Newsmakers: Winter 2017

College of Arts and Humanities

Dr. Steven Breezeel , associate professor, became chair of the department of history and political science in January. He fills the role previously held by Dr. Kevin Klein, professor, who had served as chair since 2003 and is returning to the classroom.

Dr. Steven Frye , professor, became chair of the department of theatre in January. He fills the role previously held by Robin Miller, professor, who is returning to teaching.

Dr. Dutch Hoggatt , professor of communication, received third place in the faculty news competition for the 2016 Broadcast Education Association Super-Regional Conference in October 2016. He researched, wrote, shot, edited and produced his video entry, “Elvis and Harding.”

Robin Miller , professor of theatre, was awarded The Spirit of Arkansas Communication and Theatre Arts Association award for outstanding service to the teaching profession at the ACTAA convention September 2016. ACTAA is the organization for all drama, speech and communication educators in Arkansas.

Broadcast journalism major Grace Nickols and electronic media production majors Jacob McCall and Matthew Rice each received grand prize honors at the South Central Broadcasting Society convention in Fort Worth, Texas, in October 2016. Their work was ranked against submissions from nearly 30 other universities.

College of Bible and ministry

Nathan Guy , assistant professor, successfully defended his dissertation to complete his doctorate in theology and religious studies with an emphasis in Christian philosophical theology and the philosophy of religion from the University of Cambridge (U.K.) in October 2016. The title of his dissertation is “The Theological Basis of John Locke’s Political Thought.”

College of Education

Dr. Todd Patten , associate professor, won the 2016 Rosenthal Award for Outstanding Service to the Counseling Profession in Arkansas.

College of Nursing

DeeAnn Martin , assistant professor, was recognized for 33 years’ service to University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Medical Center and Arkansas Children’s Hospital in October 2016.

College of Pharmacy

Dr. Sarah Griffin , assistant professor in the department of pharmacy practice, was appointed assistant dean for academic affairs effective Dec. 1, 2016.

Rodney Richmond , associate professor in the department of pharmacy practice, became chairman of the board for the Commission for Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy in November 2016. In October 2016, it was announced that the geriatric board certification credential from the CCGP was transitioning to the Board of Pharmacy Specialties — a result of four years’ effort by Richmond and other board members.

College of Sciences

Dr. James Huff , assistant professor of engineering, received the Helen Plants Award for the Best Nontraditional Session for the International 2015 Frontiers in Education Conference. The award was given for his session, “Qualitative Research on Psychological Experience — A Starting Point for Using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis” and was presented Oct. 14, 2016.

Dr. Frank McCown , associate professor of science, co-authored Web Programming, an online book to be used teaching web development technologies at universities across the U.S.

Dr. Ed Wilson , professor of chemistry, was named the 101st president of the Arkansas Academy of Science in April 2016.