Administration and Staff

Amelia Mayahi, sustainability coordinator, has been elected to serve on the board for the Tennessee Recycling Coalition. She will represent West Tennessee as well as Higher Educational Institutions. 

Arts and Sciences

Dr. George A. Anastassiou, professor of mathematics, presented two invited papers, “Fractional Calculus on Times Scales” and “Approximation by Fractional Poisson-Cauchy Singular Integrals,” during the annual meeting of the American Mathematical Society, held in New Orleans. The second paper was co-presented with doctoral student Razvan Mezei. He also published a new hardcover monograph, Intelligent Mathematics: Computational Analysis (Series: Intelligent Systems Reference Library, Vol. 5, 1st Edition).

College of Communication and Fine Arts

Dr. Lily Afshar, professor of classical guitar, performed at the Richmond Hill Art Center in Toronto.

Dr. Victor Santiago Asunción, associate professor of music, performed his debut solo recital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, as well as several other solo and chamber music performances at the II Virtuosi International Winter Music Festival in Gravata and Garanhuns. In the U.S., he gave the premiere of Bright Sheng’s Northern Lights, a piece for cello and piano written for Asunción and cellist Lynn Harrell, at the La Jolla Chamber Music Festival. Other recent festival appearances included the Highlands-Cashiers Chamber Music Festival, where he performed with the Cleveland Orchestra’s concert master William Preucil, and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. His performances at these festivals will be broadcast on National Public Radio’s Performance Today, BBC-4 and WFMT-Chicago.

Dr. Mariam Ayad, associate professor of art, and graduate students Rachel Benkowski and Sarah Krueger traveled to Egypt to work on the Theban Tomb of Hawra (TT 37) located in the Asasif cemetery on the Theban Western bank.

Jennifer Barker, adjunct professor of architecture, and Michael Chisamore, assistant professor of architecture, each presented a paper at the Design Communication Association Bi-Annual Conference hosted by Montana State University. Chisamore was also named Intern Development Coordinator for the Department of Architecture.  In addition, he will work with students in the Interior Design Experience Program.

Barker, Chisamore, Sherry Bryan, associate professor of architecture, and adjunct professor Jenna Thompson received a grant from the University of Memphis “Green Fee” to design and build a recycling center on the main campus.

Bryan and Michael Hagge, chair of architecture, participated in the annual Leadership Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) in Washington, D.C.

Bryna Bobick, assistant professor of art, had work included in the Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance’s National Juried Exhibition of 2010. She chaired and presented at the Art Education Forum at the Southeastern College Art Association Conference in Richmond, Va., and together with her father, Bruce Bobick, exhibited work in the Roush Family Gallery at the Carrollton Cultural Arts Center in Georgia.

Hugh Busby, local support provider II, served as a juror for the U of M’s Campus School Junior Optimist's Club “Feed the Need” poster competition, the Memphis City Schools Exhibition of Student Work and the Homecoming Banner Competition for the U of M’s Student Activities Council.

Dr. Jack Cooper, associate professor of music, had his most recent release, The Chamber Music of Jack Cooper, reviewed by Fanfare Magazine. The review praise’s Cooper’s work, noting that “the purpose of this program is to broaden the stylistic range of concert chamber music; a breaking-down of barriers.” Cooper and the Big Band Jazz Orchestra of the Delta, which features percussionist Michael Waldrop, a U of M alumnus, joined international recording artist and award-winning composer Kathy Kosins for “Rhapsody in Boop” at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre in January.

Dr. Nicholas V. Holland III, assistant professor of music education, presented “Noise Doses and Temporary Threshold Shifts in a University Concert Band” at the Georgia Music Educators Association conference in January in Savannah, Ga. He also presented “The Lost Battalion: What To Do With Your Army of Percussionists” at the Texas Music Educators Association convention Feb. 10 in San Antonio.

David Horan, instructor of photography, and his collaborative partner, Petr Lysacek, installed two exhibitions in Prague last October. “2x8x16” was a mini retrospective of their collaborations during the past 16 years installed at the American Center of the U.S. Embassy. “Who's Holy,” a new collaborative work, was installed at the Brooks Galerie in Prague. Horan presented a gallery talk at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art during its William Christenberry exhibition and, together with student Chris Fitzgerald, took photographs of American architect’s Paul R. William’s buildings for the exhibition “Paul Revere Williams, American Architect” at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis.

Richard Lou, chair of art, visited Chinle High School for a two-day installation art project with some of the school’s students. Chinle High School is a high school located in an unincorporated area of Apache County, Ariz. Lou also had work exhibited in the University of Mississippi’s Gallery 130. “Richard Lou - Stories On My Back” was a mixed media installation that is based on the stories Lou’s father would share with his family.

Tom Mason, assistant professor of architecture, Tim Michael, instructor of architecture, and research associate Holly Hendrix completed Old Town New Life under a Strengthening Communities Grant. The project focuses on the revitalization of Old Town Millington, Tenn., and is the culmination of a two-year planning and design process.

Greely Myatt, professor of art, had his work included in “Americanana,” a group exhibition at the Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery at Hunter College.

Dr. Richard Ranta, dean of CCFA, received the 2011 Silver Medal award from the local chapter of the American Advertising Federation. “In addition to his many achievements, it’s important to remember that his college transforms students into the young professionals we need to advance our advertising world, along with the musicians, actors, singers and artists that we need to thrive. Perhaps that is the most important thing of all," said Rikki Boyce, a local advertising expert who presented the award during a luncheon Jan. 27.

Kevin Sanders, assistant professor of music, presented a clinic at the International Tuba-Euphonium Conference in Tucson, Ariz., and was named a B&S Perantucci artist and clinician.

Dr. Sandra Sarkela, associate professor of communication, received the 2010 Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award from the Tennessee Communication Association (TCA). Sarkela's essay "Mercy Otis Warren’s Contribution to the Rhetorical Tradition" was recently published in The Rhetoric of Western Thought.

Dr. David Spencer, associate professor of music, performed at the International Carlos Gomes Festival in Campinas, Brazil.

Dr. Craig Stewart, assistant professor of communication, and two colleagues at Old Dominion University recently published a paper in Journal of Language and Social Psychology. In two studies, Stewart and his co-authors use Diction 5.0 software and critical discourse analysis to investigate how “illegal immigrants” are represented in a daily newspaper in southeastern Virginia.

Lecolion Washington, associate professor of music, was invited by Fox Products to represent the company in performance at the International Double Reed Conference in Norman, Okla. Following his performance he was invited to be a Fox artist and represent the company at the 2011 International Double Reed Society Conference in Tempe, Ariz., this June. Washington also performed chamber music at the Stellenbosch International Chamber Music Festival in South Africa and was a featured soloist on the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante for Winds and Orchestra.

Melody Weintraub, adjunct professor of art, gave a lecture at the U of M about her experience of being in the film The Blind Side, which starred Academy Award winner Sandra Bullock.

Copeland Woodruff, assistant professor of music, had the opera he directed last May, “3x3=Infinity” (Dreimaldrei gleich unendlich), win first place for Best Production (Professional Category) in the National Opera Association's opera production competition. The opera was an American premiere about polarization during the Holocaust and its mark on the collective memory of society.

Herff College of Engineering

Dr. Erno Lindner, professor of biomedical engineering, is presenting “pH Sensitive Nanocapsules with ‘Invisible’ Walls” and “A Multi-purpose Automated Flow Analytical System for Minute Sample Volumes” at the Pittcon 2011 conference in Atlanta in March.

Libraries

Dr. Pam Dennis, associate professor of Libraries and Library Learning Commons coordinator, had the chapter, “The Professor Who Was Not Forgotten: Frank Lincoln Eyer (1868-1932),” published in Jubilate, Amen!: A Festschrift In Honor of Donald Paul Hustad.  In early February, Dennis was the speaker at the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center (Brownsville, Tenn.) for the opening ceremony for “Bagels and Barbecue: The Jewish Experience in Tennessee,” a traveling exhibit from the Tennessee State Museum. More information about the exhibit is at http://www.westtnheritage.com/events/2011/bagelsandbarbeque.html

Edwin Frank, curator of Special Collections/Mississippi Valley Collection, University Libraries, has been elected treasurer of the West Tennessee Historical Society through 2011. The Society is an organization that focuses on local and regional history, publishes an annual volume of historical articles and erects historical markers throughout West Tennessee.

Annelle R. Huggins, associate dean of University Libraries, is chair of the Chapter Relations Committee of the American Library Association (ALA) as well as chair of the Task Force on Chapter Relations. She was appointed chair by the president of ALA. As chair of Chapter Relations, Huggins is also a member of the ALA Advocacy Coordinating Group and of the Planning and Budget Advisory Group.

Inez Todd, senior administrative secretary to the dean of University Libraries, has been notified that she has passed all parts of the CPS Examination and has achieved the Certified Professional Secretary rating under the auspice of the International Association of Administrative Professionals.

Loewenberg School of Nursing

Dr. Linda Finch, associate professor of nursing, had an abstract accepted for podium presentation at the 32nd International Association for Human Caring Conference, The Intersection of Caring & Quality: Nursing Practice, Education & Research, to be held June 1-4 in San Antonio. Her presentation, "Chronically-Ill Hospitalized Children: Nurse Caring Revealed," will focus on study findings from her research.