Nick Bacon and Patrick Schneider of the Sport Science Department attended the annual American College of Sports Medicine meeting in Baltimore. Bacon presented a poster titled, “A cross-sectional survey of why shod runners do not run barefoot.” Dr. Bacon will begin his first semester in the Sport Science Department in August teaching in the Exercise Science discipline with Dr. Schneider.
Senior Lands NASA Summer Internship
Belmont Senior Matt Lefavor has landed a summer internship with NASA on the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) team. The SAM Team is located at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. SAM is a suite of instruments that will be on board the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover. The SAM team consists of scientists and engineers both in and out of NASA, in the US and Europe. SAM’s five science goals will address three of the most fundamental questions about the ability of Mars to support life – past, present and future. If all goes well, the SAM module will Launch aboard the Mars Science Laboratory in late 2011, and ride in the “shotgun” seat as the rover explores the Martian surface.
Matt is a double major in Computer Science and Philosophy in the Belmont Honors Program and has presented undergraduate research in both fields. His current assignment, data analysis for the SAM team, is not difficult for the A student, but according to Matt “there’s a ton of interesting and smart people around, and a ton of interesting things to do.”
Thune Earns Three of Atlantic Sun’s Biggest Honors
On the heels of advancing to the national ballot for the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America award, Belmont women’s cross country and track runner Brittany Thune (Sioux Falls, S.D.) earned three of the Atlantic Sun’s most prestigious honors in an awards ceremony Wednesday night — Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the Postgraduate Scholarship and the league’s nod for the NCAA Woman of the Year award.
Thune becomes the first Bruin female student-athlete to garner the Scholar Athlete of the Year award since Candice Mitchell at the conclusion of the 2001-02 academic year. Her selection also marks the fourth-consecutive year a Belmont student-athlete has been named the Atlantic Sun Male or Female Scholar Athlete of the Year. Since Belmont joined the A-Sun in 2001, Thune brings the university’s tally to eight student-athletes who have earned the distinction. Click here for more on this story.
Jackson Day Celebration to Be Held at Belmont University
Tennessee Democrats can hear Vice President Joe Biden give the keynote speech at this year’s Jackson Day Celebration at Belmont University’s Curb Event Center on Fri., July 16. Doors for Jackson Day will open at 4:30 p.m., and the program will begin at 5:30 p.m. CDT.
“Tennessee Democrats are excited Vice President Biden will help us kick off this year’s critical mid-term elections with his appearance at Jackson Day,” Tennessee Democratic Party Chairman Chip Forrester said.
Biden served in the U.S. Senate for 36 years before becoming the nation’s 47th Vice President. As the chairman or ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations and the Judiciary committees during much of his tenure, the Vice President has helped shape this nation’s foreign policy and its criminal justice system.
Jackson Day is an annual event held by the Tennessee Democratic Party honoring President Andrew Jackson, the founder of the modern Democratic Party. For attendance information, go to the Tennessee Democratic Party’s website at www.tndp.org or call 615-327-9779.
Kiningham to Study Current Issues in Substance Abuse Education
School of Pharmacy Associate Professor Kelley Kiningham will be attending the University of Utah School of Alcoholism and Other Drug Dependencies. The School, which is recognized internationally, provides specialized information and techniques for working effectively with substance abuse problems in various disciplines. Kelley’s plan is to focus on current issues and trends in the field of substance abuse education, prevention and treatment.
Marvanova Selected for Parkinson’s Traineeship
School of Pharmacy Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences Marketa Marvanova was recently selected for a Parkinson’s Disease Pharmacotherapy Traineeship through the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists Foundation. Marketa was chosen in this very competitive program as one of only 10 pharmacists selected nationally. The traineeship will be conducted at the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
Susan Jellissen Named an Academic Fellow in Terrorism Studies
Professor Susan Jellissen of the Political Science Department has been accepted as a 2010-2011 Academic Fellow with the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies in Washington, D.C. As an FDD Fellow, Jellissen will travel to Israel and participate in an educational program that focuses on terrorism’s threat to democracy.
FDD is a non-profit, non-partisan think tank based in Washington, D.C., that seeks to educate Americans about the terrorist threat to democracies worldwide. The FDD Academic Fellowship Program takes place at Israel’s Tel Aviv University from May 29 –June 9. The program consists of an intensive series of lectures by academics, diplomats and military officials from India, Israel, Jordan, Turkey and the United States as well as field trips to military, police and immigration facilities throughout Israel.
President Fisher Receives PRSA’s Apollo Award
On May 18, the Nashville chapter of the Public Relations Society of America honored President Bob Fisher with the 2009 Apollo Award for Communications Leadership. The PRSA gives this award annually to a senior Middle Tennessee executive “who demonstrates and exemplifies the public relations and communications function within his or her organization.”
Trey Campbell, president of Nashville’s PRSA, said, “Dr. Fisher has transformed the face of Belmont University. His ability to incorporate Belmont University as part of the Nashville community in addition to raising the national profile of the university is a testament to his communications abilities and the importance he places on public perception in his role as president of the university.”
Previous Apollo award winners include Governor Phil Bredesen, John Seigenthaler and Jeff Fisher.
Biles Published in Journal
Dr. Daniel Biles, Associate Professor, Math & Computer Science Department, recently had a research article accepted for publication, with co-authors Ferhan Atici and Alex Lebedinsky. The paper is titled Calculus of Variation on Multiple Time Scales and will be published in the International Journal of Dynamical Systems and Differential Equations.
Belmont Media Studies Students Produce Video for Nashville Zoo
Belmont students in a broadcast workshop class produced a welcome video for the Nashville Zoo this spring. The project was led by Steven Foust, Instructor of Media Studies, and the voiceover was done by Rich Tiner, Associate Professor of Media Studies. The video is on the Nashville Zoo’s homepage and will be entered in the 2010 Telly Awards, an international professional and student video competition. To view the video, click here.
