Providence, R.I.--Dr. Nicholas V. Longo '96, assistant professor of public and community service studies and director of the Global Studies Program at Providence College, has been named the 2009 recipient of the Early Career Research Award given by the International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement (IARSLCE).

The award recognizes researchers who have distinguished records of research and scholarly contributions in the field of service-learning and community engagement early in their careers. Individuals who have received a terminal degree in their discipline or profession in the last seven years are eligible for consideration.

Longo, who was selected by a panel of distinguished researchers and educators, will receive the award and present his research in October at the Ninth International Research Conference on Service-Learning and Community Engagement in Ottawa, Canada.

Longo said the IARSLCE award is not so much a personal honor as it is a statement about the support of scholarly pursuit at Providence College, especially in service-learning and community engagement.

"I'm honored because this is such an important time to be conducting research given the immense challenges facing our world and the potential for higher education to be a catalyst for community problem-solving," he said.

He added, "I am the beneficiary of the kind of support that comes from the very deliberate work to support engaged scholarship as part of the Feinstein Institute for Public Service and the Department of Public and Community Service Studies."

The College's Feinstein Institute, established in 1993, is home to the nation's first bachelor's degree program in public and community service studies.

Impressive scholarly achievements
Longo's research and scholarly contributions to the field of service-learning and community engagement are varied and longstanding. A native of Yonkers, N.Y., who joined the PC faculty in the fall of 2008, he is the author of Why Community Matters: Connecting Education with Civic Life (SUNY Press, 2007).

In addition, he has co-authored articles that have appeared in numerous periodicals and edited books, including Civic Engagement in Higher Education (Jossey-Bass, 2009), the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, and the Journal of College and Character. He has made dozens of scholarly presentations on topics including service-learning and leadership education.

Longo has taught urban leadership and community organizing courses at Metropolitan State University and worked with the Center for Democracy and Citizenship on intergenerational public works projects with immigrants.

From 2002-2004, he directed Campus Compact's national youth civic engagement initiative, Raise Your Voice, and from 2006-2008, he was the director of the Harry T. Wilks Leadership Institute at Miami University.

He was also a program officer at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation in Dayton, Ohio, in the areas of civic education, youth political engagement, and international civil society.

Longo earned a bachelor's degree in political science from PC, a master's degree in public affairs from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota, and a Ph.D. in education from the University of Minnesota.

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