Category: Kudos

Dr. Bobby Berry—Office of Diversity and Inclusion diversity and inclusion faculty fellow and assistant dean for diversity and outreach in College of Applied Studies—was recognized as one of the 2022 Diversity and Inclusion Award recipients by the Wichita Business Journal Ambassadors for Diversity and Inclusion event.

The award honors Wichitans who work hard at making their companies, and the city’s business community, more diverse.

• Pat McLeod, former CMD Director, and current Conference Director worked many hours with the Wichita Property Tax Conference Planning Committee and the CMD team to make the conference an outstanding success.
• Wilma Hart, former CMD Coordinator, and current conference team member arranged for and coordinated the complex logistical tasks of people movement, among many other responsibilities.
• Paula Seiwert, Associate Director of the CMD, planned and executed outstanding marketing and promotional materials to educate and persuade professionals to attend.
• Melissa Donham, Director of Operations for the CMD, coordinated IT tasks while tracking financials and keeping the books current.
• Tracy Rittmueller, Registrar of the CMD, coordinated participant registrations, food and beverage services, and contributions from other vendors and WSU professionals.

And a loud “thank you” to the excellent service from our WSU partners:

• Facility Services
• Chartwell’s catering team
• Shocker Printing
• MRC Team
• Parking Services
• Event Services
• Post Office

WSU’s Counseling and Prevention Services (CAPS) continues to serve the campus community and beyond through its Suspenders4Hope program, which was recently highlighted on the national “Frontline Industry Podcast” for its work with the Thrive Restaurant Group. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Dr. Voncella McCleary-Jones, associate dean for the College of Health Professions, has been selected to be inducted into the 2022 class of fellows of the American Academy of Nursing. Through a competitive application process, 250 distinguished nurse leaders were selected to be inducted into the Academy based on their contributions to advance public health. The inductees will be recognized at the academy’s annual Health Policy Conference in October in Washington, DC.

The focus of Dr. McCleary-Jones’ work is health literacy — improving the knowledge of practitioners and health outcomes and informing research of national and international colleagues in nursing and other disciplines.

The American Board of General Dentistry recognized Dr. Tommy Vu, Dr. Megan Casserly, and the Wichita State Advanced Education in General Dentistry program for the 2022 Sandra Mitchell Memorial Award for Community Service.

This recognition is for community service by a dental graduate resident in providing dental services to the underserved or community education and outreach.

Usha Haley, W. Frank Barton Distinguished Chair in International Business and professor of management, was a featured speaker at the Academy of Management (AOM) annual meetings on Aug. 8.

The AOM is the largest, oldest, and most prestigious association of management scholars in the world.

The panel — Measuring Real-World Impact of Scholarly Research — will answer the question: How are academic scholars turning their insights and career work into solutions for society’s problems? in addition to Haley, it will feature Jen Bartunek of Boston College, Carol Kulik of the University of South Australia, and Leon Prieto of Clayton State University.

Dr. Mercy Umeri, assistant teaching professor at the Hugo Wall School of Public Affairs at Wichita State University., wrote about the Nigerian public education system in Leadership News, a leading newspaper in Nigeria. In the article, she challenges the leaders and elected officials to look into the educational system and make the needed changes for the country.

“One of the things I would love to see would be a manifesto for education,” she wrote. “A country cannot rise beyond its educational system. Nelson Mandela once said ‘Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.’ So how are we changing ours?”

Dr. Neal Allen — chair and associate Professor of Political Science— was recently interviewed by major news PBS Newshour and NBC Nightly News for his expertise on the upcoming Aug. 2 vote. His other interviews include the following:

Recently aired:

• KAKE News
• NBC Nightly News
• NPR

Allen was also quoted in the following articles on the topic.

• Time Magazine
• Vox

In addition to these interviews, Allen has also been a panelist for the Kansas City Media Collaborative and American Public Square Zoom conversation, as well as for Kansas Week on PBS Kansas.

And on election night, Allen will be live on KAKE Channel 10.

Professor and School of Criminal Justice graduate coordinator Michael Birzer was recently appointed by the Wichita City Manager Robert Layton to serve on the committee to select Wichita’s next police chief. Birzer, a Wichita native and former law enforcement professional, teaches and specializes in the study of policing. His research agenda is specific to policing issues in urban communities.

Birzer says he is honored to serve on this important committee. This is the third major police chief selection committee Birzer has recently served on.

According to the City of Wichita’s chief search public website, “The review committee made up of diverse community members has been convened to ensure representation throughout the search process, aid City staff with front-end processes, and interview candidates vetted by Public Sector Search and Consulting.”

Birzer said a community-minded police executive committed to servant leadership is what he’d like to see in Wichita’s next police chief.

Dr. Mythili Menon, assistant professor of English and linguistics and director of linguistics at Wichita State University, will speak as one of three panelists during a special edition Engage ICT event “Sorting out Facts, Truth, and Opinion” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 12 at the Brickyard. All spots for this in-person event have been reserved.

The event is presented by “1A” as part of “1A’s Remaking America.” The conversation will not be live-streamed, but a future episode of “1A” will feature the discussion. Participants can also follow KMUW on Twitter for a live look of the conversation.