds of opporcollege. “We were amazed to see tunities to incorporate the OSU the large number of alums who tartan into products that will also voted and pleased to learn the represent the quality of students votes came in from OSU alums all we have in DHM.” Richards says. over the world. “The design can be used for a “To have our students’ work viewed by so many showcases not variety of other gift ideas such as note cards, tableware and decoraonly their abilities and qualities tive items for the home.” but reflects the caliber of our A percentage of the royalty faculty as well,” he says. fees from the sale of the tartan DHM professors Lynne products will go directly to Richards and Paulette Hebert student programs in DHM. coordinated the competition assisted by Judy Barnard, former “We see this as a win-win for the university, OSU fans and OSU director of trademarks students in design, housing and and licensing who arranged for Pendleton Mills in Portland, Ore., merchandising,” Hebert says. “Students are able to be a part of to produce the first blankets and OSU history and leave a financial scarves using the OSU tartan. legacy for future students.” Julie Barnard
Photo / Gary Lawson
St. Pierre Finds Her Niche
Eileen St. Pierre had had it with academia. After seven years as a finance professor at the University of Northern Colorado and later at the University of Northern Iowa, she took a staggering eight years off. St. Pierre spent those years living in Atlanta, Ga., searching high and low for a job. She tried the private sector, nonprofits and the federal government. Nothing. That is, until she saw an advertisement for a personal finance extension specialist at OSU. “The whole time I was searching for a job, people kept asking me what I was looking for,” St. Pierre says. “Simply put, I wanted to teach personal finance in some way out in the community. I wanted to teach personal finance to nontraditional students in nontraditional settings.”
Hired for the extension specialist position, she moved with her husband to Stillwater in September 2008. Since then, she has traveled all over the state to towns such as Watonga and Stigler, working with the public and teaching them the nuts, bolts and pitfalls of personal finance. Growing up in Massachusetts and south Florida, she never knew of universities providing services like extension. “I still have to publish and conduct research, but my teaching is more out in the field than in a traditional class room setting,” she says. Many of her students are older than she and more active learners than are traditional college students. “That’s been part of the fun of the job,” she says. “The challenging part has been to take the language of finance and explain its complex subjects to people who are normally not familiar with it.”
In the end, her students, many of whom are retirees, end up with a better knowledge of things like reverse mortgages, lessening the chance that they’ll be taken advantage of by predatory lenders. It’s been a welcome change for her after the humdrum of academia that sent her packing nearly a decade ago. St. Pierre holds a bachelor’s and doctoral degree in finance from Florida State University in Tallahassee. She is also a chartered financial analyst. Her research at OSU delves into the relationship between the housing market bubble and the demand for reverse mortgages, loans that let homeowners turn their home equity into cash. M at t E l l i o t t
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Marc Dunham, Ranchers Club chef de cuisine
After taking over the kitchen at the Ranchers Club in the Atherton Hotel in July 2008, chef de cuisine Marc Dunham says he has made some “pretty significant” changes at the restaurant in a short time. Originally from Texas, Dunham graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., with numerous awards and honors. After three years working in many of Manhattan’s top restaurants, Dunham returned to Texas where he assisted with the opening of the Asti Trattoria in Austin, managed the Adobe Café in New Braunfels and was sous-chef at the Granite Café in Austin.
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Most recently, Dunham was the executive chef and lead instructor at the Texas Culinary Academy student-operated restaurants, Ventana and the Bleu River Grille. He also consulted on the start-up of El Greco in Austin. Dunham obtained the certified culinary professional credential from the International Association of Culinary Professionals and the Foodservice Management Professional certification from the National Restaurant Association. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and foods from Texas State University. Among Dunham’s first changes at the Ranchers Club are two new staff members, sous-chef Chris Becker and food and beverage manager Ryan Patty. Becker, a Connecticut native, honed his skills in the kitchens of some of New York’s finest restaurants and worked in celebrity chef Mario Batali’s restaurants, Lupa and Del Posto, where he specialized in pasta. Becker’s experience is leading the Ranchers Club toward the purchase of a new pasta machine, Dunham says.
Dunham / Gary Lawson; Becker and Patty / Phil Shockley
Chris Becker, Ranchers Club sous-chef
Patty, a 2007 alumnus of OSU’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration, was one of the original members of the Ranchers Club staff when it opened in 2005. Upon graduation he participated in the executive development program of Pinnacle Entertainment where he was a member of the opening team for Lumière Place Casino and Hotels in St. Louis. Working with a well-prepared staff and capable students, Dunham has been able to accomplish his main goal for the Ranchers Club. He has redesigned the menu to bring the latest trend in dining, American Comfort Cuisine, to OSU using high-quality ingredients grown and produced locally. “We are working to improve the already high standards at the Ranchers Club by providing fresh new options to all of the menus while keeping with the traditions of the restaurant,” Dunham says. “Our goal is innovative American comfort food, honoring our past while creating a new legacy.”
Ryan Patt y, Ranchers Club food and beverage manager
The restaurant chefs use pork from Tulsa, beef from the Kansas-Oklahoma border and cheese from Kingfisher in their creative offerings including chicken and pork braciole and Maine lobster with prime Black Angus beef and local produce. Fresh and dried pasta will make the menu soon. “I’m fairly sure it’s going to be a very, very unique opportunity for everybody in the area and the state,” he says. Dunham is also collaborating with the OSU communications department to produce 12, ten-minute cooking shows, “Play with Your Food,” at http://playwithyourfood.okstate.edu/.
“The basic concept for the cooking show is to address cooking and technical concerns about cooking, to encourage people to get back in the kitchen,” he says. Dunham’s plans to create a cozy and welcoming atmosphere at the Ranchers Club are well underway. New staff, menus, hours and programs are creating an outstanding dining experience on the OSU campus. “I want the Ranchers Club to feel like home, where you’re happy to be because the hospitality is comforting and the food tells a story,” he says. “I want people to know that when they step in the doors, they honestly feel they will be taken care of like family.” Lindy Wiggins
“Our goal is innovative American comfort food, honoring our past while creating a new legacy.”
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CAD, LEED and CIDA were only letters in
the alphabet to the first students in interior design. Today the acronyms for Computer Aided Design, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and the Council for Interior Design Accreditation are par t of interior design students’ daily vocabular y. story continues
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Today
Interior Design
Design, housing and merchandising junior, Kristin Schieffer, uses tools that would astonish students in OSU’s first design classes.
Photo / Phil Shockley
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Photo / OSU Special Collections
Students in OSU’s early interior design classes studied both aesthetics and function. By studying architectural features as well as furniture style and color, they could pursue occupations as designers, house furnishers and decorators (Centennial Histories Series).
The study of interiors at OSU began with the establishment of the division of domestic science and arts in 1909, an expansion reflected in the extended catalog of classes. Subjects in the new division included the principles of space, art and color harmony related to their use in interiors and exterior decoration of homes. Students were taught to develop an appreciation of good form and color in order to exercise a more intelligent and sensitive discrimination in their use of simple, well-chosen and inexpensive decorations. One hundred years later, the elements of space and form continue to be the focus of the interior design degree option in design, housing and merchandising. However, using 3D simulations created with computer-aided design software, a lighting lab that replicates the spectrum of natural and artificial light, professional internships and a curriculum that stresses sustainability equips today’s graduates with the skills to design interiors for both residential and commercial buildings.
Photo / Phil Shockley
Interior design adjunct instructor Ryan Vincent works with student Eric Moffitt.
The Council for Interior Design Accreditation accredits the DHM interior design program. The council develops standards for the future of interior design education and then offers schools the opportunity to meet those standards and receive certification, which assures that students graduating from the interior design program qualify for entry-level interior-design practices. “Because of the comprehensive accreditation process, our students receive an education that will serve them not only during their time at OSU but also prepares them for future professional growth,” says Randall Russ, interim DHM department head and associate professor. “We prepare students for the multi-faceted profession that applies not only creative but technical solutions to interior environments,” says Bill Beitz, coordinator of the interior design program. “They must be able to incorporate research and analysis into the creative process while satisfying the needs and resources of the client.” From drafting tables to laptops, the tools of the interior designer still have much in common. The study of interior design has most certainly grown as technology and the environment have evolved. But the need for professionals to create comfortable, safe and aesthetically attractive environments continues to be met in the century old program at OSU. Julie Barnard
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ON THE
COMMUNICATION VANGUARD The College of Human Environmental Sciences’ pioneering work in career services has spread to the Internet, pushing to the next level its efforts to help graduates find jobs in their fields. It’s part of an effort by the college to reach students through Facebook and Twitter, a venture begun last February with a Twitter page run by Brecca Farr, the college’s career services coordinator. The website Job-Hunt.org recently lauded the college’s work ranking its efforts as among the best in the nation in 2009. The two services are gathering places for people who use them to reconnect with friends, share photos and news. Twitter lets users subscribe to their favorite pages, giving them quick updates from those pages, as well as those of their friends and favorite celebrities. Meanwhile, Facebook is a bigger service that lets users post photos, notes, videos, favorite websites and quirky news stories.
Both sites have millions of users and are popular among people under 30 and the companies, marketers and institutions trying to reach them. CHES is among the first OSU colleges to have a presence in different social media sites using the pages to keep alumni and students informed about the college. It’s all about understanding why students use the online services, says college spokesperson Julie Barnard, who, along with web developer Suyadi Supratman, handles the Facebook content. The same principle guides Farr’s Twitter page, where she posts career fairs and other employment information.
“We’re not using it to promote the latest band, group or event,” Barnard says. “What we want to do is use it to move information to them effectively where they hang out. When students go to our Facebook page, they’re not looking for information on a party.” The pages, and the recognition by Job-Hunt.org, have raised the college’s profile internationally, Farr says. She adds that the college is also planning to restart its YouTube site, taking advantage of the revolutionary online video clip outlet used by millions each day. The college also has sites on Linkedin.com and through OSU’s online classroom community, Desire to Learn. M at t E l l i o t t
Career services coordinator Brecca Farr, pictured here, top left, with academic counselor Allison Smith, right, and student Natalie Iannazzo, facilitates the college’s use of social media, recently commended by the website Job-Hunt.org as among the best in the nation in 2009
MAG A Z IN E Photo / Gary Lawson
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Beyond Bedlam Two professors in the College of Human Environmental Sciences are representing the spirit of academic collaboration through their research with personnel from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Brenda Smith and Arpita Basu in nutritional sciences have several projects with collaborators at the center in Oklahoma City. The two say they benefit from the medical school’s easy access to patients, testing facilities and resources. In turn, OU personnel benefit from working with scientists such as Basu and Smith, both of whom are active instructors and voracious researchers. Smith has two major studies with the center. The largest is a twoyear-old project funded in part by the Oklahoma Agriculture Experiment Station and led by Smith. The research, which focuses on 300 women, examines the influence of type 2 diabetes and inflammation on American Indian women’s risk for osteoporosis. Results from this study will fill a large gap in the scientific community’s understanding of the factors influencing their risk, Smith says. The OU team working with Misti Leyva, bionutritionist and OSU doctoral student, performs patient interviews and bone scans and collects other medical information. Smith says a study of this size would not be possible without the OUHSC General Clinical Research Center’s facilities and staff. “Our hope is that this will provide us with new insight into osteoporosis risk in this population and form the basis for future studies to determine the best prevention and treatment options,” she says. “There is a great need for this project in our state.” The second study, funded through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, involves a multidisciplinary team of clinicians and scientists. It compares the effects of two lower limb amputation methods and examines how nutritional status and exercise affect recovery time and fracture risk due to osteoporosis.
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“Whether resulting from traumatic injury or vascular disease, many amputees have a long recovery period when traditional surgical methods and rehabilitation are used. As a result they often experience bone fractures when returning to regular daily activities,” says Smith. “The goal of this comprehensive project is to help amputees recover more rapidly and return to more active lifestyles.” Basu works with OU’s Timothy Lyons, the director of the Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center, to examine foods, known as “functional foods,” that may have health benefits for people who eat them regularly. Basu’s work found that, in both studies, compounds in blueberries and green tea may play a role in improving obese patients’ cardiovascular health. Patients who drank green tea lost weight at a higher rate than those who did not, possibly thanks to the drink’s flavonoids, substances widely believed to have several health benefits. Meanwhile, patients in the blueberry study showed lower blood pressure than those who didn’t eat the blueberries, possibly due to the berries’ antioxidants. Researchers conducted patient interviews and blood work at OU. Basu says Lyons plays a crucial role through his expertise in diabetes research and enthusiasm in promoting nutrition research for better health care. The studies have helped patients participating in the research to learn healthier eating habits. The work has also paid off for Basu, whose flavonoids research received a poster award at the 2008 American College of Nutrition national conference in Arlington, Va. M at t E l l i o t t
Nutritional scientists Brenda Smith, left, and Arpita Basu have several research projects with collaborators at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. Photo / Gary Lawson
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Students Journey to Good Health When the interactive educational adventure, Farm to You, began its travels in the fall of 2008, its creator, nutritional sciences assistant professor Deana Hildebrand, knew what an important message it would carry to Oklahoma schoolchildren. However, she didn’t expect the results to be so far reaching. In less than one year, over 14,000 elementary school children in 26 counties have had an opportunity to follow food from the farm to the market and through the body exploring the relationships between agriculture, food and health. The education program, as featured in schools, summer camps, county fairs and community events, garnered the support of more than 800 community volunteers. Coordinated by the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service (OCES), Farm to You is an exemplary demonstration of collaboration between state agencies and commodity and community partners with the common mission of delivering research-based information and programs.
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The goal is to help Oklahoma youth address major health concerns that affect the quality of their lives, such as obesity, lack of physical activity and the high rate of tobacco use. Oklahoma’s Farm to You is a distinctive 40' x 40' enclosed, walk-through exhibit that travels throughout the state to scheduled community sites. Under the direction of the exhibit’s coordinator, Diana Romano, extension educator in Oklahoma County, school and community volunteers can quickly assemble the exhibit. “Farm to You would not have been a success without Diana’s high level of organizational skills and passion for community nutrition education,” says Hildebrand. Journeying through the exhibit, children make nine stops where they engage in experiential agriculture, nutrition and health messages delivered by the trained volunteers.
At each of nine stations, students spend six minutes participating in activities that demonstrate where food grows, how the body uses food to grow and develop and how good habits keep the body healthy. They meet Farmer Pete at the Cheeseburger Farm where MyPyramid foods are grown, follow food to the market to investigate Nutrition Facts labels and travel on to the Healthy Cool Café where they take responsibility for choosing a variety of healthy foods. The adventure continues through an oversized mouth where students practice flossing and then through the digestive system, muscles, bones and skin where they engage in activities to reinforce desired health behaviors. Hildebrand says the Oklahoma State Department of Health supports Farm to You as a community resource to promote messages consistent with Gov. Brad Henry’s Strong and Healthy Oklahoma initiative.
Other partners include the OSU College of Human Environmental Sciences Nutritional Sciences Department and the Division of Agricultural Resources and Natural Sciences, 4-H, Community Nutrition Education Programs, Southwest Dairy Farmers and the Oklahoma Beef Council. “These partnerships have been an important factor in accomplishing the common mission of improving the lives of Oklahomans through improved health,” Hildebrand says. Farm to You will build awareness of agriculture’s role in providing wholesome foods, build motivation to consume these foods and enhance the effectiveness of existing, proven programs in schools and communities, Hildebrand says. “Combined, the strengthened efforts contribute to sustainable changes in our state’s health status and improved quality of life of future generations of Oklahomans.” Julie Barnard
Diana Romano, nutrition exhibit coordinator, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, introduces students to Farmer Pete at one of the nine stops they make traveling through the Farm to You exhibit. Along the Farm to You journey, students enter the mouth where they learn about flossing and the digestive system.
Photos / Todd Johnson
Photo / morguefile.com
For more information, go to www.farmtoyou.okstate.edu.
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What began as a good idea
After five years of
“We are implementing
IDEA programs, the new
tion, the Great Plains
program in dietetics that is
dietetics degree is multi-
IDEA (Interactive Distance
offered online, not simply
institutional. Students
Education Alliance), a
an online dietetics course,”
apply, enroll and graduate
human sciences students to
partnership of 11 public
says Shiretta Ownbey,
at one university, but top
research universities,
professor and associ-
faculty members from
complete graduate degrees
offered its first online
ate dean of academic
several universities teach
degree program, a
programs and services for
the online classes. In addi-
master’s degree in family
OSU’s College of Human
tion to OSU, eight other
financial planning. Fifteen
Environmental Sciences
Great Plains members will participate in the 36-credit-
extraordinar y oppor tunity for
even though they may work full time or live too far
years later, with the launch
and member of the Great
from a university to attend
of a new dietetics master’s
Plains IDEA Board of
hour master’s program in
curriculum, the number of
Directors.
dietetics.
on-campus classes.
Great Plains IDEA degree programs rises to seven.
A Great IDEA Just Got Better
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Like other Great Plains
an entire master’s degree
in 1994 has become an
planning and coordina-
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This distance education model works because
“Because OSU has
Betts and Stephen
such a strong nutritional
Clarke, assistant profes-
The intent is to help professionals advance
The college currently has 47 students enrolled
the alliance has a
sciences program for both
sor in nutritional sciences,
common price and proce-
graduates and under-
teach the “Research
dure, Ownbey says. For
graduates, the faculty is
Methods in Nutritional
online degree programs
of those are in the new
instance, there is no prob-
heavily involved in the
Sciences” course for the
allow individuals to
online master’s program in
lem transferring courses
new program. Dr. Nancy
online master’s program.
continue working fulltime
dietetics.
between universities.
Betts, professor and head
Barbara Stoecker, nutri-
in their professions and
The graduate’s transcript
of the nutritional sciences
tional sciences Regents
are particularly helpful
Professor, teaches the
for those living in remote
new opportunity to reach
locations, such as military
students it would not
personnel stationed far
otherwise serve,” Ownbey
from universities.
says. “These students
will show that all of the
department, is a member
courses were taken at the
of the Great Plains IDEA
enrolling university.
dietetics faculty who did all of the work to develop the
“Nutrition and Physical Activity in Aging” course. “The online master’s in
their careers, she says. “The Great Plains IDEA
“We have students
in Great Plains IDEA degree programs. Five
“The online degree programs give OSU a
dietetics online master’s
dietetics is for registered
curriculum,” Ownbey says.
dietitians or individuals
participating from Iraq and
OSU if not for the online
who are eligible to become
other parts of the world. It
programs.”
registered dietitians,”
makes an amazing differ-
Ownbey says. “Of course,
ence for these people to
students must also meet
be able to complete an
the master’s program
advanced degree online
entrance requirements at
while continuing in their
the enrolling university.”
current careers.”
would not be involved with
Eileen Mustain
Photo / Gary Lawson
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Outstanding Simply
Taryn Alise Tate is the Outstanding
Undergraduate Student for 2009 in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. Tate is majoring in nutritional sciences with an option in allied health. “I chose CHES as my home college because it was the best fit for my career goals,” Tate says. “Earning my undergraduate degree in nutrition and allied health is so satisfying. It combines my love for food, science, physiology and medicine and is preparing me to begin a graduate study program as a physician assistant.” Tate is currently vice president of business of the CHES Student Council where she has also served as vice president of student affairs and the first chair of study abroad. “Student council brings together many excellent OSU students on service projects and activities for homecoming and HES Week in the spring,” Tate says. “I look forward to the annual events with faculty, like the student and faculty dinner and HES Week events.” As vice president of student affairs, Tate played an active role in the organization and implementation of the annual HES Week activities assisting Nicole Miller, a counselor in academic services who coordinates the event. Miller says Tate was dedicated to her work with HES Week. “Her great leadership, determination and attention to detail were instrumental in making the events of the week very successful. She always made sure that every member’s ideas were heard and took extra steps to make each individual person feel that they had contributed,” Miller says.
During her freshman year, Tate worked closely with Nancy Betts, nutritional sciences professor and department head. “I’m really glad Taryn wants to be a health professional,” Betts says. “She’s exactly the type of person I would want as my physician’s assistant.” Betts also noted her natural ability to conduct research. Tate earned a freshman research award that allowed her to work on a project alongside Betts and other faculty members. “Her freshman research project was well-conceived and carried out,” Betts says. “She determined the validity of a questionnaire designed to measure school children’s nutritionrelated behaviors. What she learned from her work was used to revise the questionnaire, which was then used as the main data collection for a graduate student’s research.” As an employment data tracker for OSU Career Services, Tate is responsible for collecting and managing Taryn Alise Tate, College of Human confidential OSU graduate Environmental Sciences 2009 Outstanding employment information. Undergraduate Student She prepares reports for public and office use including the first online Flipbook annual report and the first newsletter for student employee use within OSU Career Services. Tate carries a 4.0 grade point average, is a member of the Honors College and has been on the President’s Honor Roll each semester she has attended OSU. She is also a weekly volunteer at the Stillwater Community Health Center and the volunteer coordinator for the Pre-Physician’s Assistant Club.
“I chose CHES as my home college because it was the best fit for my career goals.”
Lindy Wiggins
Photo / Gary Lawson
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Doors Open for Hankins A plate award from the Gold and Silver Plate Society of the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association is providing new opportunities for the senior in hotel and restaurant administration to reach his educational goals. “This is a very prestigious award to receive,” says Bill Ryan, interim director of OSU’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration. “The $1,000 scholarship recognizes excellent students in various industry segments each year and pays for students to participate in internships across the country.” Criteria for the internship stipend includes a high level of academic achievement, financial need, a strong commitment to a career in the hospitality industries, and characteristics such as leadership and maturity that suggest future success.
“This scholarship is aiding my access to the industry of hospitality and will ultimately be where my career as a hospitality leader was shaped and set into motion,” Hankins says, noting that he and his family have worked hard for him to accomplish his goals to date. Hankins works 30 to 40 hours per week while taking 15 to 18 hours of course credits. While his mother and the rest of his family help where they can, financing his education is largely his own responsibility. “My mother has been the core of my success,” he says. “She put her dreams on hold to make sure I had every opportunity to succeed in life. She could not have been more excited when I told her about receiving the scholarship.”
Some might overlook the impact of scholarships on a student’s life, but in many cases, awards open doors that may have otherwise remained closed. Thomas Hankins is a case in point. “After completing this The award will take care internship, I hope to continue of finances he was unsure he working for the company and would be able to cover. The enter the manager-in-training scholarship made it feasible program for Olive Garden for him to enroll in summer next summer,” Hankins says. courses and allowed him to “I have a goal to become a save the money he earned throughout the summer to pay general manager or take steps for his next semester of classes. toward the corporate level of operations. I have a strong “The plate award gave me desire to travel and love to see the ability to continue on my new places and the people that education path and graduate in spring 2009,” Hankins says. make those places unique.” IFMA has sponsored the His summer internship Gold & Silver Plate Awards at Olive Garden in North program for 55 years. Among Richland Hills, Texas, offered its objectives, the program Hankins an opportunity drives development of industry for real-world experience in programs and projects with the hospitality industry. He emphasis on the need for trained under the culinary improved education, training manager, learning each posiand recruitment. tion and expectations. Apart “Winners of the IFMA from the actual production Gold & Silver Plate Awards and processes of the kitchen, comprise the Gold & Silver Hankins also took part in the Plate Society. They are the handling, stocking, ordering, best of the best in their respecpurchasing and management of goods in all aspects of back- tive fields, from fine dining to health care,” says Janet of-house operations. Rustigan, vice president of communications for IFMA. “Society members care intensely about helping the young people who will become the next generation of foodservice leaders.” Lindy Wiggins
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Thomas Hankins received a plate award from the Gold and Silver Plate Society of the International Foodservice Manufacturers Association.
Photo / Phil Shockley
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B t r h i e d g Gi a n pg Students and faculty members at OSU are finding new ways to promote resilience and reduce risk for Oklahoma children and families living in a time of pover ty, unemployment, substance abuse, gang violence and high divorce rates.
“Our mission is to become a national leader in research on risk and resilience among individuals and families by developing a model of communitybased participatory research.”
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This fall, OSU-Tulsa launched the Center for Family Risk and Resilience to help Oklahoma citizens in the state’s rural and urban areas by conducting research and providing education and outreach programs. Ron Cox, human development and family science assistant professor and extension specialist, serves as the interim director of the CFRR. “There is a significant research-to-practice gap that delays the development of best practice in numerous fields related to the family and public health,” he says. “The Center for Family Risk and Resilience looks to help reduce that gap by harnessing the resources of the university and bringing them to bear on problems experienced by the community through research, education and dissemination.” Objectives for the center include researching the factors that affect responses to stress in individuals, couples and families. The CFRR will also provide opportunities for the academic experts and researchers to collaborate with social service agencies to improve the wellbeing of Oklahoma’s residents. “Our mission is to become a national leader in research on risk and resilience among individuals and families by developing a model of community-based participatory research,” Cox says. “In this model, researchers work in collaboration with community stakeholders in every aspect of a research project, from the development of the research question to the application of the findings.”
The center will also give students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty members in the OSU- Tulsa and Stillwater human development and family science programs the opportunity to participate in research projects in their fields of study. Disseminating the information gathered by those research programs is another main goal of the CFRR. Center administrators plan to sponsor the publication of immediately useful materials as well as professional conferences and workshops for practitioners in addition to the more academic articles and books. Faculty members from both campuses plan to help educate the community through pamphlets, education programs and workshops. Cox says the center’s most recent project was a workshop on the contemporary nuclear Mexican family for professionals from diverse disciplines. Rosario Esteinou, a senior researcher and professor at the Center for Research and Higher Learning in Social Anthropology in Mexico City, gave the presentation. Esteinou discussed several topics including values, dynamics and gender roles, the effects of immigration, and cultural differences between Mexican and American parenting styles. Lindy Wiggins
For more information on workshops and research taking place at the CFRR visit http://www. osu-tulsa.okstate.edu/cfrr. Ron Cox, human development and family science assistant professor and extension specialist and interim director of the Center for Family Risk and Resilience
OKLAHOMA , Salud! Stephan Wilson, dean of the College of Human Environmental Sciences, says the planning for the event focused on its educational importance for students, faculty, the university community, and more broadly, all those who are interested in food and wine.
Under the direction of Chef Alain Sailhac of the French Culinary Institute, New York City, hotel and restaurant administration students prepared and served a four-course French dinner to guests during the gala patron dinner and “The 2009 Wine Forum of live auction. Oklahoma engaged our students Seventeen vintners from around in details of food, beverage and the globe and eight Oklahoma event planning with all the preparestaurants served more than 500 ration and logistics that such guests during the grand tasting event. an event involves,” Wilson says, “The forum was also conceptunoting that the forum provided a alized as a way to create even stronnational and international showger collaborations between our case for the School of Hotel and hospitality business partners and Restaurant Administration, the our program,” Wilson says. “This More than 1,200 guests college and the university. is a way to build the base for future attended the inaugural Wine “The students and faculty really scholarships.” Forum of Oklahoma, a three-day embraced this event,” says Bill The forum generated scholevent held in April and organized Ryan, the interim director for the arship funds that will provide by OSU’s School of Hotel and School of Hotel and Restaurant immediate and long-term support Restaurant Administration. Administration. “Their efforts for students, he says. More than “The inaugural year of any could be seen in the smallest detail.” $28,000 is available to award now event is rarely this successful,” He says many contributed to and a new endowed scholarship says Marilyn Thoma, who served the overall success. Steve and Sue was created. The earnings from that as honorary co-chair with her Gerkin of Tulsa co-chaired the endowment will provide academic husband, Carl Thoma. The Thomas, forum. David Egan and Brian Hester based scholarships to students OSU alumni and owners of Van served on the executive committee who participate in planning and Duzer Vineyards, provided seed as chef and vintner chairs. implementing the Oklahoma Wine funding for the wine forum. Philippe Garmy, clinical Forum in future years. “The planning and execution, instructor in hotel and restaurant Julie Barnard the strength of the educational administration, directed the wine program, the leadership, the forum assisted by events manager student involvement made believSusan Anderson, who guided 65 ers of those who participated,” she students in managing the 23 events, says. “The stage has been set for a each designed to extend knowledge strong 2011 Wine Forum.” and appreciation of wine. Seminar topics ranged from “why you like what you like” to the history of wine in Oklahoma to cooking demonstrations pairing wines with food.
Chef Alain Sailhac, French Culinary Institute, New York City Photo / courtesy
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School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration students helped plan, prepare and implement the inaugural Wine Forum of Oklahoma, a three-day event that engaged students in the logistical details of food, beverage and event planning.
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photo / Phil Shockley
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A WOMAN
consequence If academe were an Olympics event, professor Barbara Stoecker would wear gold. The Fulbright scholar and nutritional sciences Regents Professor has received tributes as a researcher, teacher, advisor and administrator. Last fall she received two new honors, OSU’s Eminent Faculty Award, recognizing the highest level of scholarly achievement, and the International Faculty Excellence Award, acknowledging faculty distinction in international teaching, research or outreach programs and activities.
Nutritional scientist Barbara Stoecker, Regents Professor, Fulbright scholar, recipient of 2008 International Faculty Excellence Award and the Eminent Faculty Award, OSU’s highest honor
These awards reflect her scholarship and commitment to education, but they don’t tell the entire story — the story of the individual successes that extend from OSU students to Africa. And neither will Stoecker. While she’ll discuss her work, she turns aside personal praise. “I haven’t done any project solely,” she says. “They’ve all been collaborative.” Colleagues and students tell a slightly different version of Stoecker’s achievement. “I had the privilege of reviewing materials nominating Dr. Stoecker for the OSU Eminent Faculty Award,” says Christine Johnson, associate professor and associate dean for research and graduate studies in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. “The most moving tribute to her credentials and credibility came from the letters of support from OSU colleagues as well as experts in the field of nutritional science and international aid. Those letters speak to her research expertise, her personal and professional commitment to make a difference, and her quiet, unassuming strength as a scholar, a humanitarian, a fine human being and global citizen.” Unpretentiousness characterizes Stoecker, says Julie Barnard, publication manager for the college. “She avoids any form of self-promotion even though she is someone who truly has made a difference in the world. Dr. Stoecker’s work has affected the lives of many people today and will far into the future, like ripples in water. She has vast influence.”
Her peers recognize Stoecker as an international authority on micronutrients, but she did not begin her academic career researching trace elements or international nutrition problems. A trip to Jamaica when she was a food science undergraduate triggered her shift to the study of nutrition. story continues
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“I saw my first malnourished child,” she explains. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Kansas State University and a doctorate in nutrition at Iowa State University. Four years working in Thailand with a nutrition research institute and a department of pediatrics fueled her interest and gave her valuable experience with international nutrition issues. Since coming to OSU in 1987, Stoecker has researched the role of micronutrients
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in child health in Thailand, China, Jordan, Iraq and Africa. She also studies chronic disease, such as osteoporosis, in her lab on campus. Her publication record is prodigious despite an equally impressive workload. Describing the scope and complexity of Stoecker’s work, Daniel Brackett, director of research in the surgery department at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, says, “Barbara worked in the research laboratory and
in the field in Northern and Southern Ethiopia, Kenya and Thailand. She supervised students and graduate students, and she wrote manuscripts reporting her scientific findings and grant proposals to fund her research — all while she successfully chaired the Department of Nutritional Sciences at OSU.” Most of her international work is in Ethiopia where she has taught, developed curriculum and helped numerous Ethiopian graduate students
secure funding to attend OSU. She was instrumental in launching Ethiopia’s first graduate program in applied human nutrition at Hawassa University in 2007 and served as thesis advisor for the program’s first graduates this spring. Stoecker’s malnutrition research in Ethiopia includes a current study examining the role of zinc on cognitive function in what she describes as “some of the most zinc deficient areas in the world.”
“Barbara Stoecker is the heart of our department.”
Funded by the National Institutes of Health, the project is in collaboration with Michael Hambidge, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver, and OSU colleagues Tay Kennedy, nutritional sciences, Laura HubbsTait, human development and family science, and David Thomas, psychology. “Our funding for work in Southern Ethiopia has been not only for research but for building up research resources in a large, impoverished university which has an enormous educational responsibility,” Hambidge says. “There are innumerable examples of Dr. Stoecker’s contributions within Ethiopia to building research capacity with her unflagging commitment and quiet, effective diplomacy.”
“It continued with the purpose of addressing nutritional problems in Ethiopia through training and research programs,” she says. “Dr. Stoecker has made a big difference in building the academic capacity of Hawassa University in particular and our country in general.” Stoecker’s hand is also evident in the incorporation of premedical requirements in the OSU nutritional sciences’ curriculum. “I’ve always been really interested in providing a strong nutrition background for premed students,” she says, noting that she wants them to think of nutrition as a mode of disease prevention. Several Niblack scholars who studied with Stoecker are in medical school, and Adam Greer, Niblack scholar and senior, soon hopes to be. He credits Stoecker for inspiring him to work internationally and for her instruction and advice during the year he conducted research under her direction. “She’s brilliant,” he says. “I’ve learned a lot from her. She knows as much about nutrition as anyone in the scientific community, and she’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. She’s a well-
Praising Stoecker’s work with student scholars, Johnson says many of her students hold prominent positions throughout the world. “While they’re attending OSU, we just try to involve the various scholars in our ongoing research — some to the international research and some to our osteoporosis work,” Stoecker says, although she does acknowledge that some of her interknown expert in nutrition, national students “have gone yet she takes time out of back and done really imporher busy career to teach me tant things.” how to conduct research One of those former and give me advice about students, Yewelsew Abebe, my professional endeavors.” who is now associate vice Motivating students to president for research and become excited about research extension at Hawassa and to think broadly about University, says Stoecker’s international application guidance didn’t end with are among Stoecker’s goals. Abebe’s graduation from OSU. “Science changes so fast. Students really need to understand the research process,” Regents Professor Barbara she says. Stoecker, shown here at the “All their lives they will Hawassa University graduation in spring 2009, played a key role need to update their health and in the 2007 launch of Ethiopia’s medical knowledge. Having
photo / Amelia Wilson
first graduate program in applied human nutrition and served as thesis advisor for the program’s first graduates this spring.
engaged in research will make them better questioners of the information they read.” In addition to her ongoing research and work with students, Stoecker says she’s eager to help establish and sustain graduate nutrition programs in the five African universities involved in a new partnership with OSU. Three of the universities are in Ethiopia and two in Kenya. “Food and nutritional security is the first project,” she says. “Not having trained professionals puts the countries at a disadvantage in making policy.” Looking back over her career, Stoecker says it’s been a pleasure to be part of the college’s nutritional sciences department. “Our department is strong, and it was when I came here. It’s been exciting to see it grow, renovate and expand and become wellknown nationally.” The department’s national reputation comes from the long and successful history of its dietetics program, she says. “If your students go out and do a good job, it builds the reputation of the department, and our students have been doing that for a long time.” And Stoecker, despite downplaying her own role, is a seminal figure in creating OSU’s strong nutritional sciences program. “Her exceptional research, the way she cares for students, her tireless service to the university on behalf of the department and her passion for advancing international nutrition all have served to increase the OSU nutritional sciences reputation for excellence in the U.S. and abroad,” says Nancy Betts, professor and department head. “Barbara Stoecker is the heart of our department.” Eileen Mustain
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Making the of Most Opportunities
Adam Greer
wanted to be a meteorologist when he was younger. After all, he says, “Everyone growing up in Oklahoma loves storms.” But as Greer purposefully considered his future, his plans changed. “I decided meteorology wouldn’t offer much people interaction,” he says, “and I thought the medical field would give me a better chance to use my talents to help a greater number of people.” By the time his class of 865 graduated from Tulsa’s Union High School, Greer had determined to pursue a career in medicine, beginning at his parents’ alma mater. He came to OSU with clear goals. He wanted a small college and a major that would prepare him for medical school or that would offer viable career options should he decide to change directions. The nutritional sciences senior says he’s found just what he was looking for in the College of Human Environmental Sciences. “It’s nice being part of a college small enough that the faculty knows and interacts with you on a daily basis. It’s a warm, friendly environment, and it’s exciting as an undergraduate to have friends who are Ph.Ds.,” he says. “The transition from high school to college is so much easier when people are welcoming.”
In the college’s nutritional sciences department, Greer found the education and support to advance his pre-med career path. He has received funding through the Niblack Research Scholarship and the M.B. Seretean Nutritional Sciences Scholarship. “I’m grateful for these contributions to help students like me get through without a lot of debt, especially since I’ll have quite a bit of debt after attending medical school,” he says. He’s also had the opportunity to conduct undergraduate research under the direction of Regents Professor Barbara Stoecker, an international authority on micronutrients. Ending this fall, his yearlong research project examines the importance of citrus in increasing the absorption of zinc, calcium and other minerals to help decrease osteoporosis. “The scientific and medical worlds are so very closely linked. Understanding how research is conducted is necessary to help sift through what’s legitimate and what’s skewed,” says Greer, who plans to study pediatrics or internal medicine at OSU or the University of Oklahoma. Through her international work researching malnutrition and developing nutrition education, Stoecker rekindled Greer’s interest in medical missions, something he’d already considered after participating in cleanup efforts in Galveston and New Orleans.
“Hearing her talk about the places she goes makes me want to do that work as well. I plan to take an overseas mission trip before medical school. Medical research overseas would be great, too,” says Greer, who is currently working as a medical study coordinator for a Stillwater internal medicine physician. The job, which requires meeting with patients as well as laboratory work, provides additional training for med school, he says. “The first time I saw patients, I was very nervous. I’m much more confident now. As a doctor, I’ll also need to know if the lab work is done right and how to read the results. That’s one less thing to overwhelm me when I get to medical school.” Now as he nears graduation and is firmly on track for medical school, Greer does not yet know if he’ll work in hospital administration or in private practice. Preparing for both possibilities, he’s taking business classes and plans on working toward an MBA as well as his doctor of medicine degree. “I want to continue taking medical mission trips after becoming a physician,” Greer says. “An MBA would help in my work and in figuring out the logistics and financing for these trips.” Eileen Mustain
Adam Greer, Niblack Research Scholar and M.B. Seretean Nutritional Sciences Scholar, premed nutritional sciences senior
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Photo / Phil Shockley
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Club Sales Benefit Children
Human Development and Family Science students at OSU will make a difference to children a world away this fall. The HDFS Club raised over $3,100 for the Slum Outreach Ministries Nursery School in Kibera, Kenya, by selling various items made by Kenyan women.
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the profits to Kenya to help the school pay its teachers, purchase equipment and food and achieve expansion goals. “It feels great to help these kids,” says Jennie Lowther, HDFS Club president. “Children all over the world need some kind of help and support, and we really feel honored that we have the opportunity to help these particular kids.” The school hopes to expand to accommodate the children as enrollment continues to grow. These children come from very troubled families, often struck by the
“The school has been providing for mostly preschool children. However, once the children were ready for primary school, there was no room in the public schools. So, their vision is to expand.” As Kenya continues to struggle with the effects of HIV/AIDS, facilities such as the Outreach School offer support to the country’s people. With help from organizations like the HDFS Club and its caring students, the school will continue to provide a better quality of life for its children. Lindy Wiggins
photos / Amelia Wilson
The school, which provides half a day of school and one meal to over 200 children between the ages of 3 and 10, suffered extensive looting and vandalism during riots following heavily disputed elections in December 2007. Vandals destroyed or stole all of the school’s desks, chairs, pots, pans and food. The club sold handwoven bags, baskets, beaded jewelry and woodcarvings donated by College of Human Environmental Sciences Dean Stephan Wilson and his wife, Kathleen, and sent all of
loss of one or both parents from HIV/AIDS. The daily meal provided by the Outreach School is the only nourishment many of them receive each day. Mumbe Kithakye, a native of Kenya and recent Ph.D. graduate in human development and family science, played a major role in shedding light on the school’s needs. “The school’s goal is to expand the space they have and be able to provide for the children once they get ready for real school,” she says.
A Blueprint for the The last year was a historic one for the College of Human Environmental Sciences. It yielded a new level of cooperation between staff and faculty manifested in a five-year plan to guide the college well into the next decade on a mission of teaching, scholarship, outreach and globalism. The plan, which includes greater emphasis on international outreach, fundraising, marketing and improving facilities, is the result of months’ worth of committee work, retreats and volunteered time that began in February 2008.
Realizing the college needed a more organized direction, Dean Stephan Wilson set the process in motion during February 2008 by sending his analysis of the college’s strengths and weaknesses to the CHES community. Meetings began in May 2008 with Wilson, faculty members and staff, all of whom brainstormed about the college’s needs and direction. Nearly a third of the college staff participated, says Christine Johnson, associate professor and associate dean of research and graduate studies.
“There was kind of a balancing act there to make sure everybody understood this was a grassroots effort, and it would be owned by faculty and staff — not just assigned to them,” says Wilson. After reams of paper, emails and discussion, the endeavor yielded a four-page list of targets and goals in January 2009. The document also calls for a branding campaign for the college to help with fundraising and student recruitment. The fundraising goals include, first and foremost, facilities to support teaching,
research and outreach, more scholarship dollars, technology, lab space and endowed chairs and professorships. The college entrusted a group of eight action teams with pushing through the plan’s goals. They periodically issue progress reports updating the college on their efforts. “Having a plan crafted before the lingering global recession helps keep the institution on track,” Wilson says. “It has allowed us to focus on what we want to do instead of what we’re not able to do.”
Johnson and Brenda Smith, a nutritional sciences professor and the department’s graduate program coordinator, co-chaired the process. Smith and Johnson, concurring with Wilson, say the grassroots-up plan is a rare thing in hierarchical academe. They say the approach makes it more likely to succeed because it allows everyone a say from cradle to use. M at t E l l i o t t
Brenda Smith, left, and Christine Johnson, cochaired the college’s process to produce a new five-year plan.
photo / Phil Shockley
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The
To
CAUSE OSU has formed a partnership with five African universities as part of a broader effort to strengthen higher education in sub-Saharan Africa and help develop the region’s economy. OSU is among only 20 universities to earn the opportunity to pair with African counterparts for such capacity building partnerships. The U.S. Agency for International Development recently awarded the 20 partnerships planning grants of $50,000 each through a higher education initiative grant competition that emphasized collaborations in agriculture, health care, teacher training and other areas. Over 300 universities nationwide submitted partnership proposals for the grant competition.
An ad hoc committee working with leaders from three Ethiopian and two Kenyan universities developed the winning OSU grant proposal. Stephan Wilson, dean of the College of Human Environmental Sciences, chaired the OSU campus committee initiated by Provost Marlene Strathe. “OSU is eager to build on its legacy of global outreach and contribute to the educational and economic well-being of an area that has seen enrollment quadruple over the last 15 years and quintuple in the last 20,” Strathe says .
“The need in sub-Saharan Africa is obvious, and we are equipped to be a reliable partner to help enhance the capacity of the higher education system to be an engine for economic, educational, political and cultural development.” OSU will work with the African universities to increase their capacity to deliver degrees, basic and applied research, advanced faculty credentials and outreach. The plan includes the creation of a Consortium of African and United States Educators
(CAUSE), which will focus on a 15to 20-year partnership to address higher education needs in the East African region. Equal partners will include Langston University on the American side and the African universities of Hawassa, Harameya and Mekelle in Ethiopia, and Kenyatta and Moi in Kenya. “Our campus-wide committee has given us a solid start to meet the challenges we will encounter as we strive to make our new partnership productive,” Wilson says. “The level of dedication we have already witnessed among Americans and Africans is humbling and inspiring.” Representatives from all the campus colleges serve on the OSU ad hoc committee. Those who developed the grant proposal include Jeff Hattey, Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources; Gordon Emslie, dean of the Graduate College; and Barbara Stoecker and Stephan Wilson with the College of Human Environmental Sciences, along with Roger Merkel of Langston University.
photo / Amelia Wilson
Julie Barnard
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First,
the
Agreement
photo / Gary Lawson
Regents Professor Hailin Qu, left, and Dean Stephan Wilson, right.
Representatives from
Dean Stephan Wilson, Regents Professor Hailin OSU’s College of Human Qu, hotel and restaurant Environmental Sciences administration, and Sue recently traveled to China Williams, professor and to discuss possible future head of the Department partnerships with five of Human Development Chinese universities. and Family Science, met with administrators from Beijing International Studies University, Shanghai East Normal University, Sun Yat Sen University, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Institute for Tourism–Macau.
They explored ideas for collaboration, including faculty and student exchange programs, study abroad programs and research projects and grants. At the end of the visit, the college signed memorandums of understanding with the Institute for Tourism– Macau and the School of Business at Sun Yat-Sen University. The memorandums, which express the terms and details of their agreements, represent the first step in the formation of formal contracts.
Wilson says he’s pleased with this strong initial step toward partnerships with these two institutions. “We now have the opportunity to build on the Asian internship program Dr. Qu initiated four years ago. It’s extremely important for the college to form alliances that will help us provide the multicultural education our students must have in today’s shrinking world.” Julie Barnard
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“We have created a joint undergraduate degree with a decidedly international focus for the first time in the school’s history.”
Hotel Atlantis Offers Dual Degree Program An innovative new program at OSU’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration will allow students to earn dual undergraduate degrees in hospitality management from OSU and one of two European partner universities. The goal of the program is to create transnational managers with a global mindset.
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“The hospitality industry is truly global,” says Alea Sharp, a hotel and restaurant administration senior. “Not only are the people traveling to see us from around the world, but our employees are international. In order for me to be a good manager, I think it is vital for me to travel and gain experience around the world.” The U.S. Department of Education’s Funds for Improvement of PostSecondary Education (FIPSE) and the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education and Culture are jointly funding the $1.4 million grant, titled Higher Opportunities for Training Education and Languages (HOTEL) Atlantis Program.
The new program provides OSU the opportunity to form partnerships with universities in Scotland and Finland. The shared funding will enable students from both sides of the Atlantic to study abroad, reflect on cultural nuances and gain valuable overseas working experience. The grant pays the full cost for students to study abroad for 18 months. “We have created a joint undergraduate degree with a decidedly international focus for the first time in the school’s history,” says Radesh Palakurthi, the Charles W. Lanphere Distinguished Professor and the principal investigator and program director for the grant. “As the bar for global competence rises in the hospitality industry, companies are expecting graduates to be better skilled and more comfortable working in foreign environments.” The student exchanges will begin during the spring semester of 2010. Four OSU students will attend Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, and four others will attend Turku University of Applied Sciences in Turku, Finland.
photo / Gary Lawson
Altogether, the three partner institutions expect to graduate 48 students, 24 from OSU and 24 from Europe, from the program by 2013 and to award 96 bachelor degrees over the grant period. “The representatives from both European schools are extremely excited about the program, as are the OSU students and their parents,” Palakurthi says. “They were surprised to see that the parents of OSU students also attended the orientation meetings. They see that as a positive sign for the commitment the students and their parents were making to the program. They went back with a very good image about the university and the quality of the FIPSE Scholars we have selected for the first cohort.”
The EU representatives told students and their parents that class sizes would be small, and the students would spend six months interning for various businesses. Students will have an opportunity to work in the UK, Spain and Scandinavian countries during the program and will be involved in extensive language and cultural training including stays with host families. “We are very excited about the program and see immense opportunities to sustain it beyond the funding period of the grant,” Palakurthi says. “The EU partners had hoped to grow the program to include other disciplines across the campus and graduate programs as well. Even before we could send our first cohort abroad, it has already happened. We are very pleased with that result since it shows that the rest of the campus shares our opinion about the value provided by such programs. ”
Palakurthi also commended senior administrators at both the College of Human Environmental Sciences and OSU for their commitment to the program. “We are convinced that they will do all they can to make this program a grand success,” he says. Sharp says she is most excited about the opportunity to travel and work in historic hotels. “I love historic hotels and the great stories they have. I had the opportunity to work at the Beaumont Hotel in Ouray, Colo., two summers ago. While working the front desk, I would hear stories about the dinner theater troupes in the 1960s and the Western Union under the staircase in the 1920s. “How could I not want to be a part of a great story?”
Pictured, front row from left, are Viren Patel, Radesh Palakurthi and Amanda Stefanopoulas; middle row, Alea Sharp and Ethan McGill; and, back row, Robert Glover, Evan Baker and Robert Thayer.
Lindy Wiggins
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Putting Research to Work When do grandparents get visitation rights, and when do they not? What do grandparents do if a parent doesn’t follow the rules? What is Oklahoma’s grandparent visitation law? across the state. We are not
trained in geriatrics. Oklahoma’s
is another way to put research
duplicating resources,” says
older population is out-pacing
summarizing for a broader
to work,” Henderson says.“The
Henderson, who has been
the number of new health
audience is one of Tammy
Oklahoma Geriatric Education
involved in the OkGEC project for
care professionals trained in
more than two years.
geriatrics and gerontology,
Sorting through legal complexities, translating and
“Synergistic collaboration
Henderson’s jobs. “And it’s
Center is a premier example
complicated and time-consum-
of how health care and social
“We’re meeting the needs of
ing,” says the associate profes-
science professionals work in
health and social science profes-
aging-related health education
sor in OSU’s Department of
concert to educate others about
sionals and citizens of Oklahoma
programs for current clinical
Human Development and Family
geriatrics, gerontology and
by bringing our unique expertise
providers.
Science.
related aging issues.”
to the table.”
It’s also essential to translate
Tom Teasdale, director of the
Henderson’s four-page
and the state lacks sufficient
OkGEC consortium partners offer face-to-face confer-
research into best practices the
OkGEC, has organized a consor-
fact sheet, “Facts about
ences, symposiums and
community can use, she says. It
tium of health care professionals
Contemporary Grandparents
in-services; Internet-
can be a parent in the middle of
who collectively provide multi-
Rearing Grandchildren,” already
based webinars and
a divorce, a health care profes-
disciplinary health education on
available on the OSU site, is
linked resources;
sional fielding questions or a
aging from treating health prob-
now also accessible through the
postal-mailed
grandparent facing new care-
lems to social issues.
Oklahoma Geriatric Education
CD-ROMs; and paper-
giver challenges; many people need information on elder issues. Both professionals and
The center is a component of the Reynolds Department of Geriatric Medicine at the
Center, http://www.ouhsc.edu/
based educational
OkGEC/.
materials. “If someone
By drawing on the specialties
misses a conference,
family members often find it
University of Oklahoma Health
of consortium members such as
the material is avail-
difficult to research the issues
Sciences Center and is in
OSU, the OkGEC is able to meet
able online, on video or on paper whenever
themselves. What they need is
partnership with OSU, the
the needs of multiple clients from
up-to-date information that’s
University of Central Oklahoma,
the doctor looking for the latest
needed,” Henderson
accurate, understandable and
Langston University, East Central
research to that grandmother
says.
University and the Oklahoma
whose own children are caught
Area Health Education Center.
in divorce litigation.
easily accessed. “That’s how research gets
“The OkGEC consortium
“Certainly OSU’s involvement gives the Department of Human Development and Family
put to work,” says Henderson,
The OkGEC helps to
whose painstaking research on
distribute materials, such as
is multifaceted in content
Science and the Gerontology
family law and policy clarifies the
Henderson’s research-based
and audience,” Henderson
Institute better visibility and access to learners throughout
Oklahoma law for grandparent
educational materials on grand-
says. “For example, in April
visitation and provides a list of
parenting. “Human develop-
with OkGEC support, OSU and
Oklahoma. But the important
relevant resources. The list is
ment and family science faculty
University of Central Oklahoma
outcome is that we’re putting
thorough and readily available at
members like me bring social
collaborated to bring Dr. Bert
research to work, and that’s
the department’s website, http://
science components to geriat-
Hayslip, a Regents Professor
powerful,” she says.
ches.okstate.edu/hdfs/content/
rics,” she says.
from the University of North
view/61/51/, under “Community Resources.”
“The center is a collaborative effort focused on educating
“We are enhancing lives
Texas, to speak on Grandparent
every day through interdisciplin-
Caregivers.”
ary partnerships, research and
Oklahomans about the needs
The mission of the OkGEC
of older adults across a wide
with its consortium partners is to
array of issues. It’s a brilliant way
meet the state’s growing need
to meet the needs of families
for health care professionals
the translation of research and theory. “If research isn’t used, it’s pointless.” Eileen Mustain
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This coming year, Tammy Henderson and Brenda Phillips, OSU political scientist with the Center for the Study of Disasters and Extreme Events, will be delivering a threepart series on disasters and older adults for the OkGEC. Henderson has also received a twoyear National Science Foundation grant for more than $1.1 million to study Alaska Native grandparents.
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Solving Problems Through
Prevention
A former College of Human Environmental Sciences graduate student and parenting specialist hit one out of the park with the disser tation she f inished la st spring. Debbie Richardson, working with advisor A m a n d a H a r r i s t a n d c o o p e r a t i ve ex te n s i o n c o u n t y e d u c a to r s per formed a rare feat in academic research during a study on improving kids’ problem-solving skills. Not only were the results promising, but a lso they resulted f rom a n uncommon level of cooperation a mong teachers, ex tension educators and academics. Richardson started the project with extension’s Growing Strong Families impact team in 2007 to fight teenagers’ risky behaviors such as sex and drug abuse. She knew of a curriculum developed by a Drexel University professor and wanted to try it in Oklahoma’s rural schools. Developer Myrna Shure and other researchers had tested the approach, “I Can Problem Solve,” but mostly in urban areas. It works by presenting 4- to 8-year-olds with lessons and activities to develop their thinking skills. Teachers also use a dialoguing technique to help children apply those skills to everyday problems. “With our cooperative extension Impact Programs, we’re expected to evaluate their impact,” Richardson says. “So we went about developing the procedures and the strategies to disseminate this program. The county educators with the Growing Strong Families team joined local Head Start, early childhood programs, elementary schools, and preschool through second grade teachers to help train, coach and teach with this system.” They had 17 classrooms of 368 students in 16 counties participating for about three to four months. Most of the classrooms were in schools with high percentages of students from low-income families. Another 17 classrooms — the control group — didn’t receive the program. That allowed for a more accurate comparison of the program’s achievements.
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Researchers used hypothetical problems to measure the children’s skills. Working inside the schools, county educators interviewed each child and probed for multiple ways to solve the scenarios. They later used the students’ responses to measure the quantity and type of solutions. Meanwhile, teachers filled out surveys describing classroom behavior before and after the program started. The results were promising. Students who had the program produced more and better solutions. Compared to the control group, children in the program improved their social skills, emotional control, attention and aggression levels. Teachers using the program noticed improvement in classroom interactions, and more than 90 percent rated the program highly. “Telling and tattling also improved,” laughs Harrist, an award-winning CHES professor whose research focuses on child development. The two are writing a paper they hope to publish soon. They’d also like to take the results to Oklahoma public education officials, tribal governments and other agencies to show its potential. “Most schools can’t adequately devote guidance counselors to tackle the problems the study handles,” Harrist says. “But if OSU’s county educators and the schools’ teachers can prevent such problems, then they wouldn’t have to do that.” M at t E l l i o t t
photo / Gary Lawson
Graduate student and parenting specialist Debbie Richardson, left, with advisor Amanda Harrist built cooperation among teachers, extension educators and academics for her research with “I Can Problem Solve,� a criticalthinking program for 4- to 8-year olds that shows promising results.
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photo / gary lawson
Adopted
Cowboy Bill Biard went to that other school. He attended “six football seasons, which is how they measure time down there,” he says. Yet despite his alma mater, OSU’s School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration has adopted Biard, says Bill Ryan, associate professor and interim head of the school. “He has a great story of hard work and success.” Biard began his studies in pre-med then switched to geology and then to earth science education and finally to general business management, but it’s the jobs he held while working his way through school that eventually led him north to OSU. “I started in the restaurant business when I was in college, and after I graduated I helped grow a pizza business. It was revolutionary,” Biard says. “We delivered.” In 1975, he went to work in Tulsa for Casa Bonita, a new and innovative company that Biard says proved to be a good management training ground. Three years later, he moved to Dallas where he managed 10 stores as an area supervisor for Taco Bueno. After a short stint with another pizza place, Shotgun Sam’s, he moved to Claremore, Okla., in 1981. “Golden Corral had just bought the Sirloin Stockade chain, which opened up a new market. I chose Claremore,” he says, “and it turned out well.” In fact, Biard turned a mediocre Sirloin Stockade into one of the leading restaurants in the Golden Corral chain. Then in 1991, he and his wife, Linda, bought Claremore’s Hammett House Restaurant, a family restaurant started in 1969 and closed in the mid-’80s. “We worked with the Hammett family to bring back a legendary Oklahoma restaurant, and we’ve been going crazy ever since,” he says. That’s crazy in a good way. The Biards recreated Hammett House, keeping its tradition of good Oklahoma home-cooked food and monumental pies made from scratch, to make the landmark restaurant one of Oklahoma’s best.
Still, it isn’t just Biard’s business acumen that prompted the school to adopt him, and “It isn’t my good looks and personality,” he quips. Biard, an associate director of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association, also serves his profession as a member of the HRAD board of advisors, which influences the school’s curriculum. “We try to remind academicians what they need to teach students to enter our industry. It’s demanding work. Our world is not for everyone,” Biard says. “You might say the board is an intermediary between the smart people and the crazy people in our industry, the ones who know what it’s like day to day. “But my involvement goes back even farther. I’ve sent several employees to the school. It’s always been prominent in the way I feel about giving back to the industry — I believe in paybacks to your industry and your community,” says Biard, whose two sons are in the business, one as a restaurant manager and the other a chef on a private yacht. “And I’ve always been interested in the education part. I get a huge kick out of standing in front of college students and talking about what I’ve experienced,” he says. “That’s what keeps me loving it.” And of course, his “Aggie blood” keeps him involved with HRAD. “I have a lot of it in me. My dad and my aunts are all OSU graduates, and my uncle and his son were one of only a few father and son combinations to play basketball for Coach Iba. “I’m not one of those Sooners who can’t root for OSU when they’re playing someone besides OU. That’s how you get adopted,” he says, “and I’m still taking a lot of flack. I’m proud to do it. I get a kick out of doing more work at OSU than OU.” Eileen Mustain
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Misty Maples’ brothers Daniel, left, and Randall, pictured here with scholarship donor Virginia Sasser and Maples, encourage their sister to reach for academic excellence.
Scholarship eases way Maples FOR
Any parent with teenagers knows that it of ten takes more than words of wisdom and encouragement to convince a 16-year-old that earning an education has true value. Sometimes, you just have to of fer an incentive that is a little more tangible.
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Misty Maples, a freshman at OSU majoring in human development and family science with an option in child and family services, can vouch for a spendable means of inspiration. Maples’ older brother, Danny, earned his high school GED in 1995. Today, he is working on a Ph.D. in chemistry at OSU. Once he realized the importance of education, Danny found an inventive way to help his parents inspire his younger sister, adopted into the family as a baby. “He would reward me at the end of every semester with $100 for having a 4.0 GPA,” Maples says. Maples says the “bribing” paid off. She graduated from Silo (Okla.) High School in 2008 with all A’s on her transcript. The support from her brother instilled her desire to succeed in academics at an early age. Since she has begun her career in higher education in the College of Human Environmental Sciences, Maples and her brother agree, it was all worth it. Danny says he believes CHES was definitely the best choice for her.
“I have chosen this career area because of my love for children and families,” Maples says. “If it had not been for people in my life that cared about me when I was a baby, there is no telling where I would be today. My biological mother is an alcoholic and abuses drugs. I could be living in that situation had it not been for the system.” Maples’ past and the people who helped her inspired her to major in child and family services. “I want to play a part in giving children and families the same opportunity someone gave me long ago,” she says. It was on a weekend trip to visit Danny and another brother, Randall, who is also working on a Ph.D. in chemistry at OSU, that Maples says she fell in love with the campus in Stillwater. “I didn’t know much about it before, but once my brothers showed me around campus, I fell in love with everything about it,” she says. “The campus is so beautiful and Stillwater is such a nice town.”
When it came time to consider her degree options, Maples was impressed with the human development and family science program and the numerous opportunities for student involvement at OSU. “I had never seen an institution put so much emphasis on this type of major,” she says. “Family services, social work, therapy and all of the related areas are so important in our society, but no one seems to ever really stop and think about these jobs. I love how the college gives this career area the attention that it deserves.” Encouragement from her brother and the rest of her family drove Maples to earn good grades in high school and choose an ambitious major. With four siblings currently attending college, she soon realized financing an education would take more than moral support.
“I am paying for college on my own,” she says. “I had to try for all of the scholarships I possibly could in order to decrease the amount of loans I would have to take out.” Maples’ efforts paid off when she received the Virginia Sasser Endowed Scholarship, a substantial award granted to a full-time freshman student in human development and family science from Perkins, Okla., who is experiencing financial need.
As there were no students from Perkins who met the criteria, Laura Little, CHES coordinator of prospective student services, contacted the Sassers to see if they would consider waiving the requirement for Maples. Maples is the second student to receive the scholarship from the Sassers. “We were very proud to extend the scholarship to Misty,” Virginia Sasser says. “She is very serious, and we are glad to help her achieve her goals.”
“It was wonderful to know that someone believed in me enough to award me this amount of money,” Maples says. “I was so grateful! Virginia Sasser has been a tremendous part of my experience at OSU.” Maples plans to graduate with her bachelor’s degree in May 2013 and pursue a career in family policy, law and advocacy. Lindy Wiggins
A scholarship from Virginia Sasser, right, is helping freshman Misty Maples, seated, take the first step to realizing her dream to pursue a career in family policy, law and advocacy.
Photos / Gary Lawson
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Endowments E
X
P
AND
Strong Progr a ms Endowed professorships and chairs in the College of Human Environmental Sciences provide educational strength and prestige for its faculty. CHES and OSU recently embarked on a mission to find donors who would meet T. Boone Pickens’ $100 million challenge to double the number of endowed chairs and professorships.
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When Dean Stephan Wilson announced In an article on childhood obesity and the establishment of three endowed professorparenting styles, Reuters of India recently cited ships in July 2008, after a month-long campaign, human development and family science profesthe number of endowed faculty positions in sor Laura Hubbs-Tait, who holds the John and the college had more than doubled, increasing Sue Taylor Human Environmental Sciences from four to nine. And with Pickens’ dollar-forProfessorship. The article was taken from dollar match and the Oklahoma State Regents reports in the Journal of the American Dietetic for Higher Education matching program, the Association. endowment for chairs and professorships in the Amanda Harrist, associate professor in college increased by more than 217 percent. human development and family science who The professorships established are the Jim holds the Bryan B. Close Professorship, leads and Lynne Williams Professorship in the team of researchers on the Families and Nutritional Sciences; the Bryan Close Schools for Health Project who published the Professorship in Adulthood and report. Aging; and the Endowed Professorship Harrist will not be the only Bryan Close for the Study of Parenting. Professor in the college. The establishment of Since 1992 when Sue and John Taylor of the Bryan Close Professorship in Adulthood Enid established the college’s first professorship, and Aging will be the second professorship endowed positions have enhanced the teaching the Tulsa businessman has endowed for CHES. and research mission of the college. By attracting the leading experts in their fields, the national and international reputation of the college has grown. Further, the ability of the college to attract and keep top faculty provides the continuity and foundation for growth and development of programs.
The professorship holder will lead in the but she feels preventing these deadly diseases is a more effective and a more important way to development, dissemination and evaluation improve health. She and her husband are excited of research, as well as outreach efforts, that to support research becoming information. would be relevant for Oklahoma, the nation They want to see dietary education and practice and beyond. The position will also provide replace pharmaceuticals in doctors’ offices. significant opportunities to collaborate with “We know that healthy eating and physical international scholars engaged in work related activity can prevent obesity, which is a leading to aging. factor in heart disease and diabetes,” Jim says. Close believes that gerontology, the study “When we see the research that is going on in of aging, is a topic that is on the threshold of nutritional sciences and the way students are needing greater research at a time when Baby an integral part of that research, we are excited Boomers are retiring and people are living to think of the potential for the future our gift longer. All over the world, the proportion of can make.” the aging population is rapidly expanding Margo and Kent Dunbar of Tulsa were compared to previous generations. delighted to combine their $100,000 gift with His interest centers on developing methods a group of anonymous donors who provided to help educate the populace about gerontology funding for the Endowed Professorship for the while helping aging individuals cope better. Study of Parenting. Recognizing the crucial When Jim and Lynne Williams considered role parenting plays in the optimal development the opportunity to make a difference at OSU, of children and the need for better parenting they also wanted to find a way to improve programs and policies, the endowment will human health through research on heart strengthen work being done by the Human disease and diabetes. Lynne, who is a pharmacist, knows which medicines can treat problems, Development and Family Science Parenting Research Workgroup as they conduct outstanding research.
“We are pleased this endowment will leverage existing strengths and facilitate the formation of a new Center for the Study of Parenting. We are confident this will strengthen OSU’s position as a national and international leader in scholarly research on parenting,” says Sue Williams, head of the human development and family science department. “I am most pleased with the response from CHES alumni during the campaign we embarked on in June. While Mr. Pickens’ gift was the catalyst, I think the teaching and research that faculty in the college conduct on a daily basis provided the inspiration for these gifts,” Wilson says. “All the disciplines in the college do impact humans and their quality of life. Now, with these professorships, that impact will be even more significant.” Julie BarnarD
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Photo / Phil Shockley
The College of Human Environmental Sciences welcomed members of the classes of 1958 and 1983 at the 2008 homecoming celebration and recognized the classes of 1959 and 1984 at this year’s event. The college also honored distinguished alumni, rising stars and honorar y alumni, and this year presented for the first time a new tribute, the Enhancing Human Lives Award.
Ce l e br at i ng S u cc e ss The 2008 distinguished alumnae are Yewelsew Abebe, associate vice president for research, extension
Nancy Randolph Davis, the college’s first recipient of the Enhancing Human Lives Award, enrolled in 1949 to become the first black American to attend OSU. During a time when many still believed “blacks were not yet ready to go to school with whites,” Davis was instrumental in eliminating social barriers in higher education. She graduated with her master’s in 1952 and continued her legacy of education with a teaching career that spans 43 years. Today, Davis continues to nurture and motivate younger generations.
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and publication at Hawassa University in Awassa, Ethiopia, who earned her Ph.D. with an emphasis in nutritional sciences in 2003, and Gale Rall Jarvis, 1967 design, housing and merchandising graduate and president of the Alexander Doll Company. The 2008 Rising Stars are Whitney English Kolb, 2001 design, housing and merchandising graduate and owner of the stationery company Whitney English, LLC, and Chris Taylor, an educator and researcher in the Medical Dietetics Division at Ohio State University who earned his Ph.D. with an emphasis in nutritional sciences in 2004. The college named retired banker and contributor to the college’s model classroom, Homer Paul, 2008 honorary alumnus. The 2009 distinguished alumni are Sharon M. “Shelly” Nickols-Richardson, food, nutrition, and institution administration graduate and associate professor in nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University, and Becky L. Steen, a 1983 design, housing and merchandising graduate and former chief financial officer of McCaskill Financial Group. Rising Stars in 2009 are Melissa M. Hooper, 1996 and 2002 nutritional sciences graduate and corporate dietitian for Stater Brothers Market; Marcy Montgomery Jones, 2004 design, housing and merchandising graduate and process product designer for Cupid Intimates; Tambra R. Stevenson, 2002 nutritional sciences graduate and founder of Creative Cause; and Megan Thornton, 2002 design, housing and merchandising graduate and founder and owner of Megan Thorne Fine Jewelry. The college named two honorary alumni for 2009: Jim Hopper, president and CEO of the Oklahoma Restaurant Association and vice president and presidentelect of the Council of State Restaurant Associations, and Janine James, the first Chris Salmon Endowed Professor in Design, Housing and Merchandising, who founded The Moderns and inspired the college’s unique course in sustainability.
Meet Julie Rader Apparel design and production graduate OSU discus and weight throws athlete Boxer
Unique People, Find Unique Opportunities Your Fit
O S U
C O LL E G E
photos / Phil Shockley
O F
H U MAN
E N V I R O NM E NTAL
S C I E N C E S
Class of 1959, above, and class of 1984, below, at the College of Human Environmental Sciences 2009 Homecoming Celebration
Stay in T uch Whether you choose cyberspace or a plane ‌ there are many ways to stay connected to the College of Human Environmental Sciences. College of Human Environmental Sciences Nor th Monroe Street & Drummond Lane Stillwater, Oklahoma
http://ches.okstate.edu To stay informed about all things OSU and CHES, visit ht tp://ches.okstate.edu/sur vey/alumni
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College of Human Environmental Sciences
Do you know about the HEScareers group that you can join on LinkedIn (the professional network)?
w w w.linkedin.com (search for HEScareers)
Oklahoma State University 106 Human Environmental Sciences Stillwater, OK 74078-6112 (405) 744-5053 phone (405) 744-7113 fax