Dr. Joseph Turek, professor of economics, has received the 2007 Elsie Ervin Bock Faculty Citizenship Award, named in memory of a former professor of English who died in 1996.
Dr. Turek, who joined the Lynchburg College faculty in 1986, has served as the director of Westover Honors Program, director of the Walter G. Mason Center for Business and Economic Research, and program coordinator for economics and finance in the School of Business and Economics. This fall, he will take over as dean of the School of Business and Economics for 2007-2008.
Formerly chair of the LC Health Benefits task force, the College Planning Committee, and the College Personnel Committee, he currently heads the Pandemic Think Tank, a faculty group charged with exploring the implications of an influenza epidemic.
In addition, he has served the broader community in numerous capacities, including as a member of the Civic Center Task Force for the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Existing Business Alliance of Region 2000, a regular columnist for Region 2000 Business, and a commentator on local radio and television offering an economic perspective on developing news stories.
He has authored numerous publications and made presentations on a variety of issues, including pandemic planning and the economics of terrorism, and is currently finishing work on the Lynchburg College Symposium Readings volume Economic Inequality and Social Stratification: Causes and Consequences.
Dr. Turek is the 2001-2002 recipient of the Shirley Rosser Excellence in Teaching Award. He holds B.A. and M.P.A. degrees from Syracuse University and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the State University of New York at Albany.