Whether it’s a published article or book, a prestigious award, or speaking engagement, members of Indiana University Northwest’s faculty and staff continue to show their wealth of expertise. Here are the most recent top achievers that have made a name for themselves, and IU Northwest.

Bala Arshanapalli, professor and Gallagher-Mills Chair in the School of Business, along with his colleagues Micah Pollak, assistant professor of economics, and Don Coffin, emeritus professor of economics, were recently named as team members in The Society of Innovators of Northwest Indiana for 2014-15. Bala, Micah and Don will be inducted into the Society at an event this fall. The team is being recognized for the development of The Northwest Indiana Coincident Index which measures the current pulse of the economy in Northwest Indiana and forecasts future growth for the region.

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Mark Baer, assistant professor of acting and directing, directed 'A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum' over the summer at St. Croix Festival Theatre, a professional theatre in St. Croix Falls, Wisc. The production broke attendance records for their summer season. Baer is also a founding board member of Gary Shakespeare Company and in fact directed the company’s inaugural production of King Lear in the summer of 2013. The newly renovated performance space in the Miller Beach Arts and Creative District of Gary is now hosting a production of 'Twelfth Night', directed by Baer.  In the fall of 2014, Baer will be directing 'Frankenstein' at Chicago Street Theatre in Valparaiso.

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Latrice Booker, librarian, was recently elected to be a member of the governing Council of the American Library Association (ALA). From a large pool of candidates nation-wide, ALA members elected Booker to help guide ALA and its activities for the benefit of libraries across the U.S.

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Eve Bottando, assistant professor of communication, recently had two papers accepted to this year's National Communication Association (NCA) conference. Bottando looks forward to representing the Department of Communication with the following papers: "Privacy and Consent: A Feminist Vision of Data Management," and "Compressing Time: Kittler and the History of the PDF."

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Frederick Chary, professor emeritus of history, recently authored a book titled, Chutzpah and Naivete. The book is about his experiences in Bulgaria as the first American graduate student to do research there after the resumption of relations, and 30 years of research and teaching in the country until the fall of Communism in 1989.

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Alice Chess, senior secretary in the College of Arts and Sciences, recently earned her master’s degree in business management and leadership from Liberty University Online, based in Lynchburg, Va.

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Jill Chonody, associate professor of social work, was honored to deliver the Commencement address for the graduate students at her alma mater, University of Southern Indiana, this past May. She was also presented with an alumni achievement award at the ceremony. Chonody also served as editor and contributor for a book titled, Community Art: Creative Approaches to Practice by Common Ground Publisher. In 2014, her articles were published in Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping, the Journal of Social Work Education, and the Journal of the Society for Social Work Research. Chonody co-authored book chapters for Contemporary Social Work Practice: A Handbook for Students [McGraw Hill], and Conservative Christianity and Sexual Orientation in Social Work: Social Work Education [CSWE]). Chonody’s areas of expertise are psychometrics, attitudinal research and ageism.

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Linda Delunas, Director School of Nursing was recently elected Vice President of the Board of Directors of Hospice of the Calumet Area.  She has served as Secretary of the Board for the past two years, and has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2005.

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A paper by Gianluca Di Muzio, "A Simplified Ontological Argument and Fictional Entities" has been accepted for publication by Think, a journal published by the British Royal Institute of Philosophy.

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Jerry Ezell, adjunct faculty member in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, received the Richard P. Komyatte “Access to Justice” Award for 2014 for his work on behalf of pro bono clients, especially victims of domestic violence, and as part of the Lake County Sheriff’s Domestic Violence Task Force. The award was presented to Ezell at 13th Annual Volunteer Attorney Night at the Railcats in July at the Diamond Club at the US Steel Yard. 

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Scott Fulk, director of Student Activities, has been on the Board of Directors of The Arc Northwest Indiana for two years. This year, he was elected in as Vice President of the Executive Board.

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Linda Galocy, clinical assistant professor of Health Information Management Programs, was recently inducted into the Faculty Colloquium on Excellence in Teaching (FACET) in May at the Indianapolis meeting. Galocy also had an abstract accepted for presentation at the Faculty Development Institute for Health Information Management Educators. She also delivered a presentation at the institute in July in Chicago.

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Michael Griffin, adjunct faculty member in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs and clerk treasurer for the Town of Highland, recently received the Distinguished Leader Award from the South Shore Leadership Center’s Board of Directors. The award recognizes exceptional community leadership graduates who have made significant contributions for the betterment of their communities.

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Janice Grskovic, associate professor of education, recently presented data with colleagues from a new a study called Knowledge and Implementation of ABA Strategies: Perceptions of Rural Teachers at the annual conference of the Association for Behavior Analysis International in Chicago.

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Tin-Chun Lin, associate professor of economics, had his two papers, “Endogenous Knowledge Growth: An Empirical Study” and “The Impact of Federal, State, and Local Taxes on Student Achievement in Public Schools: The Case of Indiana,” recently published in the Journal of Economics and Applied Economics Letters, respectively, which are refereed journals that are indexed by the Journal of Economic Literature (JEL).  In addition, he had another paper, “Does Missing Classes Decelerate Student Progress on Exam Performance? Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications,” accepted for publication in Journal of Education for Business, which is a refereed journal. Moreover, he received the Trustees’ Teaching Award in Spring, 2014.

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Carl Marfurt, professor of anatomy and cell biology at the IUSM-NW, has accepted the role of Interim Director and Associate Dean at the IU School of Medicine-South Bend campus. A full story about Marfurt’s role can be found in a recent issue of InScope.

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Ana Osan, professor of modern languages, presented "La poesía de Gloria Fuertes y su traducción: hacia una mayor tolerancia y comprensión" at the First Conference of the North American Association of the Spanish Language, which was held at the Library of Congress in June.

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Joe Pellicciotti, vice chancellor for administration and professor in the School of Public and Environmental Affairs, has published more than 800 consumer affairs columns for the Business section of the Northwest Indiana Times.  Begun in 1993 at the request of the then-director of IU Northwest Marketing and Communications, the column is done voluntarily, as public service to the community.

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Jean Poulard, professor of political science, was recently honored by the Michigan City Lions Club, which presented him with a plaque for his service as president. Poulard also received two certificates of appreciation for his work with the eyeglasses program of the club and his continuing work on the board of directors.  Poulard has been a member of the Lions Club since 2000. During his periodic visits to his hometown of Epernay, France, he is often invited to the meetings of the local club.

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James Wallace, director of the Office of Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs, was recently recognized as an NCORE Scholar at their recent conference. NCORE is the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity which focused on issues of diversity, equity and inclusion. Of the thousands who attended, only 20 scholars were recognized globally.