Junior Cassidy Alexander, who goes by Cassidy Lynn, recently entered CMT’s “Music City Madness” contest along with 7,000 other videos. CMT picked 64 to begin the contest and then left the results up to viewer votes. With each weekly round, CMT has cut the number of video contestants. Cassidy Lynn and her video “Down By The Bonfire” are still in the running in the round of Elite 8, which ends Monday at midnight. Log onto www.madness.cmt.com to watch Cassidy’s video and to vote for her to make it to the Final Four. There are no limits to how often an individual can vote. CMT’s “Music City Madness” winner will receive a meeting with the A&R department at Warner Brothers Records, mentoring sessions with Randy Travis and their own “Unplugged” session on CMT.
Junior Competes in CMT ‘Music City Madness’ Video Contest
Gonas Named 2008 Tennessee Professor of the Year
Belmont professors selected four times since 2000 for statewide honor
Belmont University’s Dr. John Gonas, an assistant professor of Finance in the Undergraduate and Massey School of Business, was named today as the 2008 Tennessee Professor of the Year, an award selection determined by The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). This represents the second year in a row that a Belmont University professor has received this honor, with Psychology Chair Dr. Pete Giordano selected as the 2007 Tennessee Professor of the Year.
Dr. Gonas, who is currently in Washington, D.C. for special ceremonies to receive his award, was selected from nearly 300 top professors in the United States. Belmont will be holding its own celebration to honor Dr. Gonas on Thurs., Dec. 4 at 3:30 p.m.
“More than me, this award should be credited to the Belmont student,” Gonas said. “Over the past 10 years I have been blessed to teach and mentor some amazing students – many who possess what I find to be the ideal balance of a strong intellect, a disciplined work ethic, a solid character and a selfless commitment to community service.”
Prior to joining Belmont’s faculty in 1998, Gonas worked in the financial planning industry for eight years (most recently with J.C. Bradford, Inc. in Nashville) in retail brokerage, investment consulting and fee-based asset management. During the 2000-2002 academic years, he went on leave from Belmont to pursue a doctorate in Finance at the University of Kentucky, a degree he received in the spring of 2005.
Gonas currently teaches Corporate Finance, Introduction to Investments and Investment Management, and his teaching philosophy revolves around real life application of a subject matter. Gonas also serves as the Sam Walton Fellow responsible for advising Belmont’s SIFE students. SIFE, or Students in Free Enterprise, is an international, non-profit organization active on over 1,500 college and university campuses in 47 countries. Under Gonas’ leadership, Belmont’s SIFE program has won numerous regional and national awards, including the 2006 National Rookie of the Year Award, a 2007 and 2008 placement as a top-20 team at the USA National Exposition, and winning the Motion Picture Association of America 2007 Grand Prize of its Anti-Piracy Public Service Announcement.
Belmont University Provost Dr. Dan McAlexander said, “Belmont is extremely proud that for two years in a row one of its professors has been acknowledged for his outstanding and innovative teaching. John is an exemplary professor embodying in his classroom that which distinguishes the Belmont educational experience—academically rigorous, connected to the real world through experience, encouraging commitment to service to one’s surrounding community.”
Belmont University professors represent four of the past nine Tennessee Professors of the Year: 2000 winner Dr. Mike Awalt (Philosophy), 2001 winner Dr. David Julseth (Spanish), 2007 winner Dr. Pete Giordano (Psychology) and Gonas as the 2008 selection.
Leadership Expert Lencioni Offers Advice to Business Executives
Named by The Wall Street Journal as one of the most in-demand business speakers, leadership guru Patrick Lencioni spoke today to an assembly of business executives in the Curb Event Center. Belmont’s Scarlett Leadership Institute brought Lencioni to campus for this special event.
The founder and president of The Table Group, Inc., a specialized management-consulting firm focused on organizational health, Lencioni has been described by The One-Minute Manager’s Ken Blanchard as “fast defining the next generation of leadership thinkers.” He is the author of eight best-selling books with over 2.5 million copies sold. His talk Wednesday focused primarily on thoughts from his best-selling work, The Five Temptations of a CEO.
Lencioni outlined the five temptations as the desire to protect a career, the desire to be popular, the need to make right decisions, the avoidance of conflict and the desire for invulnerability. In commenting on CEOs desire to appear invincible, Lencioni said, “To be a great leader, you have to build trust with your team… We have to demonstrate that we are in touch with our humanity. People already see us for what we are. We need to come clean about it.”
In concluding his session at Belmont, Lencioni also touched on the topic from another book, The Three Signs of a Miserable Job. He pointed out that the significant factors that determine employees’ work satisfaction are rarely tied to job duties or pay. Rather, feelings of anonymity or being ignored by management, a sense of irrelevance and an inability to assess personal contribution to the greater good contribute most often to creating a miserable job atmosphere.
Patrick Lencioni’s work has been featured in numerous publications such as Fast Company, INC Magazine, USA Today, Fortune and Harvard Business Review. As a consultant and speaker, he has worked with thousands of senior executives in organizations ranging from Fortune 500 corporations and professional sports teams to universities and nonprofits, including Southwest Airlines, Barnes & Noble, General Mills, Newell Rubbermaid, SAP, Washington Mutual and the US Military Academy at West Point.
Five Bruin Volleyball Players Listed in Postseason Awards
Channing Salava received Freshman of the Year honors, and Cat Mundy was a First Team All-Conference selection for the second season in a row in the annual Atlantic Sun Awards and Honors list released this week.
Senior middle hitter Emily Cahill was named to the Second Team All-Conference team for the third season in a row, joining middle hitter Jenny Gray and Salava. Salava rounded out her honors with an appearance on the All-Freshman team with outside hitter Maggie Johnson. Click here for more on this story.
Voight Gives Keynote at Golf Fitness Summit
Dr. Mike Voight in the School of Physical Therapy was one of the keynote speakers at the World Golf Fitness Summit held in Anaheim, Calif. last month. More than 600 health care and fitness professionals from 27 countries working within the sport of golf were in attendance. Dr. Voight’s topic was Hip Pathology and its role in the golf swing.
Women’s Soccer Team Ends Enchanted Season
The best season in Belmont women’s soccer history came to a close as Auburn defeated the Bruins 2-0 in the first round of the NCAA Division I Soccer Championships on Friday night. It was Belmont’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
“The girls had a great Atlantic Sun Tournament to get to this point,” Head Coach Lisa Howe said. “I thought that we prepared well — and were prepared for Auburn. Overall, I thought that our play was fine for a young team. I thought that we were composed and we played within our game plan.” Click here for more on this story.
Kann Receives CMA Close Up Award of Merit
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The Country Music Association selected Belmont University senior Benjamin Kann as the recipient of the 2008 CMA Close Up Award of Merit. The award was created in 2007 to honor the student who demonstrated the most creativity, dedication and promise in covering the CMA Music Festival on assignment from CMA. Kann was presented the award during the backstage press conference coverage of the 2008 CMA Awards on Wed., Nov. 12 at the Sommet Center in Nashville.
Bob Doerschuk, editor of CMA Close Up, said, “Benjamin possesses a rare combination of writing talent, attention to detail, deadline discipline and initiative. Just as important, he brings an infectious enthusiasm to the job that makes him a joy to work with. Benjamin can look forward to a bright future in music or whatever business he chooses to pursue.”
Riechert Leads Media Training Workshop for Metro Parks
Dr. Bonnie Riechert, Media Studies faculty and director of the Public Relations program, recently led a workshop session on “Telling Your Story” for 25 community center managers in the Metro Parks system. The half-day Media Training session was organized by Jackie Jones, community affairs superintendent with the Metropolitan Board of Parks and Recreation, and was held at the Shelby Bottoms Nature Center in Shelby Park.
Sports Science Faculty Host ‘Conversations’ Event
Sports Science faculty members Dr. Tabby Bewley and Dr. Sarah Adams hosted a “Conversations@Belmont” event on Oct. 20 titled “Best Practices for Physical Education Teachers.” This event was open to area public and private K-12 physical education teachers, and approximately 35 teachers were in attendance. “Conversations@Belmont” provides an opportunity for subject area communities to develop across school district and geographic borders.
Littlejohn Selected as General Editor
Oxford University Press invited Dr. Ronnie Littlejohn (Asian Studies and Philosophy) to be the General Editor for The Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy and Religion. The Encyclopedia is expected to be an “instant classic” reference work for scholars with interests in Asian religion or philosophy. In addition, Littlejohn has a new book on Taoism, published by McMillan, coming out very soon.
