Mr. Damien Lawrence

CEHD Customer Focus Award

Mr. Damien Lawrence is the 2023 recipient of the CEHD Customer Focus Award, which recognizes a staff member in the college who demonstrated concern for meeting internal and external customer needs in a manner that provided satisfaction for the customer. (“Customers” can be co-workers, peers or managers, as well as external customers of a service, such as students, parents or community members.)

Mr. Lawrence is an administrative specialist – administrative in the Department of Educational Policy Studies. He has worked at Georgia State University for more than nine years, beginning in enrollment and registration services, where he helped students, staff, faculty, parents and guests with admissions, registrar, student accounts and financial aid inquiries. He had a passion for helping students achieve their success, but decided to change his path two years ago when he began working for the Department of Educational Policy Studies. In this role, Mr. Lawrence has been able to assist and support students with reaching their student success goals.

Ms. Yolanda Parker

CEHD Staff Innovation Award

Ms. Yolanda Parker is the 2023 recipient of the CEHD Staff Innovation Award, which recognizes a staff member in the college who generated novel and valuable ideas and used these to develop new or improved processes, methods, systems, products or services. The award recognizes creative ideas that improved any area of the college and made the CEHD a better place to work.

Ms. Parker is an administrative specialist – administrative in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services. In this role, she facilitates the onboarding process for graduate assistants and part-time instructors, oversees the financial management of the graduate assistant/part-time instructor budget, supports faculty search committee members and manages the academic registration and roll verification processes. Before joining the department in 2013, she worked as an administrative coordinator in the college’s Department of Middle and Secondary Education. Ms. Parker earned an A.S. in Business Administration from Georgia Perimeter College in 2011. As a full-time Georgia State University employee and student, she graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sociology in 2016.

Ms. Courtney Strosnider

Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching

Ms. Courtney Strosnider is the 2023 recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching, which recognizes a full-time faculty member in the college for outstanding achievement in the area of undergraduate teaching.

Ms. Strosnider is a clinical instructor in the Department of Kinesiology and Health. She earned her undergraduate degree in kinesiology and health sciences from The College of William and Mary, a master’s degree in clinical exercise physiology from James Madison University and a master’s degree in public health from Georgia State University. She has been awarded two Georgia State grants to incorporate international virtual exchange projects into her undergraduate coursework and was awarded a faculty fellowship for Georgia State’s College to Career initiatives. She coaches the undergraduate exercise science student trivia bowl team that competes at the American College of Sports Medicine’s annual regional conference, and she developed the department’s Honor Code, which incoming students sign each year pledging to maintain a high level of integrity and responsibility. Ms. Strosnider also implemented significant changes to two courses, KH 2130: Introduction to Kinesiology and KH 4350: Professional Development in Kinesiology, to incorporate more professional skill development, leadership training and enhanced public speaking skills to prepare students for their future careers.

Dr. Jonathan Orr

Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award for Graduate Teaching

Dr. Jonathan Orr is the 2023 recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award for Graduate Teaching, which recognizes a full-time faculty member in the college for outstanding achievement in the area of graduate teaching.

Dr. Orr is a clinical associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services and a nationally certified counselor and a licensed professional counselor in Georgia. His teaching and research interests include group work, social justice, supervision, mindfulness, multicultural counseling, theory development and professional counselor identity. He has published works in respected academic journals and conducted workshops and presentations at the local, state, regional and national levels. Dr. Orr is an active leader within the Association for Specialist in Group Work, the American Counseling Association and the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision. He has taught master’s and doctoral students to use narrative exposure therapy, a treatment for complex trauma, and has built relationships with counselors, psychologists, researchers and clinicians at Georgia State and in Clarkston, Ga., to give his students opportunities to apply this therapy treatment with diverse populations.

Dr. Chara Bohan and Dr. H. Robert Baker

CEHD Interdisciplinary Team Award

Dr. Chara Bohan and Dr. H. Robert Baker are the 2023 recipients of the CEHD Interdisciplinary Team Award. This award recognizes an interdisciplinary faculty team with outstanding achievements who have made a significant contribution to the university’s research, scholarship and/or teaching mission through successful interdisciplinary collaborations.

Dr. Bohan is a professor in the Department of Educational Policy Studies and program coordinator for the social foundations of education doctoral program. She specializes in educational history with a focus on gender and race, curriculum and instruction, and social studies education. Dr. Baker is an associate professor of history in Georgia State University’s College of Arts and Sciences. His research explores the relationship between slavery and American legal and constitutional history.

Dr. Bohan and Dr. Baker have been working together since 2008 to further middle and high school teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical skills in teaching history, especially with respect to the teaching of slavery and equality in the 18th and 19th centuries. They have received funding from the U.S. Department of Education and the National Endowment for the Humanities for their work designing graduate-level courses and creating professional development opportunities for social studies teachers. They also co-authored a book with Black history scholar Dr. LaGarrett King entitled, “Teaching Enslavement in American History: Lesson Plans and Primary Sources,” which was published in 2022. Dr. Bohan and Dr. Baker have presented their work at several conferences, including the American Educational Research Association, the National Council for the Social Studies and the National Council for History Education.

Dr. Beth Cianfrone

Outstanding Faculty Research Award

Dr. Beth Cianfrone is the 2023 recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Research Award, which recognizes a full-time faculty member in the college for outstanding achievement in the area of scholarship.

Dr. Cianfrone is a professor of sport administration in the Department of Kinesiology and Health and co-director of the college’s Center for Sport and Urban Policy. Her research focuses on sport marketing, communications and consumer behavior. Her work is widely published in top-tiered journals in sport management, marketing and communication, and she co-edited the book “Branding in Higher Education: Every University Tells a Story.” Dr. Cianfrone is a member of the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM), the Sport Marketing Association (SMA) and the Atlanta chapter of Women in Sports and Events. She serves on the editorial board for the Journal of Applied Sport Management, the Journal of Global Sport Management, Sport Marketing Quarterly and Sport and Entertainment Review. She was named a NASSM Research Fellow in 2015, the 2019 recipient of SMA’s Stotlar Award for her impact on graduate students, and the 2022 recipient of SMA’s Sutton Award for excellence in research, teaching and service. In 2022, Dr. Cianfrone was selected as a National Academy of Kinesiology Fellow, the 10th sport management professor to join the list of 625 Fellows who have been named since the academy’s inception in 1926.

Dr. Donnie Davis

Outstanding Faculty Research Mentoring Award

Dr. Donnie Davis is the 2023 recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Research Mentoring Award, which recognizes a full-time faculty member who fulfills in an exemplary way the college’s commitment to providing mentoring in the conduct of research to faculty colleagues and doctoral students.

Dr. Davis is an associate professor in the Department of Counseling and Psychological Services. He conducted his undergraduate work at Yale University and his doctorate at Virginia Commonwealth University. He completed his psychology pre-doctoral internship at Clemson University and is currently licensed in the state of Georgia. Dr. Davis came to Georgia State University in 2011. His research and clinical interests are in the area of positive psychology, especially the virtues of humility, gratitude and forgiveness. He has published over 275 articles or chapters and several books on these themes, and he received early career awards from Division 17 (Counseling Psychology) and 36 (Religion/Spirituality) of the American Psychological Association. He is also an associate editor of the Journal of Positive Psychology. As a member of the college’s Ken Matheny Center for the Study of Stress, Trauma and Resilience, Dr. Davis has worked on over 30 grants and started the Doctoral Preparation Track, a program designed to address pipeline problems. He has a partner and three kids, Catherine (age 14), Adam (age 9) and Emerson (age 3) and enjoys biking, hiking, other outdoor activities and reading.

Dr. Stacey French-Lee

Outstanding Faculty Service to the Community Award

Dr. Stacey French-Lee is the 2023 recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Service to the Community Award, which recognizes a full-time faculty member who fulfills in an exemplary way the college’s commitment to service and has consistently demonstrated exemplary service to the community and Georgia State University.

Dr. French-Lee is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education and executive director of the college’s Child Development Centers. She has more than 30 years of experience working in birth through five care and early learning in Europe and the United States. Her major research interests include racial socialization, critical race parenting and how the intersections of race, class and gender influence how African American boys are perceived and educated in the United States. In 2021, Dr. French-Lee was elected a board member-at-large for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning for all young children. She also serves on the board of directors for Sheltering Arms for Kids, Drew Charter School and The Boyce Ansley School. Dr. French-Lee also serves on the editorial review board for the Georgia chapter of the National Association of Multicultural Educators and was named one of Georgia State University’s George M. Sparks Award recipients in 2021.

Dr. Tonia Durden

Outstanding Faculty Service to the Profession Award

Dr. Tonia Durden is the 2023 recipient of the Outstanding Faculty Service to the Profession Award, which recognizes a full-time faculty member who fulfills in an exemplary way the college’s commitment to service and has consistently demonstrated exemplary service to their profession at a national level.

Dr. Durden is a clinical professor in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education and program coordinator for the department’s birth through five degree program. Her professional work and scholarship can be categorized into three core areas of focus: Early childhood education (curriculum and program development); racial educational equity (research to professional practice); and early childhood systems engagement (strategic partnerships and equitable systems building). Since she arrived at Georgia State in 2016, Dr. Durden has conducted 40 professional talks, presentations or workshops that have impacted more than 25,000 early childhood professionals, teachers, researchers and policy leaders locally, nationally and internationally. In 2021, she was elected to serve as program co-chair for the American Educational Research Association’s Critical Perspectives in Early Childhood Special Interest Group, leading national and international research, practice and policy efforts that impact young children and families. Dr. Durden is well respected by her colleagues and a national go-to in early childhood for racial educational equity and culturally responsive teaching.

Dr. Chenyi Zhang

Innovation in International Education Faculty Award

Dr. Chenyi Zhang is the 2023 recipient of the Innovation in International Education Faculty Award, which recognizes a full-time faculty member in the college for their outstanding achievement in international education.

Dr. Zhang is an associate professor in the Department of Early Childhood and Elementary Education. His research examines preschool teachers’ instructional supports for promoting young children’s early literacy and language development in diverse cultural and educational contexts. He has mentored five scholars from China and Korea since 2015 and has worked with faculty from Hebei University in China to conduct longitudinal research of early literacy development. In 2016, Dr. Zhang facilitated the American National Council of Family Relations’ visit to Shanghai, China, to introduce the concepts of family life education to Chinese researchers. Through the research partnerships he initiated with several influential Chinese teachers colleges, such as Eastern China Normal University, Sichuan Normal University and Jilin Normal University, Dr. Zhang led multiples studies examining the different patterns of early literacy development in Chinese and English language contexts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he also investigated the pandemic’s impact on parents’ stress in China and the U.S. Manuscripts generated from these projects were published in the “International Handbook of Visual-Motor Skills, Handwriting and Spelling” and in several top-tier journals, such as Reading and Writing, Reading Teacher and Early Education and Development.