2023 University Distinguished Faculty Awards
April 26, 2023
2023 University Distinguished Faculty Awards
BATON ROUGE - LSU is proud of its world-class faculty, and we are pleased to announce the College of Human Sciences & Education's faculty honored as this year’s recipients of university-wide distinguished faculty awards. Congratulations.
This year's honorees are:
Senlin Chen, PhD | LSU Distinguished Faculty Award, School of Kinesiology
Jennifer Baumgartner, PhD | LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award, Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of
Education
Jennifer Scott, PhD | LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award, School of Social Work
LSU Distinguished Faculty Award
Senlin Chen, PhD is a Helen “Bessie” Silverberg Pliner professor in the School of Kinesiology.
Before joining the LSU family, Dr. Chen was an assistant professor at Iowa State University
for six years (2011-2017). Dr. Chen’s research is focused on physical education curriculum,
physical activity and wellness promotion, and achievement motivation. Dr. Chen’s research
has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA), Louisiana Board of Regents, Society of Health and Physical
Educators (SHAPE), and other sources. Dr. Chen’s research findings have been disseminated
in many scholarly journals and conferences.
As a Research Fellow of the SHAPE America (inducted in 2014), Dr. Chen has received multiple awards for his research, instruction, and service contributions. He has provided leadership and service to multiple prominent journals (e.g., JTPE, JSHS, MPEES, Biomedical Res. Int.) as guest editor, associate editor, editorial board member, and ad hoc reviewers; and professional organizations as Chair or executive board members (e.g., AERA SIG93, SHAPE CSPAP SIG, ICSPAH). Dr. Chen is dedicated to teaching and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students to reach excellence.
LSU Alumni Association Faculty Excellence Award
Jennifer Baumgartner, PhD is an associate professor in the Lutrill & Pearl Payne School of Education.
She teaches in the PK-3 teacher certification program and early childhood education
graduate program. Her research centers around two major issues: 1.) how philosophies
and/or knowledge are translated into practices in children’s developmental contexts
and, 2.) stress among teachers and children in early care settings. Her work is published
in several journals, including Journal of Health Psychology, Early Child Development
and Care, Journal of Early Childhood Teacher Education and Young Children. She has
experience directing early child development laboratory schools and teaches critical
perspectives in early childhood education, child development and stress in education
courses. She serves as co-faculty advisor to the LSU student chapter of the Association
for the Education of Young Children.
Her awards and honors include the Journal of Research in Childhood Education Distinguished Education Research Article Award, LSU College of Agriculture nominee for U.S. Professors of the Year Award from the Carnegie Foundation of the Advancement of Teaching, LSU Chapter of Gamma Sigma Delta Honor Society of Agriculture Teacher Honor Roll, Service-Learning Faculty Scholar, and the College of Agriculture recipient of the Tiger Athletic Foundation Teaching Award.
LSU Alumni Association Rising Faculty Research Award
Jennifer Scott, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work.
Her research focuses on understanding how economic and political marginalization (or
exclusion) affect community and individual wellbeing and health. Specifically, how
the social determinants of economic access (i.e. work, non-cash economic support,
residence) and immigration status (particularly legal status) affect individual, family
and community wellbeing and health outcomes. Dr. Scott is a mixed methods researcher,
combining quantitative and qualitative approaches as well as conducting investigations
that employ a single approach.
Dr. Scott currently teaches social policy and diversity related courses in the School of Social Work. She received a grant from CSWE to help expand policy field opportunities for social work students. She also developed and led a graduate level study abroad program to Concepcion, Chile, and is actively exploring other international education possibilities.
She joined the LSU faculty after completing her PhD in Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin where she was a Graduate Student Fellow in the Urban Ethnography Lab and the Population Research Center, and where she also spent a quarter as a Graduate Student Fellow in the Center for Poverty Research at the University of California, Davis. She holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University School of Social Work and a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Philosophy from Trinity University.
About CHSE
The College of Human Sciences & Education (CHSE) is a nationally accredited division of Louisiana State University. The college is comprised of the School of Education, the School of Information Studies, the School of Kinesiology the School of Leadership & Human Resource Development, the School of Social Work, and the University Laboratory School. These combined schools offer 8 undergraduate degree programs, 18 graduate programs, and 7 online graduate degree and/or certificate programs, enrolling more than 1,900 undergraduate and 1,120 graduate students. The College is committed to achieving the highest standards in teaching, research, and service and is committed to improving quality of life across the lifespan.