Rosemary Blieszner, Alumni Distinguished Professor at Virginia Tech and interim dean of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, was named an Alumni Fellow by the Penn State Alumni Association.

The Alumni Fellow Award, the most prestigious award given by the Penn State Alumni Association, recognizes alumni who are leaders in their professional fields. Blieszner, who received her doctorate from Penn State, was nominated by the Graduate School at Penn State, and accepted an invitation from President Eric J. Barron to return to the campus at University Park for the Award Ceremony on Oct. 6. While there, she also shared her expertise with faculty and graduate students. Her host at the awards ceremony was Regina Vasilatos-Younken, vice provost for graduate education and dean of the Graduate School.

While on campus, Blieszner met with Craig Newschaffer, dean of the College of Health and Human Development, to discuss graduate and undergraduate programs in human development and family sciences, and the Biobehavioral Health Program. She also spoke with staff at the Center on Healthy Aging about strategies for recruiting research participants, and met with graduate students to discuss their research interests in cognitive decline in old age and social and contextual determinants of late-life health and well-being.

Blieszner’s scholarship and roles as an educator and administrator span 40 years at Virginia Tech. She is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, American Psychological Association, International Association for Relationship Research, National Council on Family Relations, and Association for Gerontology in Higher Education. A former dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, she has been a faculty member in the Department of Human Development and Family Science since 1981. She is also a senior fellow in the Center for Gerontology.

Written by Lesley Yorke