College researchers bring in more than $1 million

Several College of Health and Human Services faculty researchers were among those recognized during the first WMU Excellence in Discovery luncheon held Feb. 10 and hosted by WMU President John M. Dunn and Provost Timothy J. Greene. During the event, Dr. Daniel M. Litynski, vice president for research, praised WMU faculty members as a whole, and singled out 35 principal investigators for their outstanding work and for bringing in over $1 million each cumulatively in external funding awards over the past five years.

Dr. James A. Henry, professor of social work, received honorable mention at the luncheon for bringing in over $1 million from 2009 to 2014 and in 2014-15. Over that time period, Henry brought in $4.8 million. Also acknowledged for bringing in over $1 million from 2009-14 were Department of Blindness and Low Vision Studies faculty members Dr. Dae Shik Kim, Dr. Richard Long and Dr. Robert Wall Emerson, as well as Dr. Nickola Nelson, professor of speech pathology and audiology and director of the doctoral program in interdisciplinary health sciences.

College faculty acknowledged for contributing to a record level of external research funding received by the University during the first quarter of the 2014-15 fiscal year were Dr. Helen Lee and Dr. Jennipher Wiebold, blindness and low vision studies faculty members, and Dr. Gregory Flamme and Dr. Stephen Tasko, speech pathology and audiology faculty members.

Litynski noted that grants to WMU topped $13 million by the end of the first quarter and reached $21 million by mid-year. "External funding,” he said, “is important to individuals, to the University, and to society at large, which benefits from advances in research."

Faculty members recognized during the Excellence in Discovery luncheon