Dr. Dave Tough’s song, “I Love Em All,” was featured on “Braindead,” a new CBS summer show, on June 20. The song was co-written with Belmont Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business alumni Rowland Folensbee.
Tough’s Song Featured on CBS Network
Alumna Presents Research at American Delirium Society Conference
Dr. Kanah Lewallen, a 2015 Belmont School of Nursing Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) graduate, recently presented the results of her DNP scholarly project at the American Delirium Society national conference in Nashville. Lawallen’s project was entitled “Improving Nurses Knowledge of Delirium and Implementation of the R.A.D.A.R. Screening Tool at two Post Acute Care Facilities in the United States.”
During the conference, Lewallen was able to meet with one of her scholarly project team members, Dr. Philippe Voyer, an international nursing expert on delirium and a member of the research faculty at Universite` Laval in Quebec City, Canada.
Stewart and Schreiber Present at NACU Annual Meeting
Tim Stewart, director of service-learning at Belmont, and Dr David Schreiber, assistant professor and chair of entertainment industry studies, recently presented at the 2016 NACU Annual Meeting held at Manhattan College in New York City. Stewart presented on using technology to support service learning initiatives, while Schreiber presented on Belmont’s Pipeline project as an instance of industry and undergraduate student research.
Provost Dr. Thomas Burns, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs Dr. Beverly Schneller and Associate Provost and Dean of Students Dr. Jeffery Burgin attended and participated in the event’s provost and student affairs leader meetings.
Panvini Conducts Science and Research Program with Local High School Students
Dr. Darlene Panvini, professor of biology, hosted a group of 13 high school students on June 21 in the Janet Ayers Academic Center. The students are in the Interdisciplinary Science and Research Program at Hillsboro High School.
Panvini and the participants spent the afternoon touring the labs and completing a lesson on undergraduate research and the impact of invasive species on ecosystems.
Giordano Presents Workshop in Denmark
Dr. Pete Giordano, professor of psychological science, presented a workshop on June 1 at Aalborg University in Denmark. The workshop, titled “Personality is a Process: Culturally Assembled and Maintained,” was held at Aalborg’s Centre for Cultural Psychology.
Niedzwiecki Gives Talk at Tennessee Ornithological Society Meeting
Dr. John Niedzwiecki, professor of biology at Belmont, gave a talk to the Nashville Chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society held at the Radnor Lake State Natural Area Visitor’s Center on June 16. Niedzwiecki presented his program “Using Comparative Landscape Genetics to Quantify Interisland Gene Flow in Darwin’s Finches.”
Niedzwiecki recently worked on the migration of Darwin’s finches between islands in the Galapagos, investigating connections with ecology and the evolutionary consequences of migration. One assumption persistent over the last 100 years is that speciation occurred, with birds effectively isolated on different islands, allopathic speciation. His team was interested if speciation may have occurred despite persistent gene flow between islands. Niedzwiecki presented his data and described a collecting trip to get a data set to test intra-island gene flow.
Alumna Receives First Place Award for Student Research
Biology alumna Lindsay Millward (2016) received the first place Frank G. Brooks Award for Excellence in Student Research in Ecology at the Beta Beta Beta Biological Honor Society National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota in June. Millward’s research was on “Leaf Decomposition Rate Differs Between Invasive Exotic Lonicera maackii and Native Acer saccharum in a Temperate Deciduous Forest” that she completed as part of her senior research project with biology professor Dr. Darlene Panvini.
In April, Millward won first place in the regional Tri Beta District II oral presentation session and received an award that paid for her expenses to the national convention. She will begin a Master’s program in ecology this fall at Central Washington University where she received a teaching assistantship.
Belmont School of Physical Therapy Hosts Shoes4Kids Drive
Each year, Shoes4Kids conducts a shoe drive in conjunction with the American Physical Therapy Association’s annual conference, NEXT, to provide new athletic shoes and socks to under-privileged and under-served children in the host city. This year’s conference took place in Nashville, providing Belmont University’s School of Physical Therapy with the privilege of hosting the Shoes4Kids event.
As host school, the Doctor of Physical Therapy students were responsible for collecting, inventorying, purchasing and transporting hundreds of shoes for the event. The Belmont PT students, along with faculty sponsor Dr. Christi Williams (‘05), collected over 800 pairs of new tennis shoes and socks, which were then distributed in the Nashville community with the assistance of Catholic Charities of Nashville. Students, joined by volunteers, formed the “Shoe Crew” and fit children with their new shoes and socks.
Kylie Cook (’16) and Jade Manning (’17) led the student team and presented the results of the shoe drive at the APTA House of Delegates. Brad Thuringer, founder of the Shoes4Kids program, said, “I am daily reminded how fortunate I am to be part of such a wonderful profession and organization made up of such amazing people… You have such an amazing group of students. The best that I have worked with yet!”
Suzanne Thigpen Named Director of Alumni Relations
Following a lengthy nationwide search, Belmont University recently announced that Suzanne Thigpen has been named as the University’s director of alumni relations. She will begin her new role at Belmont on July 18.
Relocating to Nashville from Oxford, Thigpen most recently served in a dual role at the University of Mississippi as the assistant director of university development and the director of annual giving. In these roles, she was responsible for overseeing the university’s annual giving, marketing and stewardship program and created Ole Miss True, a consecutive giving society. Prior to her time in Oxford, Thigpen served as Vanderbilt University’s Director of Parents and Family Programs where she oversaw Parent Weekend and organized regional parent receptions.
No stranger to higher education or development, Thigpen has worked in the industry for more than 15 years and said she is delighted to be coming back to Nashville. “I am excited and honored to have been selected to serve Belmont University as Director of Alumni Relations and I am grateful for the opportunity to lead our alumni association. With all the growth and excitement surrounding Belmont, I look forward to joining the team and working with our board of directors and dedicated volunteers to grow participation and enhance our engagement efforts.”
At Belmont, Thigpen will provide leadership and management for the University’s Department of Alumni Relations, implementing all alumni, annual giving, parent and family programs and activities. Senior Director of Development and Alumni Relations Stephen Snead said, “I could not be happier to welcome Suzanne Thigpen as our new Director of Alumni Relations. She brings incredible strengths in program development and annual giving to Belmont. She is a noted expert in millennial giving and engagement and respected leader in her field.”
Makemson Featured on Artstor Blog
Dr. Justin Makemson, assistant professor of art & art education program coordinator, was recently featured in a post on The Artstor Blog. A nonprofit with a mission to use digital images and media to enhance scholarship and education, the blog brings together more than 2 million high-quality images for education and research and offers the tools to catalog, manage and distribute digital media collections, according to the organization’s website.
Makemson’s research was featured in a post titled “Portraits of artistic self: Parsing creative influence through prompted Artstor searches.”
