Five Women in the Academic World Honored With Prestigious National Awards

Roberta K. Olson, dean and professor emerita in the College of Nursing at South Dakota State University received the St. Bernadette Armiger Award from the American Association of Colleges of Nursing. She stepped down as dean in 2013 after serving for 19 years in the post.

Dr. Olson is a graduate of South Dakota State University. She earned a master’s degree in nursing from Washington University in St. Louis and a doctorate in higher education from Saint Louis University.

Tiffany A. Flowers, instructor of education at Georgia Perimeter College in Decatur received the Early Career Educator of Color Leadership Award from the National Council for the Teachers of English.

Flowers received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in early childhood education from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. She also earned a master’s degree in social foundations of education from the University of Iowa. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in the Language, Literacy, and Culture program at the University of Iowa.

Serita Acker, the director of the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) program at Clemson University in South Carolina, received the College-Level Promotion of Education Award from Women of Color magazine. Acker joined the staff at Clemson University in 1995.

Acker is a graduate of Lander University in Greenwood, South Carolina. She holds a master’s degree in human resource development from Clemson University.

Melissa Paschuck, international student services coordinator at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, South Carolina, received the 2014 New Professional Award from the National Association of Foreign Student Advisers Association of International Educators. Paschuck has been on the staff at Coastal Carolina since 2008.

Paschuck is a graduate of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and holds a master’s degree in higher education administration and student personnel from Kent State University in Ohio.

Lyn Mikel Brown, professor of education at Colby College in Waterville, Maine, was named national College Professor of the Year by the Academy of Education Arts and Sciences International. Dr. Brown joined the Colby College faculty in 1991 and was promoted to full professor in 2005.

Professor Brown is the author or co-author of five books including her most recent work, Packaging Boyhood: Saving Our Sons From Superheroes, Slackers, and Other Media Stereotypes (St. Martin’s Press, 2009). She holds a doctorate in education from Harvard University.