IMPORTANT NOTE: These are the archived stories for Belmont News & Achievements prior to June 26, 2023. To see current stories, click here.

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Physical Therapy Names Alumna Shearer Kidder as 2018 Outstanding Alumnus

Hope Buckner
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Physical Therapy Names Alumna Shearer Kidder as 2018 Outstanding Alumnus

Belmont’s School of Physical Therapy honored Dr. Melissa Shearer Kidder as this year’s Outstanding Alumnus during its 2018 Hooding Ceremony. Kidder graduated from Belmont School of PT in 2000 and is a board-certified orthopedic specialist currently serving as the orthopedic PT residency director at The Ohio State University’s Sport Medicine Physical Therapy program. Additionally, she is a lecturer in the Ohio State Division of Physical Therapy.

Kidder has done a number of national presentations related to teaching, learning and mentoring in clinical/residency education. She serves as an accreditation content expert and lead reviewer for the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education. In addition, she has been involved in several multi-site research projects.

Former Fleetwood Mac Member Bob Welch Celebrated in Musicians Hall of Fame Exhibit

April Hefner
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Former Fleetwood Mac Member Bob Welch Celebrated in Musicians Hall of Fame Exhibit

Estate of Welch, wife Wendy creates endowed scholarship to support Belmont University School of Music students

Days before acclaimed solo musician and former Fleetwood Mac member Bob Welch would have turned 73, the Musicians Hall of Fame unveiled today a new exhibit honoring the late artist’s career and impact, a legacy that will live on thanks to a newly created endowed scholarship in his and wife Wendy’s name at Belmont University. Following Bob’s death in 2012 and Wendy’s passing in 2016, Mrs. Welch bequeathed her husband’s memorabilia and music business interests, including royalty streams, to Belmont for the purpose of endowing a scholarship to benefit students in the University’s renowned School of Music.

Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “It’s a privilege to be a part of today’s unveiling of an exhibit honoring such a musical genius, but I am even more grateful that Bob and Wendy Welch were committed to education and to ensuring future musicians benefitted from their success. The Robert L. and Wendy A. Welch Endowed Scholarship at Belmont University will inspire musical talent for generations to come.”

Belmont students Nathan Travis and Matt Davidson perform during Welch Exhibit Opening and Scholarship Announcement Musicians Hall of Fame at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, August 27, 2018.

Welch released five solo albums, including his breakout 1977 album, “French Kiss,” following his departure from Fleetwood Mac, with whom he recorded five albums from 1971-1974. His solo career produced 20 singles, including the hits “Hot Love, Cold World,” “Ebony Eyes,” “Precious Love” and the seminal song, “Sentimental Lady,” which first appeared on the 1972 Fleetwood Mac album “Bare Trees” and included an extra verse. “Sentimental Lady” was performed live at today’s event by two Belmont students: Nathan Travis, who is a sophomore commercial music major with a music business emphasis and is from Hilliard, Ohio, and Matt Davidson, who is a junior commercial music major with a music business emphasis and is from Shreveport, Louisiana.

Longtime Welch family friend Mike Lawson said, “Bob and Wendy treated me like a son. I’ve knew them for more than half of my life. Having inherited Bob’s guitars and musical equipment, I very much wanted to honor Bob’s rich musical legacy by loaning the Gibson ES-345 guitar, used on the last three of the five Fleetwood Mac albums he recorded with them, for this exhibit. I’m very grateful to the Musicians Hall of Fame founder and old friend Joe Chambers for making this happen for Bob. He has more than earned his place alongside the legends of music in this museum.”

Former band mate and manager of his solo career Mick Fleetwood wrote a tribute for the Musicians Hall of Fame exhibit in honor of Bob Welch, noting that his musical talents were “…a creative surprise that hit the ranks of Fleetwood Mac at a moment when we were somewhat lost musically. The fact is, he shone bright in his own right. I mean, for us in Fleetwood Mac, it was the first time since Peter Green that we truly felt we had a direction to follow! And follow we did so with such albums as ‘Future Games’ (1971), ‘Bare Trees’ (1972), ‘Mystery to Me’ (1973), ‘Penguin’ (1973) and ‘Heroes Are Hard to Find’ (1974)… Bob Welch I’ll be first in line to sit and listen to your wise words of worlds far away and be proud to be with you once again.”

Fleetwood’s tribute, along with one of Welch’s guitars and other memorabilia, are currently on display at the Musician’s Hall of Fame & Museum, located at 401 Gay Street in downtown Nashville.

 

Brown Brings Future Forecasting into the Classroom through Fellowship Experience

Hope Buckner
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Brown Brings Future Forecasting into the Classroom through Fellowship Experience

UPDATED Dr. Syb headshotDr. Sybril Brown, professor of journalism in the Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, was recently selected to participate in the 2018 Future Today Institute Summer Teacher Training Fellowship. Brown was one of 30 educators worldwide to take the virtual Master Class taught by quantitative futurist Amy Webb, a professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business and the Founder of the Future Today Institute, a leading foresight and strategy firm that helps leaders and their organizations prepare for complex futures. She is the author of The Signals Are Talking, an award-winning book about how to identify emerging trends early and use strategic foresight to manage risk and opportunity. 

 

The FTI hosted a special Teacher Training Fellowship for teachers who want to incorporate futures forecasting into their curriculum. The program involved three intensive days earlier this month and taught fellows how to incorporate the tools of futurists into their existing coursework.

Brown has been using Webb’s book in class since it’s publication. 

Li Presents at International Conference on Language, Literature and Linguistics

Hope Buckner
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Li Presents at International Conference on Language, Literature and Linguistics

Dr. Qingjun (Joan) Li, associate professor of Asian studies and Chinese language, was among an international cadre of scholars presenting papers at the 7th Annual International Conference on Language, Literature & Linguistics which was held in Singapore June 25-26. The conference examined the various issues and factors that intervene at the interface of language and literature, and it provided a forum and opportunity for professors and scholars coming from 36 universities and 14 countries to share their research findings to an international audience.

Li’s paper, “The Transference of Literary Voice: Christina and Frances Rossetti,” was selected for publication.

Payne, Interior Design Major, Completes Elite Princess Cruises World Headquarters Internship

Hope Buckner
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Payne, Interior Design Major, Completes Elite Princess Cruises World Headquarters Internship

Jessica Payne, a senior interior design major in Belmont’s O’More School of Design*, recently completed an intensive three-month internship program at Princess Cruises, an award-winning destination leader in worldwide cruise vacations.

Payne worked in the Interior Design & Operations Department for the shared services group supporting Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Seabourn, all part of the world’s leading cruise brands of Carnival Corporation, and was responsible for selections, specifications and coordination of design packages for fleet wide initiatives. The internship utilized Payne’s design knowledge and cost savings, budgeting and organization techniques. Other responsibilities included supporting ongoing efforts to broaden the supplier base and innovating efficient ways to develop proposals and presentations.

Jessica Payne in front of Princess Cruise Headquarters during her internship this summer.“My time as an interior design intern with Princess Cruises has set the path for my future career,” she said. “Not only do I now have a strong core knowledge of hospitality design, but being in Los Angeles has given me the foundation to grow my network and meet a tremendous amount of renowned design professionals. My assignments have allowed me to apply my technical based knowledge to my creative ideas in order to achieve functional designs. Working in the cruise industry, one of the largest growing industries, and with industry leader Princess Cruises has been an invaluable learning opportunity.”

Princess Cruises Internship Program is a 10-week, paid, project-structured summer learning experience available to undergraduate and graduate students of four-year degree programs from a multitude of disciplines including marketing, public relations, hotel operations, food & beverage, engineering (marine/technical), finance entertainment and more. The program takes place at Princess Cruises world headquarters campus located in Santa Clarita, California and is known for its challenging projects with a full complement of enrichment activities designed to give the participating students a professional work experience.

“Students are given assignments that require collaborating and interacting with professionals at all levels of the organization from specialists and managers to executive vice presidents,” said Jeanne Amey, director, shoreside talent acquisition for the shared services group. “We hire interns to take on projects with a strategic focus and a requirement to determine specific measurable results. Our management teams incorporate the results of the best intern work to guide the future planning of our business.”

Payne was one of 49 interns selected from a competitive pool of over 1,000 applicants. This year’s intern class included representatives from 34 elite institutions. Internship opportunities are promoted between November and December each year for the following calendar year.

*Belmont’s O’More School of Design has received preliminary approval from the University’s regional accreditor (SACSCOC), and full approval is anticipated by the end of the year.*

Belmont University Draws Record 8,318 Students for Fall 2018

April Hefner
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Belmont University Draws Record 8,318 Students for Fall 2018

University experiences 65 percent enrollment increase in past decade;
Class of 2022 boasts highest average ACT to date

Belmont University kicked off classes for its fall 2018 semester yesterday with a record-breaking enrollment number as the University welcomed 8,318 students to campus, nearly triple the enrollment in 2000 and marking a 65 percent increase in the last decade alone. This marks Belmont’s 18th consecutive year of record enrollment. Belmont’s sustained growth is being accomplished through traditional, residential education, as the University also marked the opening of its largest residence hall to date on Saturday. As part of its Vision 2020 strategic plan, Belmont aims to enroll 8,888 students by the Fall 2020 semester, providing more students than ever the opportunity to embrace the Belmont mission to “engage and transform the world.”

Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “August is always an incredible month at Belmont, as each year our upperclassmen create a Move In weekend experience like no other, cheering their new peers as they and their families first arrive to campus for the fall semester. I cheer along with them as we are honored that more and more students choose Belmont for their education, and that the quality of each incoming class continues to rise, this year seeing an average ACT composite score of 27. Our students are selecting Belmont because they want to be challenged by rigorous academics, taught by dedicated faculty and transformed by an education that will empower them to make a difference in their communities. And for the 74 percent coming from outside of Tennessee, they want to live in Nashville.”

Applications for freshman admissions for Fall 2018 saw a significant increase of 5.3 percent and resulted in an accomplished incoming freshman class of 1,634 students, the largest in University history. Belmont also continues to be among the top destinations for transfer students as 494 transfers, also a record, joined the campus this fall. The University’s graduate schools, which offer more than 25 master’s degrees and five doctoral programs, attracted 658 new students for 2018-19 new academic year.

This year’s incoming freshman class hails from 48 states and represents nine foreign countries, with 74 percent of the class originating from outside of Tennessee. As a group, Belmont’s Class of 2022 scored an average of 27 on the ACT and held an average high school GPA of 3.7. The new students made their presence known throughout Nashville Tuesday afternoon as more than 2,100 freshmen and transfers participated in the annual SERVE event, which allows students to engage in community service at nonprofit sites around the city.

Belmont’s student body currently consists of 6,730 undergraduate students and 1,588 pursuing graduate/professional paths.

Associate Provost and Dean of Enrollment David Mee added, “Each new admission cycle brings promise for continuing enrollment growth at Belmont. And Fall 2018 was no exception.  Belmont continues to attract talented, thoughtful and civically-engaged students from every state and all corners of the globe. Growth at Belmont, first and foremost, represents the potential the University has to impact society through the great contributions our alumni make each and every day.”

Giordano Published in Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science Journal with Students

Hope Buckner
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Giordano Published in Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science Journal with Students

Peter Giordano HeadshotDr. Pete Giordano, Psychological Science, has published an article with two psychology majors, Eason Taylor and Hannah Branthwaite, titled “Personality Process-Structure Duality: Reply to Two Commentaries.” The article appears in Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, a journal that features articles that cover theoretical integration of ideas, epistemology of social and biological sciences and original empirical research articles of general scientific value.

You can access an abstract of the article here.

Belmont Sends Thousands of New Bruins into Nashville for Service

Hope Buckner
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Belmont Sends Thousands of New Bruins into Nashville for Service

The beginning of a new school year looks different each year. It can include moving into a new dorm room, wayfinding through campus or scoping out the best spots for future study sessions. For more than 2,000 Belmont University freshmen and transfer students, this year’s new school year included all these things and a special opportunity to serve their community.

Group of Belmont students and Nashville General Hospital employees pose for group photo before working on service projects in the hospital.
Students volunteer at Nashville General Hospital at Meharry 

In the days leading up to the start of classes, Belmont freshman and transfer students are immersed into university life through the Towering Traditions orientation program including an afternoon traveling to 26 locations across the greater Nashville area for service. The event, called SERVE, allows students to immerse themselves in their new hometown.

After a send-off from University President Dr. Bob Fisher, Nashville’s Mayor David Briley was welcomed to the stage to inspire students as they went off into the community to complete various service projects. Loaded on buses, students visited Nashville General Hospital at Meharry, Sweet Sleep at Nashville First Baptist Church and Rise Against Hunger, among others, and spent the afternoon painting buildings and sidewalks, cleaning up outdoor areas and building beds.

Freshman audio engineering technology major Eli German was busy building 25 bed frames with a group of 15 other student volunteers. The bed frames were constructed for Sweet Sleep to give to children coming out of homelessness in the Middle Tennessee area. “We got a warm welcome from Nashville First Baptist Church and Sweet Sleep, a mini construction lesson and went right to work,” German said. “It is nice to know how we are affecting the community and feels good to have a direct impact. We get to see our work go right back in to the Middle Tennessee area.”

Belmont students use tools to build wooden bed frame for Sweet Sleep at Nashville First Baptist Church in Nashville, Tennessee.
Freshman German (center) and other Belmont students build bed frames for Sweet Sleep at Nashville First Baptist Church

Service is a key part of Belmont’s values and is why SERVE continues to be an integral part of students first experiences on campus. Throughout their time across the city, students were encouraged to be engage with each other and understand the impact this one afternoon has on Nashville’s community.

SERVE doesn’t just stop at Belmont’s newest undergraduate students, new graduate students also take part in the day of service. Belmont University’s graduate nursing students spent their afternoon at Project C.U.R.E completing a variety of tasks. Project C.U.R.E. sends medical supplies around the world to communities in need. Belmont graduate students worked hard to break down 26 pallets of medical supplies, pack and label $27,500 worth of infusion products and pack equipment for ultrasound machines and fetal monitors, among a variety of other tasks. Graduate students were also able to hear from a Project C.U.R.E. needs assessment representative to understand how their work would affect different communities.

Included in the graduate SERVE participation was first year physical therapy students. The 49 students and two faculty spent the day at Feed the Children where they helped pack boxes of food for people in need in the area. “This was a great opportunity for the students to get to know one another on their first day at Belmont and to be able start their time at Belmont with serving their new community,” said Physical Therapy Department Chair Dr. Renee Brown.

Freshman and fellow SERVE participant Mallory Wallace was enthusiastic about getting the chance to immerse herself into Nashville’s community in this special way. “Most other schools don’t do this, so it’s nice to see that there is such an emphasis on community at Belmont,” said Wallace. “I’m excited to be part of a school that has this focus and can help me find places to volunteer.”

Belmont University Announces Newest Building Project, World-Class Performing Arts Center

Hope Buckner
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Belmont University Announces Newest Building Project, World-Class Performing Arts Center

1,700-seat multi-purpose facility to be the ‘finest music performance hall on any college campus in the world’

Committed to providing students with access to stages that rival some of the world’s finest, Belmont University announced today a state-of-the-art performing arts center on Belmont Boulevard. The Belmont University Performing Arts Center will house a 1,700-seat multi-purpose theatre, a grand lobby and two contiguous event spaces that can hold more than 900 guests when combined with the lobby. The venue, which will be located between Bernard and Compton Avenue on Belmont Boulevard, is slated to open fall 2021.

Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “Our goal is to build the finest music performance hall on any college campus in the world, and I couldn’t be more pleased. I have dreamed of the creation of this facility since I first came to Belmont in 2000. Along with the Massey Performing Arts Center, Troutt Theater and McAfee Concert Hall, the addition of this venue completes our campus’s performance facilities, creating the most extensive suite of venues of any other institution of higher education.”

Board Chairman Marty Dickens said, “Our students are just the best, and they deserve the very best.”

Outfitted for both acoustic and amplified sound, the Center’s Performance Hall, referred to as an instrument of its own kind, will adapt to the performances it hosts. Classical concerts, operas, musical theatre performances, theatre productions, dance recitals, commercial showcases and more will be held in the Center’s Performance Hall to accommodate the diverse musical interests and talents of Belmont students. The facility will include a full fly space, wing space, orchestra pit, two forestage lifts, a trap room under the stage and television broadcast capabilities.

In addition to its on-stage features, the facility will have a warm-up room for dance or choral use, various sized dressing rooms, a green room, a scene dock, a loading dock and a green roof to assist with water quality filtration, among other sustainable components as the project will pursue LEED certification.

Belmont Provost Dr. Thomas Burns said, “As we prepare the next generation of musical greats, we must ensure that our students are exposed to some of the world’s best venues. With the creation of this impressive complex, our students will have access to one of the finest. This new performing arts center will serve as an extraordinary training ground, both onstage and backstage, for students in our Colleges of Music & Performing Arts and Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business.”

Nashville-based R.C. Mathews is the contractor, and ESa is the architect for the project.

Alumnus Carlton Anderson Signs with Morris Higham Management

Staff Writer
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Alumnus Carlton Anderson Signs with Morris Higham Management

Singer/songwirter and Belmont University graduate Carlton Anderson recently signed with Morris Higham Management for global representation. This announcement comes following the release of his debut single “Drop Everything.”

“I have worked my whole life to be in a position like this and to have years of hard work be noticed by such a prestigious company means more than I can I say,” Anderson says. “I’ve been told a long time that my music is ‘too country’ so I’m truly grateful to have a team at Morris Higham that understands who I am as a person and supports my visions as an artist and songwriter.”

“Carlton is one of the rare young artists who understands why country music matters, and he makes it as compelling and as current as anything on radio,” said Clint Higham, president of Morris Higham Management. “When you find an artist who’s so grounded in the roots, who can sing, write and connect with fans across ages, places and everything that country music now contains, that’s like finding a unicorn.”

Higham added, “When you find an artist like that, and they have a work ethic that matches the team at Morris Higham, that’s when special things happen. Everyone here believes in his music, and there’s no young artist I’ve seen like this.”

A graduate of Belmont University’s Curb College music business program, Anderson joined ASCAP and later signed a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music. Morris Higham Management represents Kenny Chesney, Ryan Griffin, Brandon Lay, Old Dominion, Michael Ray, and Walker County. Higham is also an alumnus of Belmont University.

—Story by Claire Anderson, Class of 2019

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