Susan Martin,
Eastern Michigan University's president, has received the
Michigan State University Department of Accounting and
Information Systems Alumna of the Year Award for 2009.
The annual award is presented to only one alumnus or alumna
each year.
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Martin |
"My education at Michigan State prepared me well for my
career in government and higher education," said Martin. "I
am honored to be recognized 20 years after receiving my
Ph.D."
"This honor is based on accomplishment and the story associated
with the individual," said Sanjay Gupta, professor and
department chair for accounting and information systems
at MSU's Eli Broad College of Business. "Dr. Martin is
a great story and certainly accomplished."
"After graduating (from Central Michigan University),
she married and ended up at the University of Texas at
Austin that led to a job as a secretary in the microbiology
department. She worked there for scientists, keeping track
of their fiscal grants and loved it so much that she decided
to take a class in accounting," Gupta said in his introduction
of Martin. "She was the only woman in her class and was
harassed by her classmates and instructors; so she decided
to 'set the curve.' That led to her coming to MSU to earn
her MBA and then a Ph.D. in accounting."
Martin received her MBA in accounting from MSU in 1976
and her doctoral degree in accounting in 1988. There are
approximately 15,000 alumni from MSU's Accounting and Information
Systems Department.
Martin became EMU's 22nd president and first woman president
in July 2008. Prior to Eastern Michigan, Martin served
as provost and vice-chancellor of academic affairs at the
University of Michigan-Dearborn.
Martin currently is chair of the State of Michigan Hospital
Finance Authority. She was originally appointed to the
hospital finance authority by former Gov. James Blanchard
and then reappointed by Governors John Engler and Jennifer
Granholm.
Bruce Carroll,
an Eastern Michigan University assistant professor of political
science, was named an Academic Fellow for 2009-10 by the
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD). Carroll
will travel to Israel May 30 through June 10 for an intensive
course in terrorism studies and how democracies can defeat
the worldwide terrorist threat.
"I am very much looking forward to the opportunity to
listen and participate in the exchanges and interactions
which we will have in Israel," said Carroll. "It should
be a useful experience for a course I plan to teach on
international terrorism next year and other related courses."
During Carroll's trip to Israel, he will participate in
lectures by academics, and military and intelligence officials,
as well as diplomats from Israel, Jordan, India, Turkey
and the United States. Carroll also will have the opportunity
to learn the practical side of deterring and defeating
terrorists by visiting military bases, border zones, and
police, customs and immigration facilities.
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LITERARY THOROUGHBRED: Rudy Alvarado
(center)
accepts his $10,000 check for
winning the Tony
Ryan Book Award, which
rewards literary excellence
for the best book
published about thoroughbred
racing. An EMU
alumnus, Alvarado wrote "The
Untold Story
of Joe Hernandez: The Voice of Santa Anita."
Alvarado is flanked by Shane Ryan and Mark
Simon. |
Rudy Alvarado,
an EMU alumnus, was recently awarded the Tony Ryan Book
Award for his book, "The Untold Story of Joe Hernandez:
The Voice of Santa Anita" (Cabbalo Press of Ann Arbor).
The $10,000 prize and trophy were presented
to Alvarado by Lexington's Castleton Lyons farm and Thoroughbred
Times during an awards reception at Castleton Lyons in
Lexington April 5. The prize was created in 2006 to reward
literary excellence for the best book published about thoroughbred
racing.
Alvarado received his master's degree
in history from Eastern Michigan University, where he was
a University Fellow and a Parks, King, Chavez Fellow.
Derrick Gragg,
EMU's director of athletics, has been named the Black Coaches & Administrators
(BCA) Administrator of the Year for 2008-09.
Gragg will
receive his award at the BCA National Convention and Expo
Awards Banquet Friday, May 29, at the Hyatt Regency in
Indianapolis, Ind. The event is open to the public and
registration and information on the banquet can be located
at www.bcasports.org.
Gragg, EMU athletics director since Feb. 21, 2006, has
turned in back-to-back successes in the first two years
under his leadership. In 2007-2008, Gragg's second as athletics
director, EMU followed up a record-breaking eight Mid-American
Conference championships in 2006-2007 with four league
regular-season titles and one MAC Tournament crown. The
Eagles also secured the Reese Trophy, which is awarded
annually to the top overall men's athletics program in
the league.
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Gragg |
The BCA is a 501 (c) (3) tax exempt non-profit organization
whose primary purpose is to foster the growth and development
of ethnic minorities at all levels of sports, both nationally
and internationally. The BCA is committed to creating a
positive enlightened environment where issues can be examined
closely, debated sincerely and resolved honestly. The BCA's
focus involves the concerns of its colleagues in professional
sports, NCAA (Division I, II, and III), NAIA (Division
I and II), junior college and high school levels.
Eastern Michigan University's
graduate program in Clinical Research Administration
has formed one of the first two student chapters chartered
by the Drug Information Association (www.diahome.org).
The Drug Information Association is an international professional
society, which represents the drug development and regulatory
affairs professions. The other student chapter is
located at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark.
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Moeller |
Susan Moeller,
an EMU professor of accounting and finance, was one of
10 members recently elected to the American Association
of University Professors (AAUP) National Council. Council
members serve for three years and assume office following
the association's annual meeting in June. The 40-member
council meets at least twice a year to determine association
policy. Moeller represents District III, which is Michigan.
Ron Podell continues
to have success with his screenplays. His short
script, "Silence of the Bees", took the Gold Remi
award in the short screenplay category at WorldFest-Houston
April 26. Platinum, gold, silver and bronze awards were
awarded in each category at the film festival. His short
script, "Time and Tide", was named a finalist
at the upcoming Mexico International Film Festival, scheduled
May 29-31. His feature-length script, "Pulp Science
Fiction" was named
a semfinalist (final 11) in the Tennessee Scriptwriting
Association's screenwriting contest, which has not yet
named a winner. Podell is assistant manager, news services,
in University Communications.
Jenny Scherer, Stacie
Skodinski and Kaylee Tolliver, members
of EMU's women's softball team, were named to various
All-Mid-American Conference teams. Scherer, a junior
outfielder, and sophomore shortstop Skodinski were
named to the All-MAC Second Team while Tolliver, a
freshman first baseman, was named to the All-MAC Freshman
Team.
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SOFTBALL HONORS: Eastern Michigan
University
softball players Jenny Scherer,
Stacie Skodinski
and Kaylee Tolliver recently
received All-Mid-American
Conference honors.
Scherer and Skodinski were named
to the All-
MAC Second Team while Tolliver made
the All-
Freshman team.
|
Scherer was second on the team with a
.318 batting average while leading the MAC in home runs
(14), RBIs (41) and total bases (101,) while ranking second
in runs scored (33) and slugging percentage (.682). Her
14 home runs set a new single-season EMU mark, giving her
36 round trippers for her career. Scherer was also
selected MAC West Division Player of the Week twice this
year.
Skodinski just completed the best offensive
season in EMU history. The shortstop hit .425 to lead the
MAC to go along with a .486 on-base percentage
and .787 slugging percentage, both tops in the conference.
In addition, she was second in RBIs (37) and total bases
(92) while ranking third in doubles (12) and fourth in
home runs (9). Her .425 average sets a new program standard
and she becomes only the second player in EMU history to
hit over .400 in a season. She collected 15 multi-hit games
while striking out only 20 times this season. Skodinski
was tabbed MAC West Division Player of the Week once, while
being named the best offensive player at the team’s
annual banquet.
Tolliver’s selection to the All-Freshman
team marks the fourth consecutive year that an Eagle has
been named to the rookie team. In MAC play, Tolliver hit
.295 with three home runs and 12 RBI. A starter of all
22 conference games, the first baseman collected 18 hits
while scoring seven runs to go along with a .984 fielding
percentage.
Kyle Rhoad
and Zack Leonard, members of EMU's baseball
team, earned 2009 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District
IV honors announced by the College Sports Information
Directors of America (CoSIDA) May 7. Rhoad, a senior
outfielder, was named to the first team. He has a
3.91 GPA in supply chain management. As of May 7, Rhoad
has started all 49 games this season in center field
and leads the team with a .358 batting average. He
also has tallied a team-leading 28 stolen bases. Leonard,
a a sophomore third baseman, was named to the second
team. Leonard, who has a 3.75 GPA in exercise science,
has started every game this season. As of May 7, he
sported a .321 batting average and has hit four home
runs this season.
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Lang |
T.J. Lang,
a starting offensive tackle for the Eastern Michigan University
football team in 36 straight games over the past three
seasons, was selected in the fourth round of the 2009 NFL
Draft by the Green Bay Packers April 26. Lang was the 109th
player chosen in the two-day draft. Lang, a 6-foot-4 1/2,
307-pound lineman played in all 47 games during his four-year
EMU career. He began his career as a defensive lineman
in 2005 and played in 11 games, starting once. Lang moved
to the offensive line as a sophomore in 2006 and went on
to start all 36 games his last three seasons, all 12 in
2006 at right or left offensive tackle and all 12 in 2007
and 2008 at left offensive tackle.
Lang was named second-team
All-Mid-American Conference in 2008 after turning in an
outstanding season. After completing his eligibility, he
was chosen to play in the Texas vs. The Nation All-Star
Game.
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James |
Tavelyn James,
a guard on EMU's women's basketball team, concluded the
2008-09 season as the fourth-leading freshman scorer in
the nation with an average of 14.7 points per game. Her
point total, 426, accumulated in 20 games, is the best
mark in EMU history, eclipsing Ryan Coleman's previous
record of 417. Named to the MAC's All-Freshman team, James
ranked ninth in the MAC in scoring and finished as the
team's leading scorer.
The EMU women's
golf team recently equaled its best finish
at the Mid-American Conference Women's Golf Championships,
finishing second behind Kent State April 26. Senior Stephanie
Fleet finished in third place with a 306 score
while senior Courtney Aili took fifth
with a 311 score. Both were named to the All-MAC Tournament
Team. Fleet also was named to the All-MAC First Team
with sophomore Darby Peters. Aili received
All-MAC Second Team honors.
 |
ON THE GREEN: Senior Christopher Ross
was named to the All-MAC First Team for
men's golf
and will represent the Eagles at
the NCAA Regional
Championship May 14-
16. |
The EMU men's
golf team finished as runner-up to Kent State
University in MAC Conference Tournament at Brickyard Crossing
Golf Course in Indianapolis, Ind. May 2. Sophomore Nick
Carbury (Kalamazoo) finished
in fourth place with a one-under 287 score while junior Cam
Burke (Baden, Ontario) tied
for fifth with a 288 score. Junior Brandon
Lemons (Portage, Mich.) and
senior Christopher
Ross (Dundas, Ontario) tied for 10th with a 303.
Carbury and Burke, were
named to the All-MAC Tournament Team. Ross was named to
the All-MAC First Team while Lemons, Burke
and junior Marty
Jeppesen (Saline) received All-MAC Second Team
honors. Ross also was selected to participate
in the NCAA Regional Championship May 14-16 in Stillwater,
Oklahoma.
Chris Jenkins, an Eastern
Michigan University wrestler, was named to the 2009 Academic
All-Mid-American Conference Team. Jenkins also received
this honor in 2007.
Jenkins, a junior from Tecumseh, Mich., is a criminal
justice major with a 3.49 GPA. He posted a 13-8 regular
season record and competed in 12 out of 18 meets. The Academic
All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who has excelled
in athletics and academics. To quality, a student-athlete
must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and participated
in at least 50 percent of the contests for their particular
sport.
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Gerbus |
Wally Gerbus,
an Eastern Michigan University freshman baseball player
from Fairfield, Ohio, was named one of Collegiate Baseball's "Louisville
Slugger" National Players of the Week for the week of April
8-12.
The announcement came after Gerbus' record-breaking performance
against Bowling Green State University (BGSU). Gerbus tied
the Mid-American Conference (MAC) single-game home run
record with four home runs. He also had five runs scored
and eight RBIs in the Eagles' 27-7 win against BGSU. Gerbus'
16 total bases in one game ties him with two other players
for the second most in MAC history. His eight
RBIs tie him with several former players for the third
most in a single game in MAC history. Gerbus also received
MAC West Player of the Week for the same week.
The Eastern
Michigan University men's and women's indoor track and
field teams had five student-athletes earn Academic All-Mid-American
Conference (MAC) honors.
The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student-athlete who
has excelled in athletics and academics. To quality, a
student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA
and participated in at least 50 percent of the contests
for their particular sport.
Athletes selected to the Academic All-MAC Team are junior
Jessica Novakowski, of Wixom, Mich., a
criminal justice major with a 3.29 GPA; senior Josh
Karanja, of Ottawa, Ontario,
a public administration master's student with a 3.42 GPA;
junior Oliver Walther, of Erfurt, Germany,
a finance major with a 3.92 GPA; junior Kyle Fortin,
of Fairview, Mich., a marketing major with a 3.88 GPA; and
sophomore Andrew
Meyer,
of Minster, Ohio, a physical education major with a 3.72
GPA.
Kyle Rhoad, an Eastern
Michigan University senior baseball player, was named one
of 30 candidates for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. CLASS
stands for celebrating loyalty and achievement for staying
in school.
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Rhoad |
To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be
classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable
achievements in four areas of excellence: classroom, character,
community and competition.
Rhoad, a senior from Fostoria, Ohio, maintains a 3.91
GPA and graduated in three years with a bachelor's degree
in business administration. He is currently pursuing an
MBA with a focus on supply chain management.
Rhoad is in his final season at EMU as the starting center
fielder and team captain. He is ranked 12th all-time in
EMU baseball history with 41 stolen bases. Rhoad also was
voted as the league's top base runner by the Mid-American
Conference coaches.
