Ohio State honors EHE faculty for continuing activity after retirement
Three retired Education and Human Ecology faculty members have received a distinct honor from The Ohio State University—selection for membership in the first Emeritus Academy class.
The professors emeriti chosen for the new honor are:
- James Altschuld, Educational Policy and Leadership
- William Heward, Physical Activity and Educational Services
- Anna Soter, Teaching and Learning
The members of the inaugural class personify the academy’s concept of lifelong scholars, said Joseph Steinmetz, executive vice president and provost. In retirement, they are maintaining a visible research profile, producing scholarly papers and receiving grants for their work as leaders in their respective fields. Their close ties to Ohio State enhance the prestige of the university and college alike.
The academy promotes its members’ ongoing work by offering small research and travel grants, promoting a sense of community and establishing partnerships across the university.
“The Emeritus Academy fosters active scholarship among its members, which benefits them, The Ohio State University and the communities with which they interact,” said Joan Leitzel, professor emerita of mathematics and member of the academy founding council.
James Altshuld
Altshuld is nationally recognized for his contributions to the field of evaluation. He retired in 2004 from the college, where for 27 years he developed and taught courses on theory, needs assessment and design. He was active with the Center on Education and Training for Employment (CETE). In 2014, he published his eighth book, Bridging the Gap Between Asset/Capacity Building and Needs Assessment. He has written numerous articles and chapters on how to assess needs and on evaluation research, practice, training and credentialing and certification. He is active in the topical interest group on needs assessment with the American Evaluation Association.
William Heward
Heward is a special education pioneer in applied behavior analysis, which prepares teachers and early interventionists to work with students who have behavior issues or are on the autism spectrum. His research interests include "low-tech" methods for increasing the effectiveness of group instruction in inclusive classrooms and adaptation of curriculum and instruction that promote the generalization and maintenance of newly learned knowledge and skills. His Exceptional Children: An Introduction to Special Education is in its 10th edition. He is a Fellow of the Association for Behavior Analysis International and was instrumental in bringing its international conference to Columbus in 2012.
Anna Soter
Soter, a professor of English education, is an advocate for holistic teaching. Her recent interests center on language as a field of energy and the use of poetry for linguistic sensitivity and personal growth. She was honored in 2014 for founding the Hospital Poets Series, a monthly reading under the Medicine and the Arts initiative launched by Ohio State’s College of Medicine (COM) and its COM Alumni Society. She also is a member of the medical college's Medicine and the Arts Roundtable board. Her many activities include workshops and graduate and professional development courses on language, writing, literary response and poetry.
