Appointments, honors and activities

• Faculty and staff honors:

- Pedro Fonseca, an assistant professor of computer science, has received a 2018 Google Faculty Research Award. Fonseca’s proposal, “Principled Approaches for Effective Concurrency Testing of OS Kernels,” was one of the projects to survive the highly competitive selection process and receive funding this year. Google hopes the collaborative relationships built with world-class computer science faculty researchers will affect how future generations use technology.

- Nancy Pelaez, associate professor of biological sciences, was elected and is now serving a three-year term in the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Education Section. Pelaez will spend her first year as chair-elect, second year as chair, and third year as retiring chair through Feb. 20, 2022. Guided by the theme “Envisioning Tomorrow's Earth,” she is working with AAAS staff; Pat Marsteller, section chair and associate dean for research in the Emory College of Arts and Sciences at Emory University; and Susan Rundell Singer, past section chair and vice president for academic affairs and provost at Rollins College, to plan symposia for the 2020 AAAS meeting to be held Feb. 13-16, 2020, in Seattle.  

- Howard Taylor, former director in Recreation & Wellness, has been recognized as the winner of the Sarah Fain Distinguished Service Award, bestowed by the National Intramural and Recreational Sports Association. Taylor has been a proponent of life-long learning and implementing professional development opportunities at NIRSA soccer. His leadership and vision has shaped the NIRSA soccer program, from regional coordinators to the national tournament. He was instrumental in laying the groundwork of many facets still being used today, where his decision-making was focused on tournament integrity. Taylor recently retired after 14 years of service at Purdue. He managed and directed all operational components of the Córdova Recreational Sports Center and the Burke Boilermaker Aquatic Center since 2005. More information can be found here.

• Student honors:

- The Orr Fellowship recently named eight Purdue seniors as Orr fellows. The Orr Fellowship is a prestigious, two-year postgraduate program combining a full-time position at an innovative, Indianapolis-based company with a curriculum focused on community involvement, professional development and leadership. The Purdue recipients, with their college and Indianapolis-based company, are Benjamin Walters (Engineering/ClearObject), Brock Trusty (Engineering/Kinney Group), Ethan Smith (Engineering/ClearObject), Jacob Couture (Krannert/OneView), Lauren Feagler (Liberal Arts/Allegion), Luke Labus (Engineering/ClearObject), Madelyn Beadle (Krannert/SEP), and Seth Gutwein.