Five Holy Family University Professors Named Recipients of the 2024 Ray and Mildred Taylor Awards
Five Holy University professors have been named as the recipients of the 2024 Ray and Mildred Taylor Awards, competitive grants that support research projects across a range of disciplines at the University.
Dian He, Ph.D., Stanley Mauldin, Ph.D., Edward Waddell, Ph.D., and Jaclyn Myers, Ph.D., professors in the School of Arts & Sciences, jointly will share the award to fund the creation of a Center for Biological Macromolecule Simulation (CBMS) within the University’s Natural Sciences Department, focusing on computational research in biology and biochemistry. The proposed CBMS will allow more student interns to participate in research, engage in diverse experiments, and present their work at various academic conferences. Expanded computational resources also will foster greater collaboration within the Natural Sciences Department, enable more internal research projects and enhance high-level science courses by facilitating multiple simultaneous computer modeling experiments.
Patrick McElwaine, Psy.D. has also been named a Taylor Award recipient and will use the grant funding to create a recovery-focused book entitled The Power of Recovery: Stories of Experience, Strength and Hope. The publication will include personal testimonials from 20-30 individuals in recovery and will be used to promote sobriety, reduce stigma, and provide hope for individuals struggling with substance abuse disorders. The book will serve as a resource for educational settings, the community, and anyone touched by addiction and will include information on evidence-based treatments, recovery support groups, and related resources.
The Taylor Award program was established through an endowment created by Carol Taylor H'22, RN, Ph.D., a former University faculty member who served from 1979-1987 and 1995-1997 in the School of Nursing & Health Sciences. Taylor and her family created the award to honor her parents: Ray and Mildred Taylor. Carol was honored by the School Nursing & Health Sciences in October 2012 with its highest award, the Distinguished Nursing Alumni Award. Taylor was honored by the University with a doctor of humane letters, honoris causa, at Holy Family's 2022 Commencement.
The Ray and Mildred Taylor Awards provide funding to faculty who have completed at least two years of full-time teaching at Holy Family. Requests are made in the form of formal proposals to the Ray and Mildred Taylor Committee, with priority given to those projects that advance faculty research and scholarship.