Around Campus
Emergency Text, E-Mail System Launched
YSU Alert, a new campus-wide text-messaging and e-mail system, is the latest in a series of tools YSU has implemented to communicate with students and employees in the event of a campus emergency or crisis. “This new alert system is one more step toward providing a safe learning environment for all students and staff at YSU,” said Cynthia Anderson, vice president for student affairs. A university committee, led by Jack Fahey, executive director of student services, selected Inspiron Logistics Corp.’s Wireless Emergency Notification System to provide the instant text-messaging and e-mail capabilities. The WENS platform enables university officials to instantly communicate directly with mobile devices via text-messaging. WENS has the capacity to message 30,000 individuals per minute. For more information, visit alert.ysu.edu.
American Chemical Society Honors STEM College Dean
The American Chemical Society named Martin Abraham, dean of YSU’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, as a member of its inaugural class of ACS Fellows. Abraham was one of 162 ACS members chosen nationwide for the society’s first Fellows class. “These 162 members share a common set of accomplishments,” said Bruce E. Bursten, the society’s immediate past-president. Martin Abraham “Namely, they share true excellence in their contributions to the chemical enterprise, coupled with distinctive service to ACS or to the broader world of chemistry.” The dean said he’s honored and humbled to be listed among some of the most elite chemists in the country. “I am fortunate to have the support of a university that provides the time for me to contribute, and the great opportunity to work with outstanding students and faculty colleagues,” he said. Abraham joined YSU in 2007 as founding dean of the College of STEM, coming from the University of Toledo, where he was dean of the College of Graduate Studies. He has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Delaware and earned a bachelor’s degree, also in chemical engineering, from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The dean is a member of the governing board of the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition and editor of Environmental Progress & Sustainable Energy, a quarterly journal on industrial environmental concerns. He is a councilor for ACS and chairs its Committee on Environmental Improvement. His record of scholarly publications and research includes more than 60 refereed publications and nearly 150 technical presentations.
Honorary Degree for Veteran Educator Presenting an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters to Joyce E. Brooks of Canfield are, from left, YSU Provost Ikram Khawaja, President David C. Sweet, and at right, YSU Board of Trustees Chair Scott R. Schulick. Brooks, an educator whose career has spanned more than 50 years, was honored at summer commencement Aug. 15. Brooks earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from YSU, in 1961 and 1970 respectively. She retired in 1993 as director of personnel for the Youngstown City School District and later served as assistant to the dean of the Beeghly College of Education at YSU. She has served as a member of the Mahoning County Career and Technical Center Governing Board and the Mahoning County Educational Service Center Board since 1997. 6
Youngstown State University
English Professor Featured in TV Miniseries
When English professor Scott Leonard was asked to lend his expertise on mythology to the History Channel’s miniseries Clash of the Gods, he didn’t expect to find himself in front of the camera. The author of the textbook Myth and Knowing: An Introduction to World Mythology, Leonard originally thought producers just wanted to correspond with him through e-mail as an expert