Professor Elmano Costa receives Portuguese American Leadership Award

Professor of Education Dr. Elmano Costa received a pair of special awards in September 2008 recognizing his dedication to promoting education and awareness of the Portuguese culture.

The U.S. Portuguese American Leadership Council (PALCUS), a national organization committed to unifying Portuguese communities, presented Costa with its Educational Leadership Award. Soon after, he received the honorary insignia of Commendator of the Order of Public Instruction from the government of Portugal for his dedication to promoting awareness of the Portuguese culture. Costa is director of the University’s Center for Portuguese Studies and has a passion for promoting the Portuguese culture and language. He is also on the Board of Directors for the Portuguese-American Citizenship Project based in the Washington, D. C., area, serving as the coordinator for the California Region.

CSU Stanislaus geneticist Janey Youngblom achieves national certification

CSU Stanislaus Professor of Biological Sciences and human genetics researcher Dr. Janey Youngblom has become one of the first geneticists in the country to achieve certification in a national program that focuses on genetics education. The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) awarded Geneticist-Educator Network of Alliances (GENA) certification to Youngblom in 2008 as part of a National Science Foundation-funded project. Youngblom is Associate Director of the University’s new Master of Science in Genetic Counseling Degree program launched in Fall 2008.

Dr. Patrick Kelly receives national recognition for preservation efforts

Dr. Patrick Kelly, Coordinator and Director of the University’s Endangered Species Recovery Program (ESRP), was named one of the country’s 18 recipients of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) 2008 Recovery Champion Award in March 2009. One of two bestowed in the agency’s Pacific Southwest Region, the award recognizes recipients for contributions to the recovery of threatened and endangered species in the United States. Kelly was cited for his leadership efforts and his staff’s hard work on programs aimed at preserving riparian brush rabbits which were at one time on the brink of extinction in the San Joaquin Valley. 

Riedmann, Crumpton Winter take Fulbright Awards to Poland, Japan

CSU Stanislaus faculty members Dr. Agnes Riedmann, a Professor of Sociology, and Dr. Molly Crumpton Winter, an Associate Professor of English, were selected for Fulbright Awards that took them to Poland and Japan respectively during the 2008-09 academic year.

Riedmann, co-author of a popular book now in its 10th edition titled “Marriages and Families: Making Choices Throughout the Life Cycle,” is lecturing through July 2009 at the Graduate School for Social Research (GSSR) at the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw, Poland. She taught and advised students from 20 different countries and also designed and conducted a course on the sociology of families during Eastern Europe’s transition from communism to capitalism.

Crumpton Winter, who recently authored a book titled “American Narratives, Multiethnic Writing in the Age of Realism,” is at the University of Ryukyus in Okinawa, Japan. She will teach American literature with an emphasis on multicultural and Asian American literature.

Ag Studies Chair Mark Bender receives top FFA awards

Dr. Mark Bender, Agricultural Studies Department Chair, added a pair of prestigious awards, one at the national level and another for California, from the Future Farmers of America (FFA) to his list of honors in 2008. Bender received the Honorary American FFA Degree at the national organization’s October National Convention in Indianapolis. Coming on the heels of his acceptance of the California State FFA Association Degree during the 2008 State Conference in Fresno, Bender’s latest award was in recognition of his dedication to the advancement of agricultural education and the FFA through outstanding personal commitment. He was one of 20 faculty from all over the country recognized in June 2007 in Washington, D.C., as an E. (Kikda) de la Garza Fellow in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Hispanic-Serving Institutions National Program (HSINP).

Sari Miller-Antonio helps law enforcement with forensic anthropology skills

Anthropology Professor Dr. Sari Miller-Antonio has explored sites in the far corners of the world, but has made her most recent discoveries on the CSU Stanislaus campus. Working in a small improvised laboratory with selected students from her classes, Miller-Antonio has volunteered her forensic anthropologist expertise to assist area law enforcement agency coroner’s offices in the identification of bodies of missing persons. Setting up a laboratory in a small room in Bizzini Hall last fall, Miller-Antonio involved students from her forensic anthropology classes “Talking Skeletons” and “Bodies of Evidence” to help in the process of analyzing human remains. Having earned her PhD. in biological anthropology, worked as a lab chemist, and studied ancient bones from ancient tombs in Greece and other parts of the world, Miller-Antonio has the identification experience coroner’s offices are looking for. After extensive studies and creation of a biological profile, the professor and her student assistants helped San Joaquin County authorities confirm the identity of a missing person last fall.

History Professor Sam Regalado part of award-winning “American Experience”

California State University, Stanislaus History Professor Dr. Samuel Regalado contributed commentary and served as academic advisor in the award-winning documentary film “Roberto Clemente” which aired on the nationally televised PBS program “The American Experience” in 2008. The PBS program received the National Council of La Raza’s (NCLR) ALMA Award as the Outstanding Made-for-Television Documentary. Regalado, an historian recognized for his expertise on the impact of Latin baseball players in American professional baseball, has appeared in a number of national television specials and was designated a Smithsonian Faculty Fellow in 1994. He recently released the third edition of his popular book titled “Viva Baseball: Latin Major Leaguers and their Special Hunger” that has attracted international coverage and recognition. 

Music Professor Joseph Wiggett directs Townsend Opera Players

Dr. Joseph Wiggett, gifted with a rich baritone singing voice and a member of the CSU Stanislaus Music Department faculty, was named artistic director for Townsend Opera Players (TOP) of Modesto in December 2008. A voice professor at CSU Stanislaus for the past seven years and frequent performer for the opera company and programs all over the country, Wiggett replaced the Modesto company’s founding director, Erik Buck Townsend, who passed away in September 2008. Wiggett will select shows, handle casting, choose directors, and oversee youth and outreach programs as TOP transitions to a more professional style. Wiggett indicated that as director he will be able to promote arts in the region and provide singing opportunities for CSU Stanislaus students.