For championing patient care in groundbreaking ways, Diane Ellis ’84 FCN, ’92 MSN, RN, CCRN, clinical assistant professor of Nursing and Edmond J. Safra Nurse Faculty Scholar, received the first-ever Nurse Faculty Award from the Parkinson’s Foundation. With this honor, she secured grant funding to launch a new project, which sets out to increase awareness and educate undergraduate nursing and graduate nurse anesthesia students about the importance of timely administration of Parkinson’s medication.
Recognizing her leadership in the legal writing community, Candace Centeno, JD, associate dean for Academic Affairs, professor of Law and director of the Duane Morris LLP Legal Writing Program in the Charles Widger School of Law, has been presented with the Outstanding Service Award from the Association of Legal Writing Directors. Professor Centeno was honored for her work on the inaugural ALWD Leadership Academy, which provided mentoring and formalized training for faculty leaders in legal writing.
The Center for Research and Fellowships and Falvey Memorial Library launched the University’s first peer-reviewed undergraduate research journal, Veritas: Villanova Research Journal, in September 2019. The journal, published in print and online, promotes investigation and discovery while celebrating the imagination, creativity and curiosity of its contributors—undergraduates and recent alumni across all disciplines. The inaugural issue addressed a broad range of topics, including the construction of stormwater wetlands, a painting by Cuban artist Tomás Sánchez, and the consistency of constitutional interpretations of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison.
A pioneering oceanographer, a record-breaking deep-sea driver and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, Sylvia A. Earle, PhD, received the 2019 Mendel Medal, established by Villanova in 1928 to recognize the scientific accomplishments and religious conviction of outstanding scientists. “Dr. Earle reminds us that even if we never have the chance to see or touch the ocean, the ocean touches us with every breath we take, every drop of water we drink, every bite we consume,” says the Rev. Kail C. Ellis, OSA, PhD, assistant to the President and dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
Renovation reveals are all the rage on social media, and the iconic St. Thomas of Villanova Church had its own moment this winter. The church’s interior spaces were refreshed and updated, with crews patching and painting all the walls and trim, cleaning and polishing statues and the baptismal font, and installing new LED light fixtures with a dimming control system.
Meaningful and challenging volunteer opportunities are created through the efforts of the Campus Ministry Service and Justice Experiences Program. Every semester, Villanovans — students, faculty, staff and alumni — reflect on the relationship between faith and justice as they embrace the Augustinian values of loving their neighbors in an active way by serving and learning through partnerships locally, around the United States and abroad during their University breaks. Recent partners have included Dolores Mission Church in Los Angeles, St. Isidore Catholic Worker Farm in Wisconsin and Habitat for Humanity in North Carolina.
Photos provided by Fall 2019 Campus Ministry Service and Justice Experiences Program
