NewsRelease

UNCG’s Lawther Lecture will Recognize Outstanding Alumni
Audiologist Gary Jacobson will present keynote speech

GREENSBORO – Audiologist Dr. Gary Jacobson of Vanderbilt University Medical Center will deliver the Ethel Martus Lawther Lecture at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro during the annual awards ceremony of the School of Health and Human Performance Thursday, Nov. 6.

The free lecture is open to the public and will begin at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Elliott University Center. Call (336) 334-5744 for more information.
Jacobson is professor and director of the division of audiology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Previously, he was the director of the division of audiology and adjunct staff in the Department of Neurology for the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit, Mich. He holds a Ph.D. from Kent State University and is active clinically in balance function and auditory electrophysiology laboratories, hearing aid dispensing and clinical audiology.

In addition, Jacobson is a past president of the American Society of Neurophysiological Monitoring, and currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Board and Board of Directors of the American Tinnitus Association. He has authored and co-authored over 100 publications that cover the areas of tinnitus, dizziness, auditory function, outcome measures development, brain mapping and intraoperative neurophysiology. He is a Fellow of the American Speech-Language Hearing Association, and most recently was recipient of the Jerger Career Award for Research in Audiology from the American Academy of Audiology.

Before Jacobson’s lecture, the school will present the Distinguished Alumni Award and five Ethel Martus Lawther alumni awards. The late Ethel Martus Lawther was dean of the School of Health and Human Performance for 43 years and the awards and lecture series honors her contributions to the school and university.

Melissa A. Parker of Greeley, Co., (Physical Education, B.S. 1974) is the 2003 recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. A professor at the University of Northern Colorado in teacher education, Parker is widely known for her contributions in elementary physical education.  Her most notable contribution is co-authorship of Children Moving, one of the most widely read texts in elementary physical education.  She has developed and worked in service-learning programs in Native American reservations in North Dakota and Utah, as well at the inner cities of Chicago and Los Angeles.

Parker has just completed her term as president of the Colorado Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance.  Her recent honors include the 2001 Central District American Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) Scholar Award and she will receive the 2003 AAHPERD Honor Award this spring.  She has also delivered over 100 papers to state, regional, and national audiences and has been a consultant and workshop leader for school systems nationally.

Winners of this year’s Lawther alumni awards are:

• William M. Evans of Belews Creek, N.C. (Master of Public Health 1998). Manager of Novant Health, Evans has helped managers and employers see how health education theories and skills could be used within health care settings for increasing business, stabilizing corporate financial situations, and developing partnerships with other service providers.

• Dr. Diane G. Groff of Durham, N.C. (Recreation and Leisure Studies, B.S. 1984). Groff is currently an assistant professor of therapeutic recreation at UNC Chapel Hill. She earned a master’s degree from Radford University in adventure education in 1989 and a Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in therapeutic recreation in 1998. She worked as assistant professor of therapeutic recreation at East Carolina University, where she was recently recognized for outstanding professional service by ECU’s School of Health and Human Performance. As director of operations for the Walker Cup International Women’s Wheelchair Basketball Challenge, Groff brought elite female wheelchair athletes from six countries together for competition and workshops. She was on the 1996 Atlanta Paralympics Organizing Committee and is currently on the board of directors for the National Council for Therapeutic Recreation Certification.

• Melissa D. Joy of Suwanee, Ga. (Dance Education, B.S. 1995).  Joy has been a dance director at a Georgia high school since 1997. Her expertise has been recognized by Agnes Scott College, where she is a guest lecturer, and by the Atlanta Ballet, where she serves as education coordinator for the Centre for Dance Education. She has been named K-12 Dance Educator of the Year for 2003 by the Georgia Association for Heath, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

• Gina H. Smith of Concord, N.C. (Speech Language Pathology, B.S. 1980; M.Ed., 1982). Since 1982, Smith has been employed by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, first as a speech-language pathologist and then as assistant principal at Tuckaseegee School in Charlotte. In 1998, she became the program specialist for speech and hearing programs throughout the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System. Smith was promoted two years later to director of educational services for exceptional children; she is responsible for all specialized programming for students with disabilities in the largest school system in North Carolina.

• Dr. Beverly J. Warren of Richmond, Va. (Physical Education, B.S. 1970). Warren earned her masters at Southern Illinois University, an Ed.D. at the University of Alabama in administration of higher education and a Ph.D. from Auburn University in exercise physiology. She has published in prestigious peer-reviewed journals in the area of nutritional needs for athletes. Warren is currently the chair of the Health, Physical Education and Recreation Department at Virginia Commonwealth University.
 
 

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