Penn State director awarded national dissertation prize

Courtesy photo / Michael J. Pennington, Penn State senior associate director of career services, poses with his dissertation award from the American Association of University Administrators.
From Mirror staff reports
The American Association of University Administrators has awarded Altoona native Michael J. Pennington, senior associate director of Career Services at Penn State University, the 2024 Leo and Margaret Goodman-Malamuth Dissertation Award.
The award recognizes outstanding doctoral research in higher education administration, highlighting both academic rigor and practical relevance. Pennington’s dissertation, “The Perceptions of Senior Administrators on the Role of Mentorship in the Development of Higher Education Professional Staff,” examined the value and impact of mentoring on the career development of professional staff in American colleges and universities.
Any doctoral dissertation in the country that meets the award criteria can be nominated and will be thoroughly evaluated by the AAUA awards committee. Nominations are blindly reviewed annually, and presentations are made only in years where a notable and suitably worthy dissertation is selected; awards have been made in only 27 of the last 50 years.
Pennington earned his doctorate in higher education leadership from Widener University.