Each year, NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education recognizes individuals who are doing outstanding work in the student affairs profession. John Wesley Lowery, professor of Student Affairs in Higher Education at IUP, was selected as the recipient of the 2022 George D. Kuh Outstanding Contribution to Literature and/or Research Award.
This award honors an individual who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to research and scholarship related to higher education. The honoree’s work must address important and substantial issues and have had a significant or transformative effect on higher education and student affairs practice in a national or international context. This award is the highest honor NASPA bestows on a higher education researcher.
Lowery joined the IUP faculty in 2008 and served as the SAHE Department chair from 2012 to 2020. He previously served on the faculty at Oklahoma State University and coordinated the college student affairs program and higher education programs, and at the University of South Carolina, where he taught in and coordinated the higher education and student affairs program. He currently serves as NASPA historian and served on NASPA’s 100th Anniversary Committee and the 2019 Conference Leadership Team. He is a frequent speaker and author on topics related to student affairs and higher education, particularly legislative issues (including Clery, FERPA, and Title IX) and student conduct, on which he is widely regarding as a leading expert.
Lowery and the other annual award recipients will be honored in March as part of the 2022 NASPA Annual Conference in Baltimore, Maryland.