News
Family and Consumer Sciences
College of Education and Human DevelopmentNews
2012
Dr. Linda Dannison, chair of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences recently completed a program review for the Department of Human Development and Family Studies for Purdue University,
Calumet.
Dannison was also invited to present a Plenary Session titled "Supporting Relative Caregivers: Successful Programming Strategies" at the Rocky Mountain Conference on Aging in April in Loveland, Colorado.
Posted April 9
Family and Consumer Sciences professor Dr. Karen Blaisure co-authored, Serving Military Families in the 21st Century, published April 2012. 
This text introduces readers to military families, their resilience, and the challenges of military life. Personal stories from active duty, National Guard, reservists, veterans, and their families, from all branches and ranks of the military, and those who work with military personnel, bring their experiences to life. The authors of the book are: Karen Blaisure, Tara Saathoff-Well, Angela Pereira, Shelley MacDermid Wadsworth, and Amy Dombro.
Posted April 2
Senior dietetics majors Dana Porter and Erika Ford had an abstract accepted for presentation at the 2012 Michigan Dietetic Association Annual Conference that will be held at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in East Lansing on April 24 - 27. The title of their poster presentation is "Consumer Preference of Peanut Butter Cookies Made with Peanut Butter Alternatives."
Posted March 27
Chair of Family and Consumer Sciences Announces Retirement
Dr. Linda Dannison, chair of Family and Consumer Sciences will retire from WMU June 30, 2012 after 31 years of service.
Linda was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan and earned a bachelor’s degree in Family and Consumer Science Education from Western Michigan University. She holds a master’s degree in Family and Child Development, and a Ph.D. in Adult and Occupational Education from Kansas State University. She is a Certified Family Life Educator specializing in parenting education.
Linda began her career teaching in high schools in Michigan and Kansas, after earning her doctorate she began teaching in family and consumer science education at North Dakota State University. She joined Western Michigan University as an assistant professor in 1981. She taught undergraduate and graduate courses in Effective Parenting, Adult Child Relationships, Human Sexuality and Later Life Family Relationships. She served as chair of Family and Consumer Sciences from 1990 to 2012.
Linda is the author of numerous articles, chapters and books on kinship care. She has developed educational programs, resources, videos, and training programs to support multigenerational families and is a co-director of the National Center for Research on Grandparents Raising Grandchildren. She has co-authored The Second Time Around: Grandparents Raising Grandchildren and Grand Ideas for Grand Kids. Her research appeared in the International Journal for Education Policy and Leadership, Health Communication, Intergenerational Programming Quarterly, Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Children and Schools, Contemporary Education, International Pediatrics, Journal for Specialists in Group Work, Childhood Education, Human Ecology Review, Initiatives, Journal of Sex Education and Therapy, and Family Relations.
Linda received the Espirit de Corps Award from the College of Education and Human Development, the WMU Family and Consumer Sciences Alumni Academy Award, the Michigan State Kalamazoo County Extension Support Award, and the Phoenix Award from the National Parents’ Day Coalition. Linda was also granted Fulbright Senior Specialist awards, lecturing on Kinship Care issues in Norway at the University of Tromsoe and at Oxford, Keele, and Northumbria Universities in England. She also lectured in Latvia for the U.S. State Department.
Future plans include spending much more time with her wonderful husband Martin. He will also be retiring from the WMU’s College of Aviation. They have children and grandchildren who live in Boston, Nashville, Fairbanks and England and plan on enjoying frequent visits. Additionally they are looking forward to sailing adventures in the Caribbean and Lake Michigan, cruising the U.S. in their 5th wheel, and opportunities for skiing and walking vacations.
There will be a retirement reception honoring Linda on Tuesday, April 10th from 3-5 p.m. Students, alumni, colleagues and friends from the community are welcome to attend the reception in the Trimpe Multicultural Center on WMU’s campus.
Posted March 22
The Student Dietetic Association (SDA) has started a new outreach program this academic year of 2011-2012 in the Edison Neighborhood of Kalamazoo. Headed the SDA President, Elizabeth Quemada, with aid from Susie Zammit, Secretary, and member Stephanie Adams, the SDA has begun to teach nutrition classes to 2nd through 5th graders from The Tree of Life Elementary School in the Edison neighborhood. Tree of Life is a young Christian elementary school in the Kalamazoo area. They focus on an affordable Christ centered education, which is usually hard to find. Adam Sterenberg, the principal of Tree of Life, approached the SDA about holding nutrition classes early last summer and they gladly accepted. Teaching the class of 12 students has been an amazing experience for all of the members involved. They have gone over the basic food groups, serving sizes, Choose My Plate, and have just recently started going over each vitamin starting with vitamin A. The kids are always excited to see the SDA when they visit every Friday. It is a great opportunity to be a part of a blossoming community and an influence in children’s life.
Posted March 14
Dr. Ghada Soliman, Assistant Professor of Dietetics, is invited to be the Keynote Speaker for the Michigan Dietetic Association (MDA) Annual Conference to be held in East Lansing, Michigan on April 27, 2012. The Title of her talk is "Management of Obesity from Genetics and Signal Transduction to Intervention and Follow-up."
Posted March 13
Thank you to everyone who came out and showed support to five of the graduating Interior Design Seniors during their ‘Exposed’ reception Friday, February 17th. The show displayed work that the seniors have completed while in the Interior Design Program over the last four years.
Pictured are Interior Design graduating seniors Riley Walters, Amanda Peck, Kimberly Porco, Carly Zagorski and Renee Gahn pictured with President John M. Dunn.
Posted March 12