Connie Crawley (Nutrition and Health Specialist, FACS Extension) has been awarded the 2006 Georgia Diabetes and Cardiovascular Award for Leadership by the Diabetes Prevention and Control and Drive for Sight Programs of the Georgia Department of Human Resources-Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Branch.

Joseph Goetz has joined the College of Family and Consumer Sciences as an assistant professor of Housing and Consumer Economics. He is completing his doctorate in the field of personal financial planning at Texas Tech University. He also has two master’s degrees from Texas Tech, one in psychology and the other in financial planning. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Missouri.

Gail Hanula (Expanded Foods and Nutrition Education Program Coordinator and Extension Nutrition Specialist) has been awarded the 2006 Award of Excellence from the Georgia Nutrition Council. Hanula is a past president of the Georgia Nutrition Council, the Connecticut Nutrition Council and the Northeast Georgia Dietetic Association.

Ian Hardin (Professor, Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors) has been named co-director of the UGA Academy on the Environment. The Academy on the Environment was initiated in 1999 with the goal of addressing environmental issues by facilitating interactions across traditional academic disciplines, offering interdisciplinary training programs and coordinating environmental research.

Francine (Frankie) Jones has been named director of the Georgia Traffic Injury Prevention Institute. She succeeds long-time director, Steve Davis, who has stepped down into a part-time position with GTIPI. Beth Bartlett, has been promoted into Jones’ former position as head of GTIPI’s Parent-Youth Outreach initiative.

Naz Kaya (Assistant Professor, Textiles, Merchandising and Interiors) and her husband Ferhat Erdal are the parents of a son, Kaya Erdal, born Jan. 27.

Joan Moss (Associate Professor, Housing and Consumer Economics) has been named a Sam M. Walton Free Enterprise Fellow for the 2005-06 academic year.

Robb Nielsen has joined the College of Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Office as a Financial Management Extension Specialist. He earned his PhD in family policy from Iowa State University, his master’s in family ecology from the University of Utah and two bachelor’s degrees – one in consumer studies and family economics and second in political science – from the University of Utah. He previously worked for the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Traffic Injury Prevention Institute has been awarded a $963,000 grant from the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety to continue its education and training programs in the use of safety belts, child safety seats, and safer teen driving. Don Bower, professor of Human Development and Family Science and head of the CFD department, is the principal investigator on the grant.

Janet Valente (BSHE ’84, Home Economics Education; MS ’86, Housing, Home Management and Consumer Economics; EdD ’05, Adult Education) has joined the FACS Cooperative Extension Service as a program development specialist for the Northwest District. She is based in Griffin.

Tiffany Williams (Research Technician, Expanded Foods and Nutrition Education Program; BSFCS ’99, Child and Family Development) has been awarded a Public Service and Outreach Staff Award for Excellence for developing a computer training course for paraprofessionals in the EFNEP program. The trainings provide paraprofessionals, many of whom have only basic computer skills and speak English as a second language, the skills necessary to enter EFNEP data. Williams was recognized along with other award recipients during the Annual Awards for Excellence in Public Service and Outreach luncheon in January.