Lisa Nelson, director of Wayne State College’s Service-Learning Program, received Pi Gamma Mu’s Outstanding Alumni Award, and several Wayne State students presented research papers at the Pi Gamma Mu Centennial International Convention held Nov. 1-3 in Philadelphia.
Nelson has been director of Wayne State’s Service-Learning Program for more than a decade. She also serves as co-advisor of Wayne State’s Nebraska Delta chapter of Pi Gamma Mu.
Wayne State’s Service-Learning Program is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Nelson was initiated into Pi Gamma Mu as an undergraduate student at Wayne State. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and her master’s degree in Social Sciences Education from Wayne State College.
The four Wayne State students who presented research papers were Kylie Cautrell, a geography major from Hoskins; Rebecca Hart, a criminal justice and human services major from Wahoo; Sara Lundeen, a history major from Axtell, who graduated in May; and Erin Zulkoski, a criminal justice major from Grand Island.
Cautrell, Lundeen, and Zulkoski were selected as Top 10 award recipients, and each received a $200 cash prize.
Dr. Jean Karlen, emeritus professor of sociology at Wayne State, was recognized for her many years of service on Pi Gamma Mu’s board of directors, and Dr. Randy Bertolas, professor of geography at Wayne State, was recognized for his 23 years of service at the Nebraska Delta chapter advisor.
Karlen, Bertolas, and Dr. Lesli Rawlings, professor of geography at Wayne State, presented a poster at the convention detailing the history of Wayne State’s Nebraska Delta chapter.
According to its website, Pi Gamma Mu’s mission is to encourage and promote excellence in the Social Sciences and to uphold and nurture scholarship, leadership, and service. Pi Gamma Mu serves the various social-science disciplines, which seek to understand and explain human behavior and social relationships as well as their related problems and issues. Currently, there are 150 active chapters in the United States and overseas.
