Faculty and staff news
The Literary Review: An International Journal of Contemporary Writing, published quarterly by Fairleigh Dickinson University, has published Richard Becker’s nine-section poem, FATES, as an online chapbook. It can be accessed at www.theliteraryreview.org. Click on TLR Chapbooks. Becker is associate professor of music.
Dr. Con Beausang, associate professor of physics, is chairman of the education committee of the Division of Nuclear Physics, American Physical Society. The division is comprised of scientists and educators who study fundamental problems related to the nature of matter.
Linda Evans, assistant director of media and public relations, won first place for RichmondNow in a contest sponsored by the National Federation of Press Women.
Dan Fabian, associate dean of Richmond College, addressed the Randolph-Macon College faculty about “Faculty Influence on Student Academic Success, Satisfaction and Persistence.” He presented his research findings about how the actions of faculty can have an impact on the lives of their students both in and outside the classroom, incorporating three guiding principles of student retention. Fabian included examples of initiatives, programs and ideas and discussed how the college landscape is changing.
The U.S. Department of Energy has renewed its research contract with Dr. Jerry Gilfoyle, professor of physics. Gilfoyle researches the nature of the force that holds atomic nuclei together to form matter. His work is part of a world-wide effort to unravel the mysteries of atomic nuclei and to describe them using the fundamental constituents of matter, the quarks and gluons. The grant will provide support for undergraduate research assistants, travel and equipment. In addition, Gilfoyle has been chosen leader of an experiment recently approved to map the geography of electric charge and currents within the neutron. The experiment is part of the physics program at Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News.
Dr. Elisabeth Gruner, associate professor of English and women’s studies, delivered a paper, “Are You My Mother? The Meaning of Maternity in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials,” at the biennial congress of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature in Kyoto, Japan.
Dr. John Gupton, professor of chemistry, is the 2008 recipient of the American Chemical Society’s Award for Research at an Undergraduate Institution. The award recognizes the importance of research with undergraduates and honors a faculty member whose research with students has achieved wide recognition and contributed significantly to chemistry and to the professional development of undergraduate students.
Dr. Suzanne Jones, professor of English, spoke in September at a symposium about “The (Un)Popular South” at Palacky University in the Czech Republic. Her talk, “Rethinking Family, Rethinking the South,” comes out of her sabbatical project on the re-emergence of the mixed-race figure in the American imagination.
Dr. Steven Noles, CAPS clinical psychologist, presented a symposium titled “Spotlight on Student Athletes with Learning Disabilities” at the annual convention of the Association for Higher Education and Disabilities, held in Charlotte, N.C., in July.
Dr. Andrea Simpson, associate professor of political science, presented a poster at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association in Chicago. The poster session was based on the first Weinstein Seminar, “The Politics of Race, Space and Place.” She was accompanied by Rasa Verseckaite, ’08.
Johann Stegmeir, visiting professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance, will travel to Israel and Moscow to work as associate costume designer for a production of “Pagliacci.” He will fit the chorus and acrobats in Tel Aviv and create the principles and supernumeraries in Moscow. The production opens Oct. 3. Stegmeir also has been nominated for three MTA awards for a production of “The Magician’s Nephew” that he designed at the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte.
Dr. Carol Summers, professor of history and international studies, received a sabbatical fellowship from the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) to support her research and writing on political activism in Uganda. Summers’ project examines Uganda’s political climate in the 1940s and 1950s from the perspective of opposition activists. She is completing a book, tentatively titled Restless Tongues: Scandal, Rudeness, Loyalty and Popular Politics in Late Colonial Buganda. The ACLS awards fellowships and grants for research in the humanities and humanities-related social sciences. The most-recent round of sabbatical fellowships went to 65 of 1,016 applicants.
Three staff members are serving in the School of Continuing Studies’ Student Government Association. Francine Reynolds, One Card Systems administrator, is SGA president. She is enrolled in the Weekend College and will receive a bachelor of liberal arts degree in May. Martha Pittaway, administrative assistant in the Provost’s Office and administrative coordinator for Richmond Quest, is secretary. She is working toward a bachelor of liberal arts degree. Karren O’Connell, administrative assistant in the Westhampton College Dean’s Office, is a member of the SGA board. She is working toward a bachelor of liberal arts degree.