Awards and Certifications From September 12
Michigan Tech Moves Up On Best Colleges List: In the latest US News & World Report "Best Colleges" rankings released Wednesday, Michigan Technological University's undergraduate engineering programs ranked 64th in the nation among schools offering doctoral degrees, up two places from last year. Among public universities, Michigan Tech's undergraduate programs in all disciplines placed 58th in the nation, and among national universities, Tech's undergraduate education placed solidly in what the magazine calls its first tier, ranking 120th of 199 first-tier universities. US News defines a national university as one that offers a full range of undergraduate majors as well as master's and PhD programs, and emphasizes faculty research. Michigan Tech was also listed as an "A-Plus School for B Students." The category lists top-ranked universities that consistently consider and admit promising students whose high school grade point average is below an A. The U.S. News rankings system rests on two pillars: quantitative measures that education experts consider reliable indicators of academic quality -- such as test scores of entering freshmen, faculty to student ratio, class size and graduation rates -- and on assessment by administrators at peer institutions. More at www.mtu.edu.
Grand Valley Named Top Midwest University: Grand Valley State University has been ranked seventh in the "Top Public Regional Universities in the Midwest" by U.S. News & World Report. For its prestigious annual Best Colleges 2013 publication, Grand Valley also ranked 35th among Midwest Universities. The U.S. News rankings are based on several key measures of quality including peer assessment, graduation and retention rates, faculty resources, student selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving. Data was collected from each institution that included up to 16 indicators of academic excellence. Grand Valley offers 82 undergraduate and 30 graduate degree programs from campuses in Allendale, Grand Rapids and Holland, and from regional centers in Muskegon and Traverse City.
Kettering Again Among US News' Best Colleges: Kettering University remains No. 1 in industrial and manufacturing engineering for schools of its type in the county and is No. 7 in mechanical engineering, according to the U.S. News and World Report's 2013 Best College rankings. The university also improved its ranking to No. 14 among best regional universities in the midwest and to No. 17 among best undergraduate engineering in the country. Kettering's category is undergraduate engineering schools, whose highest degree offered is a bachelor's or master's degree. The U.S. News ranking system uses data gathered from each college on up to 16 indicators of academic excellence. More at www.usnews.com/collegemeth. The 2013 edition of the Best Colleges guidebook is available at USNews.com and will be on newsstands Sept. 18.
Wayne State Researcher Recognized By American Psychological Association: The American Psychological Association's Committee on Aging recently presented its Award for the Advancement of Psychology and Aging to Peter Lichtenberg, director of the Institute of Gerontology and the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute at Wayne State University. Lichtenberg was recognized for his outstanding contributions to clinical geropsychology that integrate science, practice, education, public interest and public policy. Lichtenberg has authored numerous books and articles on assessment in clinical gerontology and advanced clinical practice. He is president of the American Psychological Association's Division 20 and chair of the APA's Committee on Aging. In addition, he serves as chair of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Section of the Gerontological Society of America. In his 15 years of service as the director of the Institute of Gerontology, Lichtenberg helped develop the Lifespan Cognitive Neuroscience Research Program and the Aging and Health Disparities Research Program at WSU. He developed a continuing education program that serves more than 3,000 professionals each year and an independent funding effort that has raised more than $3 million dollars for the Institute of Gerontology's community programs. Lichtenberg also secured a grant from the National Institute on Aging for a pre-doctoral training program, whose graduates have continued gerontology research at universities nationwide, including the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of Pittsburgh. Lichtenberg received his bachelor's in psychology from Washington University, his master's in clinical psychology from Purdue University, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in geriatric neuropsychology at the University of Virginia Medical School.
Valassis Earns Spot on 2012 InformationWeek 500 List of Top Technology Innovators Across America: Valassis (NYSE: VCI), one of the nation's leading media and marketing services companies, announced that it made this year's InformationWeek 500, an annual listing of the nation's most innovative users of business technology. This is the third consecutive year Valassis has been named to this list. The company was recognized for the development of its Advanced Booking Engine (ABE), a system that optimizes ad placement requests for its clients in a fraction of time with a 98 percent improvement rate. The InformationWeek 500 rankings are unique among corporate rankings as it spotlights the power of innovation in information technology, rather than simply identifying the biggest IT spenders. Additional details on the InformationWeek 500 can be found at www.informationweek.com/iw500/. Valassis and its RedPlum media portfolio deliver on behalf of 15,000 advertisers to more than 100 million shoppers across a multi-media platform – in-home, in-store and in-motion. Through its digital offerings, including redplum.com and save.com, consumers can find compelling national and local deals. Headquartered in Livonia, Michigan with approximately 7,000 associates in 28 states and eight countries, Valassis is widely recognized for its associate and corporate citizenship programs, including its America's Looking for Its Missing Children program. Valassis companies include Valassis Direct Mail Inc., Valassis Canada, Promotion Watch, Valassis Relationship Marketing Systems LLC, NCH Marketing Services Inc. and Brand.net. For more information, visit www.valassis.com, www.redplum.com and www.save.com.
