Awards, Honors, Publications, etc.
The Kjell Meling Award
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and screenwriter Richard Russo will be honored as the first recipient of The Kjell Meling Award for Distinction in the Arts and Humanities during a ceremony in the Misciagna Family Center for Performing Arts this fall.
The award is funded through The Dr. Kjell Meling Enhancement Fund in the Arts and Humanities. The fund was created through a lead gift from Meling's wife, Diane, and the generous philanthropic support of colleagues, family, and friends of the late associate dean for academic affairs and Emeritus Professor of English at Penn State Altoona. The purpose of the award is to recognize influential artists and humanists and celebrate the scholarly and creative accomplishments of Penn State Altoona's arts and humanities faculty.
"The faculty envision this award as a way of marking Kjell's love of literature and language, his original professional identity as a professor of English, and his unwavering support while an administrator for the development of Penn State Altoona's faculty as scholars and artists," states Kenneth A. Womack, head of the Division of Arts and Humanities.
Russo lives in coastal Maine with his wife and their two daughters. He was awarded the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for Empire Falls. His other novels include Mohawk, The Risk Pool, Nobody's Fool, and Straight Man.