What's New 2006

Kellie Dean, a 1982 master’s graduate of the college and an award-winning special education teacher and principal, received the MSU Alumni Association’s Alumni Service Award at a banquet held at the Kellogg Center during Homecoming week festivities this year.

Dean, who now runs a successful Lansing transportation company, was lauded for his support of the Lansing Police Department, the Police Athletic League and the Michigan Special Olympics. He provided transportation for those groups for 25 years as well as transportation for the Early Childhood Development Program for at-risk children.

Dean has had broad success as a fundraiser for children’s charities. He helped to raise $1.5 million for Lansing’s first Ronald McDonald House in 1999, and he was co-chairman of a campaign for the St. Vincent’s Home for Children in Lansing that raised $3 million. Currently, he is involved with his former MSU football teammate John Shinsky in building an orphanage for more than 100 children in Matamoros, Mexico.

Promotions:

Christie Montgomery-Boronico, a 1993 doctoral graduate, was named director of career services at the University of New Haven in West Haven, Conn.

Stanley Cahill, a 1981 doctoral graduate in student affairs administration, was promoted to executive vice president at Salem State College in Massachusetts. Cahill had been serving as the college’s vice president for student affairs.

John Halstead, a 1972 master’s graduate, was named the sixth president of SUNY College in Brockport, N.Y.

Rene Shingles, a 2001 doctoral graduate and currently an associate professor and program director of the athletic training and education program at Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, received the Great Lakes Athletic Trainers’ Association Dedicated Service Award.

Boyce Williams, a 1982 doctoral graduate, and currently the vice president of institutional relations for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, received the association’s Teacher Educators President’s Service Award. Williams received her master’s degree from MSU in 1975.

Awards:

Diane Spence, a seventh-grade math teacher at Lansing’s Gardner Middle School, received in September a $10,000 award as Wal-Mart’s Michigan Teacher of the Year. Spence, who had taught for 25 years for the Michigan Department of Corrections before joining the faculty at Gardner five years ago, received her master’s in education from MSU in 1974 and her bachelor’s degree in education in 1973.

Georges Bordage, a 1982 doctoral graduate and currently a professor in the department of medical education at the University of Illinois, Chicago, received the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education.

Karen Myers, a May 2006 graduate with a double major in art education and fine arts, received the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts, awarded annually to the top college seniors from across the nation who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in an area of the performing and creative arts. Myers worked at MSU’s “Saturday Morning Art Program” in developing, designing and implementing a seven-week curriculum for children ages 12–18 to develop their artistic talents.

Passings:

Scott Vaughn, 63, an assistant director emeritus of the Honors College at MSU, died July 2. He received his doctorate in education in 1976. He retired in 2004 and is survived by his wife, Catherine.

Juliet McQueen Dagbovie, a spring 2005 graduate of the MACT program, died July 15. Dagbovie, a mother of three sons, was an assistant principal at MacDonald Middle School in East Lansing at the time of her death and had taught at East Lansing High School for 10 years prior to her promotion. She is survived by husband Pero Dagbovie, an MSU professor.

1940s

Harold Bernhardt (BA 48) and his wife Marcia (BA 47, English) received the 2005 Agri-Business Award from the Iron County (Mich.) Fair Association.

1970s

Richard Allington (PhD 73) has been elected president of the 300,000-member International Reading Association. He is a professor at the University of Tennessee.

Robert Burek (EDS 72/PhD 82) has retired as superintendent of the Fenton (Mich.) Schools after 10 years of service.

Tom Hadzor (MA 79) has been appointed director of development of the Duke University Libraries.

David Kapolka (BA 72) has accepted a position as technology product specialist with Key Curriculum Press. Kapolka had been a mathematics teacher and chair of the mathematics department at Forest Hills Northern High School in Grand Rapids.

Carmi Margolis (MA 73) was among the featured presenters at the Association of American Medical Colleges Annual Meeting in November. Margolis is director of the Medical School for International Health at Ben-Gurion University.

Judith D. Walton (PhD 85) has retired after serving as professor for 33 years and chairing the Department of Kinesiology for the seven years at the University of Texas at Brownsville.

1990s

Amanda L. Baden (PhD 99) was honored as a Congressional Angel in Adoption at a ceremony held by the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute in Washington, D.C. Baden is an assistant professor of counselor education at Montclair State University in Upper Montclair, New Jersey.

Olga Bonfiglio (PhD 95) has published Heroes of a Different Stripe: How One Town Responded to the War in Iraq. Dr. Bonfiglio is currently a professor and acting chairperson of the Department of Education at Kalamazoo College.

Beverly Ferguson (MA 94) recently published her seventh short story in the magazine Age Wise.

Kristen Gratten (MA 92) has received National Board Certification from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. She is a reading/language arts teacher at North Aurelius Elementary School in Mason, Mich.

Christopher (MA 92) and Sarah Theule Lubienski (MA 91/PhD 96) were featured in an article in the New York Times in January regarding their study that found that when it comes to math, students in regular public schools do as well as or significantly better than comparable students in private schools. Christopher Lubienski is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Organization and Leadership, and Sarah Lubienski is an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Susan W. Meston (PhD 99) has been appointed superintendent of the Muskegon (Mich.) Area Intermediate School District. She had been the district’s deputy superintendent.

Barbara Mieras (PhD 90) was one of five people honored by the Michigan Women’s Foundation with its annual Women of Achievement and Courage Award. Mieras is Davenport University’s executive vice president for advancement and president of the Davenport University Foundation.

Robert L. Smith (PhD 96) has established Smith Educational Associates, a consultancy specializing in workforce education programs.

2000s

Karen Klumpp (PhD 03) has been appointed vice president for enrollment at Alma (Mich.) College. She has been at Alma College since 1987 and had been serving as interim vice president for enrollment.

Loukia Sarroub (PhD 00) received National Reading Conference’s Frye Distinguished Book Award for 2005 for her book, All-American Yemeni Girls (University of Pennsylvania Press).

Jim Ananich (teaching certification 04) was elected to the Flint (Mich.) City Council from the 7th Ward. Ananich had taught social studies in the Flint School District and served as aide to state Sen. Bob Emerson.

Ann O’Donnell (teaching certification 05) is teaching chemistry and algebra at Elk Rapids (Mich.) High School. She had been a research assistant in the Composite Materials and Science Research Center at the University of Delaware.

Terry A. Sedlar (ma 03) was appointed principal at Mio AuSable Elementary School in Mio, Mich.

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In Memoriam

Richard Jackson (MA 70/PhD 81) died on December 14, 2005. He was 62. Mr. Jackson retired from the Michigan Department of Transportation as assistant deputy director of the Bureau of Aeronautics in 1988. After his retirement, he joined the faculty at the North Carolina A & T University School of Education.

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Banks and Hawkins Honored as Distinguished Alumni

James Banks (MA 67/PhD 69) received the MSU Alumni Association’s highest honor at its Grand Awards ceremony in October.

Banks, the Russell F. Stark Professor and director of the Center for Multicultural Education at the University of Washington, was presented the MSU Alumni Association Distinguished Alumni Award. The honor is bestowed by the MSUAA to graduates who have demonstrated outstanding volunteer service and who have achieved the highest level of professional accomplishment and personal integrity and character.

Banks is among the nation’s leading scholars, renowned for his efforts to increase educational equality for all students and is widely considered the founder of multicultural education. He has written and edited 20 books and more than 100 journal articles, including the Handbook of Research on Multicultural Education, a landmark publication that received the 1997 Book Award from the National Association of Multicultural Education.

In addition to Banks, Brian Hawkins was honored with the Distinguished Alumni Award. Hawkins has had close ties to the college over the years. He is president and chief executive officer of EDUCAUSE, a professional association of 2,000 colleges and universities dedicated to transforming higher education through information technologies. He also serves on the College of Education’s National Advisory Board. Hawkins received a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1970 and a master’s degree in communications in 1972 from MSU.