Jill Savini, the registered nurse who oversees the Shroyer Health Center, was recognized as a 2021 Health Care Hero by the Central Pennsylvania Business Journal (CPBJ). Savini was honored as a Nurse Hero with colleagues from Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and others by the CPBY who annually “recognizes excellence, promotes innovation, and honors the efforts of individuals and organizations making significant positive impacts on the quality of health care.

Dr. Garcia Armero Discusses Mindfulness with ABC TV27

Wendy Moyer-Drabick’s consulting firm, Moyer-Drabick & Associate Ltd., was named the Eastern Pennsylvania Woman-Owned Small Business of the Year for 2020 by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Moyer-Drabick, LVC adjunct instructor in business administration, founded the firm 19 years ago and today specializes in the selection, implementation, training, and support of various software accounting packages for all types of businesses.

Dr. Justin Mierzwicki, clinical assistant professor of physical therapy, received the Pennsylvania Physical Therapy Association (PPTA) 2020 Geriatric Award of Excellence for the Geriatric Special Interest Group. The PPTA designates 11 awards each year and LVC’s Physical Therapy Department faculty received two of them, including Dr. Tonya Miller, assistant professor of physical therapy, who received the PPTA Humanitarian Awardin September.

Professor Jeff Snyder, chair of the Music Department, director of the Music Business Program, and founder of VALE Music Group, will be honored with the “Educator of Note” award by the Central Pennsylvania Music Hall of Fame. Snyder will be recognized during the hall’s Music Awards & Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at the Whitaker Center Jan. 30, 2020, along with notable artists and acts such as Poison, Dan Hartman, The Sharks, and Robert Willie White of Motown’s Funk Brothers.

Dr. Thomas Dompier, associate professor of athletic training, recently learned that he has been recognized as a National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA) Fellow, which is the highest distinction an athletic training researcher can receive, and that he was named a 2018 Most Distinguished Athletic Trainer (MDAT) by NATA, which is awarded only to the most distinguished scholars in the profession. Dompier joins recent winners from the University of Virginia, University of Michigan, and University of Connecticut. Be being named a NATA Fellow, Dompier joins an elite group of 61 NATA Fellows out of 45,000 professionals. He will receive the awards during the association’s annual meeting in Las Vegas, Nev., in June.

Simpatico Studios, founded and run by Jill Kidulic Whiskeyman ’07 and Steve Whisleyman ’09, both double majors in English and digital communications, was named a 2019 Best Branding Agency by DesignRush. Simpatico Studies, a B2B marketing agency and small business marketing agency specializing in brand identity design, web design and development, and integrated marketing communications, was also named fourth in the state among Best Logo Design Companies and fifth in Pennsylvania among Best Graphic Design and Print Design Companies. Brxton Kocher ’17 is senior account planner and producer at Simpatico.

Dr. Johannes Dietrich, Newton and Adelaide Burgner Professor in Instrumental Music and conductor of the LVC Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, earned third place in The American Prize in Orchestral Programming contest, the Vytautas Marijosius Memorial Award, 2017–2018. The national competition included finalists Cornell University, Davidson College, Oklahoma State University, and the University of Washington. According to their release, The American Prize is a series of new, non-profit, national competitions unique in scope and structure, designed to recognize and reward the best performing artists, ensembles, and composers in the United States based on submitted recordings.

Dr. Robert Valgenti, chair and professor of philosophy and director of the E.A.T. (EAT) Research Program, received the 2018 “Excellence in Instruction” award from the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society. They, along with the Association for the Study of Food and Society, co-sponsor international food studies conferences annually, including five of which Professor Valgenti and his EAT student researchers have attended and presented in the past.

Jeff Bates ’16, former student trustee, received the Graduate Student of the Year Award at the Association for Student Conduct Administration annual national conference in Jacksonville, Fla., in February. Jeff is a second-year student in the College Student Development Program at Appalachian State University.

Kaitlyn Partington ’17, business administration and digital communications, was recognized by the New Jersey Ad Club among the Best Marketing & Communications Professionals Under 40. Partington, one of just 30 to be so honored, is a marketing assistant at Paradigm Marketing & Design in Mt. Tabor, N.J.

According to a release on the Paradigm website, “To be considered for the award, nominees must demonstrate a profound impact on their respective fields and companies. They also have to exhibit qualities such as leadership, career progress, community involvement, and creating and/or achieving recognition from their peers, the public, or their employers.”