People of the Times
Two faculty members were honored during Pitt-Bradford’s alumni and family weekend Oct. 3-5.
• Lauren Yaich, Pitt-Bradford faculty member in biology, was honored by UPB’s alumni association with the PBAA 
Teaching Excellence Award.
Yaich has taught at Pitt-Bradford since 1998. In addition to her work in the classroom, where she teaches Cell and Molecular Biology; Genetics; Developmental Biology; Cell Biology, and special topics, she has served as chairwoman of the Division of Biological and Health Sciences and associate dean of academic affairs.
“Dr. Yaich is an excellent professor and a great person to be viewed as a positive role model for students pursuing biological degrees and jobs,” wrote alumna Julia Pesce, who nominated her.
She is known for encouraging girls and young women to enter STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) fields.
Before coming to Pitt-Bradford, Yaich was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Michigan, where she conducted independent research on drosophila neural development.
• Michael Stuckart was inducted into UPB’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He began his career at Pitt-Bradford as an associate 
professor of anthropology in 1977. During his 37-year tenure, he made an impact on the athletic department in many ways. He was the first men’s soccer coach and later became “The Voice of the Panthers” for all basketball games.
He served as adviser for the baseball program, becoming a mentor to the players both on and off the field. He also assisted in recruiting activities and meeting with baseball prospects and their families to ensure they understood the responsibilities that came with being a student-athlete at Pitt-Bradford.
Stuckart also endowed the Edith A. Stuckart Study Abroad Scholarship.
“His dedication cannot be matched and he provided a sense of community and commitment to our sports programs and University,” said Lori Mazza, UPB director of athletics.
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Sally C. Morton, chair of biostatistics in the Graduate School of Public Health, has been appointed to the methodology committee of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
The institute’s goal is to give patients a better understanding of their health care options and the underlying science that evaluates those options. Morton will focus on providing the committee with advice on statistical methods, techniques and analysis of research on providing care that supports the active involvement of patients and their families in treatment decisions.
PCORI funds patient-centered comparative effectiveness research and supports work to improve the methods used to conduct such studies.
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The 2014 Celebrating Senior Champions dinner honors those who improve the lives of seniors in western Pennsylvania, who champion senior causes and who help make western Pennsylvania a model for healthy aging. The event will be held Oct. 23.
Margaret Mary Kimmel will be honored posthumously as a caregiver champion. Kimmel was a professor emeritus in the School of Information Sciences. She served as chair of the Canterbury Place board of directors, on the UPMC Board of Trustees, the UPMC Board of Visitors, and was the advisory council chair for the UPMC Disabilities Resource Center.
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