Glenn W. Arnett Scholarship Award for Graduate Studies in Physical Education
Scholar: Matisse Denae Swanson
Year Awarded: 2020
Degrees: Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology; Dance (Graduated Spring 2020) Working towards: Master of Science in Kinesiology
About the Scholarship: The Glenn W. Arnett Scholarship was made possible due to a generous contribution from Mr. and Mrs. Elwood C. Davis in honor of Dr. Glenn Arnett, who was a faculty member and department chair in kinesiology. He served as CSUN’s first athletic director in 1958 and taught at CSUN until his retirement. The purpose of the scholarship is to provide support to a student in the kinesiology program who aspires to have a career in the area of kinesiology and physical activity.
Laurence and Ethel Young Scholarship in Kinesiology
Scholar: Brianna Carrillo
Year Awarded: 2020
Degrees: Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology; Exercise Science (Graduated Spring 2020) Working towards: Master of Science in Kinesiology; Exercise Science
About the Scholarship: The late Dr. Laurence Young was a professor of Kinesiology in the physical education option at CSUN for many years. He and his wife Ethel established a planned gift that will enable many students in the future, to be rewarded for their time, leadership and the hard work they put into their academic major.
Leslie and Terry Cutler Kinesiology Scholarship
Scholar: Junghoon Park
Year Awarded: 2020
Degrees: Master of Science in Kinesiology; Exercise Science; Exercise Science
About Scholarship Recipient: Junghoon is an immigrant from Korea and struggled with language and cultural barriers in middle and high school. Due to those factors, he was not interested in an education and was more focused on surviving in a new country. His perspective changed, however, when he saw military retirees and people physically injured need rehabilitation to return to normal life. This compelled Junghoon to enroll at CSUN and finish his degree in Kinesiology. While on campus, he was inspired by the Center of Achievement and the clients he worked with daily, leading him to strive for a career that would allow him to continue working with individuals with disabilities. Specifically, he would like to pursue research that explores the physical effects of individuals who suffer from a stroke. It is his hope to use his research findings to utilize exercise to improve the health of stroke victims.
About the Scholarship: Leslie “Les” and Terry Cutler are long time contributors to CSUN and this scholarship expands their giving to the university in their area of interest in healthcare. Les attended CSUN in 1963, although he did not graduate from the university, he went on to become a dentist, receive a PhD and become the Chancellor and Provost of Health Affairs at the University of Connecticut. It is the intention of the donors that this scholarship be awarded to Kinesiology students with outstanding potential to become a leader in the field of health, fitness and rehabilitation as they proceed through the adapted physical activity graduate program. The student must also be working in the Center of Achievement.
Marian Cutler and Lucille Grubman Outstanding Graduate Research Award in Kinesiology
Scholar: Stephan Acuna
Year Awarded: 2020
Degrees: Master of Science in Kinesiology (Adapted Physical Activity)
About Scholarship Recipient: Stephan transferred to CSUN in 2015 to pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology, Applied Fitness. During his time in the undergraduate program, he worked at the Center of Achievement (COA). The COA quickly became a second home to him and he decided to apply for the master’s program at CSUN in adapted physical activity. During the graduate program, Stephan has been able to teach students, learn new equipment at the COA, and begin researching. His research focuses on people with spinal cord injury and how their strength and muscle size can be effectively improved post-injury. Stephan’s research is looking at the use of blood flow restriction cuffs to improve such strength and muscle size. He will use ultrasonography to measure muscle thickness and a computerized isokinetic dynamometer to measure peak torque. It is his hope that the knowledge base can be increased to help individuals with spinal cord injury improve their quality of life.
About the Scholarship: Leslie “Les” and Terry Cutler are long time contributors to CSUN. This award expands their giving to the university and it is in their area of interest, healthcare. Les attended CSUN in 1963, although he did not graduate from the university, he went on to become a dentist, receive a PhD and become the chancellor and provost of health affairs at the University of Connecticut. Les and Terry created this outstanding graduate research award in honor of their mothers, Marian Cutler and Lucille Grubman. It is the intention of the donors that this award be given to kinesiology students with outstanding clinical potential as they proceed through the adapted physical activity program. The student must also be working in the Center of Achievement through Adapted Physical Activity.
Norman Cutler Outstanding Graduate Leadership Award
Scholar: Janet Sandoval
Year Awarded: 2020
Degrees: Master of Science in Kinesiology; Adapted Physical Activity
About Scholarship Recipient: Janet grew up in northern California and is a first-generation college graduate. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology from CSUN. After she graduated, she worked in different areas, such as public health, non-profits, and medical administration. She decided to continue her education and apply to the adapted physical activity graduate program because of the unique clinical experience it provides. Janet serves as the clinical supervisor at the Center of Achievement (COA) at CSUN as she works on her thesis. Her thesis focuses on Kinesiology students’ perceptions of their self-efficacy after working with individuals with disabilities in a student service-learning program at the COA. After she completes the graduate program, it is her hope to continue working with people with disabilities.
About the Scholarship: Leslie “Les” and Terry Cutler are long time contributors to CSUN and this award expands their giving to the university. This gift is in their area of interest, healthcare. Les attended CSUN in 1963, although he did not graduate from the university, he went on to become a dentist, receive a PhD and become the chancellor and provost of health affairs at the University of Connecticut. Les and Terry created this outstanding graduate leadership award in honor of Les’ father Norman Cutler, who was a champion of excellence and showed a strong commitment to helping others achieve greatness in their career and calling.
The Ruth Shiffrar Scholarship in Physical Education
Scholar: Jesus Guzman
Year Awarded: 2020
Working towards degree: Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology, Physical Education (graduated spring 2020); Master’s of Science in Kinesiology
About Scholarship Recipient: Jesus was born in Tijuana, Mexico and moved to the state of Kentucky at age seven. Although he did not know the English language when he moved, he was able to build relationships through sports. He participated in soccer, cross country, and track. At age 13, he moved to California where he continued playing sports. This passion for sports led him to pursue a career in Kinesiology, with an emphasis in physical education. Jesus transferred to CSUN in 2018, earning Dean’s List recognition throughout his time as an undergraduate student. He is grateful to CSUN and the support he has felt by his teachers. He strives to help other students find success and connect communities through sports in the future. Jesus is especially thankful to Dr. Margaret Shiffrar for her support of this scholarship and feels honored to have been selected as a recipient.
About the Scholarship: This scholarship was made possible by a generous gift from Dr. Margaret Shiffrar, a professor of psychology and the former assistant vice president of graduate studies at CSUN, in memory of her mother, Ruth Shiffrar. Ruth was a CSU graduate and champion of physical education for school children. She was a proud fourth generation Californian whose childhood was happily spent playing in the outdoors of the Central Coast. Ruth was a high school physical education teacher in Northern California for many years. When California public schools began to systematically de-fund physical education courses, her concern for the future health of Californians grew. The goal of this scholarship is to help right the health related wrongs that resulted from de-funding programs by supporting a CSUN student with outstanding potential to become a leader in the field of physical education.
The Susan and Raymond Tartakoff Scholarship
Scholar: Jacqueline Truong
Year Awarded: 2020
Degrees: Master of Science in Kinesiology; Adapted Physical Activity
About Scholarship Recipient: Jacqueline was born and raised in San Gabriel, California. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology (Applied Fitness) in 2018. Now pursuing her master’s in adapted physical activity and having held several leadership positions at the Center of Achievement, she has found her true calling. Jacqueline looks forward to expanding her knowledge and improving her skills to be able to serve all populations of all abilities. She is currently working on a research project entitled, “Implementation of Multimedia Learning in Adapted Aquatic Therapeutic Exercise”. Her hope is that with this project, more Kinesiology students will have equal learning opportunities and be confident in becoming future healthcare professionals.
About the Scholarship: Susan Tartakoff ‘71 and her husband, Raymond, are members of the community with a long-history and devotion to CSUN. Susan is an alum and has been a client and volunteer at the Center of Achievement for over 15 years. She became a client at the Center after she was involved in a horrific car accident that left her paralyzed from the chest down. When Susan started using the Center, only the land-based programs existed. She helped raise funds for the Brown Center for Adaptive Aquatic Therapeutic Exercise through the volunteer group, “FOCAS” (Friends of the Center of Achievement and Sponsors). Susan and Raymond created this scholarship to further their support of the Center. The scholarship is for Kinesiology graduate students that work in the Center and aspire to have a career in adapted physical activity or physical rehabilitation.
