McDaniel professors receive faculty awards

Assistant Professor of Kinesiology Jessica Ford M.S. '24 has been selected as a Charles A. Boehlke Jr. Engaged Faculty Fellow at McDaniel College. As a Boehlke Fellow, she receives a stipend of $5,000 per year or a course release, plus up to an additional $2,000 per year for professional development or other engagement-related work. Each Fellow is selected for a two-year period and is not eligible to reapply for a five-year period.

Ford, who began at McDaniel in 2020, is a scholar and practitioner of sport and performance psychology. Her research and applied interests stem from her childhood experiences competing as a three-sport athlete in soccer, basketball, and track and field, while simultaneously pursuing a passion for music performance. Her recent work explores the application of sport psychology outside of athletics, while also examining the psychology of injury and professional practice within sport psychology.  

At McDaniel, she teaches “Capstone in Kinesiology,” “Psychology of Performance,” “Psychology of Sport and Exercise,” and “Motor Development: A Lifespan Perspective.” A member of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, Ford has led six independent research projects for students majoring in Kinesiology, Psychology, and Biology, who have presented at the association’s annual conference. She has also overseen internships for Kinesiology students.

She has served on several faculty committees at McDaniel, including Faculty Council and the Institutional Review Board. Currently, Ford is secretary for McDaniel’s Delta of Maryland Chapter of the Phi Beta Kappa national honor society and advises student-athletes on mental health, wellness, and sport psychology strategies to enhance performance.

A graduate of The Catholic University of America with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology, where she was a member of the women’s basketball team, Ford earned a master’s degree in Exercise and Sport Sciences with a concentration in Sport Psychology from Ithaca College. She obtained a doctorate in Kinesiology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, with an emphasis in Sport Psychology and Performance Excellence and a doctoral cognate in Counseling. She also holds a master’s degree in Counseling, Clinical Mental Health specialization, from McDaniel College.

Rebecca Gibson joined McDaniel in 2007 and was promoted from lecturer to assistant professor of Education in 2017. Her background as a reading specialist has impacted her research interests, including early intervention and beginning literacy learners. She is especially interested in vocabulary acquisition in children, the role of nonfiction texts in primary classrooms, and emergent/beginning writing development and instruction in young learners.

She currently teaches courses in McDaniel's Elementary Education program, such as "Literacy Processes and Acquisition," "Teaching Writing with Children's Literature," and "Diagnostic Reading Assessment," while advising students through general education requirements, major coursework, state licensure expectations, testing benchmarks, and practicum experiences. 

Gibson holds a bachelor’s degree from Albright College, a Master of Education from Towson University, and a doctorate from the University of Maryland.