Class of 2016 pharmacy student Amy Schnees received a Mary Molina Education Scholarship. This $2,500 award is given to doctoral students who excel academically. Applicants must either work for or be a dependent of an employee within Molina Healthcare. Schnees worked closely with Belmont Pharmacy Assistant Professor Dr. Edgar Diaz-Cruz to prepare her application. This summer Amy has been working with Dr. Amy Ham and colleagues at Vanderbilt University to study resistance of targeted drug therapies for colon cancer.
Pharmacy Student Earns Mary Molina Education Scholarship
Turkish Students Visit Belmont
Belmont University hosted several Turkish law students and professors on campus this week. Eighteen Meliksah University students, their law school dean and a law professor stayed in Bruin Hills and listened to Belmont professors’ lectures on U.S. law and government. They also had several cultural activities and weekend visits to nearby Atlanta, Ga. and Chattanooga, Tenn.
“Why do we do this? To promote international education exchange, this is the soft diplomacy of international relations and it works,” said Kathryn Skinner, director of International Student Services. “They have had an amazing first time to Belmont and (the United States) getting to know how we live, learn,work and play.”
The group has been friends of Belmont for some time. Belmont history professor Daniel Schafer has led Belmont students on study abroad trips to Kayseri, Turkey for three consecutive years to learn with Meliksah University students.
Trowbridge Participates in Public Relations Leadership Rally
Dr. Kevin S. Trowbridge, assistant professor of public relations, joined with about 100 leaders from across the United States June 14-15 to participate in the 2013 Leadership Rally hosted by the Public Relations Society of America in New York.
The two-day event brought together current and future leaders of the society to discuss leadership, board management, programming, financial management, recruitment and retention. PRSA is the world’s largest and foremost organization of public relations professionals with nearly 22,000 members, divided into 10 districts and more than 100 chapters.
Trowbridge, who serves as chair-elect for the PRSA Southeast District, will assume the role of district chair in 2014. The Southeast District includes 11 chapters in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, representing about 2,000 PRSA members.
He has been actively involved in local and district leadership roles with PRSA since 2005. In addition to these leadership positions, he is the new faculty adviser for Tower Creative Consultants, the student-run public relations firm of Belmont’s award-winning chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA). (image – headshot)
Trowbridge Presents Keynote Address at Tennessee Electronic Library Conference
Dr. Kevin S. Trowbridge, assistant professor of public relations, delivered the keynote address June 17 during the opening day of the Tennessee Electronic Library conference. More than 100 media specialists and librarians from across the state attended the inaugural event held at Montgomery Bell State Park.
Trowbridge’s presentation provided an overview of strategic communication planning and laid a foundation for the attendees’ work on developing a strategy to raise the virtual library’s visibility as it approaches its 15th anniversary.
The Tennessee Electronic Library is a virtual library administered by the Tennessee State Library and Archives, a division of the Tennessee Department of State. The Internet-based library provides Tennesseans with access to more than 400,000 digital resources, including magazines, scholarly journals, test preparation materials, federal census records, Tennessee primary source materials, and more.
Murray Talks to Jane Austen Society Members
Dr. Douglas Murray, professor of English, spoke to the Middle Tennessee chapter of the Jane Austen Society of North America on June 23. His illustrated talk was entitled “The True Story of Box Hill, or What’s a Nice Girl Like Emma Woodhouse Doing in a Place Like This?” After the talk, society members recreated the Box Hill picnic in the Belmont Presidential Garden.
School of Physical Therapy Named Komen Volunteer Group of the Year
The Belmont University School of Physical Therapy was recognized as the “Outstanding Volunteer Group of the Year” at the annual Susan G. Komen Leadership Conference in Dallas, Texas last weekend. Susan G. Komen is a global leader in the fight against breast cancer with local affiliate offices in more than 120 locations in the U.S. and around the world. Each year the organization recognizes volunteers who demonstrate dedication, commitment, creativity, initiative and dependability.
The Belmont Physical Therapy students began their commitment to Susan G. Komen Greater Nashville two years ago when they volunteered as a group to manage the race course at the organization’s annual Susan G. Komen Nashville Race for the Cure® event. The Belmont students utilize this opportunity to enhance the school’s community involvement and establish teamwork within the physical therapy school.
Over 80 students participated the first year, but the school has created a continuous source of high quality volunteers by creating a kind of mentorship program. Once a student volunteers, she or he is expected to train, manage and support younger classmates through the volunteer process.
Belmont’s involvement with Komen goes beyond race day and beyond its students. Students assist with packet stuffing and other duties prior to the event and have also challenged other university schools to put together volunteer teams that can equal their impact. Belmont faculty members also serve on Komen Greater Nashville board of directors and race committee. Finally, several of the school’s athletics programs host Think Pink/Pink Out games each season to help raise needed awareness for breast health education in younger women and support those in the Belmont community affected by the disease.
“We are so proud that our volunteers were recognized as being the top in the country,” said Patty Harman, executive director of the Komen’s Greater Nashville Affiliate. “We know that our Race wouldn’t be the same without them and that they make such a huge impact year-round. We’re glad that everyone else now gets to see Belmont Physical Therapy as a benchmark for volunteerism.”
Kenisha Rhone, media relations director for Women’s Sports at Belmont accepted the award on behalf of the University. Rhone is an active volunteer for Komen Nashville and serves on the Race Coordinating Committee.
McElroy Honored as Key Innovator by Worship Leader Magazine
Alumnus Luke McElroy (’09), was recently named one of 12 key innovators in worship for the modern church by Worship Leader Magazine. McElroy is spotlighted in the June issue as one of a dozen innovators who make “the Sunday service of worship flow more smoothly, engage the full sensory spectrum, and overflow with both spontaneous and well-planned creativity. More than that, they are equally enthusiastic about putting a face, a faith, and a heart on the behind-the-scenes servants of congregational worship.”
McElroy was honored for the online library of media for environmental projection he has built through his company TripleWide Media. TripleWide Media is a division of OrangeThread Media, a video content company McElroy started while still at Belmont that has now grown into five divisions covering all aspects of media from live event turn key production to stock multi-screen content.
Alexander Appointed to 2013 TNCPE Board of Examiners
Dr. Joe Alexander, associate dean and senior professor of performance excellence for the Massey Graduate School of Business, has been appointed by the Board of Directors of the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE) to its 2013 Board of Examiners. Every year the TNCPE award program recognizes organizations demonstrating excellence in business operations and results.
As an examiner, Alexander is responsible for reviewing and evaluating organizations that apply for the TNCPE Award. The Board of Examiners comprises experts from all sectors of the regional economy, including health care, service, non-profit, manufacturing, education and government. All members of the Board of Examiners must complete extensive training in the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Examiners take the skills developed during training and the assessment process back to their own jobs, benefiting and improving their own organizations in the process.
Each year, the TNCPE Board of Examiners contributes more than 10,000 hours of volunteer service to organizations across Tennessee.
Inaugural Birch Memorial Scholarship Presented to Belmont Law Student
The two inaugural awards for the Justice Adolpho A. Birch, Jr. Memorial Scholarship were presented today to Belmont University College of Law student Candace Meagan Carter and University of Tennessee, Knoxville College of Law student Rameen J. Nasrollahi. The family of the late Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Adolpho A. Birch, Jr. and the Napier-Looby Bar Foundation announced the establishment of the scholarships earlier this year. The scholarships, supported by the Adolpho A. Birch, Jr. Legal Education Fund, are the beginning of an ongoing effort to recognize Justice Birch’s commitment to academic excellence, public service and diversity in the legal and judicial professions.
Adolpho A. Birch, III, senior vice president at the National Football League, said, “Our father recognized the potential in every student, and he sought to encourage all to reach that potential in a way that served the greater good. I believe he would be extremely pleased with the establishment of these scholarships and particularly with its first two recipients.”
A rising second-year student at Belmont University College of Law, Candace Carter serves in leadership positions in the Student Bar Association, Black Law Students Association and the Women’s Law Student Organization, and is a College Ambassador, among other commitments. Carter graduated from Northwestern University in 2011 with a B.A. in Political Science and a double minor in International Studies and Legal Studies. The scholarship will support Ms. Carter’s judicial internship this summer for Williamson County Circuit Court Judge James G. Martin, III.
Alumnus Appointed Nashville Lifestyles Editor
Belmont alumnus Brian Barry has been appointed publisher and editor of Nashville Lifestyles. Barry began his career at Eagle Communications working with titles Business Nashville magazine and Nashville Life magazine and has worked with Nashville Lifestyles since its founding in 1999.
“My career has taken me all over the country but Nashville has always been my home,” Barry told the Nashville Post. “I love this city and I love Nashville Lifestyles magazine. It is a true full circle moment for me to come back to the magazine.”
