Research and Honors, September 2025

Research and Honors is a monthly column of the Illinois State Report newsletter, celebrating recent Honors, Publications, and Presentations of faculty and staff.

Honors

Dan Simon, Emergency Management, earned the Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) designation by the International Association of Emergency Managers. This is the capstone designation of the profession, with fewer than 50 CEMs in the State of Illinois.

Roopa Rawjee, OIE, has earned the Fulbright U.S. - France International Education Administrators Award.

Steve Mertens, TCH, was honored by the Middle Level Education Research SIG with the distinguished Richard "Dick" Lipka Lifetime Achievement Award, which is the highest honor that can be awarded by the MLER SIG and is presented to an individual demonstrating an exceptional level of service and leadership in middle grades education.

Presentations

Nariman Ammar, IT, and Marilyn Prasun, MCON, presented "Building an AI for Health Research lab at ISU for Atrial Fibrillation" at the AIM-AHEAD Annual Meeting in Dallas, Texas.

Mike Matejka, HIS, was honored to be asked by the Pullman National Historical Association to write a piece about the Pullman National Historical Park titled, "A Company Town Preserved."

Publications

Nariman Ammar, IT, coauthored "Long COVID after SARS-CoV-2 during pregnancy in the United States" in Nature Communications.

Raymond Bergner, PSY, published "Establishing correct concept meanings in psychology: Why should we care and how can we do it?" in American Psychologist.

Kevin R. Meyer and Stephen K. Hunt, COM, coauthored the following:

• "Theories for human communication: Advocating for social change," Cognella.
• "Promoting democracy: Civic education in an era of antidemocratic unrest," in Encouraging college students' democratic engagement in an era of political polarization (pp. 53-69), Lexington Books.
• "Silence as political engagement: Student-led silent protests advocating for LGBTQ+ youth," in Quiet defiance: The rhetoric of silent protest (pp. 75-91), Lexington Books.
• "Teaching persuasion," in Teaching communication, Volume II: Communication studies (1st ed.; pp. 272-288), Cognella.

Virginia Gill, SOC, coauthored "Pre-emptive Repair of Potential Misunderstandings: Prospective Procedures for Managing Intersubjectivity and Steering Social Action," in the American Sociological Review.

Hyoil Han and Kyoungwon Suh, IT, coauthored "Enhancing the Sustainability of Machine Learning-Based Malware Detection Techniques for Android Applications," in IEEE Access.

Isaac Chang, IT, and Gabriela Fonseca Pereira, FCS, coauthored the following:

• "Designing virtual reality applications for speech-language pathology: an interdisciplinary collaboration for aging-in-place practices and rehabilitation services," in the Journal of Enabling Technologies.
• "Interdisciplinary Digital Health and Learning Survey Across Speech-Language Pathology, Technology, and Interior Design: Implications for Training in Rehabilitation and Aging-In-Place Practices," in Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders.

Jin Park, KNR, published "Why your World Cup experience doesn't help you much: Understanding the roots of inequalities in women's elite football through Bourdieu's theory on field," in International Review for the Sociology of Sport.

Joshua Stout, CJS, coauthored "Stigmatization in the pre-death interactions of family and friends bereaved by a drug-related death," in Death Studies.

Jessie Krienert and Jeffrey A. Walsh, CJS, coauthored "An Empirical Analysis of the (Un)readability of Inmate Handbooks," in the Journal of Crime & Justice 2024 Outstanding Paper Award.

Dawn Beichner-Thomas, CJS, coauthored "Guest Editors' Introduction: Special Issue: Feminist approaches to justice: Contributions to CSW68," in International Journal of Law, Crime and Justice.

Justin Stanek, Jason Grotts, Adam Jagodinsky, and Todd McLoda, KNR, coauthored "Shoe Collar Height Had No Effect on Proximal and Distal Lower Limb Muscular Responses to Unexpected Ankle Perturbation," in International Journal of Athletic Therapy and Training.

Winfred Avogo, SOC, published "Individual and community effects and adolescent reproductive health transitions in West Africa," in Discover Public Health.

Ross Kennedy, HIS, published The United States and the Origins of World War II in Europe.

Andrew Hartman, HIS, published Karl Marx in America.

Bob Fitzgerald, HIS, published Hardcore Punk in the Age of Reagan.

Katrin Paehler, HIS, published "The Space Between: Hildegard Beetz, Espionage, and Gender, 1944-1949," in Shots in the Dark: Experimentation, Success, and Failure in the Second World War.

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