From fellowships and awards for research and creativity, Cal State Fullerton faculty and students continue to make their mark.
Professor of music and composer Pamela Madsen has recently been awarded a number of fellowships that will support her creative endeavors. The creator of the work “There Will Come Soft Rains” under funding by the National Endowment for the Arts, was recently awarded a MacDowell Fellowship. She is one of 86 artists from 18 states and nine countries to receive the $10,000 fellowship in support of an upcoming eight-week residency at the MacDowell Colony.
She is also the recipient of a Ucross Foundation Fellowship that funds an artist-in-residency at the foundation’s Wyoming ranch; and a Women’s International Study Center Fellowship. During the various residencies she has created the multi-movement work “ORATORIO FOR THE EARTH — KAMA: River of Stars.”
Other campus members who have been honored are:
The student chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the national political science honor society, has garnered its fifth Best Chapter award in six years. The award recognizes chapters that are active in their departments and universities and exhibit high levels of energy and creativity in furthering the goals of the honor society. Only five were awarded this year to chapters at universities with more than 25,000 students. Valerie O’Regan, professor of political science, serves as faculty adviser to the university’s Epsilon Eta chapter.
Sagil James, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, is the recipient of a 2019 Distinguished Faculty Advisor Award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. The national award recognizes SME’s student chapter faculty advisers for their service to the organization, and ongoing efforts to advance manufacturing and associated careers on their campuses and in their classrooms. James is active with SME’s professional chapter for the Orange County and Los Angeles areas, which sponsors CSUF’s student chapter.
Richard L. Deming, professor emeritus of chemistry and biochemistry, was named to this year’s class of American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellows. The program was created by the ACS Board of Directors in 2008 to honor members for outstanding achievements in and contributions to science, the profession and the society. Deming was recognized at the society’s fall national meeting Aug. 26 in San Diego. The official list of fellows appears in the July 15 issue of Chemical & Engineering News.
Micheal McAlexander, associate professor of communications, was awarded “Best of Conference” in the Feature Narrative/Hour TV Pilot category for his script, “Lockdown” at the 2019 University Film & Video Association Conference. Additionally, his feature screenplay, “The Last Solution” was selected for the 2019 Huntington Beach Film Festival.
Sawssan Ahmed, assistant professor of psychology, received the 2019 American Arab, Middle Eastern and North African Psychological Association’s (AMENA-Psy) Award for Distinguished Contribution to Psychological Scholarship.