Drs. Sylvia Miller and Janine Spencer (School of Nursing) were inducted the Central San Joaquin Valley Nursing Hall of Fame on Sept. 18. The award honors the distinctive careers of nurse leaders and professionals within the seven-county region of the Valley.

Miller's extensive nursing career spans almost 50 years, beginning when she graduated with her bachelor's degree from the Fresno State Nursing Program in 1971. She went on to earn a total of three degrees from the University, as well as a Family Nurse Practitioner certificate. She currently serves as chair of the School of Nursing and is regarded for her quiet, but forward-focused leadership. Miller has been educating and training future nurses for over 40 years — 20 of those as faculty at Fresno State. Outside of the academic setting, Miller is highly skilled in a variety of nurse settings, including medical surgical nursing, critical care, cardiac care and palliative care.

Spencer serves alongside Miller as an associate professor and assistant chair of the School of Nursing, leading the RN to BSN program. Also an alumna of Fresno State, Spencer has taught for nearly 30 years at both Fresno State and San Joaquin Valley College, serving as both faculty and program director. She shares her spirit of service-learning with her students, and regularly connects them with community partners like the Fresno Rescue Mission, Community Food Bank and Poverello House to name a few. In the nursing profession, she's held many positions from staff nurse in operating rooms to director of patient care services.

A plaque in McLane Hall, outside of the School of Nursing office, bears the names of all honorees throughout the years, beginning in 2004.

Nicole J. Smith, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology and faculty fellow with the Central California Children's Institute, co-led professional development workshops for all K-6 teachers from Heaton, Robinson, and Thomas elementary schools in the Fresno Unified School District.

The workshops aimed to increase teacher awareness about the importance of physical activity and also provided teachers with resources and strategies for increasing physical activity in physical education and throughout the school day.

The College of Health and Human Services has released the latest edition of its Faculty Research Profiles. Through the profiles, the college hopes to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration across the University and engaged partnerships in the community. It will also allow faculty to pave the way for students to connect to service-learning opportunities, internships and community-based research.

Click here to view the profiles on the CHHS website.