Faculty members in the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences (CBSHS) have received national honors from professional organizations across disciplines in recognition of their exemplary leadership and career-long commitment to advancing scholarship and strengthening practice.
“CBSHS comprises an exceptional community of scholars whose sustained contributions have advanced knowledge, informed policy and strengthened professional practice throughout their careers,” said Leslie Hossfeld, CBSHS dean. “Recognition by a scholar’s professional organization is the highest honor, and I am proud to celebrate each of our faculty members for their well-earned achievements.”
School of Nursing
John Whitcomb, Ph.D., director and chief academic nursing officer of the School of Nursing, has been named a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Fellows are selected based on their exemplary leadership, expertise and career contributions to the field of nursing.
Whitcomb has more than four decades of critical care nursing experience. For 26 years, he served in the United States Navy as a hospital corpsman, nurse and commander. He has also served as specialty advisor to the Surgeon General and trauma training officer for the White House medical staff. He is currently serving on the South Carolina State Board of Nursing as vice chair representing the 3rd Congressional District and on the National Council of State Boards of Nursing as director-at-large. His research focuses on challenges in critical care settings, such as end-of-life challenges, family visitation, functional status post-cardiac arrest and cardiac arrest outcomes.
The Academy is a policy organization and an honorific society that recognizes nursing’s most accomplished leaders in policy, research, practice, administration and academia.
Department of Psychology
Bob Sinclair, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Psychology, has been named an inaugural Fellow of the Society for Occupational Health Psychology (SOHP). Fellows of the SOHP are recognized for significant, career-long contributions to occupational health psychology (OHP) and sustained excellence in research, practice and service.
Throughout his career, Sinclair, a founding member and past president of the SOHP, has advanced scholarship to deepen the understanding of economic stress, organizational climate and the employment relationship. To date, his work has resulted in more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, 9,000 citations, 200 presentations, four edited books and over $1 million in grant funding. He currently serves as founding editor-in-chief of Occupational Health Science, a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to cutting-edge scholarship on the behavioral, social and psychological aspects of occupational health.
The SOHP has served as the premier professional organization for the OHP discipline since its inception in 2004.
Department of Public Health Sciences
Stella Lartey, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Public Health Sciences, has completed a prestigious Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program where she worked in the 119th U.S. Congress. The program is funded by The John A. Hartford Foundation, West Health Policy Center and the Atlantic Philanthropies,
Lartey, trained in medical studies and a certified professional in age-friendly healthcare, was selected as a Fellow for her health and aging expertise, leadership potential and commitment to advancing scholarship, policy and practice. During the program, she worked to bridge the gap between scientific research and federal health policy to advance evidence-informed health policy solutions.
Her multidisciplinary research integrates epidemiology, health economics, health services research, behavioral intervention science and health policy to advance chronic disease prevention, healthcare access and healthy aging. As an early career academic, she has published more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and contributed to the United States Census Bureau’s report on aging.
The goal of the Health and Aging Policy Fellows Program is to provide professionals in health and aging with the experience and skills necessary to ensure a healthy and productive future for older Americans.
The School of Nursing and Departments of Psychology and Public Health Sciences are part of the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences. Established in July 2016, CBSHS is a 21st-century, land-grant college that combines work in seven disciplines – communication; nursing; parks, recreation and tourism management; political science; psychology; public health sciences; sociology, anthropology and criminal justice – to further its mission of “building people and communities” in South Carolina and beyond.
