College of Education names 8 distinguished alumni

April 28, 2005

College of Education names 8 distinguished alumni

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University's College of Education recently honored eight alumni for their contributions to their profession and communities.

The 2005 Distinguished Education Alumni Awards were presented to Susan Bunte, of Fairfield, Ohio; John R. Carnaghi, of Tallahassee, Fla.; Robert K. Conyne, of Cincinnati; Heidi C. Fernandez, of New York City; Miraca Gross, of Sydney, Australia; Richard (Rusty) King, of Indianapolis; Tamara Morse, of Tucson; and Erna Seecamp Yackel, of Dyer, Ind. The College's Lifetime Achievement Award went to former dean Robert B. Kane of West Lafayette.

• Bunte is the resident assistant principal for Cincinnati Public Schools. She earned a bachelor's and master's degrees in elementary education in 1989 and 1991, respectively.

• Carnaghi is the senior vice president for finance and administration at Florida State University. He earned a master's degree in education administration in 1975.

• Conyne is a professor of counseling in the Division of Human Services and director of the Center for Ecological Counseling at the University of Cincinnati. He earned his master's degree in education and doctorate in counseling in 1968 and 1970, respectively.

• Fernandez is a third-grade teacher for New York City Public Schools. She earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education in 1999.

• Gross is the director of gifted education research in the Resource and Information Centre at The University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. She earned her master's degree in 1986 and her doctorate in 1989, both in gifted education.

• King is the assistant superintendent at North West Hendricks Schools in Lizton, Ind. He earned his bachelor's degree in social studies education in 1974.

• Morse is the owner of Morse Financial Group, a financial and investment-planning firm based in Port Ludlow, Wash. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees in education in 1965 and 1968, respectively, and earned a master's degree in management in 1978.

• Yackel is professor emeritus of mathematics education in the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics at Purdue Calumet. She earned her doctorate in mathematics education in 1984.

• Kane was the first dean of education at Purdue from 1989 until 1991. In 1960 he had a joint appointment with the Department of Mathematics and became head of the Department of Education in 1975. Kane retired in 1992.

The Department of Education was established as the School of Education in 1989 and was renamed the College of Education in January. The College of Education was recently named one of the top schools of education by U.S.News and World Report, ranking No. 49 out of nearly 200 schools that responded to the survey. As of fall semester, there were 994 undergraduates and 569 graduate students enrolled in the college.

Writer: Maggie Morris, (765) 494-2432, maggiemorris@purdue.edu

Source: Becky Watson, (765) 494-0568, watsonbl@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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