Erin C. Murphy, associate professor of English at Penn State Altoona; M. Kevin Parfitt, associate professor of architectural engineering in the College of Engineering, and Robert D. Richards, Curley Professor of First Amendment Studies in the College of Communications, have received the Alumni/Student Award for Excellence in Teaching and have been named 2011 Penn State Teaching Fellows. The Penn State Alumni Association, in conjunction with undergraduate and graduate governing bodies, established the award in 1985. It honors distinguished teaching and provides encouragement and incentive for excellence in teaching. Recipients are expected to share their talents and expertise with others throughout the University system during the year following the award presentation.
Penn State Altoona's new entrepreneurial center has an official name. Chosen by Steve and Nancy Sheetz, the building will now be known as the Sheetz Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence.
Penn State Altoona communications faculty members Mary Lou and Doug Nemanic won first place in the feature-length documentary category during the Iris Film Festival held in Huntingdon, Pa., in September.
If every on-campus student at University Park reduced his or her time in the shower by just five minutes, Penn State would save 100,000 gallons of water each school year. That is enough to fill five swimming pools and lower the University's carbon footprint by 18,980 pounds every year.
Ivan A. Esparragoza, associate professor of engineering at Penn State Brandywine; Sherry Roush, associate professor of Italian in the College of the Liberal Arts, and Rebecca A. Strzelec, associate professor of visual arts at Penn State Altoona, have received the Alumni/Student Award for Excellence in Teaching and have been named 2009 Penn State Teaching Fellows. The Penn State Alumni Association, in conjunction with undergraduate and graduate governing bodies, established the award in 1985. It honors distinguished teaching and provides encouragement and incentive for excellence in teaching. Recipients are expected to share their talents and expertise with others throughout the University system during the year following the award presentation.