Web Whiz Wins Faculty Leibovitz Award
Photo/Andrew Taylor
Robert A. Stallings, professor emeritus of policy, planning, and development, received the 2007 Faculty Leibovitz Award for Service to Seniors at the annual faculty retirement ceremony at Town & Gown.
Stallings, an active member of the USC Emeriti Center and the Retired Faculty Association, contributes to the retiree community through his self-taught expertise with personal computers.
“Bob Stallings is a perfect example of a professor becoming passionate about a new field upon retirement,” said Janette Brown, executive director of the Emeriti Center.
In addition to donating numerous hours improving five different Web sites for the USC Emeriti Center, Stallings developed and operates the computer help squad, teaches computer workshops for retired faculty and staff, writes articles for the Emeriti Center newsletter, posts informational resources online and interviews staff and retirees for oral Web updates, Brown said.
In the spring of 2007, Stallings organized the USC Retiree Computer Help Squad, a group of computer-savvy retired faculty and staff, which allows USC retirees to receive free help with computing needs. In addition, he volunteered his time last fall to co-teach a series of free computer literacy workshops for USC retirees through the Emeriti College.
Outside of his computer projects, Stallings has made contributions for seniors through his research on the social dynamics of disasters (earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, fires, etc.). His expertise in this area has highlighted the ways in which disasters and their consequences affect society as a whole.
Stallings joined the SPPD faculty in 1975 as a member of what was then the School of Public Administration. Holder of a Ph.D. in sociology, he had a joint appointment with the USC Department of Sociology.
He served as president of the International Sociological Association’s Research Committee on Disasters from 2002 to 2006 and was editor of the International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters from 1997 to 2002. He is the author of Promoting Risk: Constructing the Earthquake Threat and editor of Methods of Disaster Research.
