Joe Dionisio earns teaching honors from HHD Alumni Society Joe Dionisio, a professor of practice and director of external relations and professional development in the Master of Health Administration program, has earned the 2013 Excellence in Teaching award. Presented by the College of Health and Human Development’s Alumni Society, the award recognizes and rewards outstanding educators for their excellence in teaching and for their contributions to the art of teaching. As part of the nominating criteria for the award, a candidate must be successful as a teacher, both in competence of subject matter and in ability to inspire students to high achievements, and he or she must have improved the tools of and/or conditions for teaching. Dionisio is a former health care executive with more than 35 years’ experience in health care financial management, primarily with large integrated delivery networks of hospitals and physicians. He also previously served as a regional health care partner with PriceWaterhouse. Dionisio currently teaches HPA 297A, Accounting and Health Services Organizations (introductory accounting); HPA 433, Managing in Integrated Delivery Systems; HPA 447, Introduction to Healthcare Financial Management; and HPA 835, Advanced Healthcare Financial Management. Through his experiences teaching these courses and guiding MHA students toward professional careers, Dionisio finds his work to be especially rewarding, with his greatest rewards coming from the reactions/responses of students and fellow faculty members. Reflecting on being nominated and selected for the Excellence in Teaching award, Dionisio says, “What an honor for a former health care executive who is doing his socalled encore helping prepare future health care leaders face the industry’s challenges ... and how gratifying it is to know that my emphasis on content is appreciated.”
Professor awarded $7.3 million grant to examine community health care reform Dennis Scanlon, professor of health policy and administration, has been awarded a $7.3 million renewal grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). The funding will enable Scanlon and his colleagues to continue their work to evaluate a RWJF national initiative called Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q). The program aims to improve health care quality by helping stakeholders—patients, physicians, employers, insurers, and others—to work together to redesign communities’ health systems to better serve patients.
Supporting the Department Gifts to the department help students pursue a high-quality education or help faculty members conduct cuttingedge research. For more information regarding philanthropic opportunities within the Department of Health Policy and Administration, please contact: Kathleen Rider Director of Development 814-863-4157 kmr80@psu.edu