Newsmakers: Fall 2016

BOARD OF TRUSTEES In May, Don Shores and Russ Burcham were reinstated to full status. Suzanne Waller resigned after 13 years of service.

BRACKETT LIBRARY Jean Waldrop , director, was elected to the board of directors for Amigos Library Services.

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES Ginger Blackstone , assistant professor of broadcast journalism, defended her dissertation at the University of Florida in July to complete her doctorate in communication. The title of her dissertation is “The Worst of Times: The Prevalence of Power and Fear in the Television News.”

Heath Carpenter , instructor of English, defended his dissertation at Arkansas State University in April to complete his Ph.D. in heritage studies. The title of his dissertation is “T Bone Burnett, the American South, and the Ethic of a Contemporary Cultural Renaissance.”

The Arkansas Broadcasters Association awarded Harding’s KVHU radio station for outstanding station promotion in a medium market in July. KVHU was recognized for its student-led production and broadcasting of 13 radio commercials promoting the University’s “A Community of Mission” theme.

Shawn Fisher , professor of history, was named to a nine-member World War I centennial commemoration committee created by Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson in March.

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION David Kee , assistant professor of management, defended his dissertation at Grenoble Ecole de Management in France in June to earn a Doctor in Business Administration. His dissertation is titled “Ascetic Entrepreneurship: An Elite Prosopography.”? Dr. Reet Cronk , professor of business, presented her paper “Games That Work: Increasing Student Engagement and Learning in the Classroom Through Gamification and Games” at EDMedia, a world conference in Vancouver, Canada, on educational media and technology held by the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education in June.

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION Dr. Allen Henderson was named the director of the Finley STEM Center for Math and Science in April, replacing Dr. Tony Finley who retired in May. Dr. Clara Carroll , professor and associate dean, and a team of Arkansas educators were named one of 12 finalist teams in the Agents for Learning Challenge facilitated by Learning Forward and the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. Her team presented its submission to a panel of judges in Chicago July 21-22.

Dr. Donny Lee , professor and dean, was named president-elect of the Arkansas Association of Colleges of Teacher Education in May. Lee was also appointed to the professional licensure standards board of the Arkansas Department of Education in June.

COLLEGE OF NURSING Patty Smith , assistant professor, defended her dissertation at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in April to earn her Ph.D. in nursing. The title of her dissertation is “Organizational Experiences With Rapid Response Teams.”

OFFICE OF THE PROVOST In the previous issue, it was reported that Dr. Julie Hixson-Wallace , vice provost for accreditation, was a teacher and administrator at Southern School of Pharmacy from 2001 to 2006. Hixson-Wallace actually began teaching at Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy in 1994.