Sgt. John Gavel, Fresno State Campus Police, assisted in saving a choking baby. Fresno detective helps save baby from choking

Debbie Astone, vice president for administration and chief financial officer, has been appointed as the Chair of the California State University Chief Administrators and Business Officers for 2021-22.

Venita Blackburn, faculty, English, published the stories “Ambien and Liquor” in Ploughshares journal; and “Trial of Ghosts” in the queer fiction issue of McSweeney’s. Her story “Black Jesus,” previously published on LitHub, was a featured selection of the Gotham Writers Workshop. Nominated for a Pushcart Prize for the story “Smoothies,” previously published in Split Lip Magazine; the story was also selected for inclusion in the 2021 Best Small Fictions anthology.

Steven Church, faculty, English, published the essay “Paw. Dog. Song.: On ‘Jessie’” for the March Plaidness literary tournament.

Ronald Dzerigian, staff, Division of Research and Graduate Studies, published the poem “Smoke and Branch” in Swamp Ape Review.

Randa Jarrar, faculty, English, published her third book, the memoir “Love is An Ex-Country,” with Catapult Books. Two chapters from the memoir were published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, and a snippet is played on the AudioFile Magazine podcast. She was interviewed by Poets and Writers magazine, Electric Literature, Harper’s Bazaar, Bitch Magazine, Afar Magazine, Roadtrippers Magazine, Orange County Register, Hazlitt, and The Rumpus. The book was noted in the New York Times, the Today Show and in Esquire’s “31 Best Books of 2021” list; selected by Indiebound for its monthly Indie Next List and by The Rumpus for its monthly book club. The book was reviewed in Geographical magazine, The Brooklyn Rail, The AU Review, Alta Journal, Cultured Vultures and Paperback Paris. She was interviewed by Harper’s Bazaar for the article “Six Palestinian Writers on Celebrating Eid During Turbulent Times.” She also published the essay “The Lineage of Maternal Grief, from the Maryam to the Mothers of the Movement” on LitHub.

Samina Najmi, faculty, English, published the essays “Trinità” in Under the Sun magazine; “One Summer in Gaza” and “Between Cave and Canyon” in Entropy magazine; “The Straight Lines of a Circle” in Split Lip Magazine; and “Yellow Coat” in The Manifest Station.

Mary Paul, faculty, English, published the co-authored articles “The Role of Teaching Goals and Instructional Technology Perceptions in Faculty Members’ Technology Use” in Contemporary Educational Technology journal and “Engaging the control-value theory: a new era of student response systems and formative assessment to improve student achievement” in Research in Learning Technology journal. With co-author Trang Phan, she presented the training course “Flipped Classroom: Application of Technology in the Classroom” at Dong A. University in Vietnam.

Charles L. Radke, staff, Division of Research and Graduate Studies, published his debut book, the memoir “Stuccoville: Life Without a Net,” with WiDō Publishing. He also published the essays “What We Needed” in Stoneboat Literary Journal, “The Disappearance of Daughter X” in Montana Mouthful, “Pretty Bird” in the Sierra Nevada Review, and “The King of Luxury (Vinyl)” in Pa’lante Journal.

Brynn Saito, faculty, English, published her fourth book, the poetry chapbook “Wild Recovery,” co-authored with Traci Brimhall, as part of the “Four Quartets: Poetry in the Pandemic” anthology from Tupelo Press; the anthology was reviewed by The Best American Poetry blog. She performed the poem “A Blessing for The People’s Inauguration” as part of The People’s Inauguration. Several lines from the poem were embroidered onto Levi’s trucker jackets in honor of AAPI heritage month. She published the poem “Stone in the Desert Camp, 1942” in The Atlantic; “Self-Portrait Disguised as Stones” in the Northwest Review and “Dear Past,” co-authored with Traci Brimhall, for The Best American Poetry blog.

Mai Der Vang, faculty, English, announced the publication of her second book, the poetry collection “Yellow Rain,” forthcoming in September 2021 from Graywolf Press. Received the 2021 Extraordinary Teaching in Extraordinary Times Award for supporting student success, as selected by Provost Xuanning Fu. Delivered a virtual keynote address on poetry, resilience and the refugee experience for the Woodland Pattern Book Center.

The Department of Physical Therapy was awarded the Minority Initiatives Award from the American Physical Therapy Association, which annually acknowledges outstanding achievements in the areas of accomplishment, education, service, publication and research. The Minority Initiative Award recognizes accredited Doctor of Physical Therapy programs that have successfully demonstrated ongoing initiatives to assist minority students for at least three consecutive years. The initiative was a four-year plan spearheaded in 2017 by assistant professor, Dr. Monica Rivera, Admissions Coordinator, Ashley Behlen, and the former chair.