Lee University has honored a distinguished alum for each department. Dr. Tetyana Shippee was honored as the first recipient of Lee's Department of Behavioral and Social Science distinguished alumni award.
The award was presented during this year's homecoming festivities to Dr. Shippee in absentia by Dr. Karen Mundy, professor of sociology at Lee.
"The vibrant faith and academic excellence of Tetyana testifies to a new generation of Christian scholars in sociology," said Dr. Mundy.
In addition to working as an assistant professor in the University of Minnesota's School of Public Health, Dr. Shippee is a widely published author. Her works have appeared in such publications as Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice, The Gerontologist, and American Journal of Public Health, among others.
Dr. Shippee came to Lee from Ukraine. She was awarded one of a limited number of scholarships offered by the U.S. State Department and arrived at Lee as a transfer student.
While at Lee she was a member of Alpha Kappa Delta, the sociology honors society, and served as a teacher's assistant in intro level sociology classes.
In 2004, Dr. Shippee received a Fulbright Fellowship to return to Ukraine to study jurist civil law. As a graduate student, she received the Best Graduate Student Paper Award from the Aging and Life Course Section of the American Sociological Association. She also received the Emerging Scholar Award from the Academic Honor Society in Gerontology.
Dr. Shippee earned her doctorate from Purdue University in 2008 and her bachelor's from Lee in 2003.
Dr. Shippee lives in Minnesota with her husband Nate and their daughter Milena.