Sandra W. Russ, whose studies of children at play have opened up new avenues for research and clinical practice, was named a Distinguished University Professor during this year’s Fall Convocation.
The award, the highest honor Case Western Reserve bestows on members of its faculty, celebrates exceptional achievements in research and scholarship, teaching and service. It is reserved for faculty members who have brought international recognition to the university and continue to make significant contributions to their disciplines.
Russ, the Louis D. Beaumont University Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences, earned her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh and worked as a clinical child psychologist for five years before joining the CWRU faculty in 1975. Since then, she has devoted her career to exploring the emotional and creative dimensions of pretend play. Russ has found that active engagement in make-believe contributes to children’s psychological development, coping abilities and well-being and provides a foundation for adult creativity.
Russ inaugurated the psychological study of pretend play by developing the Affect in Play Scale, a widely adopted analytical tool. Her basic research has advanced understanding of the nature of creativity, while her applied research has demonstrated the value of pretend play as a therapeutic intervention. Russ has published her findings in three books and more than 100 journal articles.
While achieving distinction as a researcher, teacher and mentor, Russ has assumed a variety of leadership roles within the university. As assistant and then associate provost (1987-94), she led efforts to promote excellence in teaching, attract female and minority scholars to the faculty and increase the racial and ethnic diversity of the undergraduate population. She has been chair of the psychology department and director of the clinical psychology graduate training program, and she served as the college’s interim dean in 2003-04.
A fellow of the American Psychological Association, Russ is a past president of the APA’s Clinical Child Psychology Section and its Society for the Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts. In 2002, she received the Society’s Farnsworth Award for Service. Her previous university honors include the Armington Professorship and a Spotlight Series Prize for Women’s Scholarship from the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women.
During the 1950s, Darhl Foreman established a lab at the University Farm, where she kept a colony of prairie dogs for her research. Courtesy of Ana Locci.
Professor Emerita Darhl Foreman, the first woman to become a full professor in the Department of Biology, died in August at age 90.
Foreman joined the faculty at Western Reserve University in 1956 after completing a doctorate in zoology at the University of Chicago. Her research examined the reproductive and endocrine systems of several species, especially prairie dogs. Early in her career, she kept a prairie dog colony at the University Farm, where she set up a laboratory with funding from the National Institutes of Health. After retiring in 1999, she reclaimed her lab at the farm and continued her scientific work until she was well into her 80s.
In addition to publishing extensively, Foreman taught “thousands of students, many of them pre-med,” says University Farm Director Ana Locci. “She always talked about her students and what they were doing, and she kept in touch with many of them.” One undergraduate who worked in Foreman’s lab, Julie Gerberding (WRC ’77, MED ’81), went on to become director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and is now president of Merck Vaccines.
Gerberding, who took every course Foreman taught, remembers her mentor as a tough and inspiring teacher. Even more meaningful, Foreman met with financial aid officials after learning that Gerberding might not be able to afford to return to campus after her first year.
“In short, I would not have been able to continue at Case Western Reserve, and would not have gained the confidence I lacked to assertively pursue science, if it had not been for Dr. Foreman,” Gerberding says. “Students need faculty who provide uncompromising standards to challenge them to excel, and she was a master at that.”
In 2007, Foreman provided seed funding for an endowment to support research, education and recreation at the farm. In her final bequest to the university, she created two additional endowments. The first will support the establishment and renovation of biology labs. The second will fund a lecture series and research in German studies in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures. Foreman named the latter endowment for Erminnie Bartelmez, professor emerita of German, who died in 2004.
From left: Dean Cyrus C. Taylor presents the 2014 Alumni Awards to Nancy Fink, Jeffrey Verespej and John Maronchik at Glidden House during Homecoming Weekend. Photo by Keli Schimelpfenig.
During Homecoming Weekend, Oct. 19-21, the College of Arts and Sciences honored the inaugural recipients of three Alumni Awards that will be presented annually.
John Martonchik (CIT ’64) is the College of Arts and Sciences 2014 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year. This award recognizes alumni who have achieved distinction in professional or community service and have made significant contributions through demonstrated leadership.
After his graduation from the Case Institute of Technology, Martonchik earned a master’s degree in physics at the University of Kansas and a doctorate in astronomy at the University of Texas at Austin. Since 1972, he has been affiliated with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where his research activities include the investigation of atmospheric and land properties using observations from telescopes and spacecraft.
Martonchik is a co-investigator on the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR), an instrument on the Terra satellite, which was launched by NASA in 1999. Data from the device is used in atmospheric and climatological studies. He has published more than 100 papers, and his numerous awards include the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and four NASA Group Achievement Awards.
Nancy Fink (WRC ’73) is the College of Arts and Sciences 2014 Distinguished Service Alumna of the Year. This award recognizes alumni for outstanding volunteer service to the community since graduation and for professional excellence in their careers.
After completing a bachelor’s degree in sociology and French at Western Reserve College, Fink went on to earn a master’s degree in education from George Washington University. She has filled various management roles in human resources and training and is currently assistant director of the Professional Outplacement Assistance Center in Laurel, Md. She is also the president of the Middle Atlantic Career Counseling Association and first vice president of the Maryland Chapter of the International Association of Workforce Professionals.
Fink is a former president of the Alumni Association of Case Western Reserve University and of her local alumni chapter. She has been a member of the association’s board of directors since 2005 and was named a director emerita in 2013. In addition, she has been an Alumni Admissions Ambassador for more than 15 years.
Jeffrey Verespej (CWR ’07, MGT ’11) is the College of Arts and Sciences 2014 Young Alumnus of the Year. This award recognizes graduates of the last decade or those who are age 40 or younger for outstanding career achievements.
Verespej is the executive director of Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation, which promotes real estate and economic development in Cleveland’s largest neighborhood. Before assuming this position, he was the director of operations and advocacy at Ohio City Incorporated, where he led initiatives to establish a special improvement district and expand a youth recreation league.
A member of the board of directors for the Alumni Association of Case Western Reserve University, Verespej was the founding president of the association’s Cleveland Chapter.
To nominate graduates of the college or its predecessor institutions for the 2015 Alumni Awards, please visit artsci.case.edu/development. The deadline for nominations is Dec. 31, 2014.