Distinguished Faculty and Staff
Congratulations to this year’s recipients of Distinguished Faculty and Staff Awards: Bibo Li, professor of biological, geological and environmental sciences, and Zhiqiang Gao, associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science, for research; Debbie Jackson, associate professor of teacher education, and Jeff Karem, professor of English, for service; Petru Fodor, associate professor of physics, and Wenbing Zhao, professor of electrical engineering and computer science, for teaching; Karen Locker, administrative secretary, Office of the Provost, for service, classified staff; and Mary Therese Kocevar, director of sponsored programs and research services, for service, professional staff.
The highest honor, the Jennie S. Hwang Award for Faculty Excellence, went to Dr. Li, a leader in the global fight to find a cure for sleeping sickness. The award recognizes faculty for bringing regional, national and international recognition to CSU through exceptional achievements in teaching, research and service. The award was established by Dr. Hwang, a former member of the CSU Foundation board of directors and CEO of H Technologies Group.
Emerging and Innovative Practice
Susan Bazyk, professor of occupational therapy, was the 2017 recipient of the Emerging and Innovative Practice Award from the American Occupational Therapy Association. She was recognized for promoting children’s mental health, particularly as director of Every Moment Counts: Promoting Mental Health Throughout the Day. This multi-pronged initiative has strategically enabled occupational therapy practitioners throughout Ohio and nationally to better address the mental health needs of children and youth.
Power 100
President Ronald M. Berkman and CSU Board of Trustees Chairman Bernie Moreno were named to Cleveland Magazine’s Power 100: Leaders of Northeast Ohio list for 2018. Moreno is the president of the Bernie Moreno Companies.
Housing Dynamics in Northeast Ohio
A new book by noted housing policy expert Thomas Bier, a senior fellow with CSU’s Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs, describes how, over the decades, public policies combined with natural population migration shaped the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and the region.
Housing Dynamics in Northeast Ohio: Setting the Stage for Resurgence provides a comprehensive review of housing development and population migration across the region. Attention is given to Cuyahoga County as it is the first county in Ohio to be nearly built out.
The Legacy of the Pharmacy Industry
Names like Marshal’s, Revco and Medic Discount Drug once adorned storefronts throughout Northeast Ohio. But shifting consumer preferences and an increase in competition led to the rise of new names in the pharmacy industry and the decline of much of the old guard.
The Legacy of the Pharmacy Industry: Cleveland, Ohio by Richard Klein, professor of urban studies and business, provides a comprehensive account of the evolution of drug stores, chronicling their rise from neighborhood stores to nationwide giants.
Cooperative Engineering Education
Sandra English, senior manager for CSU’s Center for Engineering Experiential Learning, was awarded the 2018 Alvah K. Borman Award for excellence in cooperative engineering education. The award is given annually by the Cooperative Experiential Education Division of the American Society of Engineering Education.
CSU’s engineering cooperative education program started at Fenn College. Today the program places more than 100 students annually with such industry partners as General Electric, Parker Hannifin and Swagelok.

Lifetime Achievement
Leo W. Jeffres, professor emeritus of communication, received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, Cleveland Chapter. Dr. Jeffres has more than 50 years of experience as a journalist and communication researcher and was a faculty member and administrator at CSU for over four decades. He is nationally recognized for his research and has written several books.
The Real Cleveland
It’s been called The Mistake on the Lake, America’s Comeback City and The Best Location in the Nation. What is the real Cleveland, Ohio? In his book Believing in Cleveland, J. Mark Souther discusses the city’s national image, while also chronicling how local leaders used imagery and rhetoric to combat and, at times, accommodate urban and economic decline.
Dr. Souther, professor of history, explores Cleveland’s path through the 20th century, including its reign as one of America’s most prominent metropolises and its fight against urban decay and deindustrialization.

Hilary Plum, associate director of the CSU Poetry Center, received the 2018 New Writers Award for Creative Non-fiction from the Great Lakes Colleges Association. She was honored for her first nonfiction work, Watchfires.
She also has written two novels, They Dragged Them Through the Streets and Strawberry Fields, which won the Fence Modern Prize in Prose. Plum joined CSU in 2017.


President Ronald M. Berkman spearheaded tuition savings, campus expansion, new labs, research growth, record fundraising, and powerful partnerships — solidifying CSU's impact and student success vision.

CSU’s spectacular new northern gateway to campus, Donald E. Washkewicz Hall, provides enhanced educational and research opportunities for engineering students and faculty.

Harlan M. Sands, vice dean and chief financial officer of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, has been selected as the seventh president of Cleveland State University following a national search.

Andrew Gross, professor of marketing and international business, has been a CSU faculty member since 1968. As he prepares to retire in June, he shares some reflections on his career.

Outgoing President Ronald M. Berkman reflects on nine years of growth — new labs, film/media school, urban health programs — and thanks the CSU community for driving the university’s transformation.

U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Graduate Schools guide features more than a dozen CSU programs, highlighting the University’s continued national rise.

Four new members have been inducted into the CSU Athletics Hall of Fame — Sarah Galon, Christine Kohler Myeroff, Kristen Obush and Jake Scott.

The Internet of Things (IoT) Collaborative between CSU and Case Western Reserve University has moved from planning to full launch with $1.75 million in funding from the Cleveland Foundation.

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law has launched several groundbreaking initiatives, including a Space Law Center and a Cybersecurity Center that takes a rare multidisciplinary approach integrating law, technology and business management.

Books, theater, music, art, dance and ideas will again be celebrated during the Arts and Humanities Alive! (AHA!) Festival sponsored by CSU and Playhouse Square.

Since 2007, Viking Expeditions (VE) has been helping CSU graduate and undergraduate students broaden their worldview through local, national and international service opportunities.

For close to a half-century, Cleveland State University and Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute have partnered to enhance medical and science education while helping to advance discovery in numerous disciplines. The Joint Doctoral Program Pa

CSU’s annual Scholarship Luncheon brought together more than 400 individuals who have made personal gifts, as well as representatives of businesses and organizations that have supported scholarships, and the grateful students who received them.

Enlightened, entertained, informed, inspired and empowered. That’s how 300-plus participants felt following CSU’s fourth-annual Women’s Leadership Symposium, “Embrace Your Voice.”

More than 100 representatives of some 40 organizations shared best practices, ideas and professional perspectives at the first-ever Northeast Ohio Summit on Alumni Engagement.

Passport Cleveland alumni tours in Northeast Ohio, plus engaging CSU2U events and alumni meet‑ups in FL, AZ — connecting Vikings through travel, learning, and connection.

Graduates who are impacting their communities, the world and Cleveland State University in unique and creative ways were honored at the second-annual Alumni Recognition Awards. The event also saluted CSU’s third class of Fascinating Alumni.

The Summer of 1967 was known as the Summer of Love. But at CSU, February 2018 was Share the Love month with special events to bring Vikings together. We’ll be sharing the love again next February!

President Ronald M. Berkman spearheaded tuition savings, campus expansion, new labs, research growth, record fundraising, and powerful partnerships — solidifying CSU's impact and student success vision.

Harlan M. Sands, vice dean and chief financial officer of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, has been selected as the seventh president of Cleveland State University following a national search.

Outgoing President Ronald M. Berkman reflects on nine years of growth — new labs, film/media school, urban health programs — and thanks the CSU community for driving the university’s transformation.

Four new members have been inducted into the CSU Athletics Hall of Fame — Sarah Galon, Christine Kohler Myeroff, Kristen Obush and Jake Scott.

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law has launched several groundbreaking initiatives, including a Space Law Center and a Cybersecurity Center that takes a rare multidisciplinary approach integrating law, technology and business management.

Since 2007, Viking Expeditions (VE) has been helping CSU graduate and undergraduate students broaden their worldview through local, national and international service opportunities.

CSU’s annual Scholarship Luncheon brought together more than 400 individuals who have made personal gifts, as well as representatives of businesses and organizations that have supported scholarships, and the grateful students who received them.

More than 100 representatives of some 40 organizations shared best practices, ideas and professional perspectives at the first-ever Northeast Ohio Summit on Alumni Engagement.

Graduates who are impacting their communities, the world and Cleveland State University in unique and creative ways were honored at the second-annual Alumni Recognition Awards. The event also saluted CSU’s third class of Fascinating Alumni.

CSU’s spectacular new northern gateway to campus, Donald E. Washkewicz Hall, provides enhanced educational and research opportunities for engineering students and faculty.

Andrew Gross, professor of marketing and international business, has been a CSU faculty member since 1968. As he prepares to retire in June, he shares some reflections on his career.

U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Graduate Schools guide features more than a dozen CSU programs, highlighting the University’s continued national rise.

The Internet of Things (IoT) Collaborative between CSU and Case Western Reserve University has moved from planning to full launch with $1.75 million in funding from the Cleveland Foundation.

Books, theater, music, art, dance and ideas will again be celebrated during the Arts and Humanities Alive! (AHA!) Festival sponsored by CSU and Playhouse Square.

For close to a half-century, Cleveland State University and Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute have partnered to enhance medical and science education while helping to advance discovery in numerous disciplines. The Joint Doctoral Program Pa

Enlightened, entertained, informed, inspired and empowered. That’s how 300-plus participants felt following CSU’s fourth-annual Women’s Leadership Symposium, “Embrace Your Voice.”

Passport Cleveland alumni tours in Northeast Ohio, plus engaging CSU2U events and alumni meet‑ups in FL, AZ — connecting Vikings through travel, learning, and connection.

The Summer of 1967 was known as the Summer of Love. But at CSU, February 2018 was Share the Love month with special events to bring Vikings together. We’ll be sharing the love again next February!

President Ronald M. Berkman spearheaded tuition savings, campus expansion, new labs, research growth, record fundraising, and powerful partnerships — solidifying CSU's impact and student success vision.

Andrew Gross, professor of marketing and international business, has been a CSU faculty member since 1968. As he prepares to retire in June, he shares some reflections on his career.

Four new members have been inducted into the CSU Athletics Hall of Fame — Sarah Galon, Christine Kohler Myeroff, Kristen Obush and Jake Scott.

Books, theater, music, art, dance and ideas will again be celebrated during the Arts and Humanities Alive! (AHA!) Festival sponsored by CSU and Playhouse Square.

CSU’s annual Scholarship Luncheon brought together more than 400 individuals who have made personal gifts, as well as representatives of businesses and organizations that have supported scholarships, and the grateful students who received them.

Passport Cleveland alumni tours in Northeast Ohio, plus engaging CSU2U events and alumni meet‑ups in FL, AZ — connecting Vikings through travel, learning, and connection.

CSU’s spectacular new northern gateway to campus, Donald E. Washkewicz Hall, provides enhanced educational and research opportunities for engineering students and faculty.

Outgoing President Ronald M. Berkman reflects on nine years of growth — new labs, film/media school, urban health programs — and thanks the CSU community for driving the university’s transformation.

The Internet of Things (IoT) Collaborative between CSU and Case Western Reserve University has moved from planning to full launch with $1.75 million in funding from the Cleveland Foundation.

Since 2007, Viking Expeditions (VE) has been helping CSU graduate and undergraduate students broaden their worldview through local, national and international service opportunities.

Enlightened, entertained, informed, inspired and empowered. That’s how 300-plus participants felt following CSU’s fourth-annual Women’s Leadership Symposium, “Embrace Your Voice.”

Graduates who are impacting their communities, the world and Cleveland State University in unique and creative ways were honored at the second-annual Alumni Recognition Awards. The event also saluted CSU’s third class of Fascinating Alumni.

Harlan M. Sands, vice dean and chief financial officer of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, has been selected as the seventh president of Cleveland State University following a national search.

U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Graduate Schools guide features more than a dozen CSU programs, highlighting the University’s continued national rise.

Cleveland-Marshall College of Law has launched several groundbreaking initiatives, including a Space Law Center and a Cybersecurity Center that takes a rare multidisciplinary approach integrating law, technology and business management.

For close to a half-century, Cleveland State University and Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute have partnered to enhance medical and science education while helping to advance discovery in numerous disciplines. The Joint Doctoral Program Pa

More than 100 representatives of some 40 organizations shared best practices, ideas and professional perspectives at the first-ever Northeast Ohio Summit on Alumni Engagement.

The Summer of 1967 was known as the Summer of Love. But at CSU, February 2018 was Share the Love month with special events to bring Vikings together. We’ll be sharing the love again next February!