Dr. Mike Voight, professor of physical therapy at Belmont, has been honored by the American Physical Therapy Association as a recipient of the Turner A Blackburn Lifetime Achievement Award from its Sports Physical Therapy Section. The award signifies a lifetime of positive contribution to education at both the university and continuing education levels. Voight received the award at the recent APTA Combined Sections Meeting in San Diego. In addition, Voight was inducted into APTA’s Sports Physical Therapy Hall of Fame, recognizing his positive impact on the profession of physical therapy for over 25 years.
Dr. Voight is a full-time tenured professor in the School of Physical Therapy at Belmont. He has spent most of his clinical practice working directly in the field of sports physical therapy, including time with many professional leagues, teams and athletes. In 1996, he served as a staff physical therapist at the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Outside of the classroom, Voight maintains a clinical practice specializing in athletic performance and orthopedic and sports related injuries. He also teaches the advanced Medical Tracks for the TPI Certification Program.

The Department of Biology recently hosted Dr. Dan Funk, an associate professor from the Department of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt. Funk gave a talk titled “Ecological Adaptation, Specialization, and Speciation: Causal Connections?” on March 2 in the Massey Boardroom. A reception followed the talk.

Rebekah Stewart, assistant director of Residence Life, and Nicole Rabalais, residence director of Maple Hall, presented at the regional Southeastern Association of Housing Officers conference in Williamsburg, Virginia on Feb. 25 to a group of 60 colleagues. Focusing on a part of Resident Assistant training called Behind Closed Doors, the women shared with colleagues some changes that the Office of Residence Life has made to this training for the August 2009 RA training. Behind Closed Doors (BCD) is a common tool used by many Residence Life programs to train new resident assistants in how to address a combination of serious and common issues they will face during their first month on the job. BCD can often be very dramatic and far-fetched, emphasizing only serious resident issues. The 2009 version created by Residence Life instead focuses on keeping RAs alert to smaller, less serious issues that make up the majority of the RA job and not just the serious issues. Stewart and Rabalais were very well received by fellow Housing professionals and were encouraged that Belmont’s innovative way of revamping this commonly used training tool for Resident Assistants will prompt other Residence Life programs to do the same.

Pam Parry, associate professor of journalism, recently published a book review in Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism, which is published by Sage. She reviewed Joyce Hoffmann’s On Their Own: Women Journalists and the American Experience in Vietnam. Journalism: Theory, Practice & Criticism describes itself as “a major international, peer-reviewed journal that provides a dedicated forum for articles from the growing community of academic researchers and critical practitioners with an interest in journalism.”

Belmont physical therapy professor, Dr. Kevin Robinson, recently provided expert analysis for an investigative report by WLKY in Louisville, KY about ‘fit shoes.’ Click here to watch the broadcast.

Jeffery L. Ames, director of choral activities, was selected to guest conduct at two prestigious choral events. Ames will conduct the 2010 Western Division American Choral Directors Association Mixed Honor Choir in Tucson, Arizona March 3-6. The choir will consist of 150 high school singers from the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada and Utah. The Honor Choir will conclude with a concert performance and will feature one of his compositions, titled “In Remembrance.”
Ames will also return to the stage of Carnegie Hall in New York for a second appearance with the National Youth Chorale March 11-14. This ensemble will consist of 150 high school singers from strong choral programs from Alabama, California and North Carolina. Furthermore, he will have the distinct honor of sharing the Carnegie stage with his friend, mentor and famed conductor of the St. Olaf Choir, Anton Armstrong. The National Youth Chorale will conclude with a concert performance and will feature two of his compositions, “The World of Our Dreams” and “Rejoice!”