Dr. Lynn Clemons, assistant professor of organization leadership and chair of

the department of leadership studies, published a paper entitled, “Offer Accelerated Bachelor’s

Program to Attract Adults Eager to Advance,” in Volume II, Issue 8 of the Nontraditional Students Report, 2009, Willey Periodicals Inc.

Dr. Tim Craker, associate professor of comparative studies & philosophy, department of liberal studies, presented a paper on July 7, titled “The Five Directions,” in the plenary panel of a conference at the University of Essex in Colchester, England, on The American Tropics: Towards a Literary Geography.

Dr. Priscilla Danheiser, dean, Dr. John Chalfa, chair of the Department of Journalism and Media Studies in the College of Liberal Arts, and Kelly Jones, of Stratford Academy, led a summer institute, “Teaching and Engaged Learning with Technology” for faculty members at Florida Southern College.

Dr. Karen O’Neill Lacey, assistant professor of English, department of liberal studies, presented a session, titled “Reading Strategies for Writing Practice: The Push to Move Online,” during the biannual meeting of the European Association of Teachers of Online Writing held in Coventry, England, June 29-July 3. Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, an international journal of theory, research and practice has requested the paper for consideration for its volume on writing.

Dr. Feng Liu, assistant professor of information systems, and Dr. Colleen Stapleton, assistant professor of science, received a University seed grant for their proposal, titled “Augmented Reality Environment for Science Study.”

Dr. Colleen Stapleton, assistant professor of science, received a University seed grant for her proposal, titled “Motivation, Knowledge, and Retention in Science Courses.”

Dr. David A. Davis, assistant professor of English, published the review essay, “The Poor, Dirty South,” in the spring 2009 issue of Southern Literary Journal. His review of Faulkner and the Great Depression by Ted Atkinson appeared on H-Net http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=25044. He also accompanied two students to the Southern Writers, Southern Writing conference at the University of Mississippi.

Dr. Bruce D. Dod, professor emeritus, wrote an essay that was published in The Solar System, a three-volume series edited by David G. Fisher and Richard R. Erickson, Salem Press, July 2009. His bylined essay, titled “Earth’s Origin,” can be viewed Online as a “sample text” by going to: http://salempress.com/Store/samples/solar_system/solar_system.htm

Dr. John Marson Dunaway, professor of French and interdisciplinary studies and director of Mercer Commons, led the Seventh Annual Commons Summer Faculty Workshop on Faith and Learning 3-7 August. Eleven faculty members from the College of Liberal Arts, the School of Medicine and Tift College of Education participated. Dunaway was also invited to lecture at the Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo. His lecture, titled “Daniel in Babylon: Keeping One’s Christian Identity in a University Setting During Difficult Times,” was delivered via compact disc recording for a conference in Goma on Aug. 14-15.

Dr. Paul Lewis, associate professor of Christianity and Dr. Eric Spears, director of International Programs, took students to Brazil on one of the Mercer on Mission programs this summer.  They worked on educational projects with children in both Vitoria and Recife, as well as remodeled an apartment for a family in Recife. The trip combined service work with course work in New Testament and sociology.  In addition, Lewis and Mark Jones, a professor at the Walter F. George School of Law and Kelly Reffitt, a professor in the Tift College of Education, received a grant from the AIM Fund to begin The Phronesis Project, a center devoted to exploring character, practical wisdom, and professional formation.

Dr. Margaret Symington, associate professor of mathematics, gave five lectures, titled “Introduction to Symplectic Geometry and Topology,” as part of a graduate student workshop at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in Berkeley, Calif., Aug. 3-15.  

Dr. Bryan J. Whitfield, assistant professor of Christianity, presented “Listening to the Community in the Cave of Resonance: Literary Readings of Scripture and the Gathered Church” at the conference on “Baptist Faith and Literary Imagination” at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University, on Aug. 5.

Dr. Ashish A. Advani, clinical assistant professor, published “Review of ASHP’s Clinical Pearls,” in American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 2009; 73 (3) Article 39. 

Dr. Ajay K. Banga, professor, and Sahitya Katikaneni, a Ph.D. student, co-published with A. Badkar, and S. Nema, a paper, titled “Molecular charge mediated transport of a 13 kDa protein across microporated skin,” in International Journal of Pharmaceutics.

Dr. James W. Bartling, associate dean of student affairs and admissions won the 2009 recipient of the prestigious Bowl of Hygeia, an award presented to him at the Georgia Pharmacy Association’s 2009 Annual Convention held in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

Dr. Michael W. Jann, professor, co-authored “Cholinesterase Inhibitors” in Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, Eds. Sadock BJ, Sadock VA, and Ruiz P., Lippincott Williams and Wilkens, Phildelphia, Pa., 2009, Chapter 31.15, p. 3089-3099.

Dr. Pamela M. Moye, clinical assistant professor, was appointed to the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Nominations Committee of Teachers of Pharmacy Practice Section.

Dr. Gina J. Ryan, clinical associate professor, received a grant in the amount of $5,685 for “Achieving inpatient anticoagulation initiatives and project destiny: what it means for your future” from Ortho-McNeil.

Dr. Chad M. VanDenBerg, clinical associate professor, was awarded a $95,828 grant for “A Phase I, single dose, randomized, open-label, crossover, pharmacokinetic study comparing three formulations of CX 157 in healthy volunteers” from CeNeRx Biopharma Inc.

Dr. Larry McSwain, associate dean and professor, has been awarded a pastoral leadership grant from the Louisville Institute Inc. for completion of a research project on selected Atlanta pastors during his sabbatical in spring 2010.

Dr. Thomas B. Slater, professor of New Testament, published an article and a book review in the most recent issue of Review & Expositor. In addition, four supplementary articles by Slater have appeared this year in the New Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible. To date, Slater has published six articles in the dictionary.

Paul “PJ” Westcott, director of engineering, Dayton Operations, was recently elected to the Association of Old Crows board of directors as an at-large board member by the membership of 14,000 personnel throughout the world. The AOC is an international association whose goal is to continue to foster electronic warfare and information operations advancement and advocacy for the U.S. government, industry and academia, as well as allied foreign government partners around the globe. Westcott has previously served on the board for more than 20 years.

Dr. George Hayhoe, professor of technical communication, has accepted an invitation to join the editorial board of the new open access online peer-reviewed journal, conneXions: international professional communication journal | revista de comunicação profissional internacional, hosted and published by the Center for Comparative Studies of the University of Lisbon, Faculty of Letters. Dr. Hayhoe has also been appointed to the editorial advisory committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Professional Communication Society. The committee is responsible for oversight of the society’s journal, newsletter, IEEE Press series and other publications.

Dr. Richard Kunz, associate professor of mechanical engineering, published and presented a paper at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics 45th Joint Propulsion Conference in Denver, Colo., on Aug. 4.  The paper was titled “Characterization of Solid Propellant for Linear Cumulative Damage Modeling.”

Dr. Clayton R. Paul, professor, will attend the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility in Austin, Texas, Aug. 17-20 to give an invited presentation on “Use of PSPICE in Solving EMC Problems” at the Global University.

School of Medicine

Dr. Lee Bowen, director of counseling services on the Savannah campus, has been appointed to serve a three-year term as board member on the Board of Directors of the International Family Therapy Association. Dr. Bowen and colleagues, Dr. Melton Strozier, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Dr. Steve Livingston, director of family therapy programs in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, made numerous presentations at the International Family Therapy Association’s World Congress meetings.

Dr. Susan D. Cline, assistant professor of biochemistry, presented a research poster, titled “Arrest of Mitochondrial RNA Polymerase by the Malondialdehyde Adduct, M1dG” at the Mitochondrial Medicine 2009 Capitol Hill Conference, June 24-27. The work was a collaboration with researchers from the Pennsylvania State University and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and was supported by a 2008-2009 Mercer University Seed Grant. Dr. Cline also received a three-year R15 Academic Research Enhancement award of $226,815 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 for the project entitled “Reactive Aldehyde DNA Damage in Mitochondrial Mutagenesis and Disease Pathophysiology.”

Dr. Dayle A. Daines, assistant professor of microbiology, division of Basic Medical Sciences, received an NIH grant for otitis media research. Dr. Daines has also been awarded a four-year, $1.34 Million research grant from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, in support of her research, titled “Metabolic Regulation in Otitis Media.”

Dr. Ashley Horner, division of Basic Medical Sciences, received an R15 Academic Research Enhancement award for research into the mechanisms of methamphetamine addiction. Dr. Horner was also awarded a 3-year, $250,000 research grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse in support of her research, titled “The Role of Mu Opioid Receptor Activation Psychostimulant-Induced Gene Expression in the Patch Compartment of Dorsal Striatum and Repetitive Behaviors.”

Dr. Richard O. McCann, division of Basic Medical Sciences, received a grant from the American Heart Association for research on the roles of cell adhesion in heart development. Dr. McCann was also awarded a two-year, $165,000 research Grant-in-Aid from the Southeastern Affiliate of the American Heart Association, in support of his research entitled, “Assembly and Function of Cell Adhesion Complexes in Cardiac Muscle.” The long-term goal of this research is to determine how abnormal interactions between individual cells lead to heart disease and to identify potential treatments for cardiac and skeletal muscle myopathies.

Dr. Samuel D. Shillcutt, professor and director of neuro-psychopharmacology research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, presented “Pharmacogenomics and Schizophrenia, Current Research an Application to Clinical Practice,” at the Mental Health Pharmacotherapy Symposium, University of Georgia, Tate Student Center on Feb. 4-5. He also presented “Current Treatment Approaches and Research Update” at the Annual Caregiver Conference, Maintaining Personhood, The Challenge of Alzheimer’s, Macon State College, on June 19.

Dr. Qian Wang, assistant professor of anatomy, and Dr. Dennis W. Ashley, professor of surgery and director of Trauma Services in Medical Center of Central Georgia, have a paper, titled “Regional, ontogenetic, and sex-related variations in elastic properties of cortical bone in baboon mandibles,” accepted for publication in American Journal of Physical Anthropology.

Carole Burrowbridge, coordinator of disability services, chaired the annual meeting of the Learning Disabilities and Attention Deficit Disorder Special Interest Group at the annual Association on Higher Education and Disability Conference held in Louisville, Ky., July 22-25.  The annual AHEAD meeting provides disability services professionals at postsecondary institutions information needed to stay current on legal issues, technology and best practices on providing access to students with disabilities.

Dr. Wallace L. Daniel, provost, published a review of Russian Orthodoxy Resurgent: Faith and Power in the New Russia, a book by John Garrard and Carol Garrard (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2008), in The Russian Review 68, no. 3 (July 2009): 554-55.

Jody Blanke, professor of computer information systems and law in Atlanta, led a panel discussion on Privacy Law: New Issues and Directions, at the Annual Conference of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business in Denver, Colo.

Dr. Etienne Musonera, assistant professor of marketing, conducted a three-day marketing training, May 18-20, in the Goldman Sachs Entrepreneurship Certificate Program, organized by the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan in cooperation with the School of Finance and Banking in Rwanda. The purpose of the Goldman Sachs Entrepreneurship Certificate Program’s 10,000 Women Initiative is to increase the number of underserved women receiving a business and management education, and to improve the quality and capacity of business and management education in developing and emerging economies - especially among women.

Dr. Peter Ross, associate professor, was awarded a seed grant for the project entitled “Anti-Bullying Through a Proactive Classroom Management Strategy – A Need For Teacher Training.” This project will address growing problems of bullying in the schools.  The intervention is based on Ross’ BOSS strategy, which has successfully been used to improve social skills and conduct in school settings. Ross’ new book, Developmental Discipline, was published in June 2009. The book addresses classroom management and discipline from core child development, learning theory, and motivation perspectives. The premise is that these prerequisites must be embraced when creating and implementing successful discipline and management strategies in the classroom and at home.

Dr. John H. Dickson, dean and professor of conducting, served as guest conductor for the Georgia American Choral Directors Association summer conference. Dr. Dickson conducted an honor choir in a performance of Faure’s Requiem at Spivey Hall.

Richard Kosowski, assistant professor of music, was the tenor section leader and cover soloist in “The Defiant Requiem: Verdi in Terezín,” which recounts the notorious performance of the monumental “Verdi Requiem in the Terezín” (Theresienstadt) concentration camp for Red Cross inspectors in 1944.  The multi-media work chronicles the 14 performances of the “Verdi Requiem in Terezín,” and includes dramatization of the events leading up to the final performance for the Red Cross, archival accounts of life in the camp, historical film footage and photographs of the camp and its inhabitants, and interviews with surviving members of the 1944 chorus.  The performance coincided with a memorial ceremony marking the liberation of Terezín by Allied Forces in May 1945. In June, Kosowski toured with the Mercer University Children’s Choir, performing in Chicago and Nashville.  The group is conducted by Dr. John Simons of the Townsend School of Music.

Amy Schwartz Moretti, associate professor and director of the McDuffie Center for Strings, was guest artist at the Summer Festival of the Seattle Chamber Music Society at Lakeside in Seattle, Wash., July 6, 8 and 10. She performed works by Bloch, Milhaud, Fauré and Debussy, collaborating with artists Andrew Armstrong, Augustin Hadelich, James Ehnes, Richard O’Neill, Robert deMaine, Bion Tsang and Adam Neiman. The performances were streamed Online and submitted to NPR for broadcast on “Performance Today.” Moretti taught, coached and performed at Portland Summer Ensembles at Reed College in Oregon, July 13-17. Moretti is founder and music director of this intensive five-day chamber music program for students age 10-18 in cooperation with Chamber Music Northwest’s Summer Festival. At the Grand Teton Music Festival in Jackson Hole, Wyo., July 20-Aug. 1, Moretti served as concertmaster of the Festival Orchestra, performing with music director Donald Runnicles, principal guest conductor of the Atlanta Symphony, and guest conductor Osmo Vänskä, music director of the Minnesota Orchestra.

Moretti  is also part of the group Trio RPM, along with cellist Christopher Rex, McDuffie Center Distinguished Artist and cello chair, and pianist Elizabeth Pridgen, McDuffie Center Distinguished Artist and piano chair, premiered “Hardy’s Lark” by Minnesota composer Libby Larsen at the Madison Chamber Music Festival in Georgia, June 17. The piece was commissioned for Trio RPM in honor of the 200th anniversary season of Haydn and Mendelssohn and the city of Madison’s bicentennial year. Moretti also performed at the festival in the Moretti Duo, a violin/percussion ensemble.

Dr. Robert Parris, Charles B. Thompson Professor of Organ and university organist, performed on two significant historic instruments in July. On July 4, he gave a recital on the 1799-1800 David Tannenberg organ originally in Home Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, N.C., now restored and placed in its own concert hall in the Visitors Center at Old Salem Village. On July 13, he played on the Gerhard von Holy organ from 1712-1713 in Marienhafe in Lower Saxony.  Because of his recognized expertise in playing the antique instruments of northern Europe, this was Dr. Parris’s fifth concert engagement on what is probably the most originally-preserved organ in Germany.

Linda Berger, professor and editor of the Journal of the Association of Legal Writing Directors, recently completed volume 6 of the journal’s Best Practices in Persuasion (2009) with co-editor Ian Gallacher. Berger recently served as panelist on the “Law & Rhetoric” panel of the Southeastern Association of Law Schools. She also gave several presentations, including one at the Biennial National Conference of the Association of Legal Writing Directors, titled “Rhetorical Stepping Stones,” with fellow professors Karen Sneddon and Sue Painter-Thorne, Berger also served as a panelist for “How can Directors Protect Academic Freedom?” at the conference. At the Association for the Study of Law, Berger gave a presentation, titled “King Solomon: Narrative, Metaphor, and Trial Court Judges With Discretion.” 

Ted Blumoff, professor, has written and published a book chapter, titled “The Problems with Blaming,” in Law, Mind, and Brain, edited by Michael Freeman and Oliver Goodenough (London: Ashgate Publishing, 2009). Blumoff recently had an article accepted in the peer-reviewed journal, Jurimetrics, titled “The Neuropsychology of Justifications and Excuses: Some Cases from Self-Defense, Duress, and Provocation” (2010). An earlier version has been listed as a Top 10 SSRN download. His article, “The Brain Sciences and Criminal Law Norms,” was also posted on SSRN and is listed as a Top 10 download. In June, Blumoff completed and posted an article, titled “How (some) Criminals Are Made,” and has given numerous talks across the globe on the subject.

Timothy Floyd, professor, recently completed and is awaiting publication of his article, titled “Moral Vision, Moral Courage, and the Formation of the Lawyer’s Professional Identity,” in the Mississippi College of Law Review. Floyd presented “Race and Incarceration” at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools; “Cultivating the Formation of Professional Identity” at the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning Summer Conference, and “Implementation of the Death Penalty in Georgia” the State Bar of Georgia’s Annual June meeting. He also co-presented with professor Jack Sammons “Externships and the Formation of Professional Identity” at the Association of American Law Schools Conference on Clinical Legal Education. This summer, Floyd taught “Torture and International Human Rights” in the Law School’s Summer Study Abroad Program in Freiburg, Germany.

David Hricik, professor, published two books this summer. The first, Patent Ethics: 

Prosecution (Oxford University Press, 2009), was co-authored with Mercedes Meyer, partner at DrinkerBiddle. The second, Modern Statutory Interpretation, Second Edition (Carolina Academic Press 2009), was co-authored with professor Linda Jellum. Hricik continued his column on legal writing with professor Karen Sneddon, published in the Georgia Bar Journal. His article, titled “Remedies for the Infringer?,” was published in the ABA’s Intellectual Property Litigation publication. The United States Library of Congress recently selected Hricik’s statutory interpretation blog for inclusion in the historic collection of Internet materials related to the 2009 supreme court nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Hricik analyzed how the Supreme Court had addressed cases decided by President Barack Obama’s nominee to the Supreme Court that involved statutory interpretation. Hricik served as a panelist on ethical issues on June 19 at the 11th Annual Federal Circuit Bar Association Annual meeting, held in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.

Linda Jellum, associate professor, co-authored the book Modern Statutory Interpretation:  Problem, Theories, and Lawyering Strategies, Second Edition (Carolina Academic Press 2009), with professor David Hricik. She presented a paper, titled “What to do with the Third Year Curriculum,” at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools annual conference, where she also moderated a new scholar’s panel.

David Oedel, professor, is the lead author on the study, “Does the Introduction of Independent Redistricting Reduce Congressional Partisanship?,” published in the Villanova Law Review. Oedel led a team of Mercer researchers, including Dr. Allen Lynch and Dr. Sean Mulholland, faculty members in the economics department of Mercer’s Stetson School of Business, as well as 2009 Mercer Law School graduate Neil Edwards. The study examined the efficacy of independent redistricting commissions. The study tested whether the introduction of independent redistricting commissions in or about 2001, the last major redistricting cycle, reduced the partisanship in the voting behavior shown by the leaders elected from the newly drawn districts.      

Sue Painter-Thorne, associate professor, recently received acceptance for publication her article, titled “If You Build It, They Will Come: Preserving Tribal Sovereignty in the Face of Indian Casinos and the New Premium on Tribal Membership,” in the Lewis & Clark Law Review.

David Ritchie, associate professor, recently published an article, titled “Western Notions of Justice: Legal Outsiders in American Cinema,” in the Suffolk Law Review.

Karen Sneddon, associate professor, spoke on June 23 at the Institute of Law Teaching and Learning conference at Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Wash. The conference was titled “Integrating Writing into Casebook Courses without Significantly Increasing Grading.” She also spoke on the subject, “Speaking for the Dead: Voice in Last Wills and Testaments,” at the Southern Association of Law Schools conference and on the subject, “Rhetorical Stepping Stones,” at the Biennial National Conference of the Association of Legal Writing Directors. Sneddon and professor David Hricik recently published an article, titled “Writing Matters: Pondering Passive Voice,” in the Georgia Bar Journal. 

Jennifer Sheppard, assistant professor, was a panelist on a forum, titled “Mentoring: Skyrocket a Career with the Right Mentor,” at the Southeastern Association of Law Schools conference.