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Faculty & Staff Activities

March 24, 2016 Activities

Awards, Books and Music

Dr. Marcia L. Nell received the 2015 Patricia Monighan Nourot Award

‪ The 2015 Patricia Monighan Nourot International Award was presented to Dr. Marcia L. Nell for her distinguished leadership, research and service in the field of early education and professional development. She has made a major contribution to the research and practice of using open-ended play as a creative strategy to help adults become more conscious of the power and meaning of play in their profession and personal lives.

Marcia Nell, PhD, is associate professor at Millersville University and Coordinator for the Post Baccalaureate Certification Program and the Masters in Early Childhood Education in the Dept of Early, Middle, & Exceptional Education

She  teaches graduate and undergraduate early childhood education courses. Her research interests include play across the life span, creativity, and the Professional Development School model for teacher preparation. Marcia was a public school teacher for twenty-five years, which included working with children living in high poverty areas and migrant working families. Marcia serves as the Director of Research and Professional Development for the Institute for Self Active Education where she conducts research studies aimed at better understanding professional development practices.

In addition to her interest in play in early education, she is researching innovative hands-on training practices in the areas of play and aging, intergenerational play, play and dementia, and play with families suffering from sudden traumatic loss.

Nell is a long time member of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) and serves as the Facilitator for the NAEYC Play, Policy, and Practice Interest Forum. She also is co-chair of the PPPIF Research Committee.

Nell has served as advisor and trainer for the Governor’s Council in Early Education in Pennsylvania and as a consultant to United Way. She is co-author of  “From Play to Practice” a popular best selling book published by NAEYC. She is a member of the Association for the Study of Play (TASP) where she served as President. Marcia is married with four children and two grandsons.

 

Faculty/Staff Activities

Dr. Alex DeCaria, earth sciences, had his second book, “Python Programming and Visualization for Scientists,” published by Sundog Publishing.  This 270 page book is aimed at those wanting to learn to use the Python programming language for scientific data analysis and visualization.

Dr. Abdelhadi Halawa, wellness and sport sciences, published his research paper titled “The Role of Islamic Medicine in the 13th-Century Historic Discovery of the Correct Function of the Cardiovascular Pulmonary Circuit” in the February 2016 issue of the “International Journal of Current Research” (IJCR). His paper examined and provided fact-based evidence of the discovery of the correct function of how blood flows through the cardiac interventricular septum into the pulmonary artery by the Syrian Physician Ibn al-Nafis (1213–1288 AD), contrary to what the great Greek Physician Galen theorized in the 2nd century. Additionally, Halawa completed two peer reviews of research grant proposals for the 2016 Research Grant Cycle of Bibliotheca Alexandrina Center for Special Studies and Programs/Research Grants Proposals (BA/CSSP), Alexandria, Egypt. The first proposal titled “Investigating the Comparative Effect of Different Protein-Rich Dietary Sources and Amino Acid Supplement on Muscle Strength.” The second proposal titled “Becoming 21st Century Education: Reforming Schools in Egypt.”

Dr. M. P. A. Sheaffer, English, sang as an alto ringer in the winter concert of the Canterbury Choral Society at the Church of the Heavenly Rest in New York on March 6.  The group performed J. S. Bach’s monumental “Mass in ‘B’-Minor.”

 

Obituary

Doris CrossDr. Doris E. Cross, 66, of Lancaster died Tuesday, March 8, 2016 at Hospice and Community Care in Mount Joy. She joined the faculty at Millersville University in 1982 and was an assistant professor in the Department of Academic and Student Development. From 1988 to her retirement in 2007, she served as the director of Millersville’s Upward Bound program. The Upward Bound program was created by the U.S. Department of Education to provide fundamental support and instruction to students, primarily from low-income families, for college entrance preparation. She was appointed in 1988, by then President Joseph A. Caputo, to serve as the first chairperson of the newly established University Commission on the Status of Women.

 

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