FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, Oct. 23, 2009
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications, 304-696-7153
 

College of Education and Human Services announces award donors

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Retired Marshall University professor Dr. C. Robert “Bob” Barnett has agreed to fund a faculty award endowment in Marshall’s College of Education and Human Services (COEHS), the college announced today.

The C. Robert Barnett Award for Excellence in Research will perpetually support this award for faculty selected for excellence in research.

The award originally was established in 2006 by Dr. Rosalyn Templeton, dean of the College of Education and Human Services. Current, fulltime tenured faculty in the COEHS are eligible to apply for this yearly recognition and $500 award stipend. Templeton also established excellence awards in the areas of teaching and service for COEHS faculty in 2006.

Barnett retired in December 2007 after 35 years of service to Marshall as a coach, faculty member and administrator. He served as division chair from 1994 through 2002 and retired as a faculty member in the Division of Exercise Science, Sports and Recreation, formerly known as the Department of Health Physical Education and Recreation. This division within the COEHS is now known as the School of Kinesiology.

Barnett holds both master’s and doctoral degrees from The Ohio State University and he received his BA in physical education from Marshall in 1965. He is widely known for his research, publications and teaching in the area of sports history both nationally and internationally.

Barnett and his wife, Elizabeth, also an educator, have been longtime contributors to Marshall University. The Barnetts have given back regularly in numerous areas at Marshall with special consideration to the Dr. C. Robert Barnett Scholarship and Dr. Wayne G. Taylor Graduate Scholarship in the School of Kinesiology. The Barnetts are members of both the John Marshall and Heritage giving societies at Marshall.

Barnett said that he has always believed in the value of faculty members conducting research. He has led by example, authoring more than 300 articles, book reviews, encyclopedia entries and research presentations, with his work appearing in many nationally recognized journals. Barnett said he wanted to show his support of the COEHS research award to encourage faculty to pursue research that will keep them current in their fields and will help them always help students find the answer to their questions of “why?” 

“Dr. Barnett is an outstanding example of a faculty member who knows the true meaning of scholarship,” Templeton said. “He used research results to inform his teaching and guide his service in many Marshall and community projects. Therefore, his students received the very best Marshall has to offer – a well-informed and dedicated mentor, who supported their academic and career successes.”

Anyone wishing to contribute to COEHS endowments are encouraged to contact Rick Robinson, Director of Development for the College of Education and Human Services, at 304-696-7081 or via e-mail at robinsonr@marshall.edu.

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