Awards, honors for Lehigh Valley residents

Dana S. Dunn, professor of psychology and assistant dean for special projects at Moravian College, was awarded a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association's Division 2, the Society for the Teaching of Psychology. The award is presented to individuals who have made extraordinary lifetime contributions to the society and/or to the teaching of psychology. To date, Dunn has written or co-written more than 150 articles, chapters, and book reviews and has written or edited 19 books. He has focused his scholarship on examining teaching, learning and liberal education, as well as the social psychology of disability.

The National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS) has announced Palmerton Area High School student Jaclyn M. Wood of Lehighton has been selected to become a member. The society recognizes top scholars who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, scholarship and community commitment. Membership in NSHSS entitles qualified students to enjoy a wide variety of benefits, including scholarship opportunities, academic competitions, free events, member-only resources, publications, participants in programs offered by educational partners, personalized recognition items and publicity honors.

Trisha Higgins, CPA, Vice President CFO of the Lehigh Valley Community Foundation, was presented with the Lehigh Valley Business CFO of the Year Award in the category of Small Non-Profits (24 or fewer employees). Higgins received the award at a ceremony held at DeSales University. Awards were presented in seven different categories and honor financial executives in the Greater Lehigh Valley who have demonstrated significant impact on their companies and have contributed to the region's economic growth and stability. Higgins was nominated for the award by the Community Foundation's staff. She was selected as a finalist by a panel of independent judges and then chosen as the winner based on the judges' ranking of three criteria: career achievements, impact of the nominee's contributions and leadership in other areas of management. Higgins joined Community Foundation in 2002 as its first director of finance and administration when the Foundation had a total of 108 different funds and assets of over $14 million. In 2013, she was promoted to vice president CFO. Today, she oversees the financial and operational administration of the Foundation, which now has 180 funds, over $40 million in assets and makes over $2 million in grants each year to nonprofit organizations.

Copyright © 2014, The Morning Call

Leave a Reply