Lycoming College recognized teaching excellence at the annual Honors Convocation held on April 21 at Williamsport’s Community Arts Center. The 2024 Plankenhorn Alumni Award for Faculty Excellence was presented to Rachel Hickoff-Cresko, Ed.D., associate professor of education and chair of the department. She has taught for 26 years and spent the first half of her career teaching in a large, under-resourced, public school setting. Her research interests include sources and development of reading selfefficacy, the education of historicallyunderserved students, and teacher preparation. Mark Zajack, Ph.D., associate professor of business administration, was awarded the 2024 Junior Faculty Teaching Award. His work focuses on management and organizational behavior. In addition to teaching introductory management and organizational behavior, Zajack teaches upper-level courses, including decision making, quantitative research methods, and leadership in theory and practice. He also leads seminars on stress and resilience at work for Lycoming’s Institute for Management Studies. Ryan Adams, Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology, was selected as the recipient of the 2024 Howard C. Berthold Faculty Research & Information Competencies Award. The award, named for Dr. Howard C. Berthold in recognition of his long-standing service as chair of the Faculty Library Advisory Committee, is given annually to a faculty member who actively supports research competencies through class assignments, curriculum mapping, collaboration with librarians, and professional development related to information literacy. In June 2024, Adams’ paper, “Local Food Movement in Puerto Rico: Insights from Queer Theory,” was presented at the annual joint meeting of the Association for the Study of Food and Society and the Agriculture, Food & Human Values Society in Syracuse, N.Y. Jacob Berger, Ph.D., associate professor of philosophy, recently published “HOTT and Heavy: HigherOrder Thought Theory and the Theory-Heavy Approach to Animal Consciousness” in the peer-reviewed journal Synthese; the article is coauthored with Myrto Mylopoulos, Ph.D., an associate professor of philosophy at Carleton University. In March, Berger presented a paper, “A HOT Approach to Insect Consciousness,” at the Society for the Study of Ethics & Animals at the Pacific Division Meeting of the American Philosophical Association in Portland, Ore. Berger also was selected for the Marc Sanders Foundation’s 2024 Philosophy in the Media Fellowship. The Fellowship involved attending a multi-day workshop in June 2024 about how to produce and publish op-eds or trade books on philosophy for general audiences. Berger is currently working on a book on political economy. Cullen Chandler, Ph.D., Frank and Helen Lowry Professor of History, wrote a new book published by Routledge, the world’s leading academic publisher in the humanities and social sciences. Chandler’s “Introduction to the Carolingian Age” is an accessible history of western Europe in the eighth and ninth centuries. Through a thematic and chronological approach, this book explores the life, family, and period of Charlemagne in a clear and informative way and Andreas Rentsch, MFA, chair and associate professor of art, displayed his artwork in “The Polaroid Project” exhibition at the National Taiwan Normal University Museum of Art in Taipei City, Taiwan. This landmark exhibition started in 2017 and has so far been shown in nine museums on three continents. Additionally, three unique pieces from Rentsch’s “Pandemonium” series are currently included in an exhibition at the FASE Gallery in Empoli, Italy. The five artists in this show will later exhibit at C. Grimaldi Gallery in Baltimore, Md., in September 2024. offers explanations of historical developments and discussions of key historiographical debates. The book is an essential resource for both undergraduate students and general readers with an interest in the history of the Carolingian period from 750-900. Chip Edmonds, Ed.D. ’98, executive vice president, was included in City and State PA Magazine’s Higher Education Trailblazers list, which recognizes the top 100 influencers in Pennsylvania’s collegiate community. Submissions to the 39th Annual Educational Advertising Awards earned Murray Hanford, director of visual communications, gold for the 202223 President’s Report, silver for the Spring 2023 Lycoming College Magazine, and silver for the Admissions Williamsport Carousel promotional material. Julie Yingling, Ph.D., associate professor of criminal justice and criminology, published “Power & Moral Capital — A ‘Theory of Access’ for People Receiving Public Assistance in Rural USA” in The Sociological Quarterly. Sandra Kingery, Ph.D., W. Gibbs McKenney Chair in International Studies and Professor of Spanish, will pause her teaching duties to serve as interim provost for the College effective July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2026. She has served multiple terms on Faculty Executive Council, including chair of the faculty, and full terms on both the Promotion and Tenure, and the Budget, Salaries and Benefits committees. She has chaired the General Committee on Academic Affairs four times, worked on Middle States Commission on Higher Education reaccreditation teams, directed the Faculty Mentor Program, and has served on more than 50 peer evaluation committees and 55 search committees. As interim provost, Kingery will collaborate with faculty committees, the chief diversity officer, and President Trachte on infusing principles of inclusive excellence into the College’s faculty hiring practices, faculty retention and support, tenure and promotion processes, faculty development programs, and the potential creation of a Center for Teaching and Learning. 22 LYCOMING COLLEGE 2024 FALL MAGAZINE
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