The School of Education's Etiony Aldarondo, who became the youngest professor ever to receive the Beckman Award, speaks at the award ceremony on January 7.

A University of Miami professor is one of 15 scholars from around the nation to receive a prestigious Elizabeth Hurlock Beckman Trust Award for their efforts in inspiring students to help solve pressing social problems that plague communities.

Etiony Aldarondo, associate dean for research and associate professor of educational and psychological studies at UM’s School of Education, received a $25,000 cash award at the Beckman Trust Award Ceremony on January 7 at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, becoming the youngest professor ever to receive the honor. He is 49. Read the full story

Mileidis Gort, assistant professor of teaching and learning in the School of Education, and Eurydice Bauer, associate professor of curriculum and instruction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, have published Early Biliteracy Development: Exploring Young Learners’ Use of Their Linguistic Resources (Routledge). The edited volume provides findings from empirical research with young bilinguals growing up with English and Spanish, Chinese, German, or Turkish in home and school contexts and practical applications of these findings.

Four faculty members in the School of Education’s Department of Educational and Psychological Studies were honored recently with five national awards for leadership and social justice. Above, from left, are Scot Evans, assistant professor, who received the Service Award from the American Psychological Association’s (APA) Society for Community Research and Action (Division 27); Guerda Nicolas, associate professor and chair, who was recognized as an “Emerging Leader for Women in Psychology” by the APA’s Committee on Women in Psychology; Dean Isaac Prilleltensky, who received the APA “Community Practitioner Award” and a second APA award for theory and research in community psychology (both Division 27); and Etiony Aldarondo, associate dean for research and director of the Dunspaugh-Dalton Community and Educational Well-Being Research Center, who received the 2011 Social Justice Award given by the APA’s Society of Counseling Psychology (Division 17).

Above, from left, University of Miami President Donna E. Shalala (Iran); Aaron S. Williams (Dominican Republic), director of the Peace Corps; Alberto Ibargüen (Venezuela), president and CEO of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation; and Virginia Emmons McNaught (Niger), founder of Educate Tomorrow, related their Peace Corps experience during a ceremony that observed the 50th anniversary of the famous volunteer program.

Inspired by a young, idealistic Massachusetts senator who urged college students to serve their country in the cause of peace by living and working in developing countries, Donna E. Shalala applied to the Peace Corps in the early 1960s, traveling to Iran to teach English.

Just out of college, she was among the first batch of Peace Corps volunteers, trailblazers who took John F. Kennedy’s words to heart. Read the full story

Joseph Signorile

Joseph Signorile, professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences at the School of Education, will give a presentation and sign copies of his new book, Bending the Aging Curve: The Complete Exercise Guide for Older Adults, on Wednesday, July 13 at 8 p.m. at Books & Books Coral Gables, 265 Aragon Avenue.