UWF Rite of Passage lecture series presents Drs. Daniel Pace and Susan Walch

Rite of Passage celebrates University faculty recently promoted to full professor and gives them an opportunity to share life lessons outside the classroom with colleagues, students, friends and community members.

Pace, a professor of the Department of Accounting and Finance, will present “Measurement, Myths and Malfeasance.” He has been teaching at UWF since 1998, and his teaching interests include portfolio management, financial theory and financial education. Prior to his career at UWF, Pace received a bachelor’s degree from Furman University, a master’s degree from Emory University and a doctoral degree from Florida State University.

As an author, Pace has published more than 20 journal articles, including publications in The Journal of Portfolio Management, Journal of Futures Markets, The Journal of Investing, Financial Services Review, Journal of Agricultural Economics, Global Finance Journal, Financial Practice and Education, International Journal of Business and The Journal of Small Business Finance. In addition, he wrote “Limitations on the Business of Banking: An Analysis of Expanded Securities, Insurance and Real Estate Activities.” His book explores how expanded bank powers could affect the banking industry. Pace has received several awards for research, including UWF’s Distinguished Teaching Award.

Walch will present “Rainbows, Red Ribbons and Red Tape: Learning to Do What You Love and Love What You Do.” She joined the faculty in the Department of Psychology at UWF in 1999, and currently teaches courses in health psychology, human sexuality, gender, multicultural counseling and community psychology. Walch has involved more than 100 students in research, including professional presentations and publications in peer-reviewed, scholarly journals in psychology, sexuality and health.

In her time at UWF, Walch has received many awards, including the UWF Faculty Distinguished Research and Creative Activities Award in 2008, the Southeastern Psychological Association’s Mentor Award in 2009, a UWF Distinguished Teaching Award in 2010, the Mary F. Rogers Women’s Studies Faculty Award in 2014 and the UWF College of Health Faculty Excellence Award in 2016.

Prior to joining UWF, Walch earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Richard Stockton State College and a doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University, currently known as Drexel University. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psycho-oncology research at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and the Norris Cotton Cancer Center of Dartmouth Medical School. Her research has focused broadly on health psychology, including research on management of chronic illness, especially cancer and HIV/AIDS; disease prevention, especially HIV and STI; and more recently, on the role of sociocultural factors in health disparities, especially stigma and discrimination in sexual and gender minority health.

Walch strives to integrate science with advocacy and public policy and served as a special legislative assistant for health policy in the office of a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Jan Schakowsky, D-IL, in 2006-07, working on reauthorization of Ryan White Treatment Modernization Act, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Microbicide Development Act and mental health parity legislation. She has published more than 20 articles and chapters and secured more than 30 external grants and contracts, totaling more than $4 million, from private, state and federal sources.

For more information, visit the Rite of Passage website.