Florida State University’s faculty and staff are central to its mission and the key to its countless accomplishments.
Throughout the year, honors and recognitions are awarded to individual faculty and staff members across campus. Faculty and Staff Briefs are produced monthly to recognize accomplishments and provide a space where honors, awards, bylines, presentations, grants, service and any other notable items can be showcased.
HONORS AND AWARDS
Kathleen P. Wilson, Ph.D., APRN, CPNP, FNP-BC, BC-ADM, FAANP, FNAP, DipACLM (College of Nursing) has been selected as part of the Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing’s 2025 class of fellows — the largest and most distinguished cohort in the organization’s history. This prestigious honor recognizes her significant contributions to nursing education, practice and leadership, and her ongoing impact on health care through excellence and innovation.
Irvin Clark, Ed.D. (FSU Panama City) received the Communication and Leadership Award from Toastmasters International District 77. He was recognized because his “dedication and service to your community exemplify the highest standards of excellence and integrity, aligning perfectly with the Toastmasters mission.” District 77 includes Alabama, Northwest Florida and Southeast Mississippi.
Nicole Bentze, D.O. (College of Medicine) was honored with a 2025 Exceptional Mentor Award at the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) 110th Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with the Women in Healthcare World Congress in Boston, MA.
Ericka Horne, DrPH, MPH, CHES (College of Medicine) was named 2025 Outstanding Doctoral Student for the FAMU College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences’ Institute of Public Health.
GRANTS
Karen Works, Ph.D. (FSU Panama City) was awarded a Center for Parallel and Distributed Computing Curriculum Development and Educational Resources PDC Curriculum Early Adopter Grant, which includes summer training at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Guang Wang, Ph.D. (Department of Computer Science) was awarded the National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource (NAIRR) Pilot Award, which he will use to conduct research on privacy-preserving generative AI. NAIRR Pilot awards are a joint effort led by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in collaboration with other U.S. federal agencies to provide key AI resources and data.
BYLINES
Adam Tratner, Ph.D. (FSU Republic of Panama) coauthored and published the article “The Impact of APOE ε4 on Neuropsychological Test Performance in Hispanics: The Panama Aging Research Initiative — Health Disparities Study” in the journal Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders.
Henry Zhuhao Wang, J.D., LL.M., S.J.D. (College of Law) published “Asynchronous Trials: A New Approach to High-Volume Civil Adjudication” in the Denver Law Review.
Bodunrin Akinrinmade, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) coauthored “Social Equity and Representative Bureaucracy: The Case of Nigeria’s Federal Character Principle,” published by Public Administration.
Kathy Trang, Ph.D., Casey D Xavier Hall, Ph.D., MPH, John (“Jack”) P. Barile, Ph.D. (Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment) Frank (“Frankie”) Y. Wong, Ph.D., Liying Wang, Ph.D., Eugenia F Millender, Ph.D., RN, MS, PMHNP‑BC, FAAN (College of Nursing) and doctoral candidate Crim Sabuncu (College of Social Work) coauthored “Identifying Subgroups of Intersectional Stigma, Discrimination, and the Association with Mental Health Outcomes Among HIV-Positive Men Who Have Sex with Men: A Latent Class Analysis” in the journal AIDS and Behavior.
Brenda Wawire, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) coauthored volume two of the book “Hujambo! A Standards-Based Approach to Introductory Kiswahili,” released by the Kansas University Resource Language Center.
Tarez Samra Graban, Ph.D. (Department of English) wrote the chapter “Thinking Different: Exchanging Archival Data across Transnational Time and Space” in the book, “Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Feminist Rhetoric,” published by Routledge. Graban also authored the essay “Recovering ‘The Commons’ between Diversity Agendas,” published in the Rhetoric Society Quarterly, the official journal of the Rhetoric Society of America.
Matthew Patience, Ph.D. (Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics) coauthored the article “Assessing L1 Mandarin and L2 English influence on the L3 production of French obstruent coda voicing,” published in Second Language Research.
Richard Wagner, Ph.D. (Department of Psychology) coauthored “The Home Literacy Environment and Reading Development of Children With and Without Learning Disabilities,” published in Developmental Science.
Tehila Nugiel, Ph.D. (Department of Psychology) coauthored “Longitudinal Associations Between Birth-to-Six Cortical Growth and Childhood Neurocognitive Function,” published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Selin Karakose, Ph.D., Martina Luchetti, Ph.D., Angelina Sutin, Ph.D. and Antonio Terracciano, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) coauthored “Marital Status and Risk of Dementia Over 18 Years: Surprising Findings from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center,” published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
Timothy Baghurst, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) coauthored “A Case for Thinking About Thinking in Sports Coaching: Understanding Situated Cognition as a Means to Inform Coaching Practice,” published in the International Sport Coaching Journal.
Robert Reardon, Ph.D., Stephen Leierer, Ph.D., Debra Osborn, Ph.D. and Gary Peterson, Ph.D. (Career Center) coauthored “Using the Career State Inventory to Evaluate Career Interventions,” published in the National Association of Colleges and Employers Journal.
Artur Queiroz, Ph.D., BSN, MS, Liying Wang, Ph.D., Frank (“Frankie”) Y. Wong, Ph.D. (College of Nursing), Casey D. Xavier Hall, Ph.D., MPH, Hyeouk “Chris” Hahm, Ph.D., LCSW, John (“Jack”) P. Barile, Ph.D. and research scientist Dong H. Cheung (Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment) coauthored “Risk and Resilience Trajectories from Adverse Childhood Experience Among Men who have Sex with Men Living with HIV” published in the journal Behavioral Medicine.
Alice Maxwell, MA., Suzan Kurdak, Emma Massaglia and Alycia Malicz (Division of Student Affairs Marketing and Communications) coauthored “Creating Connection Through Collaborative, Integrated Communications to Boost Student Engagement Journey,” published in the Journal of Educational Advancement & Marketing and will be included in The Business and Management Collection online database.
Tingting Liu, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, Hongyu Miao, Ph.D. (College of Nursing), Colm G. Connolly, Ph.D. (College of Medicine), Michael J. Ormsbee, Ph.D., FACSM, FISSN, CSCS (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) coauthored “12-Year Physical Activity Trajectories and Epigenetic Age Acceleration Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults” published in the journal Biological Research for Nursing.
Laurie Abbott, Ph.D., RN, DipACLM, CNE, PHNA-BC, FAAN, Lucinda J. Graven, Ph.D., APRN, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) and Jessica De Leon, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) coauthored an article “Impact of a Web-Based Lifestyle Medicine Intervention: A Qualitative Study Among Rural Participants,” published in the Nursing Reports journal.
Adam Hanley, Ph.D. (College of Nursing) co-published a study “Mindful Jazz and Preferred Music Interventions Reduce Pain Among Patients with Chronic Pain and Anxiety: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial” in the journal Cureus. Hanley also recently published the study “242 – Single-Session Group Breathwork Intervention for Adults with Chronic Pain: A proof-of-concept study of Guided Respiration Mindfulness Therapy,” investigating a novel breathwork-based treatment for chronic pain known as Guided Respiration Mindfulness Therapy (GRMT), developed by Dr. Lloyd Lalande of New Zealand. As part of the project, Dr. Lalande and Dr. Steve Pratscher from the University of Florida visited our facility at Innovation Park, where they administered the two-hour, single-session intervention to a pilot group of patients living with chronic pain.
Frank (“Frankie”) Y. Wong, Ph.D., Eugenia F Millender, Ph.D., RN, MS, PMHNP‑BC, FAAN (College of Nursing), Casey D Xavier Hall, Ph.D., MPH (Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment) and doctoral candidate Beth Okantey (College of Social Work) coauthored “How U.S. Social Work Students are Prepared to work with Culturally Diverse Individuals: A Scoping Review of Constructs and Interventions” published in the journal Social Work Education.
Brittany L. Lane, Ph.D., MPH, Yijiong Yang, Ph.D., MHA, Setor Sorkpor, Ph.D., MPH, MSN, RN-BC, Eugenia F. Millender, Ph.D., RN, MS, PMHNP‑BC, FAAN, Frank (“Frankie”) Y. Wong, Ph.D. (College of Nursing), Casey D Xavier Hall, Ph.D., MPH (Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment) and doctoral candidates Crim Sabuncu and Beth Okantey (College of Social Work) coauthored “Discrimination and mental health Among Black and Latino People Living with HIV: Understanding the Role of Religion and Spirituality” published in the journal AIDS and Behavior.
Brittany L. Lane, Ph.D., MPH, Eugenia F. Millender, Ph.D., RN, MS, PMHNP‑BC, FAAN, Frank (“Frankie”) Y. Wong, Ph.D. (College of Nursing) Casey D. Xavier Hall, Ph.D., MPH (Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment) and doctoral candidate Rachel M. Harris (College of Social Work) coauthored “Neighborhood Deprivation, Trauma Profiles, Coping, and Stress Prospectively Predict Depressive Symptoms Among Young African American Mothers in the InterGEN Study: A Latent Class Analysis” published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.
Bruce Thyer, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) coauthored the article “Promoting Policy Practice Among Social Work Students: A Review of Outcome Studies,” published in the Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare.
Frank (“Frankie”) Y. Wong, Ph.D., Brittany L Lane, Ph.D., MPH, Eugenia F Millender, Ph.D., RN, MS, PMHNP‑BC, FAAN, Artur Queiroz, Ph.D., BSN, MS (College of Nursing), Casey D. Xavier Hall, Ph.D., MPH, John (“Jack”) P. Barile, Ph.D., Zhuo Meng, Ph.D., and research scientist Dong H. Cheung (Center of Population Sciences for Health Empowerment), Jung H. Kim, Ph.D. and doctoral candidates Beth Okantey and Crim Sabuncu (College of Social Work) coauthored “Mediating Roles of Social Support in Lives of Men Who Have Sex with Men Living with HIV” in the journal Health Psychology.
Qiuchang (Katy) Cao, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) coauthored the article “Mental Health Help-Seeking Among Asian Older Adults in the United States: A Scoping Review” published in the Journal of Ethnic and Racial Diversity in Social Work. Cao also coauthored the article “Social Network as an Engagement Approach in Child Maltreatment Prevention Programs: A Scoping Review,” published in Research on Social Work Practice.
Gashaye Tefera, Ph.D., Ponsiano Ngondwe, MSW, MA. and Shelby Varol, MSW (College of Social Work) coauthored the article “Trust Matters: A Qualitative Study on Healthcare Access and Utilization Among African Immigrants in the United States,” published in the Journal of Community Health
Stanley Gontarski, Ph.D. (Department of English) had his book “Beckett’s Co-Authors: Rewriting Waiting for Godot” published in the “Other Becketts” book series with the Edinburgh University Press. He also published his essay “Looking for Godot” on the Edinburgh University Press publishing blog. Gontarski’s essay on literary theory and contemporary theater, “Multidisciplinary Theory in Theater,” was also published in the book and series “Theory Across Disciplines” with Bloomsbury Publishing. His overview of American publishing house, Grove Press, has been published as “Stanley Gontarski Informs Pat Thomas” in the book “Evergreen Review: Dispatches from the Literary Underground: Covers & Essays 1957-1973.”
PRESENTATIONS AND CONFERENCES
Whitney Powers and Samantha Keller (Division of University Advancement) presented “From Registration to Reflection: Post-Event Evaluation and Strategic Insights” at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Special Events in Advancement Conference in Nashville.
Mark Zeigler, MS (College of Business) gave the opening keynote “The Joy of Service” at the Florida City and County Manager’s Association annual convention in Orlando. He also presented “We’ve Been Discussing Emotional Intelligence Since 1995; It’s Time We Used It” at the North American Securities Administrators Broker Training meeting in Pittsburgh, PA.
Daniel Broxterman, Ph.D., Mariya Letdin, Ph.D., Chongyu Wang, Ph.D. and Tingyu Zhou, Ph.D. (College of Business) demonstrated the depth and impact of FSU’s research at the National Conference of the American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association in Washington D.C. Collectively, they presented five papers, served as discussants for three others and chaired a conference session.
Zhe He, Ph.D., Mia A. Lustria, Ph.D., Balu Bhusaran, Ph.D. (School of Information), Dhruv Kale, MS (Institute for Successful Longevity), Zenghao Zhang, MS (Department of Computer Science), Dr. Lisa Granville, M.D. (College of Medicine) and Zhenguang Lu, Ph.D. (Department of Physics) copresented “LabGenie – A Patient-Facing AI-Powered Application for Enhancing Older Adults’ Comprehension of Laboratory Test Results” at the American Medical Informatics Association ® (AMIA) 2025 Informatics Summit in Pittsburgh, PA.
Rachel Bailey, Ph.D. (College of Communication & Information) presented “‘It’s Just Wrong!’ Can We Decrease People’s Disgust Response to Lab-Grown Meat?” and moderated the session “Eating Disorders and Media Content” at the International Communication Association (ICA) Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Russell Clayton, Ph.D. (School of Communication) presented “An Examination of Oral Nicotine Pouch Current-Users’ Psychophysiological and Self-Report Responses to Anti-Oral Nicotine Pouch Videos on TikTok” and “Under the ‘Zynfluence:’ A Psychophysiological and Self-Report Investigation of Influencer Promotion of Oral Nicotine Pouches on TikTok” at the ICA Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Arienne Ferchaud, Ph.D. and Jennifer Proffitt, Ph.D. (School of Communication) presented “Exploring How Actual Play Viewers Navigate PSRs with Players and Characters” at the ICA Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Yin Yang, Ph.D. (School of Communication) presented “Not All Stories Are Viewed the Same: Examining Perceived Narrativity as a Mediator of Period Poverty Narrative Effects” at the ICA Conference in Denver, Colorado.
Anel Brandl, Ph.D. (Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics) presented her coauthored book, “Estamos Aquí! Comunidades Bilingües e Identidades Regionales de los Estados Unidos” at the 29th Conference on Spanish in the United States at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Brandl also presented her co-authored book at the 12th National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
Jessika Valentine, Ph.D. (Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics) presented the paper “Bridges of Meaning: Connecting Through the Familiar” at the Arabic Teachers Council’s Summer Institute webinar in New York.
Alina Dana Weber, Ph.D. (Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics) presented the paper “No Mousy Politics: E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Novella ‘Nussknacker und Mausekönig’” at the 17th Annual Conference of the International Society for Cultural History at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland.
Christian Weber, Ph.D. (Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics) presented the paper “Post-Human Metamorphoses into Insects (Goethe, Nietzsche, Kafka)” at the 17th Annual Conference of the International Society for Cultural History at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland.
Jessica Clark, Ph.D. (Department of Classics) gave the keynote address “Caesar Knows Best? Frontinus on Preemptive Action and Failing in Advance” at the War in the Ancient World International Conference at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
Andrea De Giorgi, Ph.D. (Department of Classics) organized and copresented “Ten Seasons of Cosa Excavations” and “The Geoarchaeological and Palaeoenvironmental Project in the Coastal Areas Surrounding Cosa” at the Cosa: Past, Present, and Future – A Conference in Honor of Russell T. Scott in Rome, Italy, at the American Academy in Rome and the German Archaeological Institute.
Victor Patrangenaru, Ph.D. (Department of Statistics) presented his upcoming book “Nonparametric Statistics on Stratified Spaces with Applications to Object Data Analysis” at the Uncertainty in Multivariate, Non-Euclidean, and Functional Spaces: Theory and Practice Workshop at the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences in Cambridge, England.
Karen Works, Ph.D. (FSU Panama City) presented at the Western Academy Support and Training Center’s Educator Workshop: Exploring Real-Time Data Analytics Using MongoDB & Tableau Desktop, describing how she is incorporating MongoDB into a state-approved course elective, COP4064: Application Development with Non-Traditional Databases.
Jenny Root, Ph.D., BCBA (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) gave the keynote lecture “Making Math Meaningful, Accessible, and Joyful” at the 2025 Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network Math Conference.
Alice Maxwell, MA. and Cassidy Shaw (Division of Student Affairs Marketing and Communications) presented “Say ‘Hello’ to Collaborative Student Marketing, Engagement and Retention” at the CASE Annual Conference for Marketing and Branding Professionals 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Maxwell also served as faculty for the CASE conference, helping with planning, on-sight session hosting and speaking on the panel discussion: “From the Front Lines: Crisis Communication Lessons.”
Annika Culver, Ph.D. (Department of History) presented “Otaku Culture: Consuming, Collecting, and Comics in Japan from the 1980s to the Present” to the technology company WP Engine in Austin, Texas.
Ursula K. Weiss, Ph.D. and Katie McDaniel, MPH (College of Medicine) presented the analysis “Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System to Explore the Relationship between Disability Status and Mental Health among Florida Adults” in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health Office of Public Health Research at the 2025 Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists Annual Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Timothy Baghurst, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) gave the keynote speech “Widening the Lens: Why Sport Specialization isn’t Just an Athlete Problem” at the biannual conference of the Association Internationale des Écoles Supérieures d’Éducation Physique (AIESEP) in Tampa. Baghurst also gave the keynote speech “How our Family Contributes to and Reduces Stress Based on the Experiences of High-Performance Professional Coaches and What that Means for us” at the International Organization of Health, Sports, and Kinesiology’s annual conference in San Francisco, CA.
Brittney Pieper, MA. (Career Center) presented two roundtables, “The Game Plan: Career Readiness for Student-Athletes” and “Resumes that Win: Application Material for Student-Athletes,” at the Florida Association of Colleges and Employers Annual Conference in Orlando.
Christy Mantzanas and Li Pon, MA. (Career Center) presented “Summer Career Readiness: Engaging Students in Their Hometowns” at the National Association of Colleges & Employers conference in Philadelphia, PA.
Felicia Williams, Ph.D., Kyanna Austin and Tatyana Wilson (Student Engagement) presented “Purpose in Practice: Co-Creating the Future of Student Life with Students Through the Lens of Ubuntu and Experiential Learning” at the 2025 National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Region III Summer Symposium held in Savannah, GA.
Lucinda Graven, PhD, APRN, FAHA, FAAN (College of Nursing) was an invited speaker at the “Supportive Palliative Care for Cardiac Patients and Their Families” international workshop held virtually and sponsored by the American Heart Association Council on Cardiovascular and Stroke Nursing Council International Committee. This workshop brought together experts in the field of palliative care in cardiovascular disease and explored strategies to enhance palliative care for both patients and their families living with cardiovascular disease.
Alexandra E. Cowan-Pyle, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) presented “Dietary Modeling of Prenatal Dietary Supplements and Research Gaps Using NHANES Data” and served as a panelist on “Real Talk: Navigating Change in the Workplace – Fresh Perspectives, Panel Discussions, and Networking” at the American Society for Nutrition’s annual meeting in Orlando. Cowan-Pyle also presented her research at the National Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements Prenatal Dietary Supplement Workshop in Bethesda, MD.
Alicia Craig-Rodriguez, DNP, MBA, APRN, FNP-BC, DipACLM (College of Nursing), co-presented “Caring for Caregivers: Enhancing Personal and Professional Wellbeing in Academia” at the 2025 Teaching Professor Conference in Washington, DC and Utilizing Food as Medicine in Clinical Practice at the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Annual Conference. She and her co-presenter offered a compelling case for introducing and implementing nutrition prescriptions in practice as first-line interventions in the treatment of preventable chronic diseases.
Bruce Thyer, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) presented “The Differences Between Real Evidence-Based Practice and Selecting Empirically Supported Interventions” via video seminar to the Evidence into Practice Special Interest Group of the European Social Work Research Association.
Stanley Gontarski, Ph.D. (Department of English) had his annual lecture translated into Polish and published as “Sztuka Samuela Becketta – Fuzja Teatru, Literatury i Zarządzania” [“The Art of Samuel Beckett: A Fusion of Theatre, Literature and Management”] for the Samuel Beckett Seminar at the University of Gdańsk, in Poland.
PERFORMANCES AND EXHIBITIONS
Katie Kehoe, MFA (Department of Art) has a solo exhibition of her work “Time is of the Essence” on display at Gibbs Street Gallery, VisArts, Rockville, MD through July 13, 2025.
Madeleine Martin, MFA (School of Theatre) is starring in “Uncle Vodka” a new play written by McAdoo Greer and Rebecca Reynolds in New York City.
Juan Carlos Galeano, Ph.D. (Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics) presented his documentary film “El Río,” followed with a discussion at the 17th Annual Conference of the International Society for Cultural History at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi, Finland.
SERVICE
Dalisha Herring, Ph.D. (College of Business) has been elected to serve as president of the Tallahassee Regional Estate Planning Council.
Hannah Chronic (Department of Student Support & Transition) was selected to serve on the Alcohol, Other Drug, and Campus Violence Prevention Planning Committee for the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Strategies Planning Conference.
Debra M Cole, Ed.D., PA-C (College of Medicine) was elected a member of the Florida delegation to the House of Delegates for the Florida Academy of Physician Assistants (PAs) and the American Academy of PAs for the 2025-2026 year.
Megan Verdoni, MPAS, PA-C (College of Medicine) served as a panel member for the Accreditation Review Commission on Physician Assistant Education (ARC-PA) Accreditation Conference in Pittsburgh, PA. Verdoni also organized the inaugural ARC-PA Self-Study regional conference at the college’s Sarasota Regional Campus.
Rob Hanna, Zaida McGinley, MS., Carrie Myers and Jim Reynolds (Learning Systems Institute) organized and administered eight free professional learning courses to 190 educators across Coastal NWFL as part of the Florida Center for Research in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (FCR-STEM) role on the InSPIRE project.
Annika Culver, Ph.D. (Department of History) participated on the panel of experts at the “Cold War 2.0? Power and Prudence: Lessons of the Cold War for the 21st Century” conference hosted by the Clements Center for National Security, the University of Texas at Austin Department of History, and the America in the World Consortium at the University of Texas at Austin.
Ericka Horne, DrPH (College of Medicine) organized and moderated the Florida Public Health Association’s Second Annual Student Conference in Celebration, Florida.
Tarez Samra Graban, Ph.D. (Department of English) was elected chair of the Global and Non-Western Rhetorics Standing Group of the Conference on College Composition and Communication.
Guang Wang, Ph.D. (Department of Computer Science) joined the editorial board of the journal series “Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies” as an associate editor.
Frank (“Frankie”) Y. Wong, Ph.D. (College of Nursing) moderated a panel at the “United for Resilience” workshop, where experts explored strategies to enhance trauma-informed care for National AAPI Organizations — a critical initiative funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. He also moderated the 16th AIDS Impact Conference in Morocco, facilitating important discussions on advancing HIV/AIDS care worldwide.
NOTABLE
Stephanie Zuilkowski, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) led the Southern Province data collection team at Rusangu Primary School in Monze, Zambia, to observe and conduct interviews with student teachers as part of a project funded by The Gates Foundation.
Vilma Fuentes, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) assembled a group of FSU experts who joined a high-level conference with experts from Ukraine to discuss ways to combat human trafficking. The virtual conference, planned by FSU’s Ukraine Task Force and the National Academy of Internal Affairs in Kyiv, brought together experts from both countries.
Ebe Randeree, Ph.D. (College of Communication & Information) led nine students on a networking trip to Tampa to help them make connections with tech companies in the area. Students on the trip toured Reliaquest, Citibank, and A-Lign, and also attended the Synapse Summit. He also led a team of students to the table at the 2025 Tech Expo at FSU’s Panama City campus. The students ran six tech-based activities to teach K-12 students about technology and tech careers.
Stephanie Zuilkowski, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) and doctoral candidate Bhushan Dahal joined with The World Bank, The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and The Gates Foundation to open registrations for the “Educators Shaping Futures: A Global Knowledge Exchange on Teacher Preparation and Development” conference in Ethiopia.
Rachel Duke, Ph.D. (Special Collections & Archives) was selected to develop and teach the course “Rare Books for Archivists” by the Society of American Archivists. Duke has also been named Associate Editor of the Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) Collective publication Notes from the Field, a peer-reviewed blog highlighting practical lessons from the front lines of teaching with primary sources.
Adrienne Barnes-Story, Ph.D., Rabieh Razzouk, MBA. and Gena St. John, MBA (Learning Systems Institute) led seven webinars as part of the University Administration Support Program implemented by the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX). Ten university administrators from Ghana and Nigeria joined their “Improving University Research Administration in Sub-Saharan Africa” workshop.
Lakesia Dupree, Ph.D., Odalis Tavares, Ed.D., and Amanda Tazaz, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) worked with 30 educators in Hillsborough County on the Successful Start: Cognitively Guided Instruction year 1 program, providing training and support to teachers serving students in foundational grades.
Laura Redfern, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC (College of Nursing) earned her certification as a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator, a significant achievement that highlights her expertise in health care simulation.