College of Nursing faculty members were recognized for their outstanding academic contributions and achievements at the university’s 2015 Founders’ Day Honors Convocation earlier this month.

University Distinction of Professor Emerita:
Dr. Diane Wink, professor and the Hugh F. and Jeannette G. McKean Endowed Chair in Nursing, began her career at UCF in 1987 as a visiting assistant professor. Currently, she is the coordinator of Nurse Educator MSN and Nurse Educator Certificate program. Her research focus is on approaches to nursing education which promote student success, the use of technology to teach, and the care of vulnerable and underserved population. She has published a number of papers over the years which help guide nursing faculty in their teaching and curriculum development efforts. She will retire in August.

College Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching: Dr. Paul Desmarais, lecturer, joined UCF in 2006 as a visiting associate professor. His research interests include cardiovascular disease and cardiac rehabilitation. He is also a member of the Theta Epsilon Chapter, Sigma Theta Tau, and American Association of Critical Care Nurses.

College Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching: Dr. Christopher Blackwell, an associate professor and faculty liaison to the UCF Nursing alumni chapter, is a four-time graduate of UCF and joined the faculty in 2004. His area of scholarship is health and social disparities in gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons. He has more than 20 primary authored, peer-reviewed journal publications in the area of GLBT health and social disparity, five published textbook chapters, and more than 20 peer-reviewed professional presentations at national and international nursing and other medical conferences.

College Award for Excellence in Research: Dr. Karen Aroian, the Chatlos Foundation Endowed Chair in Nursing and professor, began her career at UCF in 2013 as an endowed professor and director of research. Her research focuses on immigrant and minority health. Her present research and scholarship includes analyzing data and preparing publications from her completed NIH five-year, longitudinal study of mother-child adjustment in Arab immigrant families and preparing another NIH application study on community engagement to improve the management of childhood asthma in Puerto Rican families in Florida’s Osceola County.

College Award for Excellence in Service: Dr. Linda Howe, an associate professor and faculty consultant for the Student Nurses Association (SNA) Orlando Chapter, joined UCF in 2012. Her research interests include nursing and institutional history, nursing education strategies, deep tissue injury prevention and healing, and Pharmacogenomics. She is a member of the American Nurses Association, Florida Nurses Association, and the National League for Nursing.

Recognition of Service to the University, 20 Years of Service: Dr. Angeline Bushy, the Bert Fish Eminent Scholar Endowed Chair in Nursing and professor, began her career at UCF in 1996. Her research focus is on rural health and rural nursing issues, including community and public health nursing in rural communities. She has also published works on the health issues of women in rural areas, cyber education, homelessness, home care, rural health care ethics, and the social determinants and health disparities among residents in less populated and remote geographical communities.

Recognition for Years of Service: Dr. Wink and Ms. Hannah Morse, both having announced their retirements this year, were recognized for their years of dedicated service to the university. Ms. Morse, an instructor, began her career at UCF in 2007 and retired this past January. Her research interests include mental health and illness, childhood abuse and neglect, sexual assault examinations (SANE), and clinical trials in rheumatology.