Phillip Gonzales, professor, Chicano and Latin American Studies Department, was appointed to the Binational of Central California 2023 Board of Directors. This group of community leaders will support and advocate for the vision and mission to improve the quality of life of low-income, immigrant, farmer communities.

Ronald Dzerigian, graduate student support specialist, Division of Research and Graduate Studies, will be showing his new paintings and sculptures at the Downtown Artist Gallery from 5 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 2 and 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4.

Mark Keppler, executive director, Maddy Institute, gave a presentation on "What Does the Political Landscape Look Like in 2023?" on Tuesday, Jan. 10 at the Modesto Rotary Club. This presentation was about Valley issues and 2023 state politics. He also gave another presentation on "How Can We Improve Civic Engagement?" on Tuesday, Jan. 17 at the Fresno Business Council.

Dr. Jessica McKenzie, associate professor, Child and Family Science Department, was recently awarded a $120,756 grant from the Cultural Evolution Society Transformation Fund to support her state of the field research in Thailand — "Globalization and Youth Development: A Cross-Sequential Study in Rural and Urban Regions of Northern Thailand."

Dr. Melanie H. Ram, professor, political science, recently returned from a Fulbright Fellowship in Europe where she spent four months working with intergovernmental organizations. Read about her experience in this blog post.

Dr. Peter Robertson, director, Alumni Association, was named the grand marshal of the Tower District’s 25th Mardi Gras Parade scheduled for Sunday, Feb. 19 at 1 p.m. in Fresno's Tower District.

Dr. Aly Tawfik, professor, civil engineering, was appointed to the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB's) statewide Research Screening Committee (RSC), where he is the only member on the committee from the CSU system. RSC, the board's legislatively mandated 11-member committee consists of scientists, engineers, and others knowledgeable, technically qualified, and experienced in air pollution problems. The committee provides guidance on the wide range of proposed and completed research projects relevant to CARB programs.