Fourth-year student Mary-Martin Johnson, of Tuscaloosa, Ala., received the United States Public Health Service Excellence in Public Health Pharmacy Practice Award at a ceremony in April. Johnson was presented the award by Dr. Chris Lamer, a clinical informaticist with the Indian Health Service.
The U.S. Public Health Service created the program to encourage student pharmacists to become active in public health issues. The annual award recognizes student pharmacists who have demonstrated a commitment to public health and public health practice across America.
Johnson was recognized for her work in the American Pharmaceutical Association-Academy of Student Pharmacists (APhA-ASP) chapter within Belmont’s College of Pharmacy. She has served as operation heart chairwoman and patient care coordinator for the organization. Through her efforts sustainable contributions to organizations such as the Barren Plains Hispanic Ministry have been initiated in the last few years. The APhA-ASP chapter has provided migrant workers free blood glucose and blood pressure screenings as well as patient education regarding diabetes and hypertension. In addition, the APhA-ASP chapter provided influenza immunizations to the migrant workers. Additionally, as service chairwoman within the Class of 2015, she has worked with The Little Pantry That Could. The nonprofit organization that provides food and healthcare services to the homeless population in west Nashville. Without a doubt, Johnson embodies the mission of the United States Public Health Service. Through her efforts as a student pharmacist, numerous lives have been changed.
Twenty-one Belmont business students received recognition and awards during the 
Dr. Stephen Shin, assistant professor of sport science, recently shared his experiences and test preparation tips for the U.S. citizenship application with students in the English as a Second Language (ESL) class at the Nashville Korean United Methodist Church (NKUMC). Since September 2012, basic ESL classes have been offered every Saturday at NKUMC in Brentwood, Tenn. Shin became a U.S. citizen about a year ago by going through the entire documentation process and citizenship test. Based on his experience, he provided general information about the citizenship application process and test preparation tips to the students who want to apply for U.S. citizenship in the future. Most of the students are newly immigrated to the United States coming from non-English speaking countries and they want to be more active engaging members in American society by speaking more fluent English. They also expressed their wishes to become a U.S. citizen to get better opportunities and to contribute more to the society.
Belmont University will hold its spring 2013 commencement ceremonies for graduate and undergraduate students on Saturday, May 3 in the Curb Event Center. Belmont celebrates the graduation of a total of 1,079 students. During the graduation ceremonies, 770 undergraduate, 85 master’s and 226 doctoral degrees will be conferred.
Associate Professor of Education Dr. Rachael Flynn-Hopper, Henna Jurca and Heidi Elbarky led a workshop, “Music in the Classroom: A Learning and Management Tool,” on the use of music to support the cognitive, physical and social-emotional development of children in early childhood and elementary classrooms. Participants learned how music sets the tone for the day and learning environment, how to use songs and technology to make music accessible and ways to incorporate it across the curriculum.
This spring semester the students in SPA 2895 La Cocina del Mundo Hispano (“Cuisine of the Hispanic World”) studied the connections between culture and cuisine in Spanish speaking countries. They practiced Spanish vocabulary and grammar needed for a variety of culinary activities and read Like Water for Chocolate by the novelist Laura Esquivel and food-themed odes by the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. Putting theory to practice, their professor, Dr. David C. Julseth, arranged for a series of hands-on cooking workshops that were taught in Spanish by Hispanic chefs in a professional community kitchen located in the new Casa Azafrán Community Center. Here the students learned to make the recipes from the Mexican novel by Esquivel, as well as Salvadoran pususas, Peruvian ceviche and Colombian sancocho stew. Cassava (yuca) fries, chile rellenos and cooked plantains were some of the semester favorites!
Dr. Kevin S. Trowbridge, assistant professor of public relations, challenged students and faculty at Union University as well as West Tennessee community leaders to consider how emerging technologies could change the way we see teaching and learning.
Dr. Douglas Bisson, professor of history, has published A history of England. The sixth edition of this two-volume textbook was released by Pearson Education in January 2014. The new edition is also available in a Chinese Simplified version. Professor Bisson is the sole active author of A history of England and has also published The Merchant Adventurers of England (University of Delaware Press).
Mathematics and Computer Science department faculty Dr. Glenn Acree (Pathways director) and Dr. Danny Biles (Pathways program manager) recently took seven of the students from the 