Students, faculty, grads honored at Graduate Studies' 50th-year celebration

Seven Youngstown State University faculty, students and alumni were recognized for their scholarly and creative contributions during the YSU College of Graduate Studies’ 50^th year celebration earlier this month:

	Victoria E. Kress, PhD, director of the clinical mental health and addictions counseling programs for the past 17 years. She served as a governor-appointed member of the Ohio Counselor, Social Worker, and Marriage and Family Therapist Board, and as chair of the Counselor Professional Standards Committee. She has been the recipient of 32 professional awards, is a past president of Chi Sigma Iota International and the Ohio Counseling Association, has published more than 120 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, has co-authored five books, and has worked in Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and on an American Indian reservation, where she has volunteered her services as a university program accreditation consultant and a mental health facilitator trainer.
	David E. Stout, PhD, is the retired Andrews Chair in Accounting at YSU. He is the immediate past editor-in-chief of the Journal of Accounting Education, previously served as senior editor of Issues in Accounting Education, was a member of the editorial advisory board of Accounting Education: An International Journal, and was senior associate editor of the Journal of Accounting Education. He has published more than 100 scholarly articles and is a co-author of a textbook on cost management. Stout has received numerous regional, national, and international awards, most recently the American Accounting Association’s Outstanding Accounting Educator Award, and the AAA Lifetime Service Award.
	Kyle Spainhower, MS, was the Cushwa/Commercial Shearing Fellow at YSU, working with Michael Butcher, professor of Biology, on research related to muscle function and properties of tree sloths to help better understand how they facilitate upside down walking. He has traveled to Costa Rica for the past two years to work on sloths. He also traveled to Argentina last year with Butcher and colleague Sarah Marshall to help collect data for her project on armadillos and burrowing. He has published a scholarly paper, is converting his master’s thesis into a manuscript to be sent for publication and has given 11 presentations across the nation, including at the annual Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology meeting and the Ohio Physiological Society.
	Landon Brown, EdD, has worked in public education for 21 years and is now principal of Stambaugh Charter Academy in Youngstown. Brown, who holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership from YSU, is considered a Turnaround Principal, was recognized as the Cobb County School District Teacher of the Year, Georgia Association of Educators Administrator of the Year and the Ohio Alliance of Public Charter Schools Leader of the Year. Most recently, Stambaugh Charter Academy received the Momentum Award for exemplary attainment in student growth with straight A’s on all value-added measures on the 2016 and 2017 Ohio School Report Card.
	Kyle Myers, PhD, was the first to earn a doctorate in YSU’s new Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering program. He also holds a master’s degree in Chemistry from YSU. Through his time at YSU, Myers worked as a research assistant for Fireline, a Youngstown manufacturer of ceramic products. His research focused on creating composites, using 3D printing technology, that combine ceramics and metals into materials that function well in extremely high temperatures. He was hired immediately following graduation at ExOne as a senior process development engineer – materials.
	Bridgid Cassin, MA, will graduate from YSU with a master’s degree in Fine Arts, Creative Writing, and then plans to apply to PhD programs in English and Education. She has been studying Children’s and Young Adult literature, while also writing original fiction. Since beginning the MFA program, Cassin has been involved in the Student Literary Arts Association, which publishes the Jenny each semester.
	David Griswold, PhD, earned a doctorate of Physical Therapy from YSU in 2008 and soon after assumed a clinical position in an advanced orthopedic practice. He accepted a full-time faculty position in the YSU PT department in 2012 and earned a PhD in PT from NOVA Southeastern University in 2017. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the Department of Physical Therapy and the 2017-18 Mahoning Valley Young Professional Award, has published four journal articles, and is currently engaged in several collaborative research projects with various academic institutions and clinical partnerships around the country.

The College of Graduate Studies golden anniversary celebration continues with a tailgate party 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 6, in the F55 Lot on Fifth Avenue. For more information, email gradcollege@ysu.edu or call 330-941-3091.