Faculty Publications, Presentations and Reports
Charles A. Bergman, Professor of English, published an article "Gold Rush: Traded to Near Extinction, the Sun Conure Barely Hangs On." Wildlife Conservation 112 (May/June 2009): 52-59. Includes text and all 7 photos by author.
Jim L. Brown, Assistant Professor of Music, was a soloists in Claudio Monteverdi's Return of Ulysses (based on Homer), Directed by South African artist William Kentridge, Pacific Opera Works, Moore Theatre (Seattle) and Project Artaud Theatre (San Francisco), March 2009.
Andrew S. Finstuen, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religion, authored a new book (available November 2009), entitled "Original Sin and Everyday Protestants: The Theology of Reinhold Niebuhr, Billy Graham, and Paul Tillich in an Age of Anxiety," The University of North Carolina Press.
Colleen M. Hacker, Professor of Movement Studies and Wellness Education, gave an invited address at NSCAA International Coaching Symposium in Alburferia, Portugal in March, 2009. The address was titled: "Psychological Skills Training for the Elite International Performer".
Joanne M. Lisosky, Associate Professor of Communication, co-authored (with Jenn Henrichsen), Don't Shoot the Messenger: Prospects for Protecting Journalists in Conflict Situations. Media, War & Conflict. 2(2), August 2009.
Chung-Shing Lee, Associate Professor of Business, co-authored a research paper with Dr. Jonathan C. Ho, entitled "The DNA of Industrial Competitors". It was published in the Research Technology Management, 51(4), and was selected as one of the top 50 from the 15,000 articles reviewed throughout 2008 by the Emerald Management Reviews. It covers every article in the top 400 business and management journals world-wide including titles such as: Harvard Business Review; Journals of Finance; Journal of Marketing; Strategic Management Journal; MIT Sloan Management Review; and American Economic Review. The selection of Professor Lee's article means he was the recipient in August of an Emerald Management Reviews Citation of Excellence along with Nobel-laureate economist Joseph E. Stiglitz and management guru Gary Hamel.
Erin McKenna, Professor of Philosophy, edited (with Scott L. Pratt), Jimmy Buffet and Philosophy: The Porpoise Driven Life. Chicago: Open Court, 2009.
Paul Tegels, Associate Professor of Music, gave an organ recital in Lagerquist Hall, as part of the national convention of the Organ Historical Society (July 15, 2009). Over 300 participants from across the country and around the world subsequently voted the PLU Fuchs organ and Dr. Tegels' recital as the participants' favorite organ and favorite recital of the covention which included 25 other recitals.
Gregory L. Youtz, Professor of Music: music compositions - "Harmonics Mundi: The Meditations of Johannes Kepler," Tacoma YOuth Symphony, March 2009; "Calypso for solo alto saxophone," National Saxophone Conference (Idaho), April 2009; "The Monkey King" PLU Wind Ensemble for spring 2009 China Tour (Beijing, Xian and Shanghi) - music publications: Three Dragons and Song of Joy, Maestro and Fox Music Publishers.
Grants, Gifts and Awards
Justin C. Lytle, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, received confirmation from the ACS Petroleum Research Fund that his proposal, "Order vs. Disorder: Does Pore Geometry Affect the Electrochemicial Performance of Carbon Electrode Nanoarchitectures?", submitted at the beginning of this year has been recommended for full funding at $50,000. Upon approval of the PRF board, funding should be available for his research on January 1, 2010.
Claire E. Todd, Visiting Assistant Professor of Geosciences and Environmental Studies, received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) for collaborative work in Antarctica with colleagues at University in the amount of $122,250 for four years. Research Topic: Last glacial maximum and deglaciation chronology for the Foundation Ice Stream and the southeast Weddell Sea Embayment.
Faculty Development, Teaching and Service
Laurie C. Murphy, Associate Professor of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, was named co-editor in chief for the national journal Computer Science Education.
Students and Alums
Eleven PLU students or graduates were accepted to medical schools, including University of Washington, University of Virginia, Mayo Medical School, Rocky Mountain Vista University of Osteopathic Medicine, Western University School of Health Sciences, Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, and University of Southern California. Two graduates were accepted to dental school, one at University of Washington and one at Oregon Health and Science University.
Aaron Mosher, Physics, won the 2009 Brown Fellowship in support of his Dual-Degree Engineering studies at Washington University in St. Louis. Each year Washington University awards one full-tuition Brown Fellowship from among all applicants nationwide, a pool that can include 80 or more students. This merit-based award covers full tuition for Aaron's final two years of the program. Aaron is the first PLU student to have won this honor.
Erin Jones, who was part of our first Alternative Routes to Teaching cohort, has recently been named an Assistant Superintendent at OSPI. The following information about her position is taken from the OSPI website: "Student Achievement seeks to address the needs of all students and develop a strategic plan to make sure all students in Washington State, regardless of race, gender or socioeconomic background, graduate with the skills to be successful in life. As the Assistant Superintendent for Student Achievement, Jones will disseminate information about best practices in successful districts across the state."
Kelsey Waddington, a PLU Social Work student, is one of the five winners of Pearson's Touch the World scholarship contest. Winners were selected by a board at Pearson Education and each contestant submitted an essay on how they plan to touch the world using their social work degree. Kelsey's essay was chosen from among 300 entrants.
A team of PLU Mathematics students received the Meritorious Award for 2009 in the Mathematics Contest in Modeling (teams from 14 countries participated in the contest). The MCM was created in 1982 under the guidance of Ben Fusaro of Salisbury State University, Maryland; it has been designed to stimulate and improve problem solving and writing skills in a team setting. The team(s) are presented with two problems. The problems are designed to be open-ended and are unlikely to have a unique solution. During the contest, the team cannot discuss any aspect of the problem with their advisor or with anyone else. However, each team may use computers, software packages, libraries, or any other inanimate resources. Once the work is finished, each team submits a technical report describing the problem, the model, and their analysis.