Mike Curb, Curb Family Foundation in kind gift equivalent of $10 million
Preserving Music City history while shaping the music of the future, Belmont University and the Curb Family Foundation announced today the completed renovation of Columbia Studio A at 34 Music Square East as a classroom and hands-on learning lab for students in Belmont’s Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business. Through his Curb Family Foundation, Curb Records’ founder and CEO Mike Curb is giving the University a 40-year lease on the 34 Music Square East property (including office spaces, Columbia Studio A and the Quonset Hut) as an in kind contribution, an estimated donation value topping $10 million.
From its opening in the mid-1950s as part of Bradley Studios to the building’s purchase by Columbia Records in 1962 to its transition to office space in 1982, Columbia Studio A and the Quonset Hut provided the sonic landscape for many of that generation’s biggest hits and greatest artists, including Bob Dylan, who recorded his legendary 1969 Nashville Skyline album in the most recently renovated space. “A-Team” session musician Charlie McCoy, who played on Nashville Skyline, noted that thanks to Dylan recording in town at Columbia Studio A, “Nashville was certified as a recording center in music to artists who might never have come here otherwise.”
Other artists who’ve graced the building include Dusty Springfield, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, Brenda Lee, Buddy Holly, Loretta Lynn, George Jones, Tammy Wynette, Charlie Rich, The Byrds, Patti Page, Elvis Costello, Simon & Garfunkel, and many more. Today’s event was opened by rising I.R.S. Nashville band Striking Matches, a duo who first met when paired together in a Belmont guitar class.
“If these walls could talk,” said Brenda Lee, who spoke at today’s announcement, “they could recount a virtual ‘who’s who’ of great artists and hit songs that first found life here… Thanks to the vision of today’s industry leadership—to men such as Dr. Bob Fisher, president of Belmont University, and Mike Curb, whose namesake Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business is unparalleled as a music industry learning resource—thanks to them, these walls can and will ‘talk’ to a new generation of young creativity that will come here to experience and learn where it all began. And for that, we can all be grateful.”
Dr. Fisher added, “When it comes to honoring Nashville’s music roots, we all need to thank Mike Curb for both his generous contributions and visionary commitment to keep that history alive in this town for future generations to recognize and enjoy. But Mike’s vision extends beyond our history to our future, as he has and continues to be a tremendous resource for tomorrow’s legendary artists through his support of Belmont’s Curb College. We’re truly grateful for his contributions to all of our programs.”
Dr. Noel Boyle, associate professor of philosophy, gave a presentation titled “A Friendly Critique of Subjective Physicalism” at the 20th Anniversary Toward a Science of Consciousness Conference on April 23 in Tucson, Arizona. The conference is the world’s premier international conference on the topic of consciousness, drawing a wide range of scholars including philosophers, psychologists, neuroscientists, physicists, computer scientists, artists and Eastern meditation experts. The keynote speech was given by esteemed theoretical physicist, Sir Roger Penrose. Other pre-eminent speakers included some philosophers (including David Chalmers, Daniel Dennett, John Searle and Ned Block), some neuroscientists (including Christof Koch, Bernard Baars and Michael Graziano) and novelist Rebecca Goldstein. Boyle’s presentation offered a defense and expansion of Robert Howell’s attempts to reconcile robust phenomenal realism with supervenience based accounts of physicalism.
Belmont University’s School of Sciences hosted this year’s 
Occupational therapy doctoral students Evan Pendygraft and Jevorius Price began work this semester to provide ergonomic consultation to Spring Back Mattress Recycling in Nashville. The local nonprofit was started in 2010 as a project by Belmont Enactus (then Students in Free Enterprise) who explored mattress recycling as a means of achieving a triple bottom line, serving people, planet and profit. Pendygraft and Price are working under the guidance of Dr. Teresa Plummer and Dr. Debra Gibbs, faculty members in the School of Occupational Therapy, and with Dr. John Gonas from the College of Business Administration, to assist workers at Spring Back to lessen the physical strain in their work activities and avoid potential injury. The consultation will continue during the next year.
Alumnus and Curb College Computer Technician Chris Wilcoxson was recently profiled on the Wordcamp blog for his skills as a developer on WordPress. The full article can be read 
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 c
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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.