Dr. Mike Voight, professor of physical therapy, was recently inducted into the inaugural Titleist Golf Performance Institute Hall of Fame class. He was recognized for his lifetime of being a leader in both promoting the game of golf and helping PGA Tour players reach their highest level of performance.
Specifically, it was noted that Voight has been a worldwide leader in the development of testing algorithms in order to detect impairments and build treatment programs.
Alumna Emily Proud was recently named one of the nation’s “Top 30 Sportscaster Under 30” by the Sportscasters Talent Agency of America (STAA). The former Belmont women’s soccer player recently joined Nashville’s WKRN-TV (News 2) sports team.
A Knoxville, Tennessee native and four-year letterwinner on Belmont’s women’s soccer team, Proud spent the past two-plus years as a sports anchor/reporter at WATE-TV (ABC) in Knoxville. Proud earned her bachelor of arts degree in journalism, with a sports and media emphasis. While at Belmont, she was honored by the Southeast Journalism Conference in the categories of “Best Feature Writer” and “Best TV Reporter.” The former Bruin midfielder worked as a sideline reporter at the OVC Basketball Tournament and was part of Belmont’s run of OVC Digital Network Program of Excellence Awards.
“There’s just something about sports that brings out the best qualities in people,” Proud told the Knoxville News Sentinel in a 2017 story about her budding career. “There are always stories of triumph and determination, and that’s why I’ve always been drawn to it. I love hearing athletes’ stories, because so many stories of perseverance come out of athletics.”
The 2018 “Top 30 Under 30” was compiled by STAA owner Jon Chelesnik with input from sportscasters, agents, sports radio and TV industry executives and social media. According to the website, “The job market also influences who is on the list. Earning network and major market opportunities at a young age are strong measures of talent and intangibles.”
Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business, alongside industry partner ASCAP, recently honored alumna Cyndi Forman as the latest recipient of the Music City Milestone Award (MCMA). Forman currently serves as the vice president for creative for Universal Music Publishing Group Nashville. The MCMA celebrates Belmont’s connection with Music Row while recognizing a Belmont graduate who has achieved truly superlative success in the entertainment and music industries early in their career. In addition to attendance from publishing executives and friends, Atlantic Records recording artist Hunter Hayes surprised Forman at the event in her honor–Forman is credited with signing and developing Hayes.
Curb College Instructor of Music Business Dan Keen noted, “”At the ceremony honoring Cyndi Forman our dean, Doug Howard, and I noticed that everyone who spoke in tribute to her not only commented on her success but how she did it. Every speaker praised her for the love and grace that she showers on the songwriters and colleagues with whom she works. As Doug Howard said, ‘Cyndi is a perfect example of what we strive for at Belmont University.’”
Forman said, “I am so grateful to have been honored by my alma mater, Belmont University, and ASCAP with the Music City Milestone Award. In 20 years of being part of the Music Row community, I’ve never felt so much love and support from my peers as I have this week. This recognition means so much, and I’m proud to be in the company of past recipients who I admire and respect.”
After obtaining her Music Business degree from Belmont, Forman became creative director at Balmur Entertainment. During her time at Balmur, she landed many cuts and was quickly recognized as a great “song person.” In 2002, she joined Almo Irving Music which became part of Universal Music Publishing Group in 2003 where she assumed the role of creative director.
After continued success, Forman was promoted to senior creative director and has been credited for securing many significant cuts. Along with Hunter Hayes, she currently works with great names such as Ryan Hurd, Sam Ellis and duo Striking Matches. Her current role focuses on furthering artist and writer development, leading the creative staff and finding key opportunities for UMPG writers and the UMPG Nashville catalog of songs.
In 2013, she was recognized as one of Music Row’s Rising Women on The Row by Music Row Magazine. The Nashville Business Journal also recently recognized Forman at their annual Women in Music City Awards.
Previous Music City Milestone Award recipients include Beka Tischker, Ben Vaughn, Ashley Gorley, Connie Harrington, Rusty Gaston, LeAnn Phelan and Carla Wallace.
Belmont journalism alumna Jeannette Ceja served as the Official Travel Host for The World Woman Summit 2018, an opportunity that she calls “a dream come true.” The Summit, hosted earlier in October, celebrated the doers and the doing, providing a source of inspiration and support to connect and empower women around the world. With keynote conversations, panel discussions, one-on-one interviews and more, the Summit brought together the voices and insights of a diverse range of luminaries from business, entertainment, science and technology to accelerate women’s leadership throughout the world.
In a recent article published on World Woman Foundation’s blog Ceja said, “My personal and professional mission continues to want to inspire the public to travel. I am a huge advocate for women empowerment and travel.”
Beyond her work with World Woman, Ceja also serves as a global ambassador for Synergy of Empowered Women, a nonprofit that helps women achieve their greatest potential. She has also created a series of travel workshops for women after noticing a trend in the questions she receives throughout her travels.
In the same article, Ceja recommends that women embark on a solo trip at least once throughout their life. Even starting somewhere local, she encourages women to become comfortable in their own company. “I am so happy that I took chances in my life towards my dream,” she said. “Otherwise, I would not have grown into the woman that I am today.”
Ceja will be featured as a speaker at the upcoming 4th annual Travel Unity Summit-Economic Development Through Diversity Event in New York.
To learn more about Ceja’s work, click here.
Dr. Anthony Blash, assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy, recently completed the facilitation of a virtual, 4-part Certified Associate in Health Information and Management Systems (CAHIMS) Review Course facilitated and sponsored by the Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS), North America Division.
HIMSS North America positively transforms health and healthcare through the best use of information and technology in the United States and Canada. As a cause-based non-profit, HIMSS North America provides thought leadership, community building, professional development, public policy and events. HIMSS North America represents 70,000 individual members, 630 corporate members and more than 450 non-profit organizations, all working to leverage the potential of digital health to improve both the health status of populations as well as the quality, cost-effectiveness, access and value of healthcare.
Beginning on October 9 and continuing through October 19, the 4 virtual master classes reviewed the CAHIMS competency areas using materials from the Review Guide and assessed participants from London, Canada and the United States on knowledge areas included in the certification exam.
Knowledge and competency areas covered by this review course included Organizational and Technological environment; Healthcare Information and Systems Management Analysis and Design, Selection and Implementation, Support and Maintenance, Testing and Evaluation, Privacy and Security, Administrate Leadership and Management Support.
Due to the course’s positive reviews, Blash has been invited to teach the Health Informatics Management Certificate Program Review Course at the HIMSS19 Global Conference & Exhibition in February 2019 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando
“Our virtual course over the last couple of weeks went very well. I was very impressed by Dr. Blash’s preparation for the course and the work done to revise and update the material. I have already received positive feedback about the course from the attendees and immediately offered Dr. Blash the opportunity to participate in person at our annual conference,” said Mara Daiker, MS, CPHIMS, RHIA, SHIMSS, director, professional development for HIMSS North America.
Each year, the HIMSS Professional Development department strives to introduce innovation and differentiation across many aspects of general educational programming for the HIMSS Global Conference, which is attended by 50,000 members and offers more than 300 education sessions during the 5 day conference. For more information on the CAHIMS certification exam, click here.
A Belmont University College of Law Moot Court Team was crowned national champion at this past weekend’s Emory Civil Rights and Liberties Moot Court Competition in Atlanta. Both of Belmont’s teams who competed in oral arguments were completely undefeated by any other school. Due to the competition’s set-up, Belmont’s teams faced each other in the semifinal round and the winning team earned the championship title by a narrow margin.
The national champion team included students Marisa Garcia, Joseph North, and Richard Swor. The semi-finalist team included students Curtis Campbell, Sarah Ferraro, and Sarah Martin. North also took home the Best Oralist Award for the entire competition, and the brief winning team of students Curtis Campbell, Sarah Ferraro and Crystal Micillo were ranked in the top five of the tournament.
While Emory has not yet released a full list of schools in attendance, there were 30 teams that competed in this competition from across the nation. Belmont beat teams from University of Georgia, Vermont Law School, Florida State University, University of Miami, South Texas, Ohio State University and Baylor.
The final round was adjudicated by a panel of three judges including the Honorable James O. Browning from the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, the Honorable Darrin P. Gayles from the United States District Court of the Southern District of Florida and the Honorable Christopher J. McFadden, the presiding judge of the Court of Appeals of Georgia.
Susan Besser, an adjunct instructor in Belmont’s O’More School of Design, was recently awarded two prestigious awards from American Society of Interior Designers (ASID). Besser won the ASID Gold Award for Small Kitchen Design 2018, which she also received in 2016, and the ASID Tennessee State Award for Educator of the Year in 2018.
A Tennessee Registered Interior Designer and passionate preservationist, Besser has a Masters in Historic Preservation from Middle Tennessee State University. She has been involved in preservation in Franklin for many years and was involved in the preservation of the Dan German Hospital and documentation of the rehabilitation of Clouston Hall. During her six-year tenure in Dallas, she served on the Landmark Designation Committee of the Dallas Historic Commission and is a co-author of Dallas Landmarks, a Postcard History Series publication from Arcadia.
She focuses her practice on residential and commercial design of historic and contemporary spaces. When working with historic properties, she is sensitive to the structure and detail of these properties recognizing the importance of creating livable, comfortable environments which enhance the historic character. Besser served as the Nashville District ASID Chair from 2011-2013 and currently serves as Chairwoman of the Franklin Historic Zoning Commission.
She received the Nashville District Practitioner of the Year Award in 2012 from the Tennessee State ASID Chapter and the O’More Distinguished Faculty of the Year Award in 2014. She is currently working on a comprehensive work of Selma, Alabama’s architectural resources and has been teaching at O’More for sixteen years focusing on historic preservation, kitchen design and design history classes.
Besser’s Recent Work (before and after) on a Kitchen:
Earlier this month, neuroscience students and members of Nu Rho Psi, the neuroscience honor society at Belmont, traveled to Henry Maxwell Elementary in Antioch. While there, the group, which included Crystal Lemus, Aditi Buch, Chloe Garbe, Heena Ismaili, Jennifer King, Damaris Guevara, Benya Paueksakon and Devanie Combs, led a neuroscience-based presentation on the five senses to 3rd and 4th grade classes totaling a little over 300 students.
The 45-minute presentation focused on the brain mechanisms that underlie the five senses and included fun, interactive demonstrations for students. Hands-on activities included shaking a small brain in an empty bottle filled with water to stress the importance of cerebrospinal fluid in brain injury prevention and tasting candy while pinching the nose to stress the importance of smell and its role in flavor detection, among many others. The presentation wrapped up with students putting on rubber gloves and touching an actual sheep brain.
Students were entertained and left interested in neuroscience. Some even stated that the neuroscience presentation inspired them to learn more about the field and that they would love to study it further once in college. “It is always fun to see the student’s reactions when they find out that they will get to not only see a real brain, but touch one as well,” said Lemus, Nu Rho Psi’s president. “We started with one presentation last year and fell in love with the huge impact it made in the young minds of others. This year we are hoping to reach out to one elementary school, in the local Nashville area, per month.”
Nu Rho Psi, aside from planning events for National Brain Awareness Week, hosting journal clubs and having fundraisers, is focusing on community outreach and giving back to the local community. While only their second year on campus, the student organization has held events for National Brain Awareness Week, presented to over 300 students and is working towards national recognition.
William Ingram, Belmont’s chief technology officer, recently published an article in Education Technology Insights. His article, “People First Technology,” details the ways in which he has spent his first three years on Belmont’s campus focusing on people.
Ingram’s discusses how his people-first mentality lead to developments in key areas across campus, including:
To read the article in its entirety, click here.
On Thursday, October 18, United Talent Agency (UTA) hosted their inaugural Digital Summit on Belmont University’s campus. The event presented discussions with UTA executives including Digital Strategy Agent Nick Barnes, Head of IQ Strategy Kendall Ostrow, Digital Agent/Emerging Platforms Oren Rosenbaum and Spotify’s Director, Head of Originals Jesse Burton. The summit was open to all Belmont students.
The Digital Summit, conceived by UTA, aimed to educate students on career opportunities in the digital marketplace and explore the current landscape across practice areas such as social media, podcasting and fan retargeting. Three sessions took place including “Retargeting: How to Cut Through the Noise and Market to Your True Fans” by Nick Barnes, followed by “Social Media: What Could go Wrong? Brand Crisis Management in the Digital Age” by Kendall Ostrow and “Creation to Syndication: How to get a Podcast off the Ground” by Oren Rosenbaum and Jesse Burton.
“Our ongoing relationship with UTA has resulted in countless professional and educational benefits for our students here at Belmont,” said Dr. Cheryl Slay Carr, associate dean of Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business. “By hosting a unique event like The Digital Summit, we were able to introduce them to career opportunities in a burgeoning field and invaluable insights from industry thought leaders.”
“We created The Digital Summit alongside Belmont to educate the next generation about career opportunities in the digital world,” said Nick Barnes, UTA digital strategy agent. “Upon graduating, music business students tend to only consider the traditional route of labels, publishing, management, etc. and we wanted to highlight the value of the growing digital marketplace.”
Please find a link to photos from The Digital Summit, here.
