Dr. Jeff Cornwall, the director of Belmont’s Center for Entrepreneurship, was recently interviewed for a story on “Starting Up: The Thrill of the Launch,” a feature on SmartMoney‘s Small Business Web site. Click here to read the article.
Belmont Receives $10 Million Donation from Johnson Estate
Belmont University announced today the receipt of more than $10 million from the estate of the late Ed and Bernice Johnson, long-time friends of the university.
For 16 years, Ed and Bernice Johnson ran a neighborhood gas station on Belmont Boulevard. During the Depression, the couple often helped Herman Lay keep his potato chip trucks on the road by allowing him to pay on credit. In 1948, Lay offered the Johnsons a chance to buy stock in his company. The couple’s initial investment of $8,000 grew exponentially with the company, which is now part of Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Co Inc. Following Bernice Johnson’s death in January 1998 (her husband died in 1994), $8 million from the Johnson estate was given to Belmont and directed toward scholarships in the College of Business Administration, primarily for accounting students. Additional funds from the Johnson estate were placed in a 10-year charitable remainder annuity trust, and those accumulated monies, $10 million, are now being released to Belmont, making the couple’s total bequest to the university equal more than $18 million. This represents one of the largest gifts in the history of Belmont University.
Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher said, “It should come as no surprise to anyone to discover the generosity of the late Ed and Bernice Johnson, a couple who believed in and supported a friend even in difficult financial times. Their remarkable philanthropic spirit will now benefit a new generation of students and future leaders. Belmont University is very grateful for this gift and extremely proud to be associated with such a dynamic legacy.”
The $10 million from the trust will be directed into the general university endowment. The original $8 million donation was placed in the Lawrence Glover Scholarship Fund, which honors retired Belmont accounting professor Lawrence Glover, who once served as the Johnsons’ accountant and first recommended Belmont as a worthy investment.
In 2004, Belmont honored Ed and Bernice Johnson with the unveiling of an original statue by Nashville sculptor Russ Faxon, which now graces the plaza on the Belmont Boulevard side of the campus adjacent to the fountain in front of the entrance to the Maddox Grand Atrium. The site is directly across the street from the Circle K convenience store, which sits on the site of a previous Esso gas station that was owned by the Johnsons. The statue portrays the Johnsons waving goodbye to a student.
BUSOP Faculty Assist with Toy Drive
On Dec. 20, four members of the Belmont University School of Pharmacy spent the day volunteering at the Sixty-First Avenue United Methodist Church Last Minute Toy Store. Led by “Head Elf” Dean Phil Johnston, Drs. Salvatore Giorgianni, Cathy Turner and Julie Rafferty participated in the distribution of around 20,000 toys/gifts to 3,902 children from approximately 1,380 families in the Nashville area. According to Dr. Johnston, while it was hard work it was a rewarding way to remind us of all the blessings that we enjoy and the ever present need and opportunities for community service.
School of Pharmacy Introduces Faculty Team for First Year
Dr. Philip E. Johnston, Dean of Belmont University’s School of Pharmacy (BUSOP), announced today that he has completed the hiring process for the necessary faculty/staff team for the 2008-09 academic year. Anticipating a full first class of 75 students, the BUSOP program currently has ten full-time faculty members in place, all of whom boast impressive credentials in education, research and practice.
Johnston said, “Given the immense shortage of pharmacists across the country, finding such a qualified and committed group of faculty members for our first cohort makes a tremendous statement about the quality and potential of our Pharmacy+ program as well as the significant support we’re receiving from the administration and community. Our incoming students couldn’t find better educational resources than what they’ll receive from their faculty mentors.”
In addition to having faculty in place, BUSOP has also begun a new marketing campaign with a newly-produced, 30-second TV spot that highlights both the imperative need for pharmacists as well as the unique offerings of Belmont’s Pharmacy+ program. (A four MB .mov file of the spot can be e-mailed upon request). Billboards and radio spots can also be expected to appear throughout the region soon.
Slay Published in Maryland Bar Journal
Cheryl L. Slay, the newest addition to the Curb College Music Business faculty, published an article in the January 2008 issue of the Maryland Bar Journal titled “MySpace or Whose Space Is It?” The article discusses the Digital Millennium Copyright Act as it applies to web site operators, including statutory framework, court interpretations, guidance to legal practitioners and recent litigation. Slay is a Business Law attorney with a particular focus on Intellectual Property and entertainment industry matters. Her professional credits also include extensive experience in managing and advising public sector programs on matters ranging from consumer protection and privacy to equal employment and administrative law, and her previous teaching experience includes courses at The University of Baltimore School of Law, The University of Maryland School of Law and The Maryland State Bar Association. For more information on Slay, visit http://www.slaylaw.com.
Hall of Fame Alumnus Discusses ‘A Christian Perspective on Race’
Alumnus and Athletic Hall of Famer Alaric (Al) Allen graduated from Belmont in 1996 after an outstanding basketball career and began working in mortgage banking. Allen and his wife Jude volunteer with an inner-city ministry, and he also serves as the executive director of Pass the Salt, a marketplace ministry that encourages Christians to be Jesus in their jobs. Allen has published two books, A Father’s Epistles and The Salt Journal, but his talk focused on the root causes of racism and the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Introduced by Coach Rick Byrd, Allen began by acknowledging all the supposed sources of racism—economic, social, cultural, moral and civil rights issues—before confirming that the real root is a spiritual problem. “The problem is not racism, it’s rejection,” Allen said. “We were created, every single one of us, to be a child of God, but everything this world tells us says otherwise. It’s a spiritual problem, and the world can’t solve a spiritual problem.”
Pointing to John 4, Allen illustrated how Jesus accepted the woman at the well despite her position in the culture as a woman, a Samaritan and a sinner, freeing her from the bondage of rejection. In a similar fashion Allen recalled an experience in his own life that reminded him, “My heritage has nothing to do with skin. My heritage is as a son of God… I celebrate Martin Luther King not as a black man or a great American. I celebrate him as someone who looked at the impossible and went after it. He dreamed a dream that was God’s dream, and he lived, sacrificed and died for it.”
AES Hosts Acclaimed Rock Producer Michael Wagener
The Belmont Audio Engineering Society (AES) chapter recently hosted Michael Wagener, a highly acclaimed producer and engineer who has worked with Motley Crue, Ozzy Osborne, Queen and Janet Jackson, to name a few. The Q&A session was attended by more than 40 students. Pictured from left to right are: Greg McGinnis, student AES chapter president; Wagener; student AES vice president Ethan Kaiser; and AES secretary/treasurer Nick Spezia.
Nashville Shakespeare Festival Begins 20th Season with ‘Hamlet’ at Troutt Theater
The Nashville Shakespeare Festival kicks off its 20th anniversary season this weekend with a winter production of Hamlet in Belmont University’s Troutt Theater. The production, the Festival’s first public winter production since 2002 and its first as a professional theater in residence at Belmont, “promises to be friendly to first-time viewers and intriguing to the seasoned Shakespeare fan,” said Hamlet director Denice Hicks.
The cast, which includes four Belmont students in addition to seven professional actors, will present their characters such that each is focused on helping Hamlet tell his story. This is the first time that the Festival has worked with Belmont on a production, and by making the Troutt Theater its new winter home, the Festival will be able to further its mission of not only entertaining, but also educating.
“We have partnered with several universities and colleges across the mid-South,” explained the Festival’s executive director, Nancy VanReece. “However, Belmont is the first winter home for a consistent collaboration as a theater in residence. We are already planning for 2009 and 2010 programming there.”
“We are honored to be among the other professional companies using this beautiful facility,” added Hicks, “and we are excited to incorporate the Belmont students and faculty into our production.”
Belmont University theater department chairman Paul Gatrell designed the set, adjunct professor and Tony Award-winner Franne Lee is the costume designer and MTSU professor Anne Willingham is responsible for the lighting design. Performances, beginning Jan. 17, will be held Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m., through Feb. 2. For more information or to purchase tickets, call the Nashville Shakespeare Festival at (615) 255- 2273 or visit www.nashvilleshakes.org.
Senior Journalism Student Named 2008 Chips Quinn Scholar
Senior journalism major Jeannette Ceja was recently named a 2008 Chips Quinn Scholar, a distinction awarded to only 20 students nationwide each year. The Chips Quinn program is sponsored by the Freedom Forum and provides internships, training and scholarships to college students of color who are pursuing careers in print journalism. The program offers special support and encouragement that will open doors to news careers and bring greater diversity to the nation’s daily newspaper newsrooms.
Chips Quinn Scholars spend two weeks in Washington, D.C., for training, experiential learning and mentoring by news veterans. The Freedom Forum then matches nominees with participating newspapers from across the country for paid internships. Upon Ceja’s return from Washington, she will spend ten weeks reporting and editing at The Tennessean newspaper.
“Jeannette is truly an exceptional student and we are thrilled that she has earned such a prestigious award,” said Dr. Sybril Bennett, Director of the New Century Journalism program and academic advisor and mentor to Ceja. “She has taken advantage of every opportunity to be successful and we are honored that the Freedom Forum and the Tennessean are recognizing her hard work in such an extraordinary way.”
COBA Faculty to Be Published in Journal, Textbook
Drs. Howard Cochran, Richard Churchman, Mark Schenkel and Jennie Carter Thomas recently received word that their article on “Identifying the Essential Managerial Characteristics of Successful Venture Capital Investments Among Small to Midsize Technology Enterprises Within Mainland China” will be published in Insights to a Changing World journal on March 15, 2008. In addition, Dr. Thomas and Dr. Harry Hollis will have their case and experiential exercise on “Driving Forces in the Field of Ethics” published in the 2008 edition of the Understanding Management textbook (published by Southwestern).
