FACULTY & STAFF
 

     Mark Jury has joined the University's School of Edu-cation as an assistant professor in the Department of Reading.  Department Chair Peter Johnston recently said, “With his wonderful sense of humor and his commitment, Mark fit right into the department.  His strong background in practice, as well as theory, made him immediately popular as a teacher, and he is an outstanding scholar. Even in his first year, he has contributed significantly to our program development and grant-writing efforts.  We are very lucky to have him.” Prior to coming to UAlbany, he  was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh’s Learning Research and Development Center.  There he worked with Dr. Lauren Resnick, coordinating a project titled “Contextualized Learning of Academic Subject Matter: State of the Art,” funded by the National Center for Research on Vocational Education.
    Jury received his Ph.D. in education at the University of California, Berkeley in 1999. Prior to his graduate work, he taught high school English and journalism for 15 years in Washington state, where he also helped start up and co-direct a National Writing Project site.
    Jury’s research has focused on literacy, learning and identity across a broad range of settings, including workplaces such as electronics manufacturing plants in California’s Silicon Valley and the timberlands of Washington state. His research has also taken him into a variety of school classrooms across the country, from Brooklyn and the Bronx to California’s north coast, and from Detroit’s suburbs to West Texas oil fields.  His current research focuses on adolescent literacy learning and instruction.
    Jury has been the recipient of several fellowships and grants, including a Spencer Dissertation Fellowship. His publications include articles in the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, The Quarterly of the National Writing Project, and the Washington English Journal.  He has also presented papers at several national and international conferences. 

    Marcia J. Moody has recently joined the University as a professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology. Previous to this, she was an intern at the Counseling Center at the University of California, Irvine. Department Chair Susan Phillips recently said, “Marcia Moody brings to our faculty numerous areas of interest and expertise including multiculturalism, adolescence, and counselor training. Her work in the development of ethnic identity stands at the cutting edge of psychology.  We look forward to her contributions to the  department.”
    Moody completed her master’s degree in education in 1990 at the University of Maryland. She is currently completing her doctoral dissertation on black racial identity.  Her forthcoming publication, “The Social Contact Model of Black Racial Identity,” is a cross-sectional study investigating how contact with European Americans and social class influence black racial identity attitudes, and is based on her dissertation findings. 
    Moody was the recipient of  the Spencer Foundation Research Fellowship and the Advanced Opportunity Fellowship, both awarded to her from the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she is pursuing her doctorate in counseling psychology.  While there, she worked as a therapist for the Counseling Center and as an academic specialist for at-risk youth with the Dane County Neighborhood Intervention Program. 
    Moody was the keynote address speaker for the 1999 Kwanzaa celebration at UAlbany. Her address was entitled, “Kwanzaa and the African-centered Movement.” She also presented a symposium, “Integration of Africentrism into the Science and Practice of Psychology,” with B.K. Ford and T.A. Parham at the 106th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, in 1998.

    Donna Scanlon has joined the University as an assistant professor in the Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology. Department Chair Susan Phillips recently said, “Donna Scanlon brings strong expertise in cognitive and instructional psychology, particularly as it relates to reading development and disability.  We are fortunate to have one of her experience join our faculty.”  Scanlon is also the  associate director of the Child Research and Study Center at UAlbany, a position she also held prior to joining the faculty. 
    Scanlon received her Ph.D. in educational psychology and statistics at UAlbany in 1987. She has many current research interests, including: programmatic research into the cognitive; instructional and experiential factors associated with reading difficulty; and reading and language development in general. Through her research, she has developed instruments for assessing various aspects of cognitive functioning and academic achievement and methods for facilitating early literacy development for children identified as at-risk for reading difficulties.
    She has been the recipient of several grants. Most recently, she received a five-year grant from NICHD to support a research program designed to investigate  models for preventing long term reading difficulties.
    Scanlon’s numerous publications have appeared in journals such as Scientific Studies of Reading and the Journal of Education  Psychology. She developed a parent education booklet, titled “For Parents of Beginning Readers: Questions and Answers,” which is widely used locally. 
    Scanlon is a licensed psychologist in New York State.

    Arthur A. Ekirch Jr., 84, one of the early leaders of the Conference on Peace Research in History (a predecessor of the Peace History Society), died on   February 5.
    Born in New York City, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University. After teaching for many years at American University in Washington, D.C., Ekirch became a professor of American history at the University at Albany, where he taught from 1965 to 1986. A former Guggenheim Fellow, he was the author of 10 books and numerous articles.
    Kendall Birr, Ekirch’s former colleague in the history department, said, “Arthur Ekirch was first the consummate professional historian. To him, the function of the historian was to write history. Arthur was also a person of very strong personal views. His emphasis on individual freedom brought him close to the libertarians. Despite the strength of his views, he never let them distort his scholarship or teaching.”
    Another colleague, Professor Larry Wittner, said that Ekirch was disillusioned with World War I as a college student in the 1930s and with wars in general. He registered as a conscientious objector during World War II. 
    Wittner said Ekirch’s prolific career as the author of 10 books was “all the more remarkable, given his unorthodox views. Indeed, it took him five years to find a publisher for The Civilian and the Military, his highly regarded study of antimilitarism in American life. Arthur was a particularly straightforward, outspoken individualist who was known for his blunt pronouncements and sharp-edged political libertarianism. His unusually honest, fearless approach to issues, coupled with his unwavering opposition to war, earned him widespread respect,” Wittner said.
    Professor Ekirch is survived by his loving wife, Dorothy, his son, Roger, and daughters Cheryl E. Remley and Caryl E. Williams.
    In 1986 Professor Ekirch's family established an endowment fund in his honor. Proceeds from the fund are used to award a prize for an exceptional research paper in American history. With the interest from the endowment the fund now is able to offer a second prize for a research paper in a field other than U.S. history. Contributions may be sent to the Arthur A. Ekirch History Prize, made out to “The University at Albany Foundation” at the following address: Ekirch History Prize, c/o Harriet Temps, Department of History, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave., Albany, N.Y. 12222.  A memorial service will be held at the Alumni House at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 24.

    Robert F. Foster Jr. The University Police Department (UPD) recently suffered a deep loss with the sudden passing of Supervisor Robert F. Foster Jr., 42, on February 12.  Born in Albany, Foster graduated from Albany High School in 1977 and lived locally all his life. He was employed with the UPD Security Services Division starting in 1988 as a security services assistant. He was promoted to corporal in 1995.
    “Throughout his career, Foster demonstrated a commitment to the University, the University Police Department and the community he served, and received several commendations for his efforts,” said Tom Kilcullen, deputy chief of UPD.
    UPD plans to remember Corporal Foster by naming the department's Professional Service Award for Security Services Assistants in his honor. The award will be presented annually at a departmental ceremony to selected SSAs who have demonstrated continued professional service.
    Foster is survived by his wife, Donna LaChappelle Foster, his daughter, Nicole, his parents, Robert Sr. and Lucille Foster, and his brothers, Timothy and William Foster.