Florida State University’s distinguished faculty are central to the mission of the university. Faculty excellence in scholarship, research, and creative activity is critical to the quality of student learning and makes a difference in the lives of others.
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
Lisa Spainhour, Ph.D. (FAMU-FSU College of Engineering) received the Florida Engineering Society Outstanding Service to the Engineering Profession Award from the Florida Engineering Society.
Ames Morton-Winter, M.A.Ed., ALM (The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art) received the 2024 Outstanding New Professional Award from the Florida Association of Museums.
Yue Li (University Libraries) has been honored with the 2025 President’s Recognition Award from the Chinese American Librarians Association.
Brittany L. Lane, Ph.D., MPH (College of Nursing) was selected as a 2025-2026 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Fogarty Launching Future Leaders in Global Health (LAUNCH) Global Health Fellow through the UJMT Global Consortium, which includes the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Johns Hopkins University, Morehouse School of Medicine and Tulane University. As a LAUNCH Fellow, Lane will spend a year in Malawi conducting research on relationship dynamics, HIV-related partner communication and use of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP — a preventive treatment for people who are at high risk of contracting HIV — among young couples.
Jerod Hutchinson (University Libraries) received the 2025 Julia Zimmerman Award, which honors a staff member who exemplifies the values of collegiality, trust, teamwork, inclusion, innovation and service.
Mike Drury, Psy.D. (College of Medicine) achieved an American Board of Professional Psychology (ABPP) specialty board certification in Behavioral & Cognitive Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology.
Mark Gallagher, M.D. (College of Medicine) was named a Cleveland Clinic Patient Experience Champion for outstanding patient advocacy at Cleveland Clinic Martin Health — continuing contributions to a positive health care environment for patients and staff alike. He was also appointed the TeamHealth Regional Patient Experience Officer.
Noël Wan, Ph.D. (College of Music) was awarded the 2025 FAA Emerging Legacy Award, the University of Illinois’ highest award for early career alumni of the College of Fine and Applied Arts. The award recognizes “individuals who have impacted their fields in transformative ways — catalysts with distinguished service to the arts” in the fields of architecture, music, visual art, dance and theatre.
Panayotis (Paddy) League, Ph.D. (College of Music) had his new album selected by The Daily as one of the best country records released in July. The album is a collaboration with Athens, GA-based ensemble Hog-Eyed Man.
GRANTS
Xian Mallory, Ph.D. (Department of Computer Science) received a $290,049 National Science Foundation grant for her project “Collaborative Research: CISE Crosscutting Small: SCH: Using Explainable AI and Quantum-inspired Computing to Uncover Genetic Insights.”
Michael Carrasco, Ph.D. (College of Fine Arts) received a grant from the Cycad Society for his project “Documenting and Preserving Cycads and Cycad Culture on Amami Ōshima, Japan in Response to Critical Existential Threats.”
Sarah A. Johnson, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) is a principal investigator on a multi-PI grant from the National Institutes of Health’s Botanical Dietary Supplements Translational Research Teams program. The project is titled “Examining Gut Microbiome as a Determinant of Blueberry Polyphenol Bioavailability to Optimize Dose and Phytochemical Standardization for Functional Effects in Humans.”
David Newheiser, Ph.D. (Department of Religion) received a Global Philosophy of Religion project grant, a subgrant of the John Templeton Foundation, for the project “Indigenous Spirituality and Human Meaning in the Amazon.”
BYLINES
Erin Morpeth-Provost, Ph.D. (Counseling & Psychological Services) co-authored “Voices of Students in Crisis: Qualitative Interviews with College Students Hospitalized for Psychiatric Distress” published in Psychiatric Quarterly.
Michael Carrasco, Ph.D. (College of Fine Arts) had his article “Threats to Cycad Biocultural Heritage in the Amami Islands, Japan” featured as an Editor’s Choice by the RIKEN Center for Interdisciplinary Theoretical and Mathematical Sciences.
Erin Ryan, J.D. (College of Law) authored “The Four Horsemen of the New Separation of Powers: The Environmental Law Implications of Loper Bright, West Virginia, Sackett, and Corner Post” published in the Minnesota Law Review.
Kris Salata, Ph.D. (School of Theatre) authored “The Unwritten Grotowski: Theory and Practice of the Encounter,” published by Routledge for the first time in Greek.
Joseph Watso, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) with the contribution of doctoral candidates Joseph Vondrasek, Christin Domeier and Thomas Bissen co-authored “Central Blood Pressure and Arterial Stiffness Among Ultramarathon Runners Across the Lifespan” published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology.
Joseph Watso, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) co-authored “Cardiac Responses to Environmental Heat Exposure in Young and Older Adults” published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. He also co-authored “Sodium Intake and Biological Sex Influence Urinary Endothelin-1 in Salt-Resistant Adults: A Pilot Study” published in the American Journal of Physiology – Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology.
Annie Wofford, Ph.D., Lara Perez-Felkner, Ph.D. and Bret Staudt Willet, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) co-authored a research note “Geography of Computing Graduate Degree Opportunities: Examining the Characteristics of Minority-Serving Institutions” published in Research in Higher Education.
Eundeok Kim, Ph.D. (Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship ) co-authored the book “Teaching Sustainability Competencies Across the Disciplines: A Guide for Instructors (2nd Ed.) published by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.
Brenda Wawire, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) co-authored “Competence-Based Curriculum Implementation in Africa: A Scoping Review of Pedagogical and Assessment Practices” published in the Journal of Curriculum Studies.
Melba Marin-Velasquez, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) co-authored “Connecting with Land: Knowledge Production and Transfer in a Maya Tzotzil Muslim Community in Chiapas, Mexico” published in Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education.
Jai Bum Koo, Brenda Wawire, Ph.D. and Adrienne Barnes-Story, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) co-authored “Roles, Relationships, and Experiences among the Stakeholders in the Teaching Practice in Malawi” published in Teaching and Teacher Education. They also co-authored “Teacher Educator Knowledge, Skills, and Self-Efficacy: Systemic Impacts on Initial Teacher Education Program” published in Trends in Higher Education.
Sabrina Dickey, Ph.D., MSN, RN (College of Nursing) and Amy L. Ai, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) co-authored the article “The Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Differences in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Resilience, Altruism, and Substance Use among Black and White Student Volunteers” published in the journal Traumatology.
Nicholas Mazza, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) authored “Poetry Therapy and Death: Professional and Personal Experience” in The Italian Journal of Poetry Therapy. He also authored the Foreword for Anna Liudnova’s “Dialogue with Yourself: Recovery Through Writing;” and “Poetry Therapy Across Boundaries: Finding and Promoting Peace in our World” in the book, “When words heal. The silence echoes,” Italy: Mille Gru Edition.
Michael Killian, Ph.D. (College of Social Work), Yaacov Petscher, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) and Nuria Gutierrez, Ph.D. (Florida Center for Reading Research) co-authored “Quantile Regression in Social Work Research” published in the Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.
Carolina Gonzalez, Ph.D. (Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics) authored the blog “Of Invented Languages” published with Cambridge University Press.
David Newheiser, Ph.D. (Department of Religion) co-edited the collection “Art-Making as Spiritual Practice: Rituals of Embodied Understanding” published as an e-book by Bloomsbury Academic.
Adam Tratner, Ph.D. (Republic of Panama Campus) co-authored and published “A Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Analysis of Cognitive Function and Well-Being of Older Adults in Panama During the COVID-19 Pandemic” in the journal COVID.
Tanya Renn, Ph.D., Lauren Herod, MSW/MPA and Stephen Tripodi, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) co-authored the article, “Implementing a Trauma-Informed Intervention in a County Jail: Feasibility Study of STAIR” published in the journal Research on Social Work Practice.
Deb Osborn, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) and doctoral candidate Jacob Stamm co-authored “Beyond the Game: Exploring the Interplay of Career Thoughts, Career Adaptability, and Athletic Identity in Shaping Postgraduate Paths for Student Athletes” published in the Journal of Postsecondary School Success. Co-authors include Combined Counseling Psychology and School Psychology Ph.D. alumni Ryan Sides, Ivey Walker and Bobbi Villarreal.
Antonio Terracciano, Ph.D., Martina Luchetti, Ph.D., Angelina R. Sutin, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) and post-doctoral students Selin Karakose, Ph.D., Amanda A. Miller, Ph.D. co-authored “Meta-analyses of Personality Change from the Preclinical to the Clinical Stages of Dementia” published online ahead of print in the journal Ageing Research Reviews.
Geraldine Martorella, Ph.D., (Center for Translational Behavioral Science), Adam Hanley, Ph.D. and Kathryn Muessig, Ph.D. (College of Nursing) co-authored “Patients’ Perception of a Brief Web- and Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Pain Following Discharge After Total Joint Arthroplasty: Qualitative Description” published in JMIR Nursing.
PRESENTATIONS AND CONFERENCES
Nancy Gerber, Ph.D. (Department of Art Education) presented “Transforming through Research. The Future of Art Therapy in a Changing World” at the European Federation of Art Therapy conference in London.
Henna Budhwani, Ph.D., MPH (College of Nursing) co-presented her work “Advancing Nursing Through Translational Workforce Development: An Integrated CTSA System-Level Approach” at the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Nursing Research 40th Anniversary Symposium, Clinical Center, Bethesda, MD.
Amy Magnuson, Ph.D. and Hannah Stone (University Health Services) presented “Strategic Planning, Identifying KPIs, and Performing Leadership Rounds” for college health centers at the American College Health Association Conference.
Adam Hanley, Ph.D. (College of Nursing) presented posters featuring the companion articles “Patients’ Perception of a Brief Web- and Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Pain Following Discharge After Total Joint Arthroplasty: Qualitative Description” and “Online Brief Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Subacute Pain After Total Hip or Knee Replacement: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial” at the International Society for Research on Internet Interventions in San Diego.
Ben Wicker, Ed.D., M.Ed. and Shannon Staten, Ph.D. (University Housing) presented “A Lesson in Self-assessment and its Impact on the Housing Staff” at the June Association of College & University Housing Officers – International annual conference, Campus Home. LIVE!
Alice Maxwell, MA (DSA Marketing and Communications Office) presented on her article “Exploring a Model for Student Success Communications that Welcomes Collaboration Across Higher Education Divisions” at a webinar hosted by Taylor & Francis, publishers of the UK-based journal “Perspectives: Policy & Practice in Higher Education.”
Shannon Staten, Ph.D. (University Housing) presented “Making 20 New Contacts in an Hour: Connecting with Women Leaders” at the June Association of College & University Housing Officers International conference: Campus Home. LIVE!
Megan Buning, Ph.D. (Anne Spencer Daves College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences) and sport psychology master’s student Eli Zemach conducted a training for the state of South Carolina’s high school football officials. The presentation focused on training the mental aspects of officiating for approximately 500 football referees.
Shelley Ducatt, Ph.D. (Department of Student Support and Transitions) and Shannon Staten, Ph.D. (University Housing) co-presented “A Student Affairs Coordinated Response to Natural Disasters: Best Practices and Lessons Learned” at the NASPA Region III Summer Symposium.
Nicholas Mazza, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) presented “Poetry Therapy Across Boundaries: Finding and Promoting Peace in Our World” at the First International Poetry Therapy Symposium in Italy. He also presented “Promoting Health and Well-being through Language, Symbol, and Story” to the Korean Poetry Therapy Association and gave the virtual presentation “Poetry Therapy and Bibliotherapy in Clinical Practice” to the Israel Bibliotherapy Center. Mazza also gave two virtual presentations to Ukrainian therapists providing therapy for front-line military and educators, including “Healing through Poems: How to Deal with Trauma Using Poetry Therapy” and “Healing Words: Poetry Therapy Techniques for Resilience and Hope.”
Savannah Collier, MSW and Caroline Senkowicz, MSW, RCSWI (Stoops Center for Communities, Families, and Children) presented “Building Resilience: Harm Reduction Strategies for Preventing Teen Substance Misuse” at the National Association of Social Workers, Florida Chapter Annual Conference.
Karen Geletko, MPH (College of Medicine) presented “The Impact of Secondhand Vape Exposure on Adolescents’ Willingness to Try Vapes” at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health in Chicago, based on research conducted with Jon Mills, Ph.D. and Jeffrey Harman, Ph.D. (College of Medicine).
Yushun Dong, Ph.D. (Department of Computer Science) presented “Fairness-Aware Graph Learning: A Benchmark” at the 2025 Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Knowledge Discovery in Data conference in Toronto, Canada.
Barry J. Faulk, Ph.D. (Department of English) co-chaired the roundtable discussion “Dylan versus the Professors: A Roundtable of Teaching Bob Dylan” at The World of Bob Dylan 2025 Conference in July at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma.
Dassani Natera, MSW and Kristin Jordan, MSW, MPA (Stoops Center for Communities, Families, and Children) co-presented “Student to Student: Empowering Young Minds via MSW Student Led Training on Clinical Rebound & Recovery” at the National Association of Social Workers, Florida Chapter Annual Conference.
Tai Cole, MSW and Raegan Hamillton, MSW, RCSWI (Stoops Center for Communities, Families, and Children) co-presented “Cracking the Code: Effective Therapies and Tools for Tackling Behavioral and Emotional Challenges in Young Clients” at the National Association of Social Workers, Florida Chapter Annual Conference.
David Newheiser, Ph.D. (Department of Religion) chaired the online panel “The Crisis of the Humanities — and What We can do About it” for the American Academy of Religion’s (AAR) annual meeting in June as Vice Chair of the AAR’s Committee for the Public Understanding of Religion.
Christopher Mulrooney, Ph.D. (College of Medicine) presented “Pathways to Culture Change Implementation: What Mobilizers & Administrators Can Learn from Each Other” at the annual conference of AgingIN (formerly known as Center for Innovation & Pioneer Network), in St. Louis, Missouri.
Karen Geletko, MPH and Rebecca Carter, LCSW (College of Medicine) co-presented “Enhancing Tobacco Treatment Services in Florida’s Behavioral Health Population” at BH CON 2025, a statewide behavioral health conference presented by the Florida Behavioral Health Association in Orlando.
Marissa Hershon, M.A. (The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art) was invited to represent The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art and speak about the Museum’s growing studio glass collection and The Kotler-Coville Glass Pavilion at the first Curatorial Convening at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York. She was also invited to present a lecture on “María Magdalena Campos-Pons and Berengo Studio: Collaborations in Glass” at the Boca Raton Museum of Art for the special exhibition.
Kevin A. Johnson, Ph.D., F. Andrew Kozel, M.D., (College of Medicine), Psychology doctoral student Megan Senda and medical student Austin M. Spitz presented the poster “Preliminary Analysis of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Treatment Outcomes for Veteran Sexual Assault Victims with MDD and PTSD” and scored in District 19’s Top Ten at the American Psychological Association’s 2025 Conference.
Rhiannon Paget, Ph.D. (The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art) presented “Real Valor: Staging Seppuku in Meiji Photography and Prints” at “Making it ’Real’: Social and Cultural Transformations across Meiji Japan,” hosted by the East Asian Studies Program, Princeton University.
Delaney W. La Rosa, Ed.D., MSN Ed, RN (College of Nursing) was invited to present a six-part series on Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare to the Health Equity Influencers Program for Nurse Educators, hosted by Mercy University.
Ben Wicker (University Housing) presented a session on current issues to a cohort of 60 international housing and residence life professionals at the James C. Grimm National Housing Training Institute at the University of Washington.
Sana Tibi, Ph.D. (School of Communication Science and Disorders) presented “Reading Anxiety in Arabic University Students” at the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading Conference in Calgary, Canada.
EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMANCES
Grace Aneiza Ali, MFA (Department of Art) curated “Amazonia Açu,” a landmark exhibition at the Americas Society in New York, which was featured in Hyperallergic’s New York Fall 2025 Guide.
Tenee Hart, MFA (Department of Art) opened a solo exhibition “…no place like home” at the UCF Art Gallery in Orlando.
Kevin Curry, MFA (Department of Art) installed his piece “Quotidian” with assistance from the Master Craftsman Studio in Tallahassee as part of the Council on Culture & Arts / Tallahassee Downtown Improvement Authority’s Sculpture Scape TLH.
Arianne Johnson Quinn, Ph.D. (College of Music) presented “The Art of Making Art: Establishing a College of Music Archives at Florida State University” at the annual meeting of The International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centers in Salzburg, Austria.
Karen McLaughlin Large, DM and Mary Matthews, DM (College of Music) were invited to perform at the 2025 WindWorks Festival in Husavík, Iceland. They presented a recital for two flutes and electronics that featured two works by FSU student composers “I Like Rollercoasters” by Ky Nam Nguyen and “Things You Can Magnetize” by Brian Juntilla. Both works were composed for the 2024 FSU Festival of Creative Arts in collaboration with the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
and the School of Dance. This was the European premiere of both works. Matthews also gave a masterclass on her book, “Beatboxing & Beyond,” at Tónlistarskólinn á Akureyri.
Alexander Jiménez, DM (College of Music) served as conductor of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) Young Artist Orchestra. Working with FSU alumna and BUTI executive director, Nicole Wendl, MM, Jimenez invited the Marcus Roberts Trio members, Marcus Roberts and Rodney Jordan, (College of Music) with Jason Marsalis to perform their renowned take on George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.” Joining Marcus on the drum set was Leon Anderson, Jr., M.A. (College of Music). The concert was held in the Seiji Ozawa Concert Hall on the grounds of the Tanglewood Music Festival, and included the “Negro Folk Symphony” of William Dawson, “The Rhyme of Taigu” by Zhou Long and the Gershwin.
SERVICE
Alissa Costabile, MBA (Inspiring the Generation of New Ideas and Translational Excellence, IGNITE) served as a panelist at the Doolittle Institute Innovation Discovery Event.
Erin Morpeth-Provost, Ph.D. (Counseling & Psychological Services) was selected to serve on the National Register of Health Service Psychologist’s new committee for Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies.
Kathryn Keene, DNP, RN, PCCN, CNE (College of Nursing) served as a judge for the Sigma Chapter Key Awards for Sigma International Honorary Nursing Society.
Vilma Fuentes, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) traveled to Bata, Equatorial Guinea as part of the U.S. State Department Speakers Series to lead several workshops in Spanish and English to help the host country improve its educational system.
Nicholas Mazza, Ph.D. (College of Social Work) has been serving as a social work and psychological consultant, therapist, and poet for Ukraine. He is currently serving as a member of Florida State University’s Ukraine Task Force.
Marissa Hershon, M.A. (The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art) serves on the Decorative Arts Society’s Robert C. Smith Award Committee, which met to make an annual award selection for an outstanding article in the field of decorative arts.
Geoffrey Deibel, Ph.D. (College of Music) served as faculty saxophonist, coach and instructor at the Cortona Sessions for New Music, a 12-day long program in Ede, Netherlands, that pairs performers and composers of contemporary music.
NOTABLE
Jamie Ho, MFA (Department of Art) completed an international residence at Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts.
Rabieh Razzouk, MBA, Stephanie Zuilkowski, Ph.D., Carrie Meyers, and Heather French (Learning Systems Institute) completed work on the “Coordinated Screening and Progress Monitoring” grant from the Florida Department of Education.
Vilma Fuentes, Ph.D. (Learning Systems Institute) organized a campus visit for a group of nine senior Ukrainian higher education officials as part of the State Department International Leadership Visitors Program.
Angie Cherry, DNP, RN (College of Nursing) became a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator.
Bhushan Dahal, MBS (Learning Systems Institute) met with Former President of Nepal, Dr. Ram Baran Yada.