School of Kinesiology alumna Azizah Jor'dan, Ph.D., has been selected to participate in the prestigious National Institute on Aging (NIA) Summer Institute on Aging Research, to be held July 14-19 on the National Institutes of Health Campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The program includes lectures, seminars, and small group discussions related to aging. Jor'dan is one of only 32 participants selected among a group of outstanding applicants. She is currently a post-doctoral fellow in gerontology at Harvard Medical School.

Jor'dan graduated from the School of Kinesiology in 2012 and was an advisee of professor Michael Wade.

For the past two years, CEHD Career Services has collaborated with the International School of Sweden (IES Sweden) to recruit CEHD teacher candidates to work at their 17 schools throughout Sweden. Representatives from IES Sweden have come to campus in the spring to interview teacher candidates, and several UMN students have received job offers. Robin Kirk Johansson, a principal with IES Sweden, says they are impressed with the UMN teacher licensure program because of its emphasis on learning communities and the teacher candidates' full-year placement in schools. Success stories of some of the students who have been hired at IES Sweden are posted on the Career Services blog.

For his pioneering work in science education, Larry Yore received one of the highest awards bestowed on alumni of the University of Minnesota at a ceremony on campus May 22. The U's Outstanding Achievement Award recognizes graduates who have attained unusual distinction in their chosen fields -- appropriate for Yore, an internationally known expert on the role of language in science and science education and on how language affects scientific inquiry.

"Larry has international teaching and research accomplishments that go beyond what most teachers and educators could even dream of," said Jean Quam, dean of the U of M's College of Education and Human Development (CEHD), which nominated Yore for the award. "But his generosity of spirit and tireless commitment to students, colleagues, and learning is even more impressive."

Yore is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, but his roots run deep in Minnesota. A native of Delavan, in the south-central part of the state, Yore earned his bachelor's degree ('64), master's degree ('68), and Ph.D. ('73) in education at the University of Minnesota. Teaching science and studying its connection to reading and literacy became his specialty early on, including positions where he excelled as both a teacher and administrator in the Eden Prairie Public Schools and University High School ('64 to '70) before joining the faculty at the University of Victoria. Over 41 years of service at Victoria, he taught science, technology, and science literacy and research courses, and he chaired the Departments of Social and Natural Sciences and of Curriculum and Instruction. He also served as president of the university's faculty association and a member of the Board of Governors.

His accomplishments in higher education include 76 research articles in national and international journals, service on the board of directors of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, participation on review panels for 20 education research journals, and founding membership on the International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education. At Victoria and other universities, he has mentored and advised more than 175 graduate students, worked with numerous researchers whose second language is English, and led studies on scientific literacy in many countries around the world.

Yore has been honored as "Science Teacher Educator of the Year," by the Association for Science Teacher Education; awarded with highest honors for contributions to science education through research, by the National Association for Research in Science Education; recognized with the Distinguished Contributions Award, by both the reading and science education communities; and named the University's first Distinguished Professor at the University of Victoria.

Photo credit: University of Victoria Photo Services.

Kevin Kopischke will give the University of Minnesota-Crookston commencement address for the class of 2013 on May 11. Dr. Kopischke received an Ed.D. from the Department of Educational Policy and Administration (now the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development) in 1996. He is currently the president of Alexandria Technical College in Alexandria, MN.

See full details.

Patrick Duffy will be awarded as a finalist in the Dissertation of the Year competition during the 2013 American Educational Research Association (AERA) annual meeting held April 27-May 1 in San Francisco, California. He will be presented with a certificate in honor of his achievement for his dissertation titled Beyond Courage: A Critical Ethnography of Anti-Racist Leadership in a High School. Patrick will present a paper from his dissertation at AERA.

Dr. Duffy received his Ed.D. in EDPA-educational administration from the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development (OLPD) in 2011.

Alumni Relations and the Alumni Society in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) recently highlighted twenty-three outstanding alums as part of the CEHD 23: Rising Alumni initiative. These alumni have achieved early distinction in their careers, demonstrated outstanding leadership, or shown exceptional volunteer service in their communities. See full profiles of all the CEHD Rising Alumni.

School of Kinesiology alumna Azizah Jor'dan, Ph.D., was recently selected by the North American Society for the Psychology of Sport and Physical Activity (NASPSPA) to receive the Outstanding Student Paper Award in the Developmental Perspectives: Motor Control, Coordination, Rehabilitation (DP:MCCR) topic area. This award recognizes meritorious research by student members of NASPSPA.

As NASPSPA's 2013 recipient, Jor'dan will be recognized at the annual business meeting during this year's conference in New Orleans. Along with the distinction of this award, Dr. Jor'dan will receive a plaque, a $350 award, the opportunity to present her research at the Canadian Society of Sport Psychology and Psychomotor Learning (SCAPPS), and funding for her travel to SCAPPS.

CEHD Alumni Relations is proud to highlight 23 outstanding alumni who have achieved early distinction in their careers, demonstrated outstanding leadership, or shown exceptional volunteer service in their communities.

The CEHD 23: Rising Alumni are emerging leaders from diverse professions who improve lives through the psychological, physical, and social development of children, youth, and adults. Their work includes efforts to close the achievement gap, understand the developing brain, and build family resilience.

The alums share good advice for young professionals and speak fondly on how college faculty and staff have positively influenced their careers. See all the profiles.

In the last CEHD alumni e-newsletter, a prize drawing was announced for Goldy Gopher
t-shirts created for our 2012 Homecoming Parade contingent.

Congratulations to the following CEHD alumni who received t-shirts!

Roger A., Juel A., Peter C., Janine F., Daniel H., Jean J., Suzanne K., Vernita K., Maria L., Gytis L., Susan L., Erin M., Nicole R., Jean R., Mary S., Amanada W., and Marisa Z.

Note: prize winners have been notified.

Collaborative Family Healthcare Association (CFHA) featured a debate on their blog between Department of Family Social Science professor Tai Mendenhall, and alumnus Jerica Berge. The two colleagues debated the topic of whether or not including significant others in health care visits is something that will continue or if it's something that providers still don't see as a necessity to treatment.