College of Education

Dr. Robert J. Helfenbein, professor of curriculum studies and associate dean for research and faculty affairs, authored Critical Geographies of Education: Space, Place, and Curriculum Inquiry, published by Routledge.

Dr. Susie Morrissey, assistant professor of mathematics education, presented “Preservice teachers’ language use for fraction problems in context“ Oct. 15 at the Psychology of Mathematics Education – North American Chapter conference and had the associated article published in the conference proceedings.

Dr. Leah Panther, assistant professor of literacy education, published the chapter “Teaching digital literacies to challenge narratives of compliance and defiance” in the book Teaching digital literacy: A faculty guide to integrating digital skills with disciplinary content, edited by Lauren Hays and Jenna Kammer for Stylus Publishing.

Dr. Katherine Perrotta, assistant professor of middle grades and secondary education, was nominated for and accepted a two-year term as membership coordinator of the Organization of Educational Historians executive board during its annual meeting Oct. 1-2. Dr. Perrotta presented “Matters of Representation: Space, Place, and Context in STEM Curriculum” with Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction students Jamilah Hickson, Caitlin Hochuli, Ashlee Lee and Erica Peddi, and “Business as Usual: Reflections on Life as Mothers and Educators during a Pandemic” with Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction graduates Dr. Jami Friedrich and Dr. Jennifer Curl and doctoral student Amberly Evans at the annual meeting of the Organization of Educational Historians. Dr. Perrotta presented “Powerful and meaningful teaching and learning: A case study of elementary teachers’ perspectives of content-specific professional development for social studies instruction” with Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction students Michael Champion and Erica Warren at the annual meeting of the Georgia Educational Research Association.

Dr. Loleta D. Sartin, associate dean for academic affairs and associate professor of education, and Dr. Sharon Hixon were selected to serve as guest editors of the School University Partnership Journal. The themed issue will focus on “Minority Serving Teacher Preparation Programs Working Effectively with Minority-Serving School Districts: How do innovations facilitate a more diverse teacher pipeline and success for all P-12 students?” Dr. Sartin and Dr. Daneell Moore published “WOW Them and Show Them How Exciting Social Studies Can Be: Exploring a Self-Sustaining Social Studies Summer Camp for Young Learners Led by Teacher Candidates” in The Social Studies. The article highlights social justice initiatives in a summer camp founded by Dr. Sartin.

College of Health Professions

Dr. Jeannette Anderson, clinical associate professor of physical therapy, co-presented “We’re Letting Our Students Down: How Does Your Program’s Habits Stack Up?” at the 2021 American Physical Therapy Association’s Education Leadership Conference, held Oct. 22-24 in Atlanta.

Dr. Beth Collier, clinical associate professor of physical therapy, and Dr. Leslie Taylor, professor of physical therapy, presented “Visual Art Interpretation and Creation to Strengthen Empathy in DPT Students” at the 2021 American Physical Therapy Association’s Education Leadership Conference held Oct. 22-24 in Atlanta. Dr. Collier and Dr. Taylor also virtually presented a poster, “Visual Art Interpretation to Develop Observation Skills and Implicit Bias Awareness in Physical Therapy Students,” at the International Society for Exploring Teaching and Learning Conference on Innovative Pedagogy in Higher Education held Oct. 7-9. Dr. Collier also co-authored “Seeing the patient through the pathology: how to affect functional outcomes through patient perspectives: a case report,” published in the Journal of Student Physical Therapy Research

Dr. Daniel Dale, clinical assistant professor of physical therapy, co-presented “Simulation for the Affective Domain: Building Sustainable Habits of the Heart and Head” at the 2021 American Physical Therapy Association’s Education Leadership Conference, held Oct. 22-24 in Atlanta.

Dr. Deborah Wendland, associate professor of physical therapy, co-authored “A student physical therapist’s perspective on her efficacy providing culturally competent care: a reflective case study,” published in the Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice.

College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Dr. Peter Brown, professor emeritus of philosophy, had his book Listening for God: Malamud, O’Connor, Updike and Morrison reviewed by The Christian Century.

Dr. David A. Davis, professor of English, gave the talk “The Romance of Cotton” at the American Studies Association online conference.

Dr. John Marson Dunaway, professor emeritus of French and interdisciplinary studies, presented a paper, titled “Michael Edwards and the Bible,” at the Southeastern Conference on Christianity and Literature Oct. 22 at Wingate University in North Carolina.

Dr. Sarah E. Gardner, Distinguished University Professor of History, was the 2021 Brose Distinguished Lecturer Oct. 14-16 at the Richards Civil War Era Center at Penn State University. She spoke on “Shakespeare and the American Civil War.”

Dr. Matt Marone, associate professor of physics, gave an online talk, titled “Wet Copper from the Lab – Experiments with Medieval Chinese Alchemy,” Oct. 21 for the University of Salzburg in Austria. He also worked with the Macon-Bibb County Parks Department to set up a telescope with a camera and project live images of the Moon, Jupiter and Saturn for International Observe the Moon Night on Oct. 16.

Tennille Shuster, associate professor of graphic design, was selected by jury to exhibit numerous artist’s books in the Rochester Public Library’s 10th Anniversary Art of the Book: Artist Books, Altered Books and Paper Sculpture exhibition July 9-Nov. 1 in Rochester, New York. One of her artist’s books, titled “Behind Closed Doors,” received an honorable mention. She was also selected by jury to exhibit “Behind Closed Doors” at the Philadelphia Center for the Book in “Looking Out/Looking In,” on display at Swarthmore College’s McCabe Library through Dec. 5. Additionally, Shuster’s most recent artist’s book edition, titled “I Look at the World,” was acquired for permanent collection by Western Michigan University’s Rare Books, Special Collections Library and by Special Collections in the Early Gregg Swem Library at William & Mary.

College of Nursing

Dr. Jennifer Bartlett, associate professor, was accepted into the American Association of Colleges of Nursing Digital Academy held September through November. She has extensive experience in ethics, simulation, curriculum development and program evaluation.

Dr. Sonique Sailsman, assistant professor, was elected to the National League for Nursing Nomination Committee for 2021-2024.

Dr. Linda A. Streit, dean, was appointed to the Georgia Nursing Taskforce established by the Georgia Center for Nursing Excellence.

College of Pharmacy

Dr. Raquibul Hasan, assistant professor, co-authored “Empagliflozin Relaxes Resistance Mesenteric Arteries by Stimulating Multiple Smooth Muscle Cell Voltage-Gated K+ (KV) Channels” in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

Dr. Nicole Metzger, clinical assistant professor, was granted the Mentor Award by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy Adult Medicine Practice and Research Networks on Oct. 16.

Dr. Maria Thurston, clinical associate professor, was named a Fellow of the 2021 American College of Clinical Pharmacy, the highest honor the organization can bestow on a member.

College of Professional Advancement

Dr. Awatef A. Ben Ramadan, assistant professor of mathematics, science, and informatics, attended “Three Days Live Training on Data Analysis using Python” on Aug. 25. The training course given by Simpliv LLC taught the basics of python programming and how individuals can use this language in data analysis and visualization. Dr. Ben Ramadan collaborated with two colleagues to write pedagogical book chapters, titled “Promoting Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Course Design and Instructional Material Development” and “Case Study: Innovative High Impact Practices (HIPs) in Eight-Weeks-Long Online Graduate Research Methodology and Capstone Courses during COVID-19.” These chapters were accepted to be published in Global Perspectives on Higher Education: From Crisis to Opportunity by Springer Publishers. Dr. Ramadan, along with several colleagues, submitted an original research article, titled “Patient Satisfaction and Wellness During and After Invisalign® Orthodontic Treatment Technology,” to the Annals of Public Health and Epidemiology Journal. She also collaborated with the Biotechnology Research Centre in Tripoli, Libya, in conducting research, titled “Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, and Perception of Healthcare Practice about COVID-19 and COVID-19 Vaccine amongst Libya Physicians and Assess their Stress, Anxiety, and Depression Tripoli/Fall 2021.” The University’s research center and the Libyan Biotechnology Research Centre have sought approval of the research tools, and the team expects to begin collecting data in December.

Dr. Arla G. Bernstein, assistant professor and program coordinator of communication, attended the two-day Virtual PR Measurement Boot Camp 5 held Oct. 21-22 and hosted by P World.

Dr. Jared Champion, assistant professor of writing and interdisciplinary studies, presented his paper, “The Politics of Apolitical Humor: Comedy and ‘Clueless’ White Men,” at the national American Studies Association conference.

Dr. Tim Craker, associate professor of comparative literature and philosophy, Dr. Jason Holloway, instructor of history and executive director of advising services, and Dr. Fred Bongiovanni, professor of sociology and religious studies, led a session Oct. 8 at the Association of American Colleges and Universities October Global Learning Reimagined Conference on the College’s innovative General Education Global Learning and Engagement (GLEN) Certificate. The presentation, titled “Global Learning for All:  Post-traditional Students and General Education,” focused on the GLEN certificate program, a strategic initiative for cross-cultural and global approaches to the curriculum that creates opportunities for students seeking knowledge across cultures, across disciplines and around the world while demonstrating capacities for global learning and intercultural competency. The four-course certificate program includes a globalization and engagement laboratory course through which students study abroad, most recently in Guatemala.

Dr. Tri M. Le, assistant professor of mathematics and computer science, authored “Interpreting Uninterpretable Predictors: Kernel Methods, Shtarkov Solutions, and Random Forests,” published Sept. 8 in Statistical Theory and Related Fields.

Dr. Beverly Smith, adjunct professor of clinical mental health counseling, was named president and interim CEO of the American Mental Health Association. She was featured by the National Board for Certified Counselors (NBCC) in the new column, “Leading for Equity,” featured in the NBCC Visions newsletter. Dr. Smith also co-presented on “CMHC in a Post-COVID World” at the American Counselor Educator and Supervision Conference.

Dr. Lynn Tankersley, associate professor of criminal justice, was featured in WalletHub’s recent piece on “The Safest States in America.”

Dr. Zipangani Vokhiwa, professor of science, served as a peer reviewer for the fiscal year 2021 Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program Competition hosted by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education.

School of Business

Dr. Antonio Saravia, associate professor of economics and director of the Center for the Study of Economics and Liberty, published the paper “You play the way you live: Aggressive soccer play and social capital” in Soccer and Society, a Q1 journal. He also published five op-eds in highly reputed newspapers in Latin America and gave interviews to CNN, Univision and NPR on different aspects of the rising fiscal deficit and inflation.

Jeff Wolfe, director of the Center for Executive Education, was selected by the North Fulton Chamber of Commerce Foundation Inc. as a member of the 2022 cohort of Leadership North Fulton, the region’s signature leadership development program for more than 30 years.

School of Engineering

Dr. Philip B. Gallagher, assistant professor of technical communication, presented a manuscript under review for publication, titled “Teaching Visual Content Description for Visually Impaired Users: Using Visual Rhetoric and Kostelnick’s Design Matrix,” at ACM’s Special Interest Group on the Design of Communication 2021 conference. The presentation was co-produced with Marci J. Gallagher from Valdosta State University. The research investigates the challenges visual communication presents to people with vision impairment. As advocates for these users, the authors offer an approach for training technical communicators to provide visual information via content tags, alternative texts and visual descriptions based on the challenges identified.

Dr. Wade H. Shaw, professor of systems engineering, was named a Life Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

School of Law

Sarah Gerwig-Moore, professor of law, was quoted in USA Today Oct. 15 in the article “Ahmuad Arbery: Trial Opens Monday in Georgia.” She also wrote the article, “A Working Mother Prepares for Oral Argument,” for the November edition of the ABA Journal. The article is a reflective and humorous description of the challenges of being a working mother and preparing for high-level appellate oral argument before the Supreme Court of Georgia. Finally, she completed the book chapter, “Capital Punishment and Circles of Trauma,” which will be published in Trauma-Informed Law: A Primer for Practicing Lawyers by ABA Publishing in 2022.

David Hricik, professor of law and associate dean of faculty research and development, wrote the chapter “Combining Prosecution with Other Forms of Representation” in the book Drafting Patents for Litigation and Licensing (American Bar Association, 4th ed., 2021). He also presented “Academic Perspective on Patent Valuation 1: Recent Legal and Technological Changes Reducing Patent Value” at the first annual Elevate Your Prosecution Conference in Salt Lake City.

Mark L. Jones, professor of law, published his book Professions and Politics in Crisis with Carolina Academic Press in October.

Karen J. Sneddon, interim dean and professor of law, and David Hricik, professor of law and associate dean of faculty research and development, co-authored “You Keep Using That Word: I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means” in August and “When a Timeline Is Worth a Thousand Words” in October in the Georgia Bar Journal.

School of Medicine

Dr. Andrew Benesh, assistant professor of family therapy and clinic coordinator, was appointed interim assistant program director of Mercer’s Marriage and Family Therapy Program as of Oct. 1. Dr. Benesh was also elected to serve as vice president of the Georgia Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, and he presented a keynote on “The State of Adolescent Health” at the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Power and Potential’s “Navigating Adolescence” event on Oct. 18.

Dr. Himangshu Bose, professor, published a paper, titled “Regulation of estradiol synthesis by aromatase interacting partner (AIPB),” in the journal Molecular and Cellular Biology. Four medical students served as contributing authors on this paper, including two fourth-year students, Nicholas D. Carbo and Elin M. Hahn, and two third-year students, Neal M. Hall and Mikhail M. Melomed.

Dr. Lauren Bunch, assistant professor of bioethics and professionalism, presented “Exploring the Concept of Trust through the Lens of Vaccine Hesitancy” at the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities’ annual conference.

Dr. Brian H. Childs, professor and chair of bioethics and medical humanities, was elected to the board of directors of Sharing Hope South Carolina, the organ procurement organization that serves South Carolina as well as providing organs for Georgia, if available. He was also elected to the clinical board of the Living Legacy Foundation of Maryland, the organ procurement organization that serves Maryland organ transplantation. Dr. Childs will serve as this board’s ethics consultant.

Dr. David Hollar, associate professor of community medicine, had a research paper accepted for publication in Cancer Investigation. The paper, titled “Allostatic Load, Mobility Disability, and Viral Effects in Cancer: A Structural Equation Model,” describes the analysis of biological and health questionnaire data from three National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey cohorts to test a model of latent factors impacting cancer occurrence.

Dr. Candi Nobles James, associate dean of student affairs and associate professor, was featured in the latest edition of the Medical Association of Georgia’s “Top Docs” show and podcast, addressing ways to avoid burnout and promote wellness among physicians in training – including medical students, residents and fellows.

Dr. Eric K. Shaw, professor, co-authored “Desmopressin Administration and Impact on Hypertonic Saline Effectiveness in Intracranial Hemorrhage,” published July 7 in Neurocritical Care. He will co-present “Obesity-adjusted unfractionated heparin versus enoxaparin for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis,” “Albumin with furosemide vs. Furosemide alone for de-resuscitation following sepsis or septic shock” and “Role of neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in diagnosis and prognosis of severe COVID infection” at the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s 51st Critical Care Congress Feb. 6-9 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Dr. Andrea Meyer Stinson, associate professor, was an invited speaker Oct. 21-22 at the Trauma Informed Care Virtual Conference, where she spoke about the impact of adverse childhood experiences in rural communities. The conference is hosted by Resilient Georgia, Health Students Taking Action Together and the Student Taskforce on ACEs and Resilience.

Dr. Morgan Stinson, assistant professor of family therapy, Dr. Andrea Meyer-Stinson, interim program director of marriage and family therapy, and Dr. Andrew Benesh, assistant professor of family therapy and clinic coordinator, presented a session, titled “Integrating Behavioral Health Intervention Technologies in Behavioral Health,” Oct. 22-23 at the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association’s annual conference.

Staff and Administration

Stefanie Swanger, assistant director of the Center for Career and Professional Development and a doctoral candidate in the College of Education, presented a portion of her dissertation research at the Georgia Educational Research Association 2021 Annual Conference. Her research is titled “Protecting our Moms: An Investigation of Workplace Invicility and Job Satisfaction for Mothers Working in Student Affairs.”