Biology and Agriculture
Chief health professions advisor and biology professor Don D. Bloxham was awarded an honorary doctor of science degree by the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kirksville, Miss. Director of the Health Professions Center, Bloxham teaches and advises pre–health care undergraduates and medical, nursing, and podiatry students.
Education
P. Scott Richards, ’81, professor of counseling psychology and special education, was recently elected president of the American Psychology Association Division on Psychology and Religion.
Engineering and Technology
Spencer P. Magleby, ’83, associate chair of mechanical engineering, was recently honored with the Fred Merryfield Design Award from the American Society for Engineering Education at its annual conference and exposition in Nashville, Tenn. The award recognizes excellence in teaching and other significant contributions to the field.
Read more at more.byu.edu/magleby
Tau Beta Pi, a national engineering honor society, recently awarded a fellowship for $10,000 to James E. Greer, ’03, a graduate student in civil engineering with an emphasis in water resources. Greer received the fellowship for his research experience at BYU’s Environmental Modeling Research Laboratory and for his proposal to develop advanced software tools for computer groundwater modeling.
Read more at more.byu.edu/greer
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Associate professor of history Mark R. Grandstaff, ’84, was appointed by the secretary of the Air Force to be the Muir S. Fairchild Visiting Professor of Strategy and National Security at the U.S. Air Force Air War College in Montgomery, Ala. During his one-year appointment, Grandstaff will travel to England, Australia, and New Zealand to consult with defense departments on U.S. allied strategies.
Read more at more.byu.edu/grandstaff
Professor of economics Mark H. Showalter, ’86, has been invited to serve as a senior economist for the Council of Economic Advisers in Washington, D.C. The council makes recommendations to the president of the United States on economic development and national economic policies to promote employment, production, and purchasing power.
Read more at more.byu.edu/showalter
Fine Arts and Communications
Associate professors of communications Steven R. Thomsen, ’82, and Allen W. Palmer, ’70, have been named Fulbright scholars. Thomsen will teach psychology and conduct research at the University of Oslo in Norway on the behavior of adolescents with regard to alcoholic drinking. Palmer will teach at the Polytechnic University of Namibia in Windhoek and research community-based approaches to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Read more at more.byu.edu/scholars
Associate professor of music Jerry L. Jaccard has been elected vice president of the International Kodály Society, a scholarly music education development organization headquartered in Hungary.
Susan Vincent
Health and Human Performance
In a study published in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, assistant professor of physical education Susan D. Vincent, ’92, and other researchers found that the average American child takes about 1,000 fewer steps a day than an Australian child and about 3,000 fewer than a Swedish child. The study suggests that differences in physical activity account for the relatively high occurrence of childhood obesity in American children.
Read more at more.byu.edu/steps
Humanities
English professor Christopher E. Crowe, ’76, received the International Reading Association’s 2003 Children’s Book Award for Young Adult Novels forMississippi Trial, 1955, a historical novel. The novel is a fictionalized account of the true story of Emmett Till, a young African American whose tragic murder in 1955 gained impetus for the civil rights movement.
Law School
A recently released book, Marriage and Same-Sex Unions: A Debate, contains a dialogue on the legal status of marriage and current proposals to redefine marriage. Edited by law professor Lynn D. Wardle, ’71, and William C. Duncan, executive director of the Marriage and Family Law Research Grant, the anthology clarifies arguments in the dispute over the legal definition of marriage and explores issues related to the current controversy.
Marriott School
In BYU’s first appearance at the Institute of Management Accountants 2003 National Student Video Case Competition in Nashville, Tenn., a team of four students from the School of Accountancy and Information Systems won first place. Jason L. Smith, ’04; Shonn D. Stahlecker, ’03; Andrew N. Wycherly, ’04; and Scott T. Williams, ’03, received a plaque and a cash award of $5,000.
Nursing
In its recent ranking of graduate programs, U.S. News & World Report listed the BYU College of Nursing as No. 58, a jump from No. 103 last year. More than 500 different nursing schools across the nation are considered in this survey, putting BYU’s nursing program in the top 10 percent.
Physical and Mathematical Sciences
Scott D. Sommerfeldt, ’83, was appointed chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, replacing R. Steven Turley, ’78, who was named associate dean for freshman year. Harold T. Stokes, ’71, will serve as the new associate chair in the department.
Chongchun C. Zeng, ’97, who received his doctorate from the Department of Mathematics, was recently granted a Faculty Early Career Development Award by the National Science Foundation. Zeng will receive about $400,000 over a five-year period.
Read more at more.byu.edu/zeng
Religious Education
Jeffrey R. Chadwick, ’84, recently published his article “Revisiting Golgotha and the Garden Tomb” in The Religious Educator. The article offers archaeological and historical evidence that suggests that neither of the traditional sites of Jesus’ crucifixion and burial meet the criteria found in the scriptures. Chadwick is currently the senior field archaeologist for the Gath archaeological expedition.
Read more at more.byu.edu/archaeology