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In the Spotlight

Rex Simpson ’70, an adjunct LSER faculty member, is the first recipient of the Kelley-Willits Award for Excellence in Online Teaching. The Award will be given each year to an instructor in the LSER Online Program who demonstrates “exceptional teaching ability, concern for students, and commitment to the Department’s mission of pre-paring practitioners for productive careers in the field of human resources and employment relations.” Rex was the unanimous choice of the selection committee to receive the award for 2010-- 2011.

Rex regularly teaches HRER 504, Graduate Seminar in Employment Relations, in the Department’s MPS in HRER Program. In addition to being an attentive and skillful instructor in the virtual classroom and sharing the experience of his long and varied career in the HRER field, Rex has been helpful to the program in many other ways, including mentoring new instructors, continually fine tuning the 504 course, and doing professional development webinars.

The Award honors the contributions of Ed Kelley and Billie Willits to Penn State’s Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations. Kelley was a labor and employment attorney who retired in 2007 after a long career in higher education. He passed away in 2008. Willits was formerly the Vice President for Human Resources at Penn State. She now serves as Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiatives. For many years Kelley and Willits taught in the Department’s residential program. When LSER initiated its online degree program, they were among the first faculty to develop core courses for the program. The Kelley-Willits Award for Excellence in Online Teaching honors their generosity towards, and commitment to, the Department and its students.

Click here to read the LSER 2011 Fall Newsletter.

Professor Sarah Damaske's new book, For the Family? How Class and Gender Shape Women's Work, was officially released on October 3rd by Oxford University Press. And she has just heard that the book was awarded the National Women's Studies Association Sara Whaley book prize. This award is given yearly forthe best book on women and labor. Congratulations Sarah!