Fall 2020 News & Notes

Campus News & Notes

Baylor's 2020 Roundup yearbook was one of seven finalists for the Pacemaker award, given to the nation’s top collegiate yearbook by the Associated Collegiate Press. Also, Baylor journalism students won more than 115 national, regional and state awards during the 2019-2020 academic year for the excellence of their reporting and news publications.

Alumni, faculty and students from the College of Arts & Sciences have been chosen for Baylor’s 26-member Commission on Historic Campus Representations –– established as part of a unanimously passed resolution by the Board of the Regents on June 26 that acknowledged the University’s historical connections to slavery and the Confederacy. Arts & Sciences members include: Walter Abercrombie (BS ’82, MSEd ’92) (one of three commission co-chairs); Joel Allison (BA ’70); Cheryl Gochis (BA ’91, MA ’94); Trent Hughes (BA ’98); Alan Lefever (BA ’84); Dr. Bill Neilson (BA ’76); Jason Baldridge (senior communication major); Lexy Bogney (senior communication major); Malcolm Foley(doctoral candidate in religion); Mya Ellington-Williams (Senior medical humanities major); Dr. Michael Parrish (professor of history); Dr. Coretta Pittman (associate professor of English); Dr. Mia Moody-Ramirez (chair and professor of journalism, new media and public relations); and Dr. Doug Weaver (professor of religion).

Faculty/Staff News & Notes

Dr. Chloe Honum, assistant professor of creative writing in the English department, has been selected as one of the two finalists for this year’s Alice Fay Di Castagnola Awardfrom the Poetry Society of America. It’s for a manuscript in progress, and is considered to be among the most prestigious honors available to poets. The poems nominated are all from Dr. Honum’s new collection, The Lantern Room, forthcoming from Tupelo Press.

Dr. Liela Romero, an associate professor of chemistry who has joined the Baylor faculty this summer, has received a $2 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). The grant is given to young scientists in the early stages of their career to help them begin important cancer research.

Jason Bushnell, associate director of College of Arts & Sciences Advisement (CASA), received the Outstanding Academic Advisor Award for 2019-2020 at Baylor University. 

Dr. Kara Poe Alexander, associate professor of English and director of the Baylor University Writing Center, has been appointed a member of the editorial team of the academic journal Literacy in Composition Studies. She has reviewed for the prestigious journal since 2013. 

In honor of her seven years of service to Baylor students as a Faculty-in-Residence living in campus residence halls, the Baylor & Beyond Living-Learning Center has created the Dr. Jennifer Good Leadership Award, to be awarded each year to a student leader who demonstrates values such as hospitality, dedication, service and care for others. Good, an associate professor of German, has served as Faculty-in-Residence at both Brooks Flats and North Russell Hall.

Dr. DeAnna Toten Beard, professor and chair of theatre arts at Baylor, is the new vice president of the National Association of Schools of Theatre. After three years as VP, she'll become the president of this national organization for a three-year term.

Four Arts & Sciences faculty members are among those honored with Baylor Outstanding Faculty Awards for the 2019-2020 academic year. A&S winners include Dr. Sara Alexander, anthropology (tenured teaching), Dr. Scott Spinks, Spanish (non-tenure track teaching), Dr. Kenichi Hatakeyama, physics (scholarship) and Dr. Howard Lee, physics (non-tenured tenure track scholarship). 

Dr. David Moseman, senior lecturer in religion, has been chosen by members of Baylor University’s senior class as the 2020 Collins Outstanding Professor. 

Arts & Sciences faculty members Dr. Lisa Shaver, associate professor of English and director of gender studies, and Dr. Joe Yelderman, professor of geosciences, have been selected to receive 2020 Baylor Centennial Professor Awards for their respective research projects. Yelderman said he plans to use the award money to finance his research on droughts.

Last year, the College of Arts & Sciences established the Elizabeth Vardaman Award for Excellence in Mentoring Undergraduates –– in honor of the retired Arts & Sciences associate dean. Faculty members winning a “Betsy” for 2020 include: Dr. Dave Bridge(political science); John Cunningham (communication); Dr. Rebecca Flavin (political science); Dr. Kevin Pinney (chemistry and biochemistry); Dr. Pedro Reyes (management); Dr. Michael Scullin (psychology & neuroscience); and Dr. Michael Trakselis (chemistry and biochemistry).

Rev. Dr. Ralph West will serve as the Moore Visiting Professor of Religion at Baylor for the Fall 2020 semester. West serves as the founding pastor of Houston’s Brookhollow Baptist Church, known as The Church Without Walls and was named one of the 12 most effective preachers in the English-speaking world in 2018.

Student News & Notes

Henry Lujan, a PhD candidate in environmental science, has been awarded the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s National Research Council (NRC) Research Associateship. He has been placed as a Postdoctoral Fellow within the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Tyler Davis, an Arts & Sciences doctoral student in religion, has been named to the 2020 class of Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellows –– the nation’s largest and most prestigious award for Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences addressing questions of ethical and religious values. He is now writing his dissertation under the direction of Dr. Jonathan Tran.

Students from the College of Arts & Sciences were significantly represented in a record-setting 2019-2020 academic year that saw students receiving some of the most prestigious –– and competitive –– scholarships, fellowships and internships at the national and international levels. Arts & Sciences students receiving these awards during the year included:

• Carter Anne Jones (senior international studies/Russian major) –– Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State to Indonesia to study Bahasa Indonesian.
• Daniel Burch (senior political science major) –– Critical Language Scholarship from the U.S. Department of State to Tajikistan to study Farsi and Tajik.
• Andrew J. Munoz (senior biology major) –– Goldwater Scholarship, supporting his undergraduate research on cancer-related fatigue.
• Emily Schultz (junior biology major) –– Goldwater Scholarship, supporting her undergraduate research on emerging viral diseases.
• Gabbi Mucerino (senior political science major) –– Charles B. Rangel Fellowship to pursue a master’s degree in law and diplomacy at The Fletcher School at Tufts University in Massachusetts.
• Zane Zovak (BA international studies ’18) –– chosen for the 2021 Class of Schwarzman Scholars to pursue a master’s degree in global affairs at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.