College News – Fall 2013
College of Science and Mathematics
MBI Program Makes Finals
The Molecular Biology Initiative (MBI) program was a finalist for a 2013 Georgia STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education Award presented by the Technology Association of Georgia (TAG). The MBI project partners with teachers to bring hands-on, relevant content and technology into high schools. In the program, Graduate Teaching Assistants are trained by Georgia Southern faculty to go into area high schools to work with teachers and students to promote interest in the STEM fields.
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Dean Appointed
Curtis Ricker, Ph.D., was appointed the new Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS). Ricker, who assumed his new duties on Nov. 1, had been Interim Dean since July 2012. He has been at Georgia Southern since 1984, serving in various roles including CLASS Associate Dean for Faculty and Research. The new dean said he is especially honored to serve with the finest faculty in the University and professors who love their teaching, scholarship and creative activities.
College of Business Administration
DSI Student Consortium
Willis Mwangola, a Ph.D. candidate in the Logistics/Supply Chain Management program was invited to participate in the 31st annual Decision Sciences Institute’s (DSI) Doctoral Student Consortium in Baltimore, Md., on Nov. 16. The Doctoral Student Consortium is an invitation-only event in which participants are selected competitively based on the merit of their applications. Mwangola’s research topic was titled “An empirical analysis of the vulnerability-efficacy tradeoff in Manufacturing Companies.”
College of Education
“Focus On Excellence” Awards
Three College of Education faculty were awarded University-wide “Focus on Excellence” awards at Fall Convocation. The annual awards are given to two faculty in each of three categories: contributions to research/creative scholarly activity, instruction and service.
All three of the College of Education winners are from the Department of Teaching and Learning. Yasar Bodur, associate professor, and Julie Maudlin, also an associate professor, both won the Award for Excellence in Contributions to Service. Associate Professor Scott Beck was awarded for Excellence in Contributions to Instruction. Traditionally, winners present talks associated with the area of the award. Bodur will speak on “Personal Benefits of Service.” Maudlin’s talk is titled “You Are What You Do: Service as Self-Knowledge.” Beck will speak on “FYE 1410 Global Citizens: Immigration, Migrants & Farming.”
Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Information Technology
New Chairs Named
The College of Engineering and Information Technology has four new department chairs. Mike Jackson, Ph.D., is serving as the chair of the Department of Civil Engineering and Construction Management. The Macon, Ga., native spent the last 12 years on the faculty of the Civil Engineering and Construction Management Programs at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.
Murali Medidi, Ph.D., was appointed the chair of the Computer Sciences Department. He joined Georgia Southern from Boise State University where he also served as chair of the Department of Computer Science. His principal research interests include wireless and sensor networking.
Frank “Skip” Gross, Ph.D., appointed chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering, is an expert in antennas, smart antennas, electromagnetics and propagation. He earned his Ph.D. in EE from Ohio State University, and served for 18 years on the faculty of Florida State
University in
Tallahassee.
Georgia Southern professor, Brian L Vlcek, Ph.D., is the new chair of the Department of
Mechanical Engineering. He joined the University in 1997, and has served as faculty advisor to ASME and Eagle Motorsports, leading student teams to impressive finishes in regional SAE competitions. All four chairs will also serve as faculty members.
College of Health and Human Sciences
Named Among Top Ten Schools
The Department of Health and Kinesiology’s online Master of Science degree in Sport Management has been recognized among the top ten by TheBestSchools.org. Sport Management is one of the fastest growing fields of study in the country. The Georgia Southern program can be completed in two years or once a student accumulates the required 36 credit hours. Students with this degree are prepared for such careers as athletics directors, coaches, league managers, agents and sports information, media or communications specialists.
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health
ICSA Special Citation
Biostatistics professor Dr. Lili Yu and Ruth Whitworth, an IT expert and webmaster received a Special Citation from the President of the International Chinese Statistical Association (ICSA) in recognition of their contributions to the growth of the ICSA. Yu’s area of research is mainly concentrated on survival analysis and Whitworth is a liaison between the College and IT Services and has worked with the Biopharmaceutical Applied Statistics Symposium as a webmaster and registrar since 2004.