Steven Kotler, New York Times best-selling author, innovation leader, Peak Performance Expert and co-founder and director of research for the Flow Genome Project, is set to speak at the Center for Executive Education’s annual Fall Leadership Breakfast Dec. 4 in Belmont’s Curb Event Center. Following a time of networking and breakfast, Kotler’s program will begin at 7:30 a.m. and be followed at 9 a.m. by a book signing. The $45 admission includes breakfast, the program and Kotler’s most recent book, The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance.
An award-winning journalist, Kotler also was co-author of Abundance, which was released by Simon and Schuster in 2012. Abundance received international praise and was named by CNBC as one of the Top 12 Business Books of 2012 and by Fortune as Top 5 Must-Read Business Books of 2012. Kotler is also the author of the Pulitzer Prize-nominated A Small Furry Prayer, the Pen-West finalist West of Jesus and the best-selling novel and winner of the 2000 William L. Crawford IAFA Fantasy Award, The Angle Quickest for Flight.
His articles have appeared internationally in more than 70 publications, and he writes “Far Frontiers,” a blog about innovation and entrepreneurship for Forbes.com, and “The Playing Field,” a blog about the science of sport and culture, for Psychologytoday.com.
Kotler is also the co-founder of Rancho de Chihuahua dog sanctuary, which has been nationally recognized for pioneering new methodologies in both hospice care for elderly animals and long term rehabilitation for special needs animals. Prior to this work, and alongside the LA Lakers and 826 LA, Steven was co-founder of the nonprofit, The Reporter’s Gym, a sports-writing camp for inner city high school students.
The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and EO Nashville are Belmont’s community partners for this event. For more information and to register, visit here.
Two Belmont alumnae and one current Belmont student were recently contestants on the game show “Family Feud.” Sarah Morgan is a School of Nursing alumna, and Bethany Thomas graduated from Belmont’s physical therapy program. Lindsey Thomas is currently enrolled in the pharmacy program at Belmont. All three women are also related to Professor of Media Studies Dr. Rich Tiner.
Associate Dean and Senior Professor of Performance Excellence of the Jack C. Massey Graduate School of Business Dr. Joe Alexander has been appointed to the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE) Panel of Judges.
Assistant Professor of Communication Studies Dr. Nathan Webb has been published in the latest edition of Teaching and Learning Inquiry. His article, “Instructor-Student Rapport in Taiwan ESL Classrooms,” examines how English teachers from the West navigate cultural differences to build effective relationships with “English as a second language” students in Taiwan. To complete his research, Webb conducted interviews and classroom observations in Taipei, Taiwan. Teaching and Learning Inquiry is the academic journal of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
Department of Philosophy professor Clancy Smith recently published a chapter titled “Days of Future Past: Segregation, Oppression, and Technology in X-men and America” in the edited volume Ages of the X-men: Essays on the Children of the Atom in Changing Times from McFarland Publishing.
Belmont alumnus, Ben Vaughn, has been named to Billboard’s “
The Belmont and Beyond Kickoff event Monday offered an inspirational program and speaker, David Ssebulime, a native of Uganda and the ninth of 14 children. Ssebulime’s childhood was deeply shaped by Sunday school and playing drums in his father’s church. When his father passed away, he was taken to a village orphanage, and at the age of 9, he joined the African Children’s Choir and toured Europe and North America. Feeling called to service and Christian ministry, Ssebulime dedicated his life to the many African orphaned and at-risk children. He is the founder and development director of Raise the Roof, Inc., a non-profit organization whose goal is to establish, outfit and resource permanent village schools that will educate and nurture leaders to shape Africa and the world.
“The Massey Machine,” a team comprised of Belmont Massey Graduate School of Business alumni and current students, raced on the Cumberland River this past Saturday as one of 44 boats in the 
Todd Williamson, class of 1988, will be doing a large installation at the Nashville Airport Ticketing Lobby that will remain up for the better part of a year. The project is part of a juried exhibition Williamson won. The opening artists’ reception will be September 23 at the airport, and the day before the reception, Sept. 22, Williamson will be speaking to Belmont art students about managing an arts business, developing contacts, creating public art and more. Samples of Williamson’s work can be seen at 