College of Continuing and Professional Studies
Dr. Caroline M. Brackette, assistant professor of counseling, was deployed to North Carolina as a disaster mental health volunteer for the American Red Cross to assist with the mental health needs of residents affected by Hurricane Irene. She was part of a team that traveled there to assist residents in the cities of Columbia, Pamlico, Rocky Mount, Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills and Stumpy Point. Additionally, Dr. Brackette participated as a program proposal reviewer for the 2011 Association for Counselor Education and Supervision Conference and was invited to be a textbook reviewer for an academic text on cultural diversity published by Brooks/Cole for Cengage Publishing. She also has completed training to be a community engaged scholarship health reviewer. Community engaged scholarship health is a component of Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, which promotes health through partnerships between communities and higher educational institutions. As a reviewer, she will review products of health-related community-engaged scholarship that are in forms other than journal articles.
Dr. Hani Khoury, professor of mathematics and chair of the department of mathematics, science, and informatics, has been invited by the Qatar Foundation to attend and participate in the 2011 World Innovation Summit for Education to be held in Doha, Qatar, Nov. 1-3. The annual WISE Summit brings together more than 1,000 thought leaders and pioneering practitioners from multiple sectors worldwide to foster new collaborations and develop innovative solutions with the goal of inspiring creative change in education.
Dr. Kenyon Knapp, associate professor of counseling and assistant dean for graduate programs, co-presented with Charles O’Connor, a student in the Ph.D. program in counselor education and supervision, on “Anger Management with Teenagers,” at the American Association of Christian Counselors World Conference on Oct. 1 in Nashville, Tenn. More than 300 counseling professionals were registered for the session.
Dr. Richard Martin, associate professor public safety, was selected to attend the Naval Postgraduate School Homeland Defense and Emergency Management Partnership Program in Monterey, Calif., in August. The purpose of the workshop is faculty development for Homeland Security and Emergency Management instruction and curriculum development.
Dr. Melanie Pavich, assistant professor of interdisciplinary and historical studies, presented “Plantation Families and Friendships: The World of the Couper and King Women,” as part of the Chautaqua Lecture Series at the meeting of the Coastal Georgia Historical Society on St. Simons Island, Sept. 8.
College of Liberal Arts
Dr. Kevin Bucholtz, associate professor and director of undergraduate research, presented a talk titled “Structure Activity Relationship of Trilostane and the Design of Compounds for the Selective Inhibition of 3beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase/isomerase 1,” at the Georgia Cancer Coalition Summit held June 16-17. A recent proposal, “A Reciprocating College and University Speaker Series Between Local Section in Georgia and Northeastern Florida,” was funded by the American Chemical Society as part of their Local Section Improvement Program. Dr Bucholtz presented a poster, titled “Indicator of Success in Organic Chemistry: Don’t Wait for a Late Inning Rally,” and an oral presentation, titled “Integrating Historical Examples into the Organic Chemistry Lecture,” at the American Chemical Society National Meeting in Denver, Colo. held Aug. 28-Sept. 1.
Dr. John Marson Dunaway, professor of French and interdisciplinary studies and director of Mercer Commons, Dr. Bryan J. Whitfield, assistant professor of Christianity, and Dr. Scott Walker, director of the Institute of Life Purpose and senior lecturer, presented a mentors’ training workshop on Aug. 15 for the College of Liberal Arts Faculty Mentoring Program, sponsored by a Lilly Fellows Program grant. Marson also gave a First-Year Friday lecture on “The Mercer Tradition of Service,” for first-year students on Sept. 9.
Dr. Jonathan Glance, professor of English and director of the writing program, participated in the Council of Writing Program Administrators annual Workshop and Institute in Baton Rouge, La., July 10-14.
Dr. David Goode, assistant professor of chemistry, and Samantha Paluck, senior chemistry major, presented their research at the Fall National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver, Colo., Aug. 28-Sept. 1. Their poster was titled “Convergent synthesis of ABT-737 derivatives in search of specific binders of viral Bcl-2 protein mimics.” Dr. Goode also gave an oral presentation, titled “Making connections in organic chemistry lab: Combining single-topic technique-based labs into a discovery-based lab.”
Dr. Kathryn Kloepper, assistant professor of chemistry, and Danielle Montanari, senior chemistry major, presented their research at the Fall National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Denver, Colo., Aug. 28-Sept. 1. Their poster was titled “Separation and Identification of Biosurfactants by RP-HPLC.” Dr. Kloepper also presented a poster, titled “Partnering with Industry in the Undergraduate Research Laboratory and Classroom.” Dr. Kloepper is also a co-author on a research article that was published in the Aug. 26 issue of the Journal of Molecular Biology.
Dr. Paul Lewis, associate professor, has been part of the planning group for the Mercer Law Review Symposium, which will be held at the Walter F. George School of Law on Oct. 7, on the theme “Citizenship and Civility in a Divided Democracy: Political, Religious, and Legal Concerns.” The symposium is also an event in Mercer’s new Lyceum Program and is co-sponsored by several other Mercer centers, including the Center for Theology and Public Life, the Center for the Teaching of America’s Western Foundations and the Phronesis Project for the Exploration of Character, Practical Wisdom and Professional Formation (which Lewis co-directs). In addition, Lewis, Mark Jones, professor for Walter F. George School of Law, and Kelly Reffitt, assistant professor for Tift College of Education, have submitted to Mercer University Press a book manuscript titled Character, Practical Wisdom, and Professional Formation Across the Disciplines. The co-edited book publishes the results of the university-wide work undertaken by the Phronesis Project since its establishment in 2009 and by the Professionalism and Vocation Across the Professions Project, which Jones has coordinated since its establishment in 2005 and is now incorporated within the Phronesis Project.
Dr. Shawn Loht, visiting assistant professor, published a book review of the title The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Greek Political Thought to appear in the November/December issue of the journal Teaching Philosophy.
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Dr. Ajay K. Banga, professor, and Yingcong Zhou, Ph.D. student, co-authored “Enhanced delivery of cosmeceuticals by microdermabrasion” in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology 2011; 10(3):179-184.
Dr. Carla L. Bonner, clinical assistant professor, was appointed to the 2011-2012 Georgia Pharmacy Association Student and Academic Affairs Committee.
Dr. Melissa M. Chesson, clinical assistant professor, and Dr. Gina J. Ryan, clinical associate professor, received a $4,035 continuing education grant for “Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus: a review of treatment options,” from Astella Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Chad M. VanDenBerg, clinical associate professor, was appointed to the membership committee of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.
Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics
Dr. Nancy Jay, associate professor, co-authored and presented a paper, titled “What Motivates Equity Offerings? Evidence from the Use of Issue Proceeds,” at the national Financial Management Association conference in Denver in October.
Dr. Vijaya Subrahmanyam, professor of finance, wrote a paper, titled “The Impact of Financial Regulation on Different Financial Institutions,” that has been accepted for presentation at the fifth Southeastern International Development Conference, to be held Dec. 2 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.
Georgia Baptist College of Nursing
Elaine Harris, clinical associate professor, has been selected for membership on an advisory board at Hospice Atlanta. Educational programs related to death, dying and bereavement are being planned for clergy of all faith communities.
Fran Kamp, associate professor, was part of the program planning committee at the 10th Annual International Nursing Simulation/Learning Resource Center Conference held June 15-18 in Orlando, Fla. Kamp was part of the abstract review team, chair of the scholarship committee, facilitated “Low Cost Solutions: Homegrown Simulation Contest” and was part of the monitoring team. She also presented a preconference workshop, titled “Moulage and More: Tricks of the Trade,” and gave a presentation at the conference titled “Simulation is Not Just High Tech Alone.”
Ann C. Keeley, clinical associate professor, presented at the National Parish Nurse Conference on Sept. 18 in St. Louis, Mo. Her presentation is titled “Addressing Issues of Stigma in Persons and Families who Live with Mental Illness.”
Mercer Engineering Research Center
Peter Bryant, manager for the electronic systems division, presented the paper “System Design of a C-17 Radome Test Station,” at AUTOTESTCON in Baltimore, Md. Sept. 12- 16. AUTOTESTCON is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers worldwide conference for automated test and instrumentation engineering. The paper, which he co-authored with Tracy Tillman, senior principal electrical engineer, was selected as best paper in the Automated Test System Management Track.
School of Engineering
George Hayhoe, professor and director of Master of Science in the Technical Communication Management program, and Helen Grady, associate professor, director for the technical communication program and chair, co-edited “Connecting People with Technology,” (Baywood 2009). Hayhoe co-authored “A Research Primer for Technical Communication,” (Erlbaum 2008) and contributed the chapter, “Editing a Technical Journal,” to New Perspectives on Technical Editing (Baywood 2010). All three books were listed in “The Top 100 Technical Communication Books of 1991-2010,” published in the July/August issue of the Society for Technical Communication’s Intercom magazine.
Dr. Behnam Kamali, professor of electrical and computer engineering, presented an article, titled “Multihop Relay Technology for Aeronautical Mobile Airport Communication System (AeroMACS),” at NASA Glenn Research Center on Aug. 10. This article reflected part of Dr. Kamali’s research work in aerospace and aeronautical communications as a NASA Summer Faculty Research Fellow.
School of Medicine
Dr. Steve Livingston, program director of the Marriage and Family Therapy program, was sworn in by Gov. Nathan Deal as a member of the Georgia State Licensing Board for Family Therapy, Professional Counselors, and Clinical Social Workers, on Sept. 9.
Dr. Robert J. McKallip, assistant professor of immunology, Gabriella P. Law, College of Liberal Arts undergraduate and Jingping Sun, research assistant III, recently published a manuscript, titled “Role of CD44 in lymphokine-activated killer cell-mediated killing of melanoma,” in the journal Cancer Immunology Immunotherapy published Sept. 8.
Dr. Andrea S. Meyer, assistant professor, presented a seminar at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Conference in Fort Worth, Texas, Sept. 25, titled “Family Therapy Interventions for Asperger’s Syndrome (selected as part of the Child and Adolescent Track).” She also published an article in The Journal of Couple and Relationship Therapy (2011, Volume 10), titled “Implementing Relationship Education for Emerging Adult College Students: Insights from the Field.”
Dr. Dabin Ren, research fellow, and Dr. Dayle A. Daines, assistant professor of microbiology, co-authored a publication, titled “Use of the EpiAirway model for characterizing long-term host-pathogen interactions,” in the September issue of The Journal of Visualized Experiments.
Dr. Mike U. Smith, professor, has been named an associate editor of the Electronic Journal of Science Education.
Dr. Yudan Wei, associate professor of community medicine, and Claudia Twum, a Master of Public Health graduate, published an original research paper, titled “The association between urinary concentrations of dichlorophenol pesticides and obesity in children,” in a peer-reviewed journal, Reviews on Environmental Health.
Dr. Wei-Hsiung Yang, assistant professor of physiology, and his lab members, Victoria Brennan and Chiung-Min Wang, wrote an article titled “Bitter melon (Momordica charantia) extract suppresses adrenocortical cancer cell proliferation through modulation of the apoptotic pathway, steroidogenesis, and IGF1R/AKT signaling,” that was accepted on Sept. 12 for publication in Journal of Medicinal Food.
Staff and Administration
Dr. Wallace L. Daniel, provost, published “Alexander Men, Intellectual Freedom and the Russian Orthodox Church,” in Kirchliche Zeitgeschichte, Internationale Zeitschrift für Theologie und Geschichtswissenschaft 24, no. 1 (2011): 92-119.
Tift College of Education
Dr. William Lacefield, professor of mathematics education, authored mathematics education quizzes to accompany the textbook, Helping Children Learn Mathematics by Robert E. Reys, et. al., and to be published on the John Wiley and Sons Publications website. Dr. Lacefield also presented “Building Number Sense: Connecting the Georgia Performance Standards to the Common Core Standards for Mathematical Practice,” to 240 elementary school teachers as part of the DeKalb Mathematics Academy.
Dr. Jane Metty, assistant professor, and Dr. Clemmie Whatley, assistant professor, partnered with the Henry County School System to provide professional learning services for the academic school year and summer 2012. The focus of this initiative, called Science and Mathematics Institute of Educational Leadership, is to provide instruction in the seamless integration of math and science concepts and process skills K-12 and to enhance math and science teachers pedagogical skills specific to inquiry instruction. Dr. Metty and Dr. Whatley currently work with 75 teachers from Henry County.
Townsend School of Music
Dr. Douglas Hill, professor of music and director of instrumental ensembles, Dr. Monty Cole, associate professor of music, and Dr. Marcus Reddick, associate professor of music, attended the Georgia Music Educators Association District meeting at Baldwin County High School to promote the upcoming Townsend High School Instrumental Workshop (All State Band Boot Camp) on Aug. 22. Dr. Hill performed in the Mercer Faculty Brass Quintet Noon Day Concert Series in Neva Fickling Recital Hall on Sept. 9. The ensemble performed an eclectic program including works by Bach, Irving Berlin, Debussy and Haufrecht.
Richard Kosowski, assistant professor, led the Mercer University Children’s Choir on a 14-state tour through New England and the Mid-Atlantic states June 1. Performance and service highlights include singing at the Hallmark Youthcare psychiatric hospital in Richmond, Va., Liberty Plaza at Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, the Sunday morning services at the first Baptist church in America in Providence, R.I., a concert at the historic Old North Church in Boston, Md., a concert at 19th Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., and a concert with the historic 1800 Tannenberg Organ at Old Salem, N.C. The children toured the Independence Hall area in Philly, went on walking tour of Salem, Mass., went on a whale watch in the Bay of Maine, saw many sights in Boston, were given a nighttime driving tour of the Mall and Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C., and enjoyed ice cream and Moravian pastries and candy during a tour of Old Salem. In July and August, Kosowski sang in the Institute Choir for the C.S. Lewis Foundation’s Summer Institute in Oxford and Cambridge. Led by Dr. John Dickson, dean of the Townsend School of Music, the choir included singers from all over the United States and Great Britain. Mercer University participants included Stanley Roberts, associate dean and director of choral activities, and Mary Beth Kosowski, marketing assistant for Mercer University Press. As well as serving as providing service music for the conference, other performances/services included a performance with the City of Oxford Symphony at the Sheldonian, morning Eucharist and Evensong at Ely Cathedral, and a concert at Great St. Mary’s in Cambridge. In August, Kosowski and his wife, Mary Beth, were featured soloists in an Atlanta performance of the rarely heard Spem in allium, a 40-voiced motet by Thomas Tallis. On the same concert, the Kosowskis were featured soloists in Vaughan-Williams’ Ode to Music and Brahms’ Zigeunerlieder.
Christopher Macklin, assistant professor of music history and musicology, gave the opening lecture in the 2011-2012 Murphy Colloquium Series at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin, Ohio. The series is named after Richard Murphy, an esteemed historian who taught at Oberlin from 1946 to 1978 and was much revered and beloved by his students.
Amy Schwartz Moretti, director of the Robert McDuffie Center for Strings and Caroline Paul King, chair of violin, directed the Center String Orchestra from the concertmaster position in a performance to celebrate Otis Redding’s 70th Birthday at “Evening of Respect,” sponsored by the Big “O” Youth Educational Dream Foundation, in the Macon City Auditorium, Sept. 10. At the opening reception of the Governor’s Conference on Tourism in Macon’s Terminal Station, Sept. 12, Moretti performed Piazzolla’s “Libertango” with four McDuffie Center students.
University Libraries
Susan G. Broome, associate professor and associate director for technical services, spoke on “The Story of the Chalice,” in a celebration of Eucharist in the tradition of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia, held with Archbishop Malkhaz Songulashvili, at Eastern University, St. Davids, Pa., on Sept. 15.
Walter F. George School of Law
Mark Jones, professor, organized the Mercer Law Review Symposium/Mercer Lyceum event, “Citizenship and Civility in A Divided Democracy: Political, Religious, and Legal Concerns,” on Oct. 7. The Symposium is co-sponsored by several other Mercer centers, including the Center for Faith and Public Policy, the Center for the Teaching of America’s Western Foundations (of which Jones is a collaborating faculty member) and the Phronesis Project for the Exploration of Character, Practical Wisdom, and Professional Formation (which Jones co-directs). In September, Jones and two other co-directors of the Phronesis Project, Dr. Paul Lewis, associate professor of Christianity and director of senior capstone program, and Kelly Reffitt, assistant professor of teacher education, submitted the manuscript for a book they have co-edited for Mercer University Press titled Character, Practical Wisdom, and Professional Formation Across the Disciplines. The book publishes the results of the university-wide work undertaken by the Phronesis Project since its establishment in 2009, and by the Professionalism and Vocation Across the Professions Project which Jones has coordinated since its establishment in 2005 and which is now incorporated within the Phronesis Project.
Harold S. Lewis Jr., professor, presented his paper, titled “Making the Simple Complex,” an essay on Georgia choice of law doctrine, to an Institute of Continuing Legal Education Torts Law Seminar held in Macon on Sept. 23.
David Oedel, professor, taught and studied at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, on Denationalizing Economic Sectors this summer. He concentrated on comparisons among Unites States, Chinese and Russian experiences in deregulation and privatization. Oedel is returning to China in late September to lecture at the Watson Bioforum on differences between the United States and Chinese systems of intellectual property. He will also speak at the Bioforum on optimal legal structures for the financing of high-tech businesses in both China and the United States. Oedel has also continues to represent the state of Georgia in its litigation with 25 other states against the federal government on the constitutionality of two aspects of federal health care reform, the individual mandate and Medicaid expansion. In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Georgia’s favor that the individual mandate is unconstitutional. Supreme Court review of the matter seems likely. Late in August, Oedel spoke in California on the topic of federalism at the invitation of the Judicial Conference of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A video of those proceedings can be viewed here:
http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/news_media/video_internet.html
Dr. David Ritchie, associate professor, has been selected as a global ethics fellow by the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. Global ethics fellows develop programs in conjunction with the Carnegie Council’s mission to promote scholarship, teaching and learning in the field of ethics in international affairs. There are currently 13 global ethics fellows who are working to expand the Council’s Global Ethics Network, which will partner with educational institutions around the world to implement Carnegie-sponsored programs. Carnegie programs will be offered at Mercer as part of Dr. Ritchie’s fellowship. As a global ethics fellow, Dr. Ritchie will primarily be working to promote the activities of the Council in South America, particularly Argentina and Brazil. He will be on sabbatical during the spring 2012 term. During Dr. Ritchie’s sabbatical, he will be a fellow in The Pacifism Project, which is an initiative of the Institute for Ethics, International Law and Armed Conflict in the Department of Politics and International Affairs at Oxford University. He will be resident at Oxford during the Trinity Term, April-June 2012. During his time at Oxford, Dr. Ritchie will be engaged in research to develop and encourage work in the traditions of pacifism and non-violence, with special attention to the relation of those traditions to just war theory.
