UIW Chancellor Sr. Helena Monahan, CCVI, was designated Chancellor Emerita as she retired from UIW. A farewell reception was held on May 2 in the CHRISTUS Heritage Room at the Village at Incarnate Word. After 31 years of service, she will become president of Incarnate Word Academy in St. Louis, Mo.

Dr. Christy MacKinnon, professor of biology, was accepted as one of 17 undergraduate educators into the 2012 American Society of Microbiology (ASM) and Joint Genome Institute (JGI) Bioinformatics Residency. MacKinnon was also accepted in the week-long ASM/JGI Functional Genomics Workshop held at Hiram College in July 2011. She hosted a companion workshop, “Intergraded Microbial Genomes/Annotation Collaboration Tool,” at UIW in December, 2011. She is one of only several faculty members nationwide who has completed all three institutes.

Drs. Amy Crocker, and Susan Smith, of the School of Physical Therapy were selected as joint recipients of the 2012 Young Alumni Appreciation Award from the Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions.

Mark Stringham, assistant professor of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, performed the role of Lepidus and Proculeis in New York for the Dramatist/Royal Shakespeare Company’s collaboration workshop on Shakespeare’s “Antony & Cleopatra” in April.

Dr. Timothy Wingert, of the Rosenberg School of Optometry, was named a distinguished scholar and fellow in the National Academies of Practice (NAP).  NAP is composed of 10 Academies representing health care practice in the areas of dentistry, medicine, nursing, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, rodiatric medicine, psychology, social work, and veterinary medicine.  Only 150 active distinguished practitioners may be elected to each Academy. Wingert is also a Fullbright Scholar and past president of the Missouri Optometric Association.

Dr. Sally Said, professor of Spanish, has been appointed as the 2012-2013 Moody Professor.  Selection of the Moody Professor is based upon the recommendation of the faculty senate, the academic deans, and the provost in recognition of scholarship, teaching excellence and community service. As Moody Professor, Said will present two public lectures on a topic of her choice, one at UIW and one at Our Lady of the Lake University.

Assistant professors Dr. Tanja Stampfl, of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; Dr. Helmut Gottlieb, of the Feik School of Pharmacy; Dr. Osman Özturgut, of the Dreeben School of Education; and Dr. Veronica Acosta, of the School of Mathematics, Science and Engineering were selected as the recipients of the Provost’s Legacy Teaching Award for their commitment, within their first five years at UIW, to keeping alive the rich tradition of teaching excellence that characterizes the university.

Fr. Tom Dymowski, O.SS.T., chaplain, was awarded the Doctor of Ministry degree from the Oblate School of Theology (OST) at the commencement ceremony held in May.

Directed by William Gokelman, chair of the UIW music department, the Cardinal Chorale helped raise 13.2 tons of food (equal to 20,700 meals) for the San Antonio Food Bank when they performed as the feature mentor choir in Sing Out San Antonio.  The concert was sponsored by YouthCUE, an organization reaching out to high school students through choral and orchestral performance opportunities in the U.S. and abroad.

An academic paper by Dr. Scott D. Roberts, of the H-E-B School of Business and Administration, was accepted for publication by the “American Journal of Business Education.”  Roberts co-authored the work, “A Business Educator’s Guide to Transitioning to a Digital Curriculum,” with Russell E. Rains and Gregory E. Perry of St. Edward’s University.

In April, music instructor Jim Waller was accepted as a voting member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).  NARAS presents the Grammys every year and bestows awards to honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry.

Associate professor Dr. Lisa Lockhart of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences won the Society for the Teaching of Psychology award for her poster “Service-Learning and Students’ Perceived Understanding of Social Justice Issues.”  She presented at the Southwest Teachers of Psychology affiliate meeting at the Southwestern Psychology Association conference in Oklahoma City in April.

Assistant professor of religious studies Dr. Glenn Ambrose’s book, “The Theology of Louise-Marie Chauvet: Overcoming Onto-Theology with the Sacramental Tradition,” was published by Ashgate Publishing in May.  The book is available on Ashgate Publishing’s webpage(www.ashgate.com).

Dr. James Creagan, ambassador in residence and distinguished professor of political science and international studies, was a mentor for graduate students at the University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs in an International Strategic Crisis Negotiation Exercise.  Run by the U.S. Army War College and UT, the two-day exercise included several U.S. Ambassadors and high-ranking military officers participating as mentors for “delegations” from various countries.

Assistant professor of psychology Dr. Stephanie Boswell’s article, “I Deserve Success: Academic Entitlement Attitudes and their Relationships with Course Self-Efficacy, Social Networking, and Demographic Variables,” was published in the journal of Social Psychology of Education in April.  Her article, “Old People are Cranky: Helping Professional Trainees’ Knowledge, Attitude, Aging, Anxiety, and Interest in Working with Older Adults,” appears in “Educational Gerontology.”

During March, the Religious Studies faculty participated in interfaith activities on campus and in the community.  Adjunct professor Simone Brown moderated an Interreligious Dialogue Panel: “Food in a Religious Setting” for educators of young children at the 12th Diversity Conference of the Jewish Federation sponsored by UTSA.  Sr. Martha Ann Kirk, CCVI, professor of religious studies, helped direct the “Where in the World is Compassion” conference held at UIW.  The conference included participants from all over Texas and the Middle East.

Sr. Eilish Ryan, CCVI, professor of religious studies, was named one of two distinguished alumnae receiving the Shamrock Legend Award during the 130th Anniversary Eucharist at Incarnate Word High School (IWHS) held on March 25.  Given every five years, recipients of the award are nominated by their peers for making a significant difference in continuing the mission of the Sisters and the school.

Vincent Rodriguez, assistant to the president for communications, completed the Crisis Leadership in Higher Education Executive Education Program in March at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.  The program focused on the strategic communications and operational issues when preparing for, responding to, and recovering from a crisis, such as on-campus violence and natural disasters.

Robert Johnson, instructor of computer graphic arts, made two presentations at the University & College Designers Association (UCDA) in Blacksburg, Va. at Virginia Tech in May.  The event was the 8th  UCDA Design Education Summit, concentrating on design educators from North America.  Johnson’s presentation featured two main topics: “Issues in Marketing a Design/Media Program” and “Marketing Graduating Students in Today’s Tight Market.”

Professor of English Dr. Jo LeCoeur presented the 2012 Sr. Margaret Patrice Slattery Lecture, “Gratitude for the Genuine Voice,” April 25 in Mabee Library’s Special Collections Room.  “That Song Stayed Sung,” the subtitle of the lecture, was from the play, “Fiction,” which ran at UIW’s Cheever Theatre in April.

Dr. Kathleen (Kathy) Goei, assistant professor for the Ila Faye Miller School of Nursing and Health Professions, was recently awarded the Nightingale Award for Excellence in Nursing by the Medical Center Rotary Club.

Dr. David Foglesong

Dr. David Foglesong, from the department of biology, presented a poster on his research titled “Activation of DNA topoisomerase I and DNA topoisomerase II in nuclei of interleukin-2-treated HuT 78 cells” at the annual meeting of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Anaheim, Calif., from April 23-28. The following graduate students were co-authors on this study: Minh-Hieu Pham, Navya Kondapalli, Adi Singh, Tripti Jaiswal, Jingjing Ma and Leonard Contreras.

Don Ewers ’85 MA, ’80 BA, instructor of communication arts and art, had a photo essay called “Four Meditations on Life” appear in the “Palo Alto Review” for fall/spring 2009-10. The essay summarizes his philosophy of photography as contemplative metaphor and is illustrated with four abstract/contemplative nature photographs.

Dr. Pat Lonchar

Dr. Pat Lonchar, professor of English, served as an external reviewer for the Humanities Five-Year Program Review at Schreiner University in April.

Dr. Pat Lonchar, professor of English, Dr. Susan Hall, of the Dreeben School of Education, Theresa Tiggeman and Dr. Tracie Edmond, both of the H-E-B School of Business and Administration, and Judy Broughton, associate professor of interior environmental design, participated in a panel addressing “Using Screen Capture Technology to Capture a Class” at the Southwest Texas Teaching and Learning Conference at Texas A&M in San Antonio on April 9.

Dr. Sarah Williams (left) visits with Stephanie Rowan, vice president of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, Delta Alpha at-large chapter.

Dr. Sarah Williams, associate professor in the School of Nursing and Health Professions, was recognized in May with the UIW Nurse ImageMaker Award given by the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society, Delta Alpha Chapter-at-Large and Texas Nurses Association. For more than 25 years, the honor society has recognized excellence in nursing through this award. Since 2006, the Texas Nurses Association, District 8, has partnered with Sigma Theta Tau to honor area nurses of distinction as South Texas Nurse ImageMakers. Williams and 34 other nurses were selected because of their professional image, positive and caring attitude, leadership qualities, commitment to continuous learning and significant contributions to their organizations and communities.

Dr. Lopita Nath, assistant professor of history, attended the First National Conference on Bhutanese Empowerment in Atlanta from April 17-18. She presented a paper on “Resettlement of Bhutanese Refugees in the U.S.: A Comparative Study in San Antonio, Texas.” Bhutanese refugees from all over the United States attended the conference. She also presented her paper “Are we home yet? The Bhutanese Refugee Resettlement Program in San Antonio, Texas” at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Social Science Association in Houston from March 31 – April 3.

Dr. Ken Metz

Dr. Ken Metz, professor of music, had his composition “Ouroboros” performed by international new music group Thelema Trio as part of their concert in Palestrina Hall on April 9. His composition “Por Hermeto” (2009) for solo marimba was premiered at TSU as a part of the National Association of Composer’s Texas Conference in February.

Dr. Chris Paris, associate professor of English, published his poem “Talisman” in the spring 2010 issue of Hudson View Poetry Digest.

Dr. Emily Clark

Dr. Emily Clark, associate professor of English, presented her paper titled “Taking the Postcolonial Westward: Women and the Frontier as Colony in Nancy Turner’s ‘These is My Words’ ” at the Philological Association of the Carolinas conference in Charleston, S.C., in March.

Dr. Lisa Lockhart, associate professor of psychology, presented “Teaching Social Justice through Social Psychology Curriculum: A Preliminary Study” at the Southwestern Psychological Association meeting in Dallas in April.

Margaret Mitchell, professor of theatre arts, held a book signing for the Drama Book Shop during the Irene Sharaff/Robert L.B. Tobin Awards in New York City in April. The book, “Making the Scene: A History of Stage Design and Technology in Europe and the United States,” is also featured in the bookstore at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Dr. Paul Lewis, associate professor of philosophy, presented his paper on “Contested States: Capital, Resistance, and Power” addressing problems of social justice and the political economy of globalization, at the UTSA Workshop on the Thought of Simon Critchley in February.

Dr. Gary Keith

Dr. Gary Keith, assistant professor of political science, presented his paper “What’s the Matter with Texas? Latino Civil Rights Battles of the 1940s” at the Southwestern Social Science Association Convention in Houston on April 3.

Dr. Lydia Andrade, professor of political science, was selected as the new Faculty Athletics Representative. She will replace Dr. Sandra Strickland, who retired from the School of Nursing and Health Professions in the spring.

Dr. Stefanie Boswell

Dr. Stefanie Boswell, assistant professor of psychology, made two co-presentations at the Southwestern Psychological Association in Dallas in April. The presentations were titled “Demystifying Academic Job Searches: Becoming Faculty Your First Time Out” and “Three-Stage Memory: Using What You Teach to Improve How You Teach.”  In February, she was invited to present at the annual meeting of the Texas University Counseling Centers in San Marcos on “Working with the Unique Needs of First Generation Students.”

Sr. Martha Ann Kirk, of the Religious Studies Department, and Miguel Conchas, doctoral student in International Education and Entrepreneurship, presented “Using Online International Exchanges with University Students to Promote Interfaith Dialogue and Understanding” at the “Peace through Faith-based Grassroots Organization? Exploring the Gülen Movement” conference held March 27. The conference was sponsored by the University of Texas – Pan American College of Arts and Humanities, in cooperation with the Institute of Interfaith Dialog.

Dr. Teresa Taylor-Partridge

Dr. Teresa Taylor-Partridge, assistant professor of psychology, had her project titled “Developmental and Individual Differences in Social Evaluation: Physiological and Behavioral Correlates” selected for participation in the Faculty Development Summer Grant Writing Workshop from June 7-11. She also presented a poster titled “Age Differences in EEG Activation in Response to Attractive and Unattractive Faces: A Study of 6- & 10-Month Old Infants” at the International Conference for Infant Studies in Baltimore on March 14.

Jonathan Trejo-Mathys, instructor of philosophy, was selected as a stipend recipient for a National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar titled “Philosophical Perspectives on Liberal Democracy and the Global Order” in June at Washington University in St. Louis. An abstract of his paper titled “The Remembrance of Things to Come: Benjamin, Violence, Modernity, (Post) Secularity” was selected for inclusion at an international conference on Walter Benjamin to be held in Santiago, Chile, in October.

Dr. Tanja Stampfl

Dr. Tanja Stampfl, assistant professor of English, presented her paper on “Theorizing Arab North Africa: Roles and Responsibilities of the Diaspora” at the North Eastern MLA Conference in Montreal in April.