SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Mercer University’s Dr. Ha Van Vo has been named the Southern Conference’s inaugural Faculty Member of the Year, Commissioner John Iamarino announced Thursday. Each of the league’s 10 member institutions’ chief academic officers submitted nominations for the award, which was voted upon by the SoCon’s faculty athletics representatives. The award recognizes faculty members who have made a significant impact on the lives of students at Southern Conference institutions.
Vo will be recognized at halftime of the March 9 title game of the Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale in Asheville, N.C.
“Dr. Vo’s credentials are truly impressive and he is a worthy recipient of this inaugural award,” Iamarino said. “Our voting panel consistently commented to us about the superior quality of the field of candidates.”
Vo, an associate professor in biomedical engineering and an Eminent Scholar at Mercer, is in his ninth year at the university. An international leader in his field and a native of Vietnam, Vo has dedicated his career to enhancing the lives of those with lost limbs, a result of his personal experience with those in his native country who lost limbs as a result of leftover ordnance from the Vietnam War. Vo and his team of students have designed a below-the-knee prosthetic that is affordable, easily fitted in the field and extremely durable. His prosthetic can currently be manufactured for approximately $200, considerably less than a typical prosthetic, which can cost in excess of $10,000.
Vo, who holds engineering and medical degrees, developed a project to bring his low-cost prosthetics to Third World countries, specifically Vietnam, as part of the institution’s larger Mercer On Mission initiative, which blends service-learning and study abroad. In 2009, he led a Mercer On Mission trip that set up a clinic to fit universal prosthetic devices and treat medical and orthopedic patients in South Vietnam. A year later, Vo led a Mercer On Mission trip to Haiti after the devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake that claimed the lives of at least 230,000 people and injured another 300,000, and a clinic was set up in Grand Goave to fit his universal prosthetic devices.
In addition to serving the people of Vietnam and Haiti, this Mercer On Mission project has provided training for more than 100 Mercer students from a variety of disciplines. To date, Vo and his students have fitted more than 3,000 prosthetics in their travels.
The Mercer On Mission prosthetics project has received recognition from former President Bill Clinton (through the Clinton Global Initiative), the Military Order of the World Wars and from governors in Vietnam.
Among the voting criteria considered for the SoCon Faculty Member of the Year award were demonstrated service to the institution; proven record of high scholastic achievement among students; recognition for a research project or written academic piece; and contributions to campus life and the local community.
All 10 nominees will receive complimentary tickets and hospitality passes to the Southern Conference basketball tournament. As the recipient of the honor, Vo will receive complimentary tournament tickets, lodging and hospitality and will be awarded a $4,000 stipend from the Southern Conference.
Also nominated were: The Citadel’s Dr. Conway Saylor, ETSU’s Dr. Susan Epps, Furman’s Dr. J. Aaron Simmons, UNCG’s Dr. Aaron Terranova, Samford’s Dr. Jennings Marshall, Chattanooga’s Dr. Marisa Colston, VMI’s Col. James Turner, Western Carolina’s Dr. Burton Ogle and Wofford’s Dr. Natalie Grinnell.
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