Faculty and Staff Notables

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College of Continuing and Professional Studies

Dr. Linda Foster
, assistant professor of counseling, and Dr. Kenyon Knapp, associate professor of counseling and assistant dean for graduate programs, presented “Cultural Considerations for Global Teaching:  Experiences from Haiti” at the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision on Oct. 28 in Nashville, Tenn. 

Dr. Gail Johnson, assistant professor of organizational leadership and associate dean for administration, presented “Principles of Effective Leadership for Grassroots Organizations” at the 2011 annual meeting and conference of the Georgia Clients Council on Oct. 21-23 in Augusta. The conference was co-sponsored by Georgia Legal Services.

Kelly L. Jones, instructor of instructional design and technology, presented “Digital Storytelling and Essential Questions: Implications of a Qualitative Pilot Study” at the Georgia Educational Research Association conference on Oct. 20-23 in Savannah. In addition to the digital storytelling presentation, she co-presented with two members of her Ph.D. cohort at the conference, “Knee Pads, Break Pads, iPads! Using Multiple Intelligences with the iPad.”

Dr. David Lane, professor of counseling, and Dr. Donna Lane, adjunct professor in the department of counseling and human sciences, presented “Soul Care in Haiti:  Post Trauma Care” at the 2011 American Association for Christian Counselors World Conference in Nashville, Tenn., on Oct. 1.

Dr. Richard Martin, associate professor of public safety, was appointed to the academic advisory board of the Montgomery Police Department Command and Staff College.   

Dr. Melanie Pavich, assistant professor of interdisciplinary and historical studies, presented “Martha Schofield and the Construction of a Woman’s Autonomous Life, 1858-1870” at the annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Historical Association at the University of Pittsburgh, Johnstown, on Oct. 13-15.

Dr. Charles Roberts, associate professor of mathematics, attended the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics conference on Reasoning and Sense Making in Mathematics in July in Orlando, Fla. This conference brought together mathematics educators, teachers and educational administrators from across the country to discuss ways of effectively engaging students in activities to strengthen their ability to reason with and make sense of the meaning of, the mathematical content of their courses. Attention was also directed at how to assist secondary level teachers in forming teams in order to more aggressively incorporate a concern for this topic in the instructional process.  

Dr. Karen D. Rowland, assistant professor of counseling, served as a reviewer for three professional counseling textbooks:  Duan, C., and Brown, C. (2012). Becoming a Multiculturally Competent Counselor; Fawcett, M., and Evans, K. (2012). Workbook for Developing Multicultural Competence; Swanson, J. L., and Fouad, N. A. (2012). Career Theory and Practice, 3rd edition. All textbooks are published by Sage Publishers. Dr. Rowland also presented, along with Mercer University School Counseling Advisory Board member and professional school counselor DeeAnn Fleming, “Working Effectively with Students Diagnosed with Asperger’s Disorder:  The School Counselor’s Role,” at the annual American School Counselor Association conference in Seattle, Wash., June 25.

Dr. Stephen Ruegger, associate professor of criminal justice and public safety, and Dr. Lynn Tankersley, assistant professor of criminal justice, presented “Bringing the Classroom to the Students: Online Teaching in Criminal Justice,” at the annual Southern Criminal Justice Association conference, held Oct. 20-23 in Nashville, Tenn.

Dr. Colleen Stapleton, associate professor of science, published a book chapter, titled “Glass and Glaze Analysis and Technology from Hasanlu, Period IVB,” in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology Monograph 132:  Peoples and Crafts in Period IVB at Hasanlu, Iran, Hasanlu Special Studies IV (Maude de Schauensee, editor). The IVB level of the Hasanlu excavations yielded a well-preserved snapshot of an Iron Age battle, with arrows, bodies and contents of burned buildings still intact. The results of Dr. Stapleton’s research on glassy materials from this early Iron Age level suggest that the region had a well-developed high temperature technology, which was probably independent of regional powers such as Assyria.

Dr. Zipangani Vokhiwa, assistant professor, attended a water conservation and reuse workshop at Georgia Southern University hosted by the Georgia Campus Sustainability Network with support from National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology program and the Georgia Campus Sustainability Network Steering Committee on Sept. 16. The workshop was attended by 35 participants from 16 different campuses who came together for peer-to-peer learning and networking, with a focus on water conservation. Dr. Vokhiwa also attended the 24th meeting of the Consortium For Global Education on the Macon campus on Sept. 21-23. The main theme of the meeting was “New Perspectives for Internationalization.” The general meeting focused on strategic value and benefits that Consortium for Global Education provides to each member’s international program. Dr. Vokhiwa, Dr. Richard O. Mines Jr., professor in the School of Engineering, and Randall Harshbarger, associate professor in the College of Liberal Arts, published an online paper, titled “Mercer on Mission to Malawi, Africa,” in the American Society of Civil Engineers Conference proceedings held June 17.


College of Liberal Arts

James Eric Black,
assistant professor, had “Silent Cal and the Invisible Audience: The Sociotechnological Significance of the Presidential Voice,” accepted for publication in the academic journal ECT: A Review of General Semantics for either the January or April edition.

Dr. Jamie Cockfield, professor, will have his review of Gudrun Persson’s Learning from Foreign Wars:  Russian Military Thinking, 1859-73 appear in the next issue of Slavic Review.

Dr. David A. Davis, assistant professor of English, presented the paper, “The Clock in the Cabin,” at the American Studies Association convention in Baltimore, Md., on Oct. 23.

Dr. John Marson Dunaway, professor of French and interdisciplinary studies, presented a paper, titled “Jacques Maritain’s Influence on American Literature,” at the American Maritain Association’s annual conference at St. Mary’s College in South Bend, Ind., on Oct. 15. 

Dr. Lori A. Johnson, associate professor, published the book, Battleground: Government and Politics, through Greenwood/ABC-CLIO Press. The two-volume collection of original essays, co-edited with Dr. Kathleen Uradnik and Dr. Sara Hower, explores dozens of the most contentious issues in contemporary life that impact American government. Each topic is examined in a balanced way, providing not only an overview of the issues involved, but an objective assessment of the stance of all sides.

Dr. Shawn Loht, visiting assistant professor, gave a public lecture and led a discussion on the film, “Tree of Life,” at the Macon Film Guild’s film screening on Oct. 9.

Dr. Jennifer Look, assistant professor, was awarded a grant from the American Chemical Society to promote National Chemistry Week 2011. More than 30 undergraduate students took part in various activities including discussion sessions, hands-on activities and a demo show on Oct. 21.

Scot J. Mann, associate professor of communication and theatre, has been awarded the title Fight Master by the Society of American Fight Directors. This is the highest honor the organization can award and Mann is one of only 18 industry professionals to hold this rank. Mann directed the re-mount of the hit musical, I Love You, You’re Perfect; Now Change, for Mercer Theatre. He choreographed violence and effects for Theatre Emory’s production of The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Macbeth for Oglethorpe College, as well as violence and movement for the Alliance Theatre’s world premier, Broke.

Ami L. Spears, associate professor, had a paper accepted for a special summer edition of the journal Human Services Today. The paper is titled “Human Services Education in Virtual Worlds.”

Dr. Charlotte Thomas, professor, served as discussion leader for “Liberty, Commerce, and Happiness in Johnson and Hume,” a conference sponsored by the Liberty Fund, Sept. 29-Oct. 2 in Hermosa Beach, Calif.  

Dr. Carolyn Yackel, associate professor of mathematics, attended a symposium on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning at Georgia Southern University. In the September edition of Math Horizons, a mathematical magazine, Yackel published a short piece about a tessellation. This article is accessible to a general audience. During October, three of her temari balls were on exhibit at the Macon Arts gallery under the heading, “Truncated Temari Triptych.” In November, she will have a joint show of her mathematical art with fiber artist Anna Wilds-Pritchard. The community is welcome to attend the exhibit, which will be open during November at the 567 Gallery on Cherry Street. The show opens on the evening of First Friday, Nov. 4.


College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Dr. Ajay K. Banga, professor, Srujana Siddoju, Ph.D. student, and Vishal Sachdeva, Ph.D. student, co-authored “Iontophoretic delivery of acyclovir: intradermal drug monitoring using microdialysis and quantification by skin extraction,” in PDA Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology 2011; 65(5):432-444. 

Dr. Vanthida Huang, associate professor, published the book chapter “Staphylococcus aureus in Molecular Techniques for the Study of Hospital-Acquired Infection, Eells SJ. S. L. Foley, A. Y. Chen, S. Simjee and M. J. Zervos, editors; published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ: (2011). Dr. Huang was also appointed to the 2011-2012 Program Planning Committee of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy and named Infectious Disease PRN Frontiers Fund Captain. 


Dr. Michael W. Jann,
professor, published “Advanced strategies for treatment of Parkinson’s Disease: the role of early treatment,” in American Journal of Managed Care 2011; 17(12): S315-S321. Dr. Jann was also appointed to the editorial board of The Scientific World Journal – Pharmacology Section.

Dr. Nicole L. Metzger, clinical assistant professor, was awarded the 2010-2011 Outstanding Young Health-System Pharmacist Award from the Georgia Society of Health-System Pharmacists.

Dr. Kathryn M. Momary, assistant professor, was appointed early career reviewer for the Center for Scientific Review of the National Institutes for Health, Hemostasis and Thrombosis study section. Dr. Momary was also appointed grant reviewer for new investigator awards for the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy. She was also appointed to the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology Nominating Committee. Dr. Momary co-authored “Genetic testing for early detection of individuals at risk of coronary heart disease and monitoring response to therapy: challenges and promises,” in Current Atherosclerosis Report 2011; 13(5): 396–404. Dr. Momary also co-authored “The implications of clopidogrel black box warning on utilization of platelet aggregation testing in the community hospital setting,” in Pharmacotherapy. 2011; 31(10):392e.

Dr. Nader H. Moniri, assistant professor, and Rebecca N. Burns, Pharm.D./Ph.D. student, published “Agonist- and hydrogen peroxide-mediated oxidation of the b2-adrenergic receptor:  evidence of receptor S-sulfenation as detected by a modified biotin-switch assay,” in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2011; 339(3):1-8.

Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics

Jody Blanke, professor of computer information systems and law, was a member of the program committee and a reviewer for the Requirements Engineering and Law Conference, held in conjunction with the IEEE Requirements Engineering Conference, in Trento, Italy, in August.


Georgia Baptist College of Nursing

Elaine Harris, clinical associate professor, delivered the keynote address at the Georgia Association of Nursing Students convention in Athens on Oct. 13. She also presented an educational session titled “Walking Through the Valley of the Shadow.”

McAfee School of Theology

N
ancy L. deClaisse-Walford, professor of Old Testament and biblical languages, has been named the Old Testament editor for the biblical commentary series, World Biblical Commentary.


School of Engineering

Dr. Sinjae Hyun, associate professor of biomedical engineering and director of engineering research, presented two posters at the 2011 Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting on Oct. 12–15 in Hartford, Conn. The poster was titled “Particle Deposition in a Subject-specific Tracheobronchial Airways using Experimental and Computational Approaches,” coauthored with Dr. Chong. S. Kim at the Environmental Protection Agency, Chapel Hill, N.C. He also presented a poster with two engineering students, Sarah DeWitt, junior, and Anthony Fratino, junior, titled “Comparison of Morphological Characteristics Between Normal and Diseased Coronary Arteries.”


School of Medicine

Dr. Grady Carter, vice chair of the Department of Psychiatry, recently published the article, “Review of Medical Education Articles in Psychiatry 2009 – 2010,” in the journal Teaching and Learning in Medicine. 23(4), 365-368, October 2011.

Dr. Richard L. Elliott, professor of community medicine and director of medical ethics, published “Surgery and the anencephalic baby” with Dr. Justin D. Mann and “Genetic diseases: Is there a duty to a patient’s family members?” with Dr. Megan Sutton. Both appear in the Journal of the Medical Association of Georgia.  Dr. Elliott also gave the White Coat address to the Class of 2015 medical students, “Medical marvels and marvelous medical students.”

Dr. Harold P. Katner, professor, gave a lecture to the 25th Georgia Perinatal Association Meeting in St. Simons on “Updates in the Guidelines on the Management of HIV infected Pregnant Women and their infants.” He also presented a statewide webinar sponsored by Southeast AIDS Training and Education Center titled “Adrenal Insufficiency and HIV/AIDS.”

Dr. Edward C. Klatt, professor and biomedical problems program director, and Carolyn A. Klatt, library instructor and reference and electronic services librarian, published “How much is too much reading for medical students? Assigned reading and reading rates at one medical school” in Academic Medicine 2011;86(9):1079-1083. He also served as the electronic poster session judge at the Pathology Informatics conference in Pittsburgh, Pa., Oct. 4-7.

Jan H. LaBeause, director of the Medical Library and Peyton T. Anderson Learning Resources Center, was recently honored by the Southern Chapter of the Medical Library Association with the T. Mark Hodges Outstanding Service Award. Recipients are chosen for dedicated and continuing service to the chapter, representation on national or regional organizations, participation in chapter activities, and exemplification of professional knowledge and values. Among a long list of accomplishments was LaBeause’s establishment of the chapter’s Martha C. Watkins Scholarship fund, which recently attained endowed status. The award was presented at the regional association’s annual meeting held in October.

Shirley Powell, technical director of the Histology Curricular Support Laboratory, presented a workshop, “When Technology Fails Us,” at the 38th National Society for Histotechnology Annual Symposium/Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, Sept. 16-22. Powell is founding board member of the National Society for Histotechnology and founding board member of the Georgia Society for Histotechnology and currently serves as secretary of the Georgia Society for Histotechnology.

Dr. Melton Strozier, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, published an article in the inaugural newsletter of the Association of Psychologists in Academic Health Centers, Grand Rounds. The article is titled “A Psychologist as a Psychiatry Department Chair: How to Make It Work.”

Dr. Wei-Hsiung Yang, assistant professor of physiology, and Chiung-Min Wang, published a mini-review, titled “Post-translational modifications of NR5A1,” on Journal of Biomedical and Bioengineering 2(1):31-36 (2011).

Staff and Administration

Melissa M. Cruz, director of administrative services for the Office of the Senior Vice President – Atlanta, had her paper on undocumented students in the state of Georgia was accepted for presentation at the 36th annual meeting of the Georgia Educational Research Association.


Tift College of Education

Elaine M. Artman, associate professor, presented her paper “Confluence of Complexity, Chaos, and Victimization: Implications for Education,” at the Georgia Education Research Association in October. She will serve as chair of the research and scholarly papers session “After Graduation: STEM and Career Pathways” at the Association for the Study of Higher Education in November.

Dr. Theodorea Regina Berry, qualitative research methodologist and assistant professor, co-presented a symposium, titled “Methods Toward Learning to be on a Team: What Can We Learn About Departmentalization in Georgia Title I Elementary Schools,” at the 36th annual meeting of the Georgia Educational Research Association with Winnie Durant, Verlinda Samuels, and LaTeisha Warren, doctoral students in the Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction program. Dr. Berry, Robert Ceglie, ­assistant professor, and Dr. Sybil Keesbury, assistant professor, co-presented a symposium titled “Engaged Pedagogy for Doctoral Advising: Learning and Giving” at the 36th Annual Meeting of the Georgia Educational Research Association. Dr. Berry was also elected member-at-large for the executive team of the Georgia Educational Research Association.

Dr. Robert Ceglie, assistant professor, presented a paper at the Science Education at the Crossroads annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas, Sept. 25-28. The title of the paper was “Come with me… I know the way: Teaching and Learning in a New Doctoral Program.” In addition, Dr. Ceglie presented a study, titled “Obstacles toward Building Self-Efficacy for In-service Elementary Science Teachers,” at the Southeastern Association for Science Teacher Educators in Athens on Oct. 14-15.

Dr. William Lacefield, professor of mathematics education, presented “Electronic Portfolios in Teacher Education Programs” at the 2011 International E-Learn Conference in Honolulu, Hawaii, in October. He also presented “Building Number Sense in the Elementary Grades,” to 150 elementary school teachers as part of the Clayton County Elementary Mathematics Academy in September.


Townsend School of Music

Dr. Douglas Hill, professor, adjudicated 18 high school bands near Augusta as part of the Burke County Band Festival’s “Georgia Marching Band Series Competitions” on Saturday, Oct. 8. On Oct. 22, Dr. Hill and music education majors distributed Mercer University admissions information to prospective high school students at the Heart of Georgia Band Competition in Warner Robins. The National Association for Music Education Collegiate Mercer University Townsend School of Music Chapter and Dr. Hill provided a recruitment/information table for 28 high bands, more than 800 high school band students at the event. More than 1,000 high school musicians were in attendance from 28 marching bands. Dr. Hill also adjudicated 22 high school bands from around the state at the South Effingham Band Invitational in Guyton on Oct. 29. Dr. Hill and freshman music education major, Ashley Holder Godbee, performed in a trumpet duet at the Riverside United Methodist Church in Macon on Oct. 23. He is also organizing the Inaugural High School Instrumental Workshop “All State Boot Camp” to be held Nov. 12 in the McCorkle Music Building. More than 250 prospective high school musicians will participate in the day-long event. Instructors will include professors Monty Cole, Marcus Reddick, Adrian Gnam, Katie Holland, Kelly Via, Jonathan Swygert, Jay Hanselman, Tom Gibson and Eric Bubacz. Student musicians will be provided instruction on efficient methods to prepare their Georgia Music Educators Association All-State Band/Orchestra auditions in three audition categories: major scales, lyrical and technical etudes, and sight-reading.

University Libraries

Laura M. Botts, associate professor and head of special collections, presented “Cracking the QR Code” as part of the “Archives on the Go: Using Mobile Technologies for Your Collections” session at the annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists in Chicago, Ill. Botts also attended the annual board meeting of the Academy of Certified Archivists, where she was named the group’s Digital Community Coordinator for 2011-2012.

Julie Poole, coordinator of center library services and assistant professor, presented a session titled “Using Free Five-Minute Screencasts to Enhance Student Success and Support Services for Distance Learners,” at the 2011 Distance Learning Conference held in Columbus, Sept. 29-30.


Florence Tang
, electronic collections librarian and liaison to the College of Continuing and Professional Studies at the Monroe F. Swilley Jr. Library, presented “License Agreement Red Flags,” at the Georgia Council of Media Organizations Conference in Athens on Oct. 7.

Walter F. George School of Law

Jessica Feinberg, assistant professor, had her article, “Exposing the Traditional Marriage Agenda,” accepted for publication in the Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy. It will be published in the spring.

Harold S. Lewis Jr., Walter F. George Professor of Law, published an employment discrimination chapter for the Fifth Edition of Workers’ Compensation and Employee Protection Laws (5th West/Thomson Reuters 2011) in August. On Sept. 23, Lewis presented his paper, “Georgia Conflict of Laws In Tort Cases: Making The Simple Complex,” at an Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia Torts Seminar in Macon.

Scott Titshaw, associate professor, wrote an article, titled “ART, Science & the INA: Parent-Child Relationships of Children Conceived through Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART),” which will appear in an upcoming edition of the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s VOICE journal. Titshaw and Jessica Feinberg, assistant professor, appeared on a panel titled “Invisible Families and U.S. Immigration and Citizenship Law,” at the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Bar Association’s Annual Conference in Los Angeles, Calif. On Sept. 9, Titshaw also presented on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender immigration issues at the University of Georgia School of Law on Oct. 17. He also presented Nov. 2 along with Mark Jones, professor, to a group of visiting Brazilian judges on the reception of foreign law by courts in the U.S.