Faculty and staff news

Steve Bisese, vice president for student development, and Harry Shucker, vice president for student services at Furman University, presented a program about sophomore year retention at the National Association of Student Personnel Association's (NASPA) regional conference in Virginia Beach in June.

Joe Boehman, dean of Richmond College, had his article, "Affective Commitment among Student Affairs Professionals," published in the online edition of The NASPA Journal.

Dan Fabian, associate dean of Richmond College, presented "The Forgotten Class, the Forgotten Gender: Sophomore Male Retention" at Retention 2007 in San Antonio.

The Teatro Regio in Turin, Italy, will present the world premiere of Puccini's opera, Edgar, June 25, 2008, in a new edition prepared by Music Librarian Linda Fairtile. Fairtile, who has a Ph.D. in musicology, has been working on the piece since 2002 by studying microfilms of Puccini's surviving manuscripts and consulting the manuscripts themselves in Milan.

Dee Hardy, director of food and auxiliary services, co-presented at the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) annual conference in Seattle in July. Her presentation, "It's Not Easy Being Green—Not!" covered the ease of developing sustainable, environmentally appropriate designs that stand the test of time.

Ron Inlow, associate vice president for auxiliary services emeritus, will represent the National Association of College and University Food Services as a liaison to the Council for the Advancement of Professional Standards in Higher Education. CAS is a consortium of 35 associations in higher education promoting standards in student affairs, student services and student development programs.

The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities awarded Dr. Suzanne Jones, professor of English and women's studies, a resident fellowship for the fall semester. Her project, "Rethinking the One-Drop Rule: The Reappearance of the Racially Mixed Figure in the American Imagination," is an interdisciplinary study of the narrative and rhetorical techniques that contemporary American writers use to rethink the long-practiced "one drop" rule, which renders black any person with any known black ancestry.

Dr. Joanne Kong, director of accompaniment in the Department of Music, performed the world premiere of Side by Side, a keyboard concerto written by Pulitzer Prize- and Emmy Award-winning composer Michael Colgrass. The work is the first to feature one soloist performing on both the piano and harpsichord.

Juliette Landphair, dean of Westhampton College, received the Bob E. Leach Award for Outstanding Service to Students from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), Region III.

Juliette Landphair, dean, and Angie Harris, assistant dean, Westhampton College, presented "Signifying Women: Applying Lessons at Women's Colleges to Coeducational Institutions" at the NASPA regional conference in Virginia Beach in June.

David Leary, university professor, made two presentations, one on "G. Stanley Hall, the Origins of Pragmatism and the History of Psychology" (in Dublin, Ireland) and the other on "The American Scholar: William James as Emerson's Protégé" (in San Francisco). He received an award at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association for an earlier publication that was selected as the best article on the history of psychology in 2006.

Alan S. Loxterman, professor of English, gave a presentation on "Science Fiction Questions Religious Values" as part of the North American Interfaith Network 2007 Connect meeting in July. The network is composed of members from the United States and Canada who come together to explore interfaith connections.

James Rettig, University librarian, was elected president of the American Library Association in nationwide voting completed in May. After serving a year as president-elect, Rettig will take office in July 2008, becoming the chief elected officer of the world's oldest and largest library organization. As president, Rettig will serve as the association's chief spokesperson, representing it in various public forums, including testimony before Congress.

Laura Runyen-Janecky, assistant professor of biology, received a three-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to research Shigella, a bacterium that causes the diarrheal disease shigellosis. The $193,375 grant includes funds for student researchers and equipment.

Sharon Scinicariello, director of the Multimedia Language Laboratory, Modern Literatures and Cultures, received the President's Award at the June conference of the International Association for Language Learning Technology. Scinicariello was given the award for exceptional service to the organization during the past two years.

Tim Scott, production cook at Dining Services, completed the Culinary Enhancement Workshop for production managers sponsored by the National Association of College and University Food Services in conjunction with the Culinary Institute of America.

The National Science Foundation awarded Kelly Shaw, assistant professor of computer science, a $135,000, three-year grant to research methods for increasing the efficiency of computer chip multiprocessors. Shaw will explore techniques to streamline resource demands on multiprocessors when applications are used to retrieve massive amounts of data.

Aparna Telang, assistant professor of biology, received a $265,656 two-year Career Transition Award from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The funds will support her project, "Nutritional and Endocrine Control of Mosquito Egg Development." Funds will provide summer research funding for Telang and several undergraduate students, lab support, equipment, supplies and travel.

Hope Walton, director of academic skills, received a $2,500 grant from the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges to support the family cluster component of the Peer Advisors and Mentors program. The family cluster concept allows first-year mentees and upper class mentors to engage in a variety of bonding activities that offer support beyond that of traditional mentee-mentor relationships.