University Times

Lina Insana, a faculty member in the Department of French and Italian Languages and Literatures, has been recognized by the American Association of Italian Studies. The association named Insana’s book, “Arduous Tasks: Promo Levi, Translation, and the Transmission of Holocaust Testimony,” Best Book published in 2009 in the 20th Century category.

The members of the jury, scholars serving on the editorial board of Italian Culture — the official journal of the American Association of Italian Studies — praised Insana’s work and commented on the important contribution it makes to Italian studies.

The Project Management Institute (PMI), a professional membership organization for project managers, honored David I. Cleland, professor emeritus in the Department of Industrial Engineering in the Swanson School of Engineering, with a lifetime achievement award at its 2010 research and education conference.

Recognized as the most published contributor in the field, Cleland is the author or editor of 40 books in the areas of project management, engineering management and manufacturing management. He has published numerous articles and handbook chapters and presented many papers on project management and leadership at professional meetings. In addition, he has served as a consultant for multinational companies.

According to Gregory Balestrero, president and CEO of PMI, “Dr. Cleland was a driving force behind the adoption of project management as a professional competency and is a key contributor to the success of all organizations that use professional project management standards and methodologies today.”

Cleland is co-founder of Pitt’s Manufacturing Assistance Center, which provides manufacturing systems technology assistance to small and mid-sized manufacturers in western Pennsylvania.

In 1997, Cleland, a PMI fellow since 1987, was honored with the establishment of the David I. Cleland Excellence in Project Management Literature Award.

Janet Grady has been appointed interim vice president for Academic Affairs at the Johnstown campus, effective July 1.

In 2007, she was named director of the UPJ nursing program, having taught in the program from 1993 to 2000.

Grady was a faculty member in the School of Nursing who was instrumental in the development of a proposal to launch the baccalaureate degree at Pitt-Johnstown. She has been involved in new course development, participated in the creation of the school nurse certificate program and served as a preceptor for master’s-level students.

Previously,  she  was an  associate professor and associate academic dean at Mt. Aloysius College; chief nursing officer and principal partner, clinical services and performance improvement for Windber Medical Center, and instructor and later term coordinator in the Conemaugh School of Nursing.

Grady replaces Alan Teich, who has returned to full-time teaching. In spring 2011, a national search will be conducted to identify a permanent replacement.

An essay by Nancy McCabe, director of the writing program at Pitt-Bradford, is among those chosen for the Best American Essays 2010 notable list.

The essay, “Still Dancing,” appeared in Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts in 2008. “Still Dancing” focuses on female body image and weaves together strands about an adult tap dance class and the story of McCabe’s mother’s breast cancer experience.

In addition to teaching at Pitt-Bradford, McCabe teaches in the brief-residency master of fine arts program in creative writing at Spalding University.

Brent Malin, a faculty member in the Department of Communication, has won the 2010 Walter Benjamin Award for Outstanding Article in Media Ecology from the Media Ecology Association. Malin received the award for his essay “Mediating Emotion: Technology, Social Science, and Emotion in the Payne Fund Motion Picture Studies,” which was published in Technology & Culture in 2009.

Lester Olson, also a faculty member in the communication department, has received a Golden Anniversary Monograph Award from the National Communication Association for his essay, “Pictorial Representations of British America Resisting Rape: Rhetorical Re-Circulation of a Print Series Portraying the Boston Port Bill of 1774.”

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The People of the Times column features recent news on faculty and staff, including awards and other honors, accomplishments and administrative appointments.

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