Hendrix Magazine - 2012 Spring

spring 2012

The Hendrix College Magazine Spring 2012 Volume 24, Number 2 Chief Communications Officer Frank Cox ’76 cox@hendrix.edu Editor Helen Plotkin plotkin@hendrix.edu Managing Editor Rob O’Connor ’95 Art Director/Designer Joshua Daugherty Alumnotes Editor/Designer Courtney Johnson ’12 Assistant Editor Natalie Atkins Staff Photographers Joshua Daugherty Courtney Johnson ’12 Hendrix Magazine is published by Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Avenue, Conway, Arkansas 720323080. This magazine is published for Hendrix College alumni, parents of students and friends. Permission is granted to reprint material from this magazine provided credit is given and a copy of the reprinted material is sent to the Editor.

Postmaster, please send form 3579 to Office of Marketing Communications, Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Ave., Conway, AR 72032-3080 501-505-2932 Fax 501-450-4553 Alumnotes submission deadlines: Spring Issue: Feb. 1 Fall Issue: Sept. 1

26 Breaking Good Photo by Joshua Daugherty

cerebrally serendipitous

Printed on paper containing 10% post-consumer recycled content with inks containing agri-based oils.

Please Recycle.

Neuroscience major Colin Hoy ’12 is pictured holding a 3-D rendering of his brain. Lead designer Joshua Daugherty and Bruce Layman ’12 took Hoy’s photograph with Hoy holding a model brain borrowed from the psychology department. Hoy provided an fMRI image of his anatomical brain data, which was digitally added to his photograph to create the cover image of the spring 2012 Hendrix Magazine.

cover story

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Colin Hoy ’12 connected his passion for science and research with an interdisciplinary neuroscience major and multiple research projects on campus and at the National Institutes of Health and the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. The opportunity to work closely with faculty in research is a historic hallmark of the Hendrix experience. This issue of Hendrix Magazine celebrates this tradition by looking at current students like Colin and his classmates Annie Greenaway ’12 and Sarah Thompson ’12 and alumni who have combined coursework and hands-on research in their undergraduate education and in their work.

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War Games

Fred Baker ’00 brings his love of history to life as an avid Civil War re-enactor

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Teacher Scholars

Dr. Alex Vernon and faculty peers embody the engaged learning ethos at Hendrix

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CSI: Hendrix

Chris Harrison ’95 brings his chemistry background to bear on crime scene investigation

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Econoline

Dr. Tom Stanley leads the pack in meta-analysis research in economics

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Alumni News Alumni Voices Alumnotes At Home at Hendrix Campus News Faculty News

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Hendrix Through Time In Memoriam Marriages New Children President’s Message The Village at Hendrix

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Clevelandia

Dr. Sandy Simon Halliburton ’94 and Dr. Joe Hollyfield ’60 apply their Hendrix experiences to their work at Cleveland Clinic

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Poll Cats

Connor Thompson ’14 analyzes results of an alumni poll of political attitudes

Photo by Peter Howard

a message from the president

Researching the Future For the past year, the senior leadership team, the faculty, the trustees and I have been living in that most unpredictable yet intriguing land — the future. We have been contemplating what Hendrix should focus on now to be successful into the future. Our eyes are set on 2022 and beyond.

It is our goal not to predict the future, but to shape it. We can help shape the future by doing all we can to ensure that Hendrix remains relevant in our changing world. We will stay relevant by adapting to new technologies, incorporating new ideas and acting on new knowledge, which is being created every day in astonishing amounts.

We will also remain relevant by staying true to our roots as a United Methodist-related residential liberal arts college with a deep and abiding commitment to excellence. When students go away to college they expect an experience. We will offer them a Hendrix experience rooted in our authenticity and our distinctive culture.

With this as our goal, we will build on the success of Your Hendrix Odyssey: Engaging in Active Learning, the College’s emphasis on hands-on learning that permeates the campus. Claiming engaged learning as our niche has positioned Hendrix as a national leader in liberal arts and sciences education.

Launching Odyssey in 2004 was a bold move on the part of the campus. We stepped out with the Odyssey concept before we had raised all the money needed to fund it. But we didn’t step out blindly, with no hint of how the idea of Odyssey might be received. We conducted empirical research that told us Odyssey — if well executed — would raise our national profile and increase enrollment. Follow-up research has confirmed that our 40 percent growth in enrollment between 2004 and 2010 can be traced directly to the Odyssey program. Odyssey also

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has been the primary focus of much of the national attention Hendrix has received since 2004 and is one of the reasons U.S. News & World Report has listed Hendrix as the nation’s most innovative liberal arts college for the past three years. As we move forward with new initiatives now under discussion, we will once again rely on research to help guide us. We are inspired by the possibilities of what Odyssey 2.0 might look like, enhancing the ethos of Hendrix College.

The stories in this edition of Hendrix Magazine celebrate how our faculty, staff, students and alumni involved in various forms of research are expanding knowledge, advancing learning and doing meaningful and rewarding work that engages them and benefits humankind. I encourage you to explore the magazine to learn more about the impact of Hendrix-related research on the world.

I am excited about the vision we are developing for the future of Hendrix. Many of you have been involved in our planning through surveys, meetings, and private conversations. It’s fun and exciting to play “what if” and imagine tomorrow. It will be even more fun and more exciting to come together around our emerging vision and begin our own odyssey to transform that vision into reality. There will be much work to do between now and 2022 but, guided by research and grounded in our commitment to engaged liberal arts and sciences education, we will, together, see Hendrix reach new heights of success.

J. Timothy Cloyd, Ph.D. President

www.hendrix.edu

campus news

Campus News leader of the (ph.d.) pack A higher percentage of Hendrix College graduates complete science and math Ph.D. degrees than graduates from other undergraduate institutions in Arkansas and the Associated Colleges of the South, the academic consortium to which Hendrix belongs, according to the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s Baccalaureate Origins Doctoral Completion study.

The study compiles the percentage of Ph.D. completion per total bachelor’s degrees awarded between 1995 and 2004. Hendrix ranks ahead of its state and consortium peers in doctoral degrees conferred in life science, physical science, and math and computer science.

Dillon Blankenship ’12 and Laura Podd ’12 were selected to receive the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship.

Blankenship, a biology major from Pea Ridge, Ark., and Podd, an English studies major from Dallas, Texas, will receive a $25,000 stipend to fund a year of travel and research.

Blankenship will travel to the United Kingdom, Tanzania, Egypt, India, and Russia for his project titled “A Detour by Way of the Beehive: Traditional Apiculture in a Changing World.”

Podd’s project titled “Extraordinary Bodies: Perceptions of Disability in the Developing World” will take her to Romania, Thailand, and El Salvador.

fulbright factory Hendrix is among the country’s top producers of student Fulbright Scholars, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. The Chronicle list divides institutions by Carnegie classification (e.g. research institutions, master’s institutions, etc.) and notes that four of the 11 Hendrix students who applied were awarded Fulbright Scholarships: Gina Gordon ’11, Jayce Hafner ’11, Colleen Mayo ’11, and Tyler Schroeder ’11.

The list does not reflect two additional Hendrix students awarded Fulbright Scholarships in the past year. Dietlinde Heilmayr ’10 was awarded a Fulbright to teach English in Austria. Because her award is officially funded by the Austrian government and not the U.S., it does not count in the published list. Lana Allen ’11 was awarded a Fulbright to teach English in Malaysia but declined the award to attend graduate school. Because she declined the award, she is also not reflected on the published list.

www.hendrix.edu

Photo by Joshua Daugherty

elementary, mr. & ms. watson

international innovator

Laura Podd ’12, an English studies major Hendrix College was selected to receive the Institute of from Dallas, Texas, and International Education (IIE)’s 2012 Andrew Heiskell Dillon Blankenship ’12, Award for International Partnerships for its leadership role a biology major from in the development of the Rwanda Presidential Scholars Pea Ridge, Ark., were Program. selected to receive the In partnership with the William J. Clinton Foundation, prestigious Thomas Hendrix leads a consortium of 18 U.S. colleges and univerJ. Watson Fellowship. sities in eight states that work with the Rwanda Ministry They will receive a of Education to provide four-year, undergraduate schol$25,000 stipend to arships to a select group of Rwanda’s best and brightest fund a year of travel and students to study science, technology, engineering, and research. mathematics (STEM) subjects. Consortium members provide 100 percent tuition. The consortium is currently the largest provider of scholarships to the Rwanda Ministry

Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 3

Photo by Barbara Nelson for the Institute of International Education

campus news Dr. Peter Gess, director of international programs and assistant politics professor at Hendrix, center, participated in a panel discussion on best practices for building international partnerships at the 7th Annual Institute of International Education (IIE) Best Practices Conference at IIE headquarters in New York City. Gess accepted the IIE’s 2012 Andrew Heiskell Award for International Partnerships on behalf of Hendrix for its leadership role in the development of the Rwanda Presidential Scholars Program.

of Education, with 129 students enrolled as of the fall semester 2011. A second phase of the program allows U.S. students to study abroad and intern in Rwanda. The consortium will soon sign a memorandum of understanding with the Rwanda Ministry of Education for an administrator exchange program with Rwandan higher education institutions.

best of the metro This spring, Hendrix received the Jack Evans Regional Leadership Award, given by regional planning authority Metroplan for an individual or institution that “exemplifies outstanding public service in advancing sound planning and intergovernmental cooperation in central Arkansas.”

Hendrix was nominated jointly by Conway Mayor Tab Townsell and Faulkner County Judge Preston Scroggin for “the early development, use, and popularization of modern roundabouts in central Arkansas” and being “at the forefront in central Arkansas of the planning, development, and construction of a fully articulated Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) that combines and integrates office, commercial, and a variety of residential forms into a very walkable, livable, sustainable urban environment” in The Village at Hendrix.

Mayor Townsell and Judge Scroggin also cited the 13.5 acre Hendrix Creek Preserve project, which simultaneously manages storm runoff and provides a park setting and an educational resource as an outdoor classroom.

alumnus to send off seniors Doug Blackmon ’86 will be the commencement speaker for the Class of 2012 on Saturday, May 12 at 9 a.m. in the Wellness and Athletics Center.

Blackmon received the Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for his

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book Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. He is the executive producer of a documentary based on the book. The documentary, directed by Sam Pollard, premiered at Sundance Film Festival and was shown on PBS in February.

Blackmon recently accepted a position at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, where he will be chair of the university’s Forum Program. He is a contributing editor for the Washington Post, focusing on national coverage of the 2012 presidential campaign. Blackmon is a former editor and reporter for the Wall Street Journal, Atlanta JournalConstitution, Arkansas Democrat, and Daily Record.

Blackmon is a 2009 recipient of the Hendrix Odyssey Medal.

biology major brings home best presentation honors Macrina Butler ’14, a biology major from Austin, Texas, recently won the best student poster presentation in the Division of Vertebrate Morphology at the Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) meeting in Charleston, S.C. Her research presentation was titled “The effect of prenatal steroids on the fast-twitch fibers of the fetal guinea pig scalenus.”

progressive party Nine Hendrix students attended the Perfect Presidential Platform Conference this spring in Athens, Ga.: Nick Bemberg ’13, a politics major from Little Rock; Grace Bronson ’15, a politics major from Naptown, Ind.; Judith Brown ’15, a biology major from Pine Bluff; Maleele Choongo ’15, a politics major from Choma, Zambia; Chase Crawford ’12, a history major from

www.hendrix.edu

letter( wo)men Lindsey Wiggin ’13, a philosophy major from New Boston, N.H., and Maia Yang ’13, a junior business and economics major from Hot Springs, Ark., co-wrote “A Letter to Representative Linda Tyler in Support of a Mandatory Sex Education Curriculum in Arkansas,” which will be featured in the legislative hearings at the 2012 Debating for Democracy (D4D) National Conference this spring at The New School in New York City. Their letter was one of 27 received by Project Pericles from its 29 member institutions across the country. The letters proposed innovative solutions on a variety of issues ranging from antibullying, to human trafficking protection, to initiatives for Native American Education. The letters were sent to more than 100 elected officials throughout the United States.

six seniors off to teach for america Six Hendrix seniors have been accepted into Teach for America: Torey Hayward ’12, a theatre arts major from Alexandria, La., and Stephanie Oshrin ’12, an international relations major from Hattiesburg, Miss., will teach in New Orleans; Shelby Howlett ’12, a sociology and international relations double major from Belle Plaine, Kan., will teach in New York City; Hannah Flatau ’12, a mathematics and philosophy major from Austin, Texas, will teach in Chicago; Kristin Witcher ’12, a psychology major from Jonesboro, Ark., will teach in Hawaii; and Hanna Al-Jibouri ’12, an English studies major, will teach in her hometown of Tulsa, Okla.

surf’s up!

Six Hendrix students received Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) grants from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education: Chris Akcali ’13, a biology major from Irving, Texas; Gabriel Gonzales ’13, a psychology major from Mason, Texas; McKenzie Keller ’13, a chemistry major from Rogers, Ark.; Alex Saunders ’13 from Jonesboro, Ark.; Brian Schumacher ’14, a biology major from Duluth, Minn.; and James Williams ’14 from Cabot, Ark. Hendrix students accounted for 13 percent of the SURF science applicants this year — the second largest group — with 21 of the 163 total applications. Total SURF awards, including stipend, travel, supplies, etc., are approximately $22,000.

odyssey medalists One hundred and thirty five years after Rev. Isham Burrow welcomed 20 students to its first fall term, Hendrix College honored its heritage at Founders Day 2011 in October and awarded Odyssey Medals to seven exemplary alumni.

The 2011 Odyssey Medal Winners are: Wendy R. Anderson ’93 (Global Awareness), William Ragsdale ’83 (Artistic Creativity), Tommy Sanders ’76 (Special Projects), Benjamin Schumacher ’82 (Research), William C. Temple ’73 (Professional and Leadership Development), and Dr. Joe Thompson ’84 (Service to the World). Bill Fox ’60, who received the 2009 Odyssey

Six Hendrix seniors will attend seminary after graduation: (left to right) Paul Richards ’12, Daniel Williams ’12, Allison Sauls ’12, Colin Bagby ’12, Sara Slimp ’12. Sierra McCabe ’12, not pictured, also intends to enroll in seminary.

Since 2002, 32 Hendrix graduates have enrolled in seminary.

Approximately 12 students are currently in seminary, and the College anticipates 20 students will enroll in seminary in the next four years.

The Hendrix student literary journal The Aonian recently earned first place in the 2012 Southern Literary Festival Student Writing Contest. Colleen Mayo ’11 was the editor-in-chief of The Aonian. Johnny English ’13, a psychology major from Youngsville, La., was the associate editor.

Hanna Al-Jibouri ’12, an English studies major from Tulsa, Okla., is this year’s editor-in-chief. William Repass ’13, an English studies major from Los Alamos, N.M., won second place in the poetry division for his work, “Song the Third: Ode to an Artificial Ficus, and to Critics Fostering a Less-than-favorable Opinion.” The award-winning writings will be read at the Southern Literary Festival this spring in Nashville, Tenn.

www.hendrix.edu

Photo by Joshua Daugherty

award-winning writing

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campus news

Roswell, Ga.; Virginia Kelling ’15, a politics major from Kansas City, Kan.; Jacob Porter ’13, an international relations major from Austin, Texas; Erin Shaw-Meadow ’14, a Spanish major from San Antonio, Texas; and Jeremy Williams ’13, a junior economics major from Prairie Village, Kan. The students are members of the Hendrix chapter of the Roosevelt Campus Network, a national organization that advocates for progressive policy.

Photo by Joshua Daugherty

campus news Bill Fox ’60, William C. Temple ’73, Tommy Sanders ’76, Wendy R. Anderson ’93, William Ragsdale ’83, Benjamin Schumacher ’82 and Dr. Joe Thompson ’84 received the Hendrix Odyssey Medal at Founders Day 2011 in October.

Medal for Professional and Leadership Development and was unable to attend the awards ceremony, was presented his Odyssey Medal at this year’s convocation.

Ragsdale told the audience how he followed his two older sisters to Hendrix but quickly found his own path.

“I don’t know if I would have found that if I didn’t come to Hendrix,” said Ragsdale, an actor who has worked with everyone from Ellen DeGeneres to Stephen Sondheim in film, television, and theatre.

Anderson is the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Secretary of Defense at the U.S. Department of Defense. She thanked Hendrix for giving a once shy Southern woman the courage to travel to many countries to learn and serve.

“It was here that my life path was formed,” said Anderson.

Temple, a former FBI special agent, told students that Hendrix instilled in him the value of critical thinking and attention to detail.

Schumacher is a physics professor at Kenyon College and a pioneer of quantum information theory.

“Hendrix taught me to do research,” he said.

“You should rejoice that there’s something that you don’t yet understand,” Schumacher said of the passion and curiosity required for scientific research. “You shouldn’t be alarmed at not understanding something, you ought to be familiar with this experience ... [but] you should never give up.”

Arkansas Surgeon General Dr. Joe Thompson, a champion of public health in the state, said that institutions are challenged today by fast-paced technological change and frail economics. He challenged students and faculty to “make sure the future is the one we want.”

ESPN outdoor sports producer Tommy Sanders admitted

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that he had never seen a play performed before he was a student at Hendrix.

“Hang on to what you’re given here, take it with you and it will sustain you,” said Sanders. “You never know where your Odyssey is going to take you.”

Fox, a retired administrator at Emory University, thanked Hendrix for instilling in him the importance of higher education.

“I found a passion for what higher education can do for an individual,” he said. “I knew I wanted to be in higher education and help people as I had been helped at Hendrix ... it started at Hendrix and it led to a very meaningful life.”

The 2012-2013 Odyssey Medals will be presented during Founders Day on October 25, 2012.

2013 nominations due Dec. 31, 2012 Odyssey Medals are presented by the Board of Trustees to individuals whose life achievments exemplify the Hendrix Odyssey program and accomplishment in one of the six Odyssey categories.

Nominations may be made by sending a letter outlining how your nominee meets the criteria to plemmons@hendrix.edu by Dec. 31, 2012. Address your letter to President J. Timothy Cloyd. The mailing address is Office of the President, Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Avenue, Conway, AR 72032.

For more information visit www.hendrix.edu/odysseymedal.

www.hendrix.edu

It’s too short to live without some fun. Instead, live in a place with great restaurants just steps away, tree-lined sidewalks and parks for strolls. Enjoy vibrant special events for all ages, all year long, with wonderful neighbors — including one of the finest liberal arts colleges in the nation.

By the way, our neighborhood offers beautiful, energy-efficient and traditionally styled homes, too.

Gorgeous and practical.

The Village at Hendrix delivers a lifestyle and activities that you can’t find anywhere else in Arkansas. It’s your life, so live it in style. Go to www.thevillageathendrix.com or call Beth Tyler at 501-730-5048 to learn more. www.hendrix.edu

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hendrix through time

The Libraries of Hendrix

1928 – 1967

1967 – 1994

1994 – Present 8 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

When Buhler Hall opened in January 1928 it was the first structure built by an Arkansas college for use solely as a library. The dark red brick structure trimmed with stone, was a “T” shaped one-story building that included a large reading room, loan desk, periodical cases, reading tables, a debaters’ study and steel book stacks that could hold up to 40,000 volumes. A $6,000 gift from the Carnegie Corporation in 1932 allowed Hendrix to increase the number of volumes in the library to 30,000. A second floor was added in 1937, creating the building that served as the Hendrix library for another 30 years.

The opening of Bailey Library in 1967 drew national attention to Hendrix for two reasons: it was designed by famed architect Philip Johnson of New York City and it was underground. The entry-way was above ground and access was from the brick patio that remains a popular space on the Hendrix campus. Two floors of the 30,682-square-foot building were below ground. The facility housed 115,000 books when it opened and included a rare book collection, a microfilm room, a typing room, two seminar rooms, and 240 individual study carrels.

Unfortunately, the building was plagued by water problems, making it necessary to protect the books with plastic drapes most of the time. Nevertheless, thousands of Hendrix students have fond memories of their time in the underground version of Bailey Library.

In 1994, the Olin C. and Marjorie H. Bailey Library opened on the corner of the campus where Young Stadium once stood. The building houses 195,000 volumes and includes space for the Snoddy Academic Resource Center, which includes a computer lab that is open 24/7 during the academic year, study carrels, the Writing Center, and seminar rooms. The two-story, 65,000-square-foot building is filled with sunlight from large windows and features a two-story rotunda at its entrance. The second floor includes study and meeting spaces and is where the College’s Special Collections are found, along with the Hendrix Archives and the Arkansas United Methodist Archives.

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faculty news

Faculty News

In addition to their work in the classroom, Hendrix faculty members engage in research and professional activities that expand their expertise and enrich their teaching. Here is a small sample of the professional activities of Hendrix faculty. See the full list at www.hendrix.edu/hendrixmagazine.

Connie Campbell, visiting assistant professor of theatre arts, presented “‘Fashions to Adorn my Body’: The Strange History of the Traditional Richard III Costume” at The Wooden O Symposium in Cedar City, Utah.

Stella Capek, professor of sociology, presented “Fine Line,” a creative nonfiction essay, at the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment meetings held at Indiana University.

Jennifer Dearolf, associate professor of biology, received a $25,000 INBRE Equipment Grant.

James Dow, visiting assistant professor of philosophy, published “On the joint engagement of persons: Self-consciousness, the symmetry thesis and person perception” in Philosophical Psychology.

Andrea Duina, associate professor of biology, co-published “Mutant Versions of the S. cerevisiae Transcription Elongation Factor Spt16 Define Regions of Spt16 That Functionally Interact with Histone H3” in Plos One. Robert Entzminger, Provost and Dean of the College and Professor of English, and Lawrence Schmidt, Harold and Lucy Cabe Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, received a Mellon Foundation Grant for the Collegiate Center, $450,000.

Karen Fannin, associate professor of music, published “Solos with Wind Band Accompaniment” in Teaching Music through Performance in Band.

Melissa Gill, assistant professor of art, presented Between You and Me at an invitational collaborative artists-book exhibition at Samwon Paper Gallery in Seoul, Korea. She also completed a one-month artist residency at Lalit Kala Akademy, Garhi Studios, in New Delhi, India.

www.hendrix.edu

Tom Goodwin, Elbert L. Fausett Distinguished Professor of Chemistry; Randall Kopper, Nancy and Craig Wood Odyssey Professor of Chemistry; and Mark Sutherland, professor of biology, copublished “Chemical Signals of Elephant Musth: Temporal Aspects of MicrobiallyMediated Modifications” in the Journal of Chemical Ecology.

Shin Yu Pai, associate director of the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation, received a MacDowell Colony Fellowship.

Jane Harris, professor of religious studies, received the 2011 Exemplary Teacher Award from the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church.

Rebecca Resinski, associate professor of classics, presented “The Education of the Spirit in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Wonder Book” at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association conference in Atlanta, Ga.

Brett Hill, assistant professor of anthropology, co-published “The Stream Reach Concept and the Macro-Scale Study of Riverine Agriculture in Arid and SemiArid Environments” in Geoarcheology.

Tyrone Jaeger, Hendrix-Murphy Writerin Residence, published the short story “Mercy Comes Calling,” in Southern Humanities Review.

James Jennings, professor of education and history, had his Above the Line Project featured in Diverse magazine.

Matthew Lopas, associate professor of art, presented works in the show “Accrochage” at Kouros Gallery in New York City.

Kim Maslin-Wicks, associate professor of politics, presented “Post-Genocidal Cultural Narratives: Understanding Evil from Kant to Arendt” at the Symposium on Conflict, Memory, and Reconciliation: Bridging Past, Present, and Future in Kigali, Rwanda.

Kristi McKim, assistant professor of English/Film Studies, published Love in the Time of Cinema.

Rod Miller, Bill and Connie Bowen Odyssey Associate Professor of Art, copublished Western Culture at the American Crossroads: Conflicts Over the Nature of Science and Reason.

Jennifer Peszka, Julia Mobley Odyssey Associate Professor of Psychology, received a $4,200 grant from the Arkansas Space Grant Consortium for her research “The Effects of Caffeine on a Possible Sleepiness Marker.”

Lyle Rupert, professor of economics and business, was accepted into the Senior Leadership Academy 2011-2012, sponsored by the Council of Independent Colleges.

John Sanders, professor of religious studies, published “Divine Reciprocity and Epistemic Openness in Clark Pinnock’s Theology” in The Other Journal: the Church and Postmodernity.

Lawrence Schmidt, Harold and Lucy Cabe Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, published “Good Cop, Bad Cop: Interrogating Human Nature with Xunzi and Mencius” in Who Are We? Old, New, and Timeless Answers from Core Texts.

Tom Stanley, professor of economics and business, received an $11,000 technical assistance grant from the United Kingdom Department for International Development to evaluate and support three systematic review teams.

Christina Thompson, assistant librarian, co-published “Best Historical Materials” in Reference & User Services Quarterly, Vol. 51.1.

Ann Willyard, assistant professor of biology, published “Iridaceae” in The Flora of Oregon and co-published “The conifers” (Pinophyta) in Conifers.

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www.hendrix.edu

at home at hendrix:

Highlighting Alumni Faculty and Staff

Civil Warrior Fred Baker ’00

Photo by Robert Szabo

By Katie Rice ’10

Civil War re-enactor Fred Baker ’00 appears as a soldier from the Ninth Texas Infantry in this tin type image by photographer Robert Szabo whose work includes the collodion wet-plate photographic process introduced in 1851. A history major at Hendrix, Baker began reenacting when he was 16 and continues to research the lives of soldiers.

www.hendrix.edu

As a high school senior in Flower Mound, Texas, Fred Baker ’00 skipped his school’s prom in order to attend another sweaty, nerve-wracking endeavor. Baker suited up carefully in a faded gray uniform: the guise of a soldier from the Ninth Texas Infantry. Surrounded by the bass notes of firing cannons, he spent the weekend at a Civil War reenactment in Louisiana.

It was the mid-1990s, the zenith of the hobby of Civil War reenacting. A series of films had been released — Glory, then the Ken Burns documentary The Civil War, then Gettysburg — that had reignited popular interest in America’s bloodiest war. Tens of thousands of civilians would come together, with various levels of authentic dress and equipment, to reenact some of the war’s most momentous battles.

Baker, a history buff since his earliest days, joined the reenacting crowd when he was 16.

“I was absolutely petrified by the first events that I ever went to,” he said. “It was very spooky and worrisome — it’s this unknown. When a cannon goes off it literally will lift you off the ground with the concussion of the blast. You’ve got cavalry running everywhere, formations of men running, officers yelling.”

Baker’s group, a collection of 30 or so reenactors from the Dallas area, often portrayed the battles in which the Ninth Texas Infantry had been involved. Even after he left Texas to attend Hendrix, Baker would rendezvous with them at battles across the South — sometimes several times a month.

“I asked some of the old hands, ‘OK, what do we know about these guys? Where did they fight?’” Baker said. “But there wasn’t a whole lot that was known. That’s what led to my particular curiosity about these guys. I’m interested just in knowing their story.”

Unsurprisingly, Baker dove fully into the American and European history coursework at Hendrix, effectively doublemajoring in history by the time he graduated. To this day, no other student has topped his total: 22 classes within the department.

His Hendrix career was capped off with a two-trimester class called History 4100: Advanced Research and Writing, taught by all five of the Hendrix history professors. As required, Baker produced a lengthy research paper that put his historiographic research skills to the test. He sought to fill in the sizeable gaps in the historical record of the Ninth

Texas Infantry.

“One of the things that I was wholly unaware of, that I credit totally to my Hendrix classes and particularly to Dr. [Mark] Schantz, is the idea of primary sources,” he said.

“That’s where I think the real history is, so as much as possible, my writing is these guys telling their own story. If I want to know what it was like to be a soldier in this unit, they’re telling me.”

In the 12 years that have followed, Baker has ascended the ranks of the Hendrix admission office to sit as Interim Director of Admission — a valiant leader in his own right.

Meanwhile, he has polished his thesis into a book-length manuscript titled Far From God and Texas. The work is narrated by the voices of a portion of the 1,000 soldiers in that regiment who fought together across the southeastern United States.

In many cases, it took years for Baker to find the diaries and letters that have informed his work. Using archives and genealogical websites, Baker traced dozens of dead ends before finding living descendants with information to share.

“I remember talking to one man who was in his seventies who sent me copies of onion skin, typed transcripts of a diary, because he really wanted his ancestor’s story to be shared,” Baker recalled. “That’s what this manuscript is infused with and what I consider to be the skeleton of the thing: the guys who lived it telling their own story. It’s a narrative history of what a four-year slice of life was like for these 1,000-odd guys who signed on and went off to war, and the very few who managed to see it to the end.”

The 280-page manuscript is ready to publish, but after a promising offer from a university press, it became a temporary casualty of the rocky economy. As Far From God and Texas sits on hold, Baker is already contemplating his next phase of historical research. In the evenings, he is wrapping up a master’s degree in history, and soon it will be thesis time yet again.

“I’ve tried to keep at least a toe dipped in the waters of academia and thinking and history, while going down a path that’s fairly divergent, but immensely fulfilling and fun.”

Katie Rice ’10 graduated from Hendrix with a double major in American Studies and in International Relations and Global Studies. She is now an Admission Counselor at Hendrix.

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Neuro-Nerd

By Rob O’Connor ’95 Managing Editor Colin Hoy ’12 can sum up his Hendrix experience in one word — serendipity.

A Baton Rouge, La., native, Hoy took Advanced Placement Psychology as a high school student, but he was originally interested in the 3:2 engineering program at Hendrix until Differential Equations homework led him back to psychology and ultimately an interdisciplinary neuroscience major.

Around the same time, the college received a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to develop Crossings, a group of interdisciplinary courses on related themes, one of which was Study of the Mind.

“That was a nice opportunity that just sort of popped up,” he said. “It helped me realize how the courses I wanted to take in different departments actually overlap and complement each other.”

Fortuitously, Hoy’s faculty advisor, psychology professor Dr. Jennifer Peszka, was heavily invested in neuroscience. She teaches Behavioral Neuroscience and is part of the Crossings faculty. She is also part of a group of faculty that developed a new neuroscience minor.

“I was fortunate because her involvement in neuroscience on campus helped guide my interests from early on in my Hendrix career,” he said.

In addition to psychology, Hoy has taken courses in biology, chemistry and philosophy, including Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of the Mind, Philosophy of Psychology, and Philosophy of Science.

“The liberal arts influence is something I really appreciate,” he said. “The Study of the Mind Crossing highlights the interdisciplinary connections, which is exactly what

12 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

neuroscience is all about. So much plays into it. It’s really built for the Crossings program.”

At the end of his freshman year, Hoy was accepted into the Hendrix-in-Florence study abroad program, which allowed him to fulfill his foreign language requirement during the summer and focus on research and neuroscience.

During his sophomore year, Hendrix biology professor Dr. Rick Murray, a neuroscientist, advertised for volunteer positions in his lab.

“That introduced me to scientific research and taught me some important lab techniques,” he said.

Those skills, Hoy said, were a factor in his acceptance into the Summer Undergraduate Neuroscience (SUN) program at the Louisiana State University Health and Science Center in New Orleans the following summer. Hoy was part of a research team studying treatments for age-related macular degeneration “I realized I actually loved the day-today work involved with doing research, so it turned out to be a valuable experience,” he said.

Already on a roll, Hoy got another lucky break when two new research opportunities opened up during his junior year.

Hoy was part of a small group of Advanced Research students to assist Dr. Peszka in examining the effects of caffeine on sleep, which was “fairly interesting from a student perspective,” he said.

At the same time, the Psychology Department had developed a new “externship” for upper-level psychology students at Hendrix to work with the Neuropsychology Service at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

“It was phenomenal. They have a very student-friendly attitude, and I had access to anything I could want at UAMS, including

lectures and discussions with doctors, researchers, and graduate and medical students,” said Hoy, who worked with the Brain Imaging Research Center (BIRC). “That was the most valuable experience I’ve had at Hendrix in terms of figuring out my career plans and gaining the skill sets I’ll need as a neuroscientist.”

He enjoyed the experience so much he has stayed on to work on an ongoing research project looking at the cognitive consequences of a treatment for Parkinson’s disease patients called deep brain stimulation (DBS). He anticipates some of his UAMS BIRC research results will soon be published.

Even outside of his interdisciplinary major, Hoy had his hand in bringing together multiple perspectives on the mind. In spring 2010, he received an Odyssey grant to sponsor TEDxHendrixCollege, an independently organized TED (which stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design) event.

“I naively thought I’d email a few people and get some snacks or something. It turned out to be a lot more than I bargained for but was probably one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done,” said Hoy, who discovered the innovative series as a freshman when he found an iTunes podcast of an international TED event and was “instantly hooked.”

Naturally, Hoy chose “What Can Your Mind Do for You?” as the theme for the first TEDx event.

Hoy’s Odyssey project evolved into TEDrix, a campus group that regularly draws 60-70 students, faculty, and staff to monthly discussions and viewings of free videos from TED.com.

This spring, the group will host another TEDxHendrixCollege event, bringing live and remote speakers to discuss the theme “Us Vs. Them” from a variety of viewpoints, including the environment, politics, religion, and sports.

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Photo by Joshua Daugherty and Bruce Layman ’12

brain exploration becomes a serendipitous journey

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Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 13

14 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

Undergraduate research opportunities drew chemical physics, bioethics major to Hendrix A chemical physics and bioethics major from Picayune, Miss., Sarah Thompson ’12 was set on a smaller college rather than a large university when she read about Hendrix in Loren Pope’s Colleges That Change Lives.

“I was really impressed with the research opportunities here,” said Thompson, who received one of the college’s prestigious Hays Scholarships. “There was a lot of emphasis on direct interaction with faculty.”

As a high school student at the Mississippi School for Math and Science, she was placed in a research program at a nearby university.

“I learned the nature of science research ... that sometimes things don’t work, and it takes a lot of work and discipline,” she said. “It was a really important learning experience.”

She encountered a similar experience at Hendrix as a full-time research assistant for two summers with chemistry professor Dr. Andres Caro. An experiment wasn’t working and, after some deliberation, Dr. Caro told her and a classmate to go back to the books and figure it out, which they did.

“It was neat to have this problem, just a question, that we were entrusted to take on our initiative and figure it out,” she said. “It was a small moment but really meaningful.”

Thompson particularly enjoyed the daily discussions with Dr. Caro during her summer research.

“That’s something our professors do really well. They really bring students into

research,” she said. “The focus is really on teaching.”

“It takes so much time,” she said. “They could get things done so much faster if they didn’t spend so much time helping students.”

“I have encountered teachers in the past, outside of Hendrix, who were dismissive, or even annoyed, by student questions,” she said. “But teachers here are sincerely responsive and encouraging of student curiosity.”

“The smaller class sizes and heavy involvement of faculty really make that possible,” she said. “Feeling comfortable in asking questions has been tremendously meaningful and has helped develop a passion for scientific investigation that I will carry with me beyond the classroom and into my professional life.”

Though she was initially interested in biology in high school, she was assigned to the university’s chemical engineering department to observe student and faculty research.

“I fell in love with the program,” she said.

“So I gravitated to the physical sciences.”

Her physical chemistry course at Hendrix with Dr. David Hales and organic chemistry course with Dr. Tom Goodwin were “very influential.”

“That was really beneficial,” she said. “To see how two branches of chemistry interact and be able to synthesize that was really cool and exciting ... and very, very useful.”

As she pursued her interest in physical chemistry, she became “completely captivated” with philosophy after taking a course on ethical theory.

“I really liked the opportunity to talk about

Photo by Joshua Daugherty

Last spring, Hoy was one of four Hendrix students selected to receive the Goldwater Scholarship from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, widely considered the country’s top undergraduate science honor.

Last summer, he was selected for a summer research internship with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md. Hoy worked with Dr. Allen Braun using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study language. Braun’s fMRI research explores the theme of spontaneous creation.

Hoy assisted Braun on a narrative production study. He analyzed spontaneously created stories and worked on a brain atlas to more accurately depict the neuroanatomical subdivisions of brain regions.

“It was one of the best research experiences of my life ... just hands-down amazing,” he said.

Hoy presented his NIH research this fall at the Society for Neuroscience meeting, which he described as “a monster conference with about 33,000 neuroscientists in a convention center in D.C.” Hoy began his senior year knowing he would not be applying immediately for graduate school.

“Because neuroscience is very broad, it makes graduate school selection more difficult. You really have to develop your research interests to focus your graduate school selection,” he said. “I know I want to do fMRI research. But fMRI is a method. Now I have to decide on what to study with it ... so I still have some figuring to do.”

In the meantime, he continues to enjoy the Hendrix experience in full. A former wind ensemble and jazz band member, he continues to take private lessons on alto saxophone and enjoys jamming with friends.

Among his sax idols are Maceo Parker and Donald Harrison. He also plays on the college’s Ultimate Frisbee club team, having converted from soccer since his freshman year on the men’s soccer team. He hopes Hendrix will compete at this year’s national championships for NCAA Division III schools.

Hoy is currently applying for post-graduate fMRI research positions, including at the National Institutes of Health, and awaiting the results of his Fulbright Scholarship application before he enrolls in a Ph.D. neuroscience program.

Hoy is a fourth-generation Hendrix student. His sister, father, grandfather, great uncle, and great-grandfather are Hendrix alumni.

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Photo by Joshua Daugherty

issues,” she said. “It makes you remember why you’re at a liberal arts school.”

Her experience with philosophy led her to develop a second major in bioethics. She worked with philosophy professor Dr. Chris Campolo on an independent study, took courses in the history of bioethics and the allocation of scarce resources, and completed an internship with Dr. Micah Hester, director of medical humanities and clinical bioethicist at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

“I saw how hospitals are run and how bioethics is actually applied,” she said of her internship experience.

She also took a bioethics course at Oxford University through the Hendrix-in-Oxford program.

“Being a science major and going abroad is not easy,” she said. “My advisor [chemistry professor] Dr. Liz Gron helped me organize my classes and I’m really thankful we were able to do that.”

Last spring, Thompson was one of three Hendrix students selected for the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. The recognition was a reminder to Thompson that she wants to continue to be active in research.

After graduation, she will enroll in a joint M.D. / Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. “What I really like about the combined degree is that you have a lot of opportunity to interact with patients, to teach, and to work in the lab,” she said. “They all sort of edify each other. The research provides perspective as a physician and working with patients would lend certain gravity to what I do in the lab, and that’s really interesting.”

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Research experience crystalizes link between chemistry and public policy The only kind of research that Annie Greenaway ’12 never made time for was searching for a college to attend.

She turned the process over to her father, who read about Hendrix in a college guide.

Hendrix was the only southern school on her short list. She applied and the first acceptance letter she opened was from Hendrix.

A great financial aid package didn’t hurt either. Ditto her impression of the chemistry department and its emphasis on green chemistry.

“We have an amazing chemistry department,” said Greenaway, a senior chemistry major and politics minor from Westminster, Colo.

Greenaway was initially resistant to chemistry as a major. She feared it wouldn’t provide a strong enough avenue to apply her interest in politics and public service.

“It took me a really long time to come around and reconcile chemistry with something that was socially relevant,” she said.

The turning point for her was a 10-week summer internship with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Golden, Colo., between her sophomore and junior years.

“It was a great experience,” she said.

“When I went to that lab, I realized I wanted to do research and work in a lab.”

Greenaway reapplied for a second internship with NREL and worked on a related topic during the following summer. She has

also worked as a research assistant with Hendrix chemistry professor Dr. Courtney Hatch ’00. She will present the research at an American Chemical Society conference in San Diego, Calif.

In addition to her scientific pursuits, Greenaway performed as a violinist in the College’s chamber orchestra for two years.

She has also served as a member of the Project Pericles Advisory Committee and the Hendrix Special Events Committee, as vice president of the Hendrix chapter of the American Chemical Society, and as president of the Hendrix Culinary Club.

In spring 2011, Greenaway was one of three Hendrix students to be awarded the 2011 Goldwater Scholarship from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, widely considered the most prestigious honor in the U.S. conferred upon undergraduates studying the sciences.

At the same time, Greenaway was also selected as a 2011 Truman Scholar by the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation, which recognizes students “with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in public service.”

The Truman Scholarship will support much of her graduate education. As a Truman Scholar, she has pledged to work three years in a public service field — education, government, military or a non-profit — after graduate school. This summer, she’ll spend 10 weeks in Washington, D.C., working with a congressman or a think tank on science and policy.

Greenaway wasn’t even on campus to enjoy her successful spring semester. She was studying abroad in Belgium through the Hendrix-in-Brussels program, where she completed an internship that focused on in vitro screening of chemical compounds and researched the renewable energy efforts of European Union countries and their promotion of solar, wind, and other fossil fuel alternatives.

After graduation, Greenaway plans to pursue a doctorate in chemistry, conduct research at a national lab such as NREL, and ultimately transition into energy policy.

“I’m really, really passionate about energy in the U.S. We have to move away from carbon-based fuels such as oil and natural gas, which eventually are going to run out,” she said. “Renewable energy provided me with a focus and a model of what you can do with chemistry and why it’s important.”

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16 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

www.hendrix.edu

Dr. Alex Vernon:

Teacher, Author, Soldier,

Oh My!

Photo by Joshua Daugherty

By Dr. Charles Chappell ’64 Dr. Alex Vernon has taken an unusual educational and professional route to reach his present appointment as the James and Emily Bost Odyssey Associate Professor of English at Hendrix.

In 1989 he earned the degree of Bachelor of Science in Engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., eventually becoming a tank commander and participating in combat operations in the first Persian Gulf War. After deciding not to pursue further a career in the military, Dr. Vernon entered graduate school in English at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning his Ph.D. in 2001.

Between his master’s-level and doctoral studies, he worked as a software project manager and senior analyst in private companies based in North Carolina and Virginia.

Vernon joined the Hendrix faculty in 2001 and has taught a wide variety of courses in literature, writing, and interdisciplinary studies; has served as Chair of the Department of English Studies; and currently is Chair of the Humanities Area.

Along this diverse and adventurous journey to his present occupational status, Dr. Vernon has produced a substantial number of scholarly publications. When he joined the Hendrix faculty, he had already seen into print his combat memoir The Eyes of Orion: Five Tank Lieutenants in the Persian Gulf War, and he had also begun the revision of his doctoral dissertation, transforming the manuscript in 2004 into his second book, Soliders Once and Still: Ernest Hemingway, James Salter, and Tim O’Brien.

During the past seven years, he has published five more books and a lengthy list of articles, reviews, and notes in scholarly journals. Another book, Critical Insights: War, awaits publication in 2012, and his ninth book, a critical edition of The Spanish Earth by Hemingway and two other authors, is set to appear in 2013.

In recent years Dr. Vernon has appeared as a guest expert on three shows broadcast by National Public Radio. He answered questions about the literature of war on “Fresh Air” and on “Talk of the Nation,” and he was a member of a panel that discussed Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms on the “Diane Rehm Show.”

Early in 2012 Dr. Vernon graciously agreed to respond to a series of questions concerning his professional achievements and his ability to produce so many highly regarded publications while also teaching

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a full load of courses each semester and simultaneously participating actively in campus life as an academic advisor, a member of numerous faculty-student committees, and a part-time administrator.

CC: At West Point how did you manage to major in both engineering and English?

AV: In that era all of the candidates who successfully completed the standard degree requirements earned B.S.’s in general engineering.

Cadets could declare either a “Field of Study” or a “Major,” with the difference being two electives. I tested out of two semesters of mathematics, so I could use those two freed-up slots plus all of my other electives for English courses and work into my schedule all of the requirements for my major in English.

During my senior year, two of my engineering classmates told me that they had come to respect my major after all because they saw how hard I worked to prepare for my literature courses and because these manly cadets noticed that I always had way more books to carry than everyone else at the beginning of each semester when we all had to hike back to our barracks from the book distribution center. Lifting and hauling my barracks bag gave me quite a workout. At West Point, English turned out to be a muscular major after all.

CC: Would you mind commenting on your decision to leave the Army and to pursue a career in academia?

AV: I suppose the main reason is that I recognized my talents as being better suited for books than for bullets and therefore concluded that I might best contribute to the world during the time I am given by choosing the profession in which I would feel the most comfortable.

When I was leaving the Army, my mother was worried about the “job security” I would be giving up. I reminded her of the life security I would be gaining.

Not to be too melodramatic, but when you’ve had rounds bounce off your tank’s armor a foot from your exposed head, when you’ve felt your tank rock from nearby explosions caused by friendly artillery, when you’ve seen wild dogs grazing on corpses, when you’ve heard all sorts of speculations about mysterious syndromes that could be invisibly wrecking your body, well, spending the rest of your professional life surrounded by bright students and colleagues on a lovely college campus sounds just about right.

CC: Aside from your experiences in the military, what other characteristics of the literature of war have drawn you to the study of this challenging topic?

AV: As I articulated it to myself back then, my decision was largely a utilitarian one. In the late 1990s there were not many scholars then doing war lit. Those who were—chiefly members of the Vietnam generation—would start to retire soon. I saw a niche and went for it. Then, with

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the invasion of Afghanistan, general interest in the subject found itself renewed.

I do think my years in the service have predisposed me to attend to aspects of the literature that other people might overlook. I think I’ve successfully managed to balance the veteran perspective with a more critical “civilian” lens. Just as non-veterans who study war literature can sometimes fail to be sensitive in what I consider significant ways, veterans who study war lit can sometimes fail to step outside their own particular experiential allegiances.

CC: On Tarzan, the book that you published in 2008, has received accolades from both academic critics and general-interest reviewers. Following are some examples: “A work of seminal and impressive scholarship”; “A highbrow romp through a lowbrow craze that influenced both Amos Oz and Gore Vidal”; “The writing is so thoughtful and daring that Vernon seems to be breaking new ground in cultural studies. Highly recommended.” How did you decide to choose Tarzan as a topic for research and eventually for this book?

CC: Your most recently published book, Hemingway’s Second War: Bearing Witness to the Spanish Civil War, has been praised by the president of the Ernest Hemingway Society and Foundation in this way: “It will easily be the definitive work on Hemingway and the Spanish Civil War.” What process did you follow that led to the research for this book?

AV: I came to this one in a way similar to my approach to the Tarzan project. Several scholars have written about Hemingway and the Spanish Civil War, but there was no single book covering the subject. I had been curious about the little book and film Hemingway worked on called The Spanish Earth. After a smattering of initial research, I realized that I could, again, be the person to write the first book on a topic that in my opinion deserved a book-length study. And as with Tarzan, I knew next to nothing on the specific subject when I started.

Opportunism is one way to spin the choices of subjects about which to write. Others, as I’ve just implied, are curiosity, discovery, and learning. If I wrote about things I knew, I would have about two pages of material.

AV: I started teaching Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs in my American Literature and the Environment class in order to explore one way the post-Darwin “Writing a book is about solving popular imagination struggled with the problems and puzzles ... The great new understanding of the relationship between humans and animals. Because I moment for me occurs when the vision then knew so little about Tarzan, I started researching, and I discovered that while for the structure clicks into place.” literary scholars have written some very good pieces about Tarzan, no one had Instead I throw myself into absolutely new yet to produce an entire book. After a couple territory. The advantage for the reader, I think, of years of teaching the novel, I knew that I is that the positive energy of my discovery could write one. becomes the spirit of the book, the informing At the time I also didn’t have any other spirit of the reading experience. Readers book ideas, and I needed a break from writing might not recognize this reaction consciously, about war. So I threw myself into the subject, but I like to think that it’s there. Friends and let my imagination go a bit crazy, and voila! family are often frustrated because I don’t talk Reviews have both celebrated the book and with them about my works in progress even as deemed it sacrilege worthy of burning, with these projects occupy so much of me. I reserve me as author being guilty of libel (that is not the energy of the new for the page. an exaggeration).

It is also true that because Tarzan first CC: As an undergraduate college of the appeared in 1912, working on what amounts liberal arts and sciences, Hendrix has to be a cultural study kept me solidly in the always placed great emphasis on teaching modern American period that is my main in the classroom and in all aspects of chronological focus. So I was never too far campus life. Have your experiences in afield. Heck, there’s even a section in the book instruction enriched your investigations in about the Vietnam War! I remember catching research? the occasional Tarzan movie on television when I was growing up in the Kansas City AV: I should declare, and not just because area, back when we had all of three channels, my bosses will be reading this interview, that but I was never a fan. The subject of Tarzan professionally speaking I thrive on the synergy was basically entirely new to me, making it between teaching and research. Teaching that much more exciting.

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inspires subjects and provides ideas for my writing. My writing and research always find their way into my teaching. I don’t mean to imply that I teach my research. Far from it! I want students to approach texts the same way I approach research, with intense, imaginative, and critical engagement. I try my best not to shovel my ideas into my students. Being an active scholar keeps me fresh; it uncovers material and ideas that can be brought into the classroom in all sorts of ways. I also like to think that writing the way I do—writing as learning, as facing the blank page—keeps me forever a student too.

Each of my books is its own adventure.

I love the challenge of assembling a book.

This is something my West Point engineering chums might appreciate. Writing a book is about solving problems and puzzles. For me, even so-called “personal” writing, in the act of authorship itself, is less about self-expression than it is about architecture, about shaping a reading experience. The great moment for me occurs inevitably when the vision for the structure clicks into place.

I am satisfied that I write worthwhile books, even if great crowds of people do not read them. It is enough to know that a few readers may find in one or more of my publications something that they are glad to have encountered. I write for these readers, and for myself, and for my daughter, too.

Someday, when she is in her thirties or forties, I hope that she will be proud of her father’s writings.

CC: Twice you have taught senior seminar courses in which you and a dozen students have read and discussed the works of an important contemporary American author. Then later in the semester you have hosted a visit to your class by the author himself as sponsored by the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Programs in Literature and Language. Tim O’Brien has appeared under these auspices, as has John Edgar Wideman. What value did your students gain from these experiences?

AV: From an interpretive standpoint we should not be entirely beholden to what a writer says about his or her own works. We can’t always trust that what authors may say matches what they really think. On the other hand, their comments can provide a valuable window into an understanding of their writings. Wideman visited right before we started studying his novels, and it was astonishing how much his comments informed our readings in the rest of the course.

Much of the benefit of having a writer visit campus is less concrete. Interacting with the

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author really energizes and bonds the class, as happened when O’Brien was here. And our collegiate community is quite adept at turning a visiting writer into a point of intersection from all corners of the campus. My departmental colleagues Dr. Alice Hines and Dr. Tyrone Jaeger organized the visit of Wideman and arranged to have his work read in five or six different classes as well as in two extracurricular groups.

AV: I make extensive use of the time that is available during summer and winter breaks, plus the sabbatical leave period that the College has granted to me. I can do a little during the academic year—for example, obtaining material through interlibrary loan and perusing it to see if it will be useful. I can sometimes find time to tinker with a passage or quickly draft a couple of paragraphs. And sometimes student workers can be fruitfully employed. But mainly I take advantage of my time away from campus life and responsibilities.

Hendrix’s policies and practices have been instrumental in several ways, providing a stimulating and nurturing intellectual environment that is populated by bright students and supportive fellow teachers. The College also provides support in the form of travel and

Photo by Courtney Johnson ’12

CC: Alex, you and I worked together in the Department of English for nine years, and I can testify firsthand that you were in class and in your office or elsewhere on campus every day of the semester, cheerfully carrying out your many duties with efficiency and great success. I know that you continue to follow the Hendrix faculty tradition of being as accessible as possible to your students and colleagues. How are you able to carve out blocks of time for

your research and for the creation of your many manuscripts?

Dr. Courtney Hatch: Integrated projects prepare students to solve real-world problems

By Rob O’Connor ’95 Managing Editor How do students learn to solve real-world problems? For Dr. Courtney Hatch ’00, it involves independent but integrated research focused on a common goal.

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“In science, no one person can solve big problems alone,” said Hatch, an assistant professor of chemistry, whose courses include Chemistry of the Environment, Environmental Analysis, and Advanced Analytical Chemistry.

She also supervises the Advanced Techniques in Experimental Chemistry lab.

research grants. Leading engaged learning projects with the Odyssey Program results in experiential learning for me as well as for my students.

The holistic evaluation standards here at Hendrix are very valuable to me and indeed to all faculty members, since we all engage in various forms of research. Everybody on the faculty is expected to be professionally engaged, but there is no formula for a quantity of articles or books or for any particular types of articles or books. This lack of rigid requirements for professional development has made me more productive, because instead of my fretting about conjuring up two articles in a particular period of American literary history, I can let my mind flit about and land wherever it may. Internal drive, not external pressure, is the best stimulant for the research that I have undertaken and the writings that I have produced.

Since joining the chemistry faculty of her alma mater in 2008, she has guided a student research program, supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation, which pairs students with various scientific interests to tackle a larger problem.

“Multidisciplinary integrated research ...

That’s the approach I’m taking,” Hatch said.

Each student “owns” a research project based on their disciplinary interest, but the projects are interrelated. While individual projects are carried out independently, students meet weekly to discuss the implications of their research on the common question.

“Students have a chance to talk about their research with each other so that aspects of one research project may help them understand another project,” she said. “They own their own projects so they feel ownership and take responsibility for their research, but there is a feeling of community. ... It not only shows they can work together to understand the big picture but that their knowledge isn’t limited by their discipline and their work alone.”

One of her current students, McKenzie Keller ’13, was one of six Hendrix students awarded a Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) grant this fall from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.

Keller, a chemistry major from Rogers, Ark., will study the impacts of atmospheric mineral aerosol heterogeneous chemistry on phytoplankton growth rates.

Hatch is no stranger to the style of student research she oversees at Hendrix.

After earning her doctorate at the University

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of Colorado in Boulder, where she studied the chemistry of mineral dust aerosol in the atmosphere and its impacts on atmospheric chemistry and climate, she accepted a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Iowa. While her research on atmospheric mineral dust continued in Iowa City, she also promoted collaboration and networking between medical researchers and the chemistry department to initiate a multidisciplinary collaboration to study the effects of nanoaerosols on human

health.

“These days in chemistry, you can’t do anything alone,” she said. “Being able to communicate across boundaries is so critical.”

Sharing research results beyond campus is a natural extension of the enterprise, too.

Hatch requires all of her students to present their research at the American Chemical Society (ACS) national meeting.

“It doesn’t make a difference if it doesn’t get out,” said Hatch.

As a Hendrix student, Hatch did independent research with her future colleague Dr. Tom Goodwin and attended two national ACS conferences with faculty members and a group of approximately eight students.

As a faculty member, she accompanied 24 chemistry students last spring to a national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim, Calif.

This spring, she will accompany 28 students to the meeting in San Diego, Calif.

calculation for an anti-neutrino case, which is a big deal.”

Webb will present his research in the spring at the national meeting of the American Physical Society in Atlanta, Ga. “I don’t know another place where students get those opportunities for research than at a liberal arts college like Hendrix,” said Tinsley. “Students at other places don’t get those opportunities until they’re at the thesis or dissertation level.”

“In 10 weeks, Tyler learned some particle physics and some quantum field theory and calculated the decay rate for anti-neutrinos in magnetic fields,” he said. “I think that’s awesome. I think that’s amazing.”

“It’s important because it’s a mode of learning that I have trouble fostering in the classroom,” he said. “For 10 weeks, I supervised Tyler for 40 hours a week. That’s 400 hours for him to fail, revise his calculation, and refine it. ... You can’t do that in the classroom.”

“Those opportunities that we provide students are what help complete their education,” he added.

Places like Hendrix encourage faculty to provide those opportunities for student research, Tinsley said.

“The research pressures here are different,” he explained. “It allows you more freedom to choose the problems you work on. We couldn’t take those risks somewhere else.”

“We’re allowed the freedom of study that not only benefits faculty and students but also benefits science,” he said.

Last spring, Tinsley was one of eight scholars selected to attend the Kavli Institute of Theoretical Physics at the University of California at Santa Barbara for 2011-2013.

In addition to his teaching and research, Tinsley advises Hendrix students applying for the Goldwater Scholarship from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, which is widely considered the most prestigious honor in the U.S. conferred upon undergraduates studying the sciences. Tinsley was named a Goldwater Scholar in 1997.

Tinsley and his wife, Blake Armstrong Tinsley ’98, live in Conway with their two daughters.

Dr. Todd Tinsley: Research experience benefits students and advances knowledge You’d think that as a former Hendrix student, Dr. Todd Tinsley ’98, now a physics professor at his alma mater, wouldn’t be surprised by his students. Fortunately, he is.

“The first thing I was surprised by was how difficult it was to find appropriate theoretical physics projects for undergraduates,” said Tinsley, whose labs focus on neutrino physics in supernovae. “Then I was surprised by how successful our students are with these projects ... It’s a testament to the level of students we’re drawing. We set the bar and our students will meet it.”

Tinsley received his Ph.D. in 2005 from the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining the Hendrix faculty in 2007 as an Assistant Professor of Physics, he was the Weiss Instructor of Physics at Rice University in Houston, Texas, a teaching post-doctoral fellowship he held for two years.

Tinsley’s current courses at Hendrix include calculus-based General Physics, Vibrations and Waves, and Modern Physics Lab. “Hendrix students are doing work that thirdyear graduate students are learning,” he said.

“The projects may not be as broad, but they’re learning math and physics outside the realm of the standard undergraduate curriculum.”

As an example, Tinsley recalls his student Tyler Webb ’14, a physics and mathematics major from Benton, Ark. “Tyler and I were talking about calculating the likelihood for neutrino processes in magnetic fields,” he said. “Tyler came to my lab as a freshman. He had taken high school physics and calculus. In 10 weeks, he performed a

20 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

Photo by Natalie Atkins

By Rob O’Connor ’95 Managing Editor

www.hendrix.edu

Photo by Jason Jones

Dr. Leslie Templeton: Future professor leaves class hooked on psychology

By Rob O’Connor ’95 Managing Editor When Leslie Templeton ’91 turned in her final exam in Introduction to Psychology to Dr. Chris Spatz ’62, she told him, “I just loved this class.”

She left the classroom and decided, in the hallway of the Mills Social Sciences Center, that she would be a psychology major.

“I was totally hooked,” said Templeton, who is now a psychology professor at her alma mater.

Her post-exam epiphany was just the start.

“Dr. Tim Maxwell’s Abnormal Psychology was really interesting to me,” she said of one of her undergraduate psychology courses.

“He was respectful and compassionate when he talked about mental illness. It was the first time I thought about a methodical and scientific approach to mental illness.”

She and her classmates in Dr. Ralph McKenna’s Advanced Social Psychology learned basic methodology by doing their own research projects almost independently.

“It was essentially advanced research

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methods,” she said. “There were three to five projects. It was exhausting but so exhilarating.

The whole research process was so exciting.”

After graduating from Hendrix in 1991, she spent one year in graduate school at the University of Missouri at St. Louis before following her graduate school mentor to the University of Arkansas, where she got her master’s and Ph.D. For her master’s thesis, she studied eye-witness memory. She became really interested in gender aspects of psychology, and when she began formulating her ideas for her dissertation, she decided to focus her research on children’s cognition about gender information.

“The research was real gender, real cognitive, real developmental ... all rolled into one,” she said.

She joined the Hendrix faculty in January 1998 as an adjunct and finished her doctoral dissertation in the spring. She was hired back in fall 1998 on a one-year contract and became a tenure-track faculty member a year later.

As a faculty member, Templeton involves Hendrix students in research, just as her

undergraduate mentors did with her. Psychology majors currently account for the largest percentage of Hendrix degrees, and she routinely supervises 30 to 44 student research projects a year.

“I do a lot of research with students in the natural course of the classroom,” she said.

“So I feed my desire for research that way. It’s an incredible amount of work, but it’s really satisfying to me.”

She’s also satisfied at the results of the work that she and her colleagues in psychology have done preparing Hendrix students for success.

“I think our department does a fantastic job, and we have seen really good outcomes,” she said. “Our students are accepted into their graduate schools of choice. They get interesting jobs, post-graduate honors, and competitive research positions.”

“Internship supervisors at Arkansas Children’s Hospital and University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences rave about our students’ research skills, how competent they are, and how good they are at writing clearly and concisely and presenting their research,” she said. “We can’t minimize the beneficial value of good oral presenting and good writing skills. It’s the culmination of research.”

Nurturing those skills in students is deliberate.

“Every class is designed pedagogically to strengthen an academic skill,” she said. “We work, work, work to prepare our students to do that really well.”

Research-intensive classes and independent student research are critical components.

“We’re all at a teaching college because we enjoy those opportunities to teach, mentor and guide, and research is one vehicle for that,” she said.

“Doing research is an almost perfect academic experience ... A perfect liberal arts experience,” she said. “There’s nothing in it that’s wasted. Every academic skill is developed ... problem solving, critical thinking.”

Templeton’s passion for the value of student research is contagious. A student in her Psychology of Gender class told her that she was thinking about her research project while she was in the shower.

“I love it when students get the spark of excitement when they work on a topic and it becomes something they think about when they’re otherwise occupied,” she said. “It’s hard to catch the fire until you have owned the research and come up with the design. That’s a fantastic experience for students, and that’s the point.”

Dr. Templeton lives in Little Rock with her husband and their two sons.

Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 21

Cooking Up

By Rob O’Connor ’95 Managing Editor Somewhere between CSI and Celebrity Chef, there’s Chris Harrison ’95. As chief illicit laboratory chemist at the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory, he is the Emeril Lagasse of illicit substances.

Harrison joined the state crime lab as a forensic chemist after completing the coursework for a master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 1997.

At that time, Arkansas was the number one state per capita in the manufacturing of methamphetamine. Harrison was on call at least two weeks a month, collecting samples, aiding in interrogations, and — calling on his experience as a former photo editor for The Profile — taking crime scene photos.

“We were gone all the time,” said Harrison, who estimates he’s worked more than 700 crime scene investigations during his career.

“It’s really fun to respond to crime scenes to help officers,” he said, describing how his job resembles the image that people may see on crime television shows. “That part is exactly what we do, but we’re state employees, not law enforcement. We drive unmarked trucks with equipment, not SWAT-style Hummers, and we don’t carry a weapon, because we’re not sworn law enforcement officers. So it’s a little different, but there’s still a lot of adrenaline.”

At crime scenes, Harrison discovered that suspects feel a curious kinship with him.

“Clandestine cooks identify with us because they’re chemists as well,” he said.

Harrison cut his teeth on crime scene investigations before the advent of digital photography and Google maps, which help law enforcement officials locate illicit labs. Technology has made it easier to assist investigators, and Harrison routinely takes calls after hours from officers asking him to evaluate photos.

22 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

He enjoys finding unknown processes that require him to research what suspects are up to.

“Those are really fun moments,” said Harrison, recalling a particularly complex scene that had federal and local law enforcement agents puzzled. Within a day of testing and retesting in the lab, he cracked the case. “No one knew anything about it, so that was really fulfilling. Eureka moments make it exciting.”

While Arkansas has long been on the cutting edge of cooking methamphetamine, until recently, no one was cooking pseudo ephedrine clandestinely.

Harrison told federal Drug Enforcement Agency agents that they would find it in Arkansas. About two years ago, his prediction came true. To be sure, Harrison called on his Hendrix mentor and chemistry professor Dr. Tom Goodwin, who helped him reproduce the process.

“After two hours in the lab at Hendrix, we figured it out,” he said.

Replicating illicit processes is essential to supporting law enforcement efforts, as Harrison follows many cases from the crime scene to the courtroom.

“Every time we testify we have to be able to reproduce it. We have to cook meth,” he said.

“We can’t testify about something we can’t do.”

Harrison has given more than 60 testimonies and enjoys the opportunity to explain

Continued on page 37

Other Hendrix alumni at the Arkansas State Crime Lab Rebecca Robertson Carlisle ’88, Forensic Toxicology Felisia Brown Lackey ’99, Forensic Chemist Dr. Stephen Erickson ’81, Associate State Medical Examiner Rick Gallagher ’73, Assistant Director Claire M. Carle Putt ’01, Forensic Chemist Edward Vollman ’70, Serology/Homicide unit

Photo by Joshua Daugherty

Clues

chemist finds niche at crime lab

chemical processes in a courtroom.

“I love it, it’s my second favorite part of the job,” he said. “You get challenged about everything you know and how you communicate it to someone who doesn’t know much about chemistry.”

His first foray into public speaking was a presentation of his senior chemistry research.

“That presentation was one of the best experiences I had at Hendrix,” he said, also citing the positive impact of persuasive and public speaking courses he took as an undergraduate. He also took an acting class and acted in a production of All My Sons.

“It made a difference in explaining how a reaction mechanism works,” he said. “If you can’t speak, you’re not going to be a good forensic chemist.”

Alongside his lab work, Harrison advocates the role of chemistry in crime scene investigation as an expert faculty member at the University of Arkansas Criminal Justice Institute in Little Rock, which offers four-year degrees as well as technical job training for law enforcement personnel. He offers five different classes about 10 times a year to students in the narcotic officers’ certification program.

“We talk about pharmacology and anything drug-related, as well as crime scene and photo evidence collection as it relates to narcotics,” he said. “It’s awesome.”

He also speaks frequently to college students through the state, including American Chemical Society members at Hendrix.

“It’s a small portion of what I do, but I do it as often as I can,” he said. “All of that is because of my first presentation experience at Hendrix.”

A North Little Rock native, Harrison first set foot on campus as a student at Arkansas Governor’s School, where he met several future Hendrix classmates.

“I was sold after Governor’s School,” he said. “It was Hendrix all the way.”

Originally a biology major, Harrison didn’t even take chemistry his freshman year. After meeting Dr. Warfield Teague in General Chemistry, he switched to chemistry but insists his

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Chris Harrison ’95, chief illicit laboratory chemist at the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory, conducts a professional development workshop for Arkansas law enforcement officials at the Arkansas State Police headquarters.

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Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 23

student perspective

Ropin’ and Ridin’ Photos by Courtney Johnson ’12

Art major Courtney Johnson ’12 researched rodeo culture and tradition for “Ropin’ and Ridin’,” her final project for Documentary Studies, an interdisciplinary program combining coursework in non-fiction writing, anthropology, photography, and film.

“Some of my first memories are from dusty rodeo arenas in Tennessee and Arkansas,” she wrote. “I joined the massive herd of children as they chased greased pigs and cattle with flags tied to their tails.

Through the fingers over my eyes, I watched bulls and broncs kick dust and sometimes people. I ate strange things like “cow lips.” It was like a fair, but the season lasted much longer … The rodeo was a special place.”

Her project includes 20 photos and an accompanying artist book.

Seven students completed Documentary Studies projects, including Marie Balduf ’12, Kelley Connelly ’12, Ruthie Hokans ’11, Bruce Layman ’12, Robert Nielson ’11, Caufield Schnug ’12, and Johnson. They will exhibit their work April 9 – May 26 at the Cox Creative Center in Little Rock. There will be an opening reception Friday, May 11, from 5-8 p.m.

Documentary Studies is part of Crossings, a group of interdisciplinary courses and engaged learning experiences connected to a broad theme.

Crossings is funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Meta-Biker economics professor dr . tom stanley leads pack in meta-analysis research

26 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

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By Rob O’Connor ’95 Managing Editor Whether bombing down single-track trails in a race on his mountain bike or scrutinizing research through meta-analysis, economics professor Dr. Tom Stanley has earned his place in the spotlight.

Photo by Joshua Daugherty

The Road to Hendrix A native of Canton, Ohio, Stanley graduated from the University of Akron, where he studied business and industrial management.

He applied for graduate programs in economics “on a lark” and received an assistantship to Kent State University, where he earned his master’s degree, and later to Purdue University, where completed his doctorate.

“I wasn’t sure I was going to be a professor. I was just interested in learning,” he said. “Academic life is not the only thing to go into with my background, just the most obvious ... but I did test the waters.”

Stanley briefly worked in government as a senior planner — essentially an economist and statistician — for the city of Indianapolis.

At Purdue, Stanley met his wife, Dr. Ann Robinson, who was completing her doctorate in educational psychology. To be near his wife, Stanley was an assistant economics professor at Western Kentucky University, Illinois University, and Western Illinois University.

When his wife applied for a position leading the gifted education program at University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Stanley applied for an opening at Hendrix.

“It was very serendipitous,” said Stanley, who joined the Hendrix faculty in 1986. “We interviewed for our jobs during the same weekend ... The rest, 26 years later, is history.”

At Hendrix, Stanley teaches Econometrics, Management Science, Statistics, and History of Thought, as well as a senior capstone seminar in economics research.

In addition to his economics courses, he’s not shied away from challenges outside of his field. He taught sections of Western Intellectual Traditions, the former common course for first-year students. He also served as a faculty leader for Hendrix-in-London. He and his wife team taught a course they called British Intellectual Traditions, which focused on 18th century British thought and ideas.

Stanley said Ann served as the group’s de facto “culture vulture” on the trip and kept up with book signings and theatre events, which were particularly inspirational for students like Kyle Wilson ’98, now a successful playwright who continues to stay in touch with the couple.

Stanley has also challenged himself outside

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of the classroom.

After being a two-and-a-half pack-a-day smoker for 15 years, Stanley became a marathon runner and completed the St. Louis Marathon in three hours and 10 minutes. He scaled back his running regimen when he joined the Hendrix faculty.

“When I came here, I was too busy,” he said.

“I was still running but not 60 miles a week.”

In 1994, Dr. Ralph Scott suggested he join him for a mountain bike ride. His colleague’s casual suggestion led to a 10-year stint as an expert-class mountain bike racer.

“For 10 years, I was pretty serious,” he said.

“When you’re heavily involved as a teacher, for the long haul, it’s almost mandatory to be doing something else too. Plus, racing mountain bikes is just a ball.”

At 50, he completed the Leadville 100, a 100-mile off-road race beginning at 10,000ft. elevation in Leadville, Colo., and going to 12,500, in 10 and a half hours.

Though he officially retired from racing at 55, Stanley still rides five to seven hours a week during the school year and about 10 hours a week during the summer.

Leader of the Pack Last spring, Stanley’s meta-analysis research was singled out in the Journal of Economic Surveys, a leading international journal, as part of the journal’s “Silver Julibee” celebration. A paper he co-authored in 1989 is hailed as the first-ever paper on the use of meta-analysis in economics.

“At that time, this paper was viewed as an important pioneering step ... [and] has stood the test of time and remains a landmark in the exposition of meta-analysis,” according to Colin J. Roberts, co-founding editor.

For the layman, Stanley describes metaanalysis as “research on research” or more specifically the statistical analysis of previously reported statistical research.

“It seeks to summarize and explain the disparate empirical findings routinely reported in nearly any area of economics,” said Stanley. “Meta-analysis provides the statistical methods that can sort through the mountains of empirical research in a systematic and rigorous manner, uncovering the central empirical realities and policy implications.”

Meta-analysis did not originate in economics. It was developed by a psychologist who grew frustrated with impressionistic interpretation of research results and wanted to develop a method to weigh evidence statistically and therefore more objectively, Stanley said.

“Biology, medicine, and psychology have been doing meta-analysis for a long time,” he

said, adding that meta-analyses of economic policy have increased exponentially over the past 20 years.

Other countries have adopted meta-analysis more quickly than the U.S., Stanley said.

The United Kingdom’s Department of International Development (DFID)’s Foreign Aid Department employs meta-analysis to determine what development policies are effective.

“They are very big on international aid in terms of the percent of their gross domestic product,” he explained. “They’re naturally very interested in evidence-based practice in policy” and have recently funded over 50 systematic reviews and meta-analyses of development policy and programs.

The Environmental Protection Agency, World Bank and World Health Organization also employ meta-analyses of their policies, Stanley said.

Through his work on the international level, as well as his work supervising Hendrix student research, Stanley has raised the awareness of meta-analysis in the United States.

One watershed moment happened when Stanley emailed former Princeton University economist Dr. Alan Krueger, now the chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisors, on behalf of a Lana Davis ’00, who was researching the federal minimum wage.

Krueger soon invited Stanley to write “Wheat from Chaff: Meta-Analysis as Quantitative Literature Review,” which was published in 2001 by the American Economic Association in the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

“Because it was there (in the Journal of Economic Perspectives), it became more legitimate for economists,” he said. “This is the paper that has really shaped our field. Almost every new paper in our field will cite this paper ... and that happened because of working with Hendrix students.”

Stanley is currently completing the final year of the three-year appointment as a Senior Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics.

In 2010, he received a $40,000 grant from the DFID to present a meta-analysis workshop at the DFID’s London offices and to host the 2011 Meta-Analysis of Economics Research Network (MAER-Net) Colloquium at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge.

Stanley has served as the colloquium’s chief convener since its inception. In addition to bringing together researchers from around the world, the MAER-Net programs have also given Hendrix students the opportunity to present their research. Ellie Wheeler ’10 presented her paper titled “The Healthcare Luxury Good Hypothesis: Meta Regression Continued on Page 37

Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 27

A Sharper Image

By Rob O’Connor ’95 Managing Editor Dr. Sandy Simon Halliburton ’94 has grown accustomed to succeeding in seemingly strange situations.

After graduating summa cum laude from Hendrix with a physics degree, Halliburton went immediately to Vanderbilt University, where she earned her master’s degree and doctorate in biomedical engineering.

“I was very nervous majoring in biomedical engineering at an elite university,” said Halliburton, whose graduate classmates held engineering degrees from top-ranked schools such as Duke University and Johns Hopkins University.

Though the head of the biomedical engineering program knew of Hendrix and its reputation, Halliburton was offered only a 50 percent tuition remission for graduate school, which is considered “one step above rejection” in the field, she said.

Fortunately, she was awarded a fellowship from the National Science Foundation, which included a stipend and three years of paid tuition expenses.

“I can credit [Hendrix physics professor] Bob Dunn for that,” said Halliburton, who worked for Dr. Dunn as a research assistant.

“He encouraged me to apply and helped me put together a winning application.”

“That award obviously got me a little recognition when I started, but I still had a bit of an inferiority complex, coupled with being a physics major jumping fields and types of institutions,” she said. “But by the end of the first year, I knew it was a great fit.”

She also received a training grant from the National Institutes of Health during her time at Vanderbilt, where she was a member of Tau

28 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

Beta Pi, the engineering honor society.

Her master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation focused on aspects of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This research, coupled with the emerging technology of cardiac computed tomography (CT), gave shape to her post-graduate career.

Since 1999, Halliburton has worked as a cardiac imaging scientist at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, where she develops and implements novel and state-of-the-art CT imaging and post-processing techniques for clinical cardiac studies. She also holds staff appointments at Cleveland Clinic in the cardiovascular medicine and biomedical engineering departments and serves as an adjunct professor in the biomedical and chemical engineering department of Cleveland State University.

Just as she felt in graduate school, Halliburton found herself to be unique in her new environment.

“I’m a technical person in a sea of clinical people,” she said. “It’s medically trained people (e.g., radiologists, cardiologists, nurses) and me, a scientist.”

Halliburton helps medical teams understand the technical aspects of the imaging equipment so that physicians can get more diagnostic value out of cardiac CT images.

“As technology has evolved with new machine hardware and software, my role is to help integrate that into the clinical environment,” she said.

Her primary research areas include radiation dose optimization, contrast agent dose optimization, dual energy CT, iterative image reconstruction, atherosclerotic plaque characterization, and coronary calcium scoring.

“Our research is very close to clinical application,” she said, adding that her “army” of

researchers generally includes one Ph.D. student and maybe a couple of research fellows.

“Our interest is in some particular challenge in the clinical environment at the moment.”

Halliburton has become the go-to person for education on new CT technology. She routinely gives “technical talks” to cardiologists and radiologists at medical conferences around the world.

“I speak all the time,” she said. “My personal niche is the ability to communicate.

It’s what’s given me a career ... As a liaison between the CT industry and physicians, I take complicated physics and engineering concepts and distill that down to language that clinicians with different training can understand. That’s what I do.”

Halliburton credits Hendrix with honing her communication skills.

“The thing I value most from Hendrix is my ability to write,” she said. “I didn’t think about it at the time, but I was writing minipapers in Calculus I. Lab reports were writing assignments.”

“I advise students writing dissertations.

They’re great engineering students, but their writing is often disappointing,” she said.

“There’s an idea that engineers can’t write, and that’s supposed to be acceptable in some way? Not to me.”

“If I zone in on one thing that has helped me in my career, it’s the ability to communicate and take complicated things and make them understandable,” she said. “If you can’t communicate what you learn, what you discover, you might as well not even do the work.”

Dr. Halliburton and her husband, Michael Halliburton ’94, live in Shaker Heights, Ohio, with their two children.

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Photo by Yu Kwan Lee

communicating with clarity creates career path for physics major

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Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 29

Courtesy Photo

The Eyes Have It

alumnus sees research as key to preventing retinal degeneration

By Dr. Charles Chappell ’64 During the years since he graduated from Hendrix as a biology major, Dr. Joe G. Hollyfield ’60 has achieved recognition as one of the preeminent researchers in the United States into the causes of eye diseases.

Having earned his Ph.D. in developmental biology at the University of Texas in 1966 and then completed post-doctoral studies in the Netherlands, Dr. Hollyfield taught and conducted research first at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City and later at Baylor College

30 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

of Medicine in Houston, Texas. In 1995, he became the Director of Research at the Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, in Cleveland, Ohio, and he is now also the inaugural holder of the Gund Professorship in Ophthalmology Research at the same institution.

Throughout his career as a researcher, Dr. Hollyfield has maintained close ties with his undergraduate alma mater. Along with his wife Mary Rayborn, herself an eminent eye researcher with whom he often collaborates, Dr. Hollyfield has given lectures on the eye and conducted laboratory exercises

in Professor Emeritus Dr. Arthur Johnson’s histology class; has supervised Hendrix students in summer laboratory projects; and has donated two research microscopes to the Department of Biology. Dr. Hollyfield serves as a member of the Hendrix Board of Trustees, and in 1991 the College named him a Distinguished Alumnus.

Dr. Hollyfield specializes in the investigation of retinal diseases that cause loss of vision, with an emphasis on macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness, especially in older adults. His extensive and varied scholarly activities have resulted in the publication of more than 200 peer-reviewed articles and 14 volumes of the proceedings of biennial conferences on eye research. Since 1991, Dr. Hollyfield has been the editor-in-chief of the journal Experimental Eye Research.

In February 2012, Dr. Hollyfield kindly responded to a series of questions about his lengthy and productive career as a scientific researcher.

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CC: What experiences at Hendrix influenced you to choose a career in scientific research?

JH: There were a series of events that led me to the laboratory. I always loved nature and the outdoors, so my parents weren’t surprised when I told them I would major in biology.

Dr. Arthur A. Johnson was my adviser, and I was aware that he had a research interest in nematodes and spent summers in Minnesota collecting specimens. I also remember a discussion in one of my classes taught by Mr. Albert Raymond about graduate school and what was required to complete a Ph.D. thesis.

I did get a solid background in biology at Hendrix, but I only began to realize this as I prepared for my final oral exam, which was required for biology majors during the final semester of their senior year. As I began to review my lecture notes from each of the courses taken along with some additional reading, the interrelatedness of all these different courses began to take shape. To revisit all this information and have the opportunity to integrate all the coursework for my major was an important exercise for me.

Dr. Johnson helped guide me to a job with the Food and Drug Administration that I began a few weeks after graduation. I started in the St. Louis office, was transferred to Dallas and managed to work for the FDA for about eight months before Uncle Sam discovered that I was no longer a student. When I received my induction notice, I made a hasty visit to my draft board office in El Dorado, where I learned that my 1A status would be returned to a student deferment if I were in graduate school. My parents had moved from El Dorado to Monroe, La., during my junior year at Hendrix, which gave me Louisiana residency status. I also discovered that any resident of Louisiana with a bachelor’s degree could enroll in the graduate school at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. I had to move quickly, but entered graduate school in the Department of Zoology at LSU and my draft board reestablished my student deferment. I also secured a part-time job in one of the research labs.

complete replacement of the red blood cell population at metamorphosis, when the tadpole became a frog. During my last year in Austin while exploring sources of support for a postdoctoral fellowship I discovered a private foundation named Fight for Sight. One of the requirements for applying for their fellowship program was that the project be in some area of eye research. In one of the background articles I read for my thesis, I learned that there were fundamental molecular changes in the photoreceptors of the retina that also took place at metamorphosis. I proposed in my Fight for Sight application that these differences might be related to cell replacement, as I had discovered for the red blood cells. I moved from retinal developmental to cell biology studies of photoreceptors and the subjacent retinal pigment epithelium in 19781980 after moving to the Cullen Eye Institute at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. My

CC: What do you predict for the future of research into retinal disease?

JH: Most of the diseases of the retina have a genetic basis. We now know of mutations in over 150 genes that cause specific forms of retinal degeneration. While it is estimated that about an equal number of genes remain to be discovered, I expect that much of the future efforts will be focused on translational studies that try to use our knowledge coming from many decades of discovery research to formulate ways allowing the prevention of many of these blinding genetic diseases. Gene therapy, the replacement of defective genes, is already under way with some success. But not every genetic disease involves the same metabolic pathway, so it is unlikely that there will be a “panacea,” allowing one breakthrough treatment to have an impact on all blinding diseases. I am confident that many of these devastating diseases can be prevented, although much more focused effort is needed.

“There is nothing quite like a true Eureka moment when Mother Nature finally gives up her secret...”

CC: Explain your current interest in retinal diseases, particularly macular degeneration JH: My current studies are the result of the natural evolution of my research interest. My Ph.D. thesis involved an analysis of the stem cell lineage of red blood cells in the frog, Rana pipiens. I discovered that there was a

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lab was using a frog retina culture preparation for experimental studies at the time. I was approached by a clinical colleague who asked if I had any use for a normal human eye that was being removed from a cancer patient with a large facial/orbital tumor. We quickly set up a series of culture studies using human retina from this initial donation. The results from this early work were so promising that it prompted me to establish a relationship with the local eye bank to develop a source of additional human eye tissues with short postmortem times. With their help we were able to secure eye tissue quite frequently, allowing us to develop a second line of research using only human retinal tissue. I also found it much easier to obtain grant support to study human tissue rather than the frog retina. As we accumulated more and more human eye tissue from donors of all ages, it was possible to study changes in the retina during aging.

This in turn led to questions about age-related macular degeneration (AMD). It was because of this line of research that I was recruited to the Cleveland Clinic to establish a research program focused on AMD.

CC: What advice do you have for Hendrix students who may be considering careers in scientific research?

JH: Scientific research is not for everyone. At least for me, it has required intense focus, persistence and a lot of hard work. But scientific research also offers an enormous amount of freedom and the opportunity to continue to grow to one’s maximum intellectual potential. To pursue the unknown in a laboratory is an enormous privilege. It is probably one of the few careers that allows one to pose a question, develop a hypothesis, plan experiments to test the hypothesis, collect and analyze the data, and continue on to wherever the data may lead. In a research environment there is always something new; a new idea to explore, a bright new student, an outstanding postdoctoral fellow. But it does require a full commitment and an enormous amount of hard work. I tell my students and laboratory staff that the word “labor” in “laboratory” is there for a reason!

The driving motivation for most academic researchers is the process of discovery. There is nothing quite like a true Eureka moment when Mother Nature finally gives up her secret that has long been elusive and required the right set of experiments to fully understand.

For me, this has been an extremely rewarding career.

Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 31

Do Stereotypes Match Reality? a hendrix college alumni poll of political attitudes

By Connor Thompson ’14 In a recent poll, 645 Hendrix alumni from across the decades were questioned on issues pertaining to their personal political beliefs and the way these beliefs shape their opinions about recent controversial policy decisions and the upcoming presidential election.

The poll was conducted by Dr. Jay Barth ’87, M.E. and Ima Graves Peace Distinguished Professor of Politics, and Roby Brock ’88 of Talk Business, an Arkansas-based media outlet dedicated to statewide politics and business.

Since 2010 Barth and Brock have collaborated on polls that focus on Arkansans’ attitudes toward local, state, and national politics. On occasion, Barth also involves Hendrix students in polling work.

In general, the results of the poll indicate that Hendrix alumni, taken as a group, are politically active and lean to the leftward end of the ideological spectrum. This, perhaps, is not much of a surprise given Hendrix’s reputation, but closer analysis of the cross-tabulations reveal some interesting insights.

Two questions examined hypothetical scenarios for the 2012 general election. In both, President Barack Obama is the overwhelming choice of Hendrix alumni.

In a two-person race between Obama and leading GOP candidate Mitt Romney, Obama leads 65%-30% (with the remaining undecided).

The second question examines possible implications of a third-party Ron Paul candidacy on a general election contest between Obama and Romney. Obama’s results remain largely unaffected by a Paul candidacy while Romney’s results seem to decline roughly in proportion to the number of voters who would choose Paul. In the generational crosstabulations, Paul’s support is a mixed bag with a slight skew towards younger respondents.

A majority of respondents across each decade responded favorably to the job President Obama has been doing. Alumni from more recent decades do express slightly greater levels of support for the President.

Hendrix alumni are also positively disposed towards Obama’s signature legislative accomplishment: federal health care reform. Alumni across the decades indicate support for the Affordable Care Act with younger alumni the most supportive of the plan.

On the questions asking for self-identification in party and ideology most respondents across the decades identified as both “Democrat” and “liberal.” However, the majority of the respondents from the 1960s and 1970s identified themselves as “moderate” ideologically while still remaining firmly “Democratic” in their party leanings. This, perhaps, runs counter to stereotype of student radicalism in the 1960s and 1970s. Moreover, there are indications that these students have grown more moderate since their college days; the number of alumni who identified as “more conservative” for the 1970s especially is higher in comparison with the other groups.

On one of the most discussed social issues of contemporary times,

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If the 2012 presidential election were held today and you had a choice among three candidates — Democrat Barack Obama, Republican Mitt Romney, and Libertarian Ron Paul — for whom would you vote?

Obama Romney Paul Don’t know

Thinking back to your college years, since then have you become more liberal, more conservative, or stayed about the same in your political opinions?

Stayed about the same More Liberal More Conservative

most Hendrix alumni feel that gay couples should be legally allowed to marry; unsurprisingly, the percentage generally increases as one moves toward younger generations with more than three in four alums from the past decade supporting marriage equality.

Finally, one question examined where alumni get their news. Here, there is an interesting trend in the cross-generational results: the percentage of people who selected “radio,” while relatively marginal overall, continually increases as one moves from older respondents to younger ones. It is striking that radio — seemingly an archaic medium of communication for 2012 — is most popular among the younger generations. For alumni from the 2000s decade, radio is the second most popular news source after internet/blogs. This seems to suggest that modern radio, be it Rush Limbaugh or Robert Siegel, has made a comeback in shaping the political discourse and that perhaps it has become an attractive alternative to the talking heads/sound bite culture of cable television.

Connor Thompson ’14 is a philosophy major from Little Rock.

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Hendrix Alumni Surveys communication and connections

Without question, alumni survey results can be very interesting to discuss and debate. To quote Sean Connery in the 1987 movie The Untouchables (when his character challenged Kevin Costner’s Elliot Ness), “But what are you prepared to do about it?” Having this information and then using it to strengthen lifelong connections to Hendrix is a primary goal of the College’s Alumni Engagement team.

The 2011 survey, created by members of the Advancement office, and results and analysis, provided by Dr. Jennifer Pezka, associate professor of psychology, has been shared with the Board of Trustees, Alumni Board of Governors, and with members of the Hendrix faculty and staff.

Regarding the methodology of the survey, 6,703 alumni were emailed survey requests with a link to the survey. If no email address was available, postcards were sent to recipients with a link or the option to fill out a printed survey instrument. Ultimately, 1,404 alumni responded to the survey.

Several of the survey questions or statements received more than 90 percent “agree” or “strongly agree” responses, including “I would recommend Hendrix to a prospective student” and “In social and business conversations, when the opportunity arises, I speak highly of Hendrix.”

Interestingly, 94 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I believe that Hendrix College is an important part of who I am,” indicating a strong affinity for Hendrix among alumni.

Pamela Owen ’82, Associate Vice President of Alumni and Constituent Engagement, discusses how she and her colleagues are using information from the survey to better connect with alumni.

“A major purpose of our alumni surveys is to discover how effectively we’re communicating with our alumni – and how connected they believe they are to Hendrix,” she says. “With the advent and popularity of social media channels, we initially assumed that our alumni would like to be more engaged with Hendrix through channels like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. What we learned is that, while sharing tidbits of information through social media channels is useful, they really don’t want us to rely on those channels as a major source of information for them.”

“Another thing we’ve learned was that there is a perception among our alumni that we are pretty highly connected to them; that we’re doing a good job of delivering information to them,” Owen continues. “I think that one challenge, going forward, is in making sure our alumni understand NCAA Division III athletics and the fact that no athletic scholarships are given, and that Division III student athletes are as competitive academically as they are athletically.”

Hendrix will reintroduce football in the newly formed Division III Southern Athletic Conference in the fall of 2013 and women’s lacrosse the following spring.

Until 1992 when Hendrix became affiliated with a Division III athletics conference, fewer than 10 percent of Hendrix students typically

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Photo by Dixie Knight

By Frank Cox ’76 Chief Communications Officer

participated in intercollegiate sports. Today, the number is closer to 25 percent, yet the academic quality indicators for the College have risen over that time.

In addition to finding more effective ways to communicate with alumni, surveys also help improve campus events. Those attending annual events such as Alumni Weekend, Family Weekend and the Odyssey College for Alumni and Friends are often surveyed afterward to learn more about their experiences and to solicit their ideas.

Almost 1,000 alumni responded to a 2009 Hendrix Magazine survey that fueled a major redesign of the publication and alumni input also guided a redesign of the College’s website in 2004 and was helpful in the newest redesign of the website that launched in January 2012.

(Check it out at www.hendrix.edu.)

A follow-up magazine survey is planned this spring. The survey will be distributed by email to keep costs down. If you’d like to participate but aren’t sure that the College has your current email, please request to become a member of the Hendrix Web Community and update your information. Or, submit your current email address to alumni@hendrix.edu, mentioning the survey in your message. If you don’t have email or Web access, please send a card or note to Hendrix Magazine Survey, Office of Marketing Communications, Hendrix College, 1600 Washington Avenue, Conway, AR 72032 or call 501-5052932 to request a paper copy.

Using whatever method you prefer, we hope that Hendrix alumni will continue responding to our queries. What are we prepared to do about it, you ask?

We’re prepared to listen.

Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 33

Hendrix students do amazing things every day.

Conduct ring laser research Intern with a U.S. Senator Lead a children’s soccer camp in Jamaica Work on an organic farm in Costa Rica Volunteer with a local homeless shelter Study the healthcare system in Nicaragua

You can too.

Help support their dreams and be part of IT! Make a gift to the Hendrix Annual Fund by May 31.

www.hendrix.edu/giving 877-208-8777

Catalyst for Change

research corporation for science advancement grants spur growth in chemistry, physics

By Helen Plotkin Editor Hendrix College will be one of four institutions in the spotlight as the Research Corporation for Science Advancement celebrates its 100th anniversary with a year-long series of events that began with a gala evening at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., on March 14.

RCSA is recognizing the four institutions that have received more than $1 million from the foundation during its century of promoting faculty and student research as a vital component of science education.

Between 1993 and 2009, Hendrix received more than $1.2 million in grants from Research Corporation, starting with a $588,185 Department Development Award for its chemistry and physics departments.

The other three institutions being recognized are Hope College, Denison University and Bowdoin College.

According to Dr. Tom Goodwin, receiving the Department Development Award was a watershed moment for Hendrix. Goodwin, Elbert L. Fausett Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, led the effort to draft the grant proposal.

“We were the second grant recipient and the first private college to get a Department Development Award,” Goodwin said. “We applied for funding to enhance both the chemistry and physics departments. We had at least one visit per year from Research Corporation program officers and we had four external consultants — two for chemistry and two for physics — working with us.”

To get a Department Development Award, a college must provide evidence that they have a good program with the potential to move to the next level of excellence. The College was required to demonstrate that each member of the departments supported the effort and that the administration was willing to devote resources to keep the improvements in place once the grant ended.

The changes initiated by the grant have taken root and over the past two decades have not only transformed the chemistry and physics departments, but have helped spread a commitment to research and other experiential learning across the campus.

“It was not normal here for faculty to have sabbaticals before the Research Corporation grant,” Dr. Goodwin said, but granting sabbaticals for faculty to hone their research skills was a requirement of the grant.

“It provided funding for chemistry and physics to each hire a new faculty member,” he continued. “It provided money for technical support — someone to work in the stock room, help set up labs, etc. It provided start-up funds for research.”

“Some of the things that we should have had to be a top-notch liberal arts college were put into motion by the Research Corporation grant,” Goodwin said. For example, once the administration supported sabbaticals for the chemistry and physics departments, the practice spread across campus and support for research in other areas also expanded.

“It came through at the right time and it really helped us a lot. With the administration’s support, we were able to make a real difference in science education for our students,” Goodwin said.

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In 1993, the College was planning a major capital campaign focusing on improving facilities for science education. At the end of the campaign, Hendrix had replaced or remodeled academic space for all of the natural sciences area, including renovating John. H. Reynolds Hall for mathematics and computer sciences, constructing Acxiom Hall for the chemistry and physics departments, and building the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Life Sciences to house the departments of biology and psychology. Led by Dr. Warfield Teague, Willis H. Holmes Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Chemistry, faculty members were heavily involved in creating spaces where faculty and students would work together to expand knowledge and understanding through research. Goodwin sees the Department Development Award as the catalyst for this expansion.

“And, I think it was one impetus for Odyssey — the idea that experiential learning, of which research is one example, has advanced to the point now that this is a hallmark of the Hendrix experience,” Goodwin said. “The Research Corporation grant helped jump-start experiential learning on this campus.”

The College’s first record of funding from Research Corporation dates from the late 1970s when Dr. Goodwin received funding for a grant proposal he actually wrote before arriving on campus in the fall of 1978.

Since then — in addition to the Department Development Award — several Hendrix professors have received what Research Corporation calls “Single-Investigator Cottrell College Science Awards” for projects such as Dr. Richard Rolleigh’s (’67) study of transverse effects in semi-conductor lasers, Dr. Randy Kopper’s work on peanut allergies, Dr. Robert Dunn’s ring laser work, Dr. Andres Caro’s research on Reactive Oxygen Species, and, most recently, Dr. Courtney Hatch’s (’00) 2009-11 grant for her project titled “Heterogeneous Processing of Mineral Aerosol by Reactive Gases in the Earth’s Atmosphere.”

In 2004, Dr. Liz Gron (who is the new chemistry faculty member hired with support from the 1993 department development grant) led efforts to acquire $100,000 from RCSA to fund a five-year proposal to strengthen the physical sciences at Hendrix through research and recruitment.

The impact of Research Corporation’s support continues to ripple through the Hendrix community, improving the quality of teaching and learning across the campus. That should please Frederick Gardner Cottrell, a scientist, inventor and philanthropist, who founded RCSA in 1912. His concept for the foundation was to “provide catalytic funding for grants, conferences and advocacy to support early career faculty, innovative ideas for research, and building tomorrow’s academic cultures.”

For more information about Research Corporation, visit the foundation’s website at www.rescorp.org.

Check out a new website that highlights science research at Hendrix. You’ll learn about faculty research interests and about alumni who are successful researchers at

www.hendrix.edu/research

Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 35

Science Students Showcase Research at State Capitol

five students invited to present posters-at-the-capitol

Photo by Mike Kemp

Five Hendrix science students were nominated to present their independent research at Posters-at-the-Capitol at the Arkansas State Capitol in Little Rock this spring. The program is patterned after Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR)-styled events held in other state capitols around the country.

Meredith Miles ’12, a chemistry major from Maumelle, Ark., presented “Mineral aerosol effects on phytoplankton growth rates: A biomarker study of mineral aerosol deposition.”

Kristen Finch ’13, biology major from Fort Smith, Ark., presented “How distinct are the geographically isolated coastal populations of ponderosa pines in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and Fort Lewis, Wash.?”

Vincent Gammill ’13, a physics major from Little Rock, Ark., presented “Maintenance, accessibility, and data quality of the Qweak database.”

Jordan Russell ’13, a junior physics major from Marion, Ark., presented “Neutrino-Induced Electron-Positron Pair-Production in Intense Magnetic Fields.”

Qin Yin ’13, a junior chemistry major from WuXi City, Jiangsu, China, presented “Polar Bears (Ursus maritimus) discriminate between the sex and reproductive status of conspecifics via pedal scent.”

Photo by Mike Kemp

By Rob O’Connor ’95 Managing Editor

36 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

www.hendrix.edu

Meta-Biker Continued from page 27

Cooking Up Clues Continued from page 22

Analysis” at the third MAER-Net Colloquium in Corvallis Oregon in 2009.

Jacob Williams ’08 presented “International Gender Wages Gap: A MetaAnalysis” at the second MAER-Net colloquium in Nancy, France, in 2008.

With the support of the Bill and Connie Bowen Odyssey Professorship, which he held from 2008 to 2011, Stanley hosted the fall 2010 MAER-Net program at Hendrix. The program drew more than 30 international researchers, including Dr. Chris Doucouliagos of Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia, with whom Stanley collaborated on Meta-Regression Analysis in Economics and Business, published in early 2012 by Routledge.

early emphasis on biology has helped him in his current role.

“I took at least one biology class each term, so I had 20-plus biology hours, which has helped out a lot here,” he said. “I can talk DNA and the serology side ... and it’s made me a more well-rounded chemist and a more wellrounded forensic analyst.”

In Dr. Teague’s advanced inorganic chemistry course, Harrison enjoyed “micro-scaling” and recreating experiments from science journals, something that has also served him well at the crime lab.

“That’s how meth lab chemistry works,” he said. “Every day we work a case, we’re doing an experiment. Every case is tied to proving or disproving something. If the outcome doesn’t

come out the way you think it will, then you have to rethink it and do some other test.”

Harrison enjoys the intersection of chemistry and crime scene investigation.

“I like the fact that we do ultimately serve law enforcement and the community,” he said. “The crime lab is an important part of law enforcement and vital to the prevention and treatment of drug abuse. It also serves as a good check and balance to the legal system.

The crime lab is not interested in innocence or guilt, only the facts of a crime, however that may influence the outcome.”

“I plan on being here for the rest of my career,” he said. “This agency has treated me well. We’re like a family.”

Harrison and his wife Jan Green Harrison ’97 live in North Little Rock with their two daughters.

The Trail Ahead Stanley continues to be an important voice for meta-analysis at home and abroad.

He was recently asked to write an entry on efficiency wages for an upcoming management edition of Palgraves New Dictionary of Economics, a prestigious resource which includes entries written by many Nobel Prize winners and other notable economics experts. Stanley’s experience with efficiency wages began as a joint endeavor with former student Eric Krassoi Peach ’07. Stanley supervised the research project and the two collaborated on an article that was published in the Journal of Labor Research in 2009.

Also on tap for this year, Stanley’s article “Are Estimates of the Value of a Statistical Life Exaggerated?” for the Journal of Health Economics is the first to show that publication bias makes a huge difference in the assessment of the value of a statistical life, the basis of many health and safety policies.

“Are All Economic Facts Greatly Exaggerated? Theory Competition and Selectivity” for the Journal of Economic Surveys will show that substantial or severe publication bias is found in most areas of economics research but that a competition of economic ideas reduce this bias.

And he tackles executive compensation in “Pay for Performance?” The article, to be published this year in Industrial Relations, shows comprehensively that CEO pay has no practical relation to corporate performance, but that government regulations work.

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Hall of Honor Banquet 2012 The 2012 Hendrix College Sports Hall of Honor Induction Ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, April 20 (the first day of Alumni Weekend) in Worsham Hall inside the Student Life and Technology Center.

Honoring: Woodrow “Woody” Robertson ’39 Dr. John Montgomery ’56 Don Weir ’65 Coach Gerald Cound Kim “Kiwi” Stevenson ’77 Dr. Karen Courmier Burks ’90 For a list of past recipients or to reserve a table, visit www.hendrix.edu/hallofhonor

Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 37

By Rob O’Connor ’95 Managing Editor Head Women’s Softball Coach Amy Weaver has been named Director of Athletics at Hendrix.

“It is an exciting time in the athletic department with moving to a new conference, new facilities and the addition of two new sports.

I am honored to be named Athletic Director at Hendrix College,” said Weaver. “I am very blessed to have such an amazing staff and we all look forward to the being a part of the next chapter of Hendrix College athletics.”

Weaver joined the Hendrix staff in September 2002. She has led the Warriors to six consecutive tournament appearances, set a new Arkansas collegiate softball record for most wins in a season, and ranks fourth on the SCAC’s All-Time Single Season Wins list.

Weaver received her bachelor’s in business

administration and sports management in 1990 from Robert Morris University, where she played NCAA Division I softball, volleyball, and track and field. She began her head coaching career at Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pa., and later moved to Mercyhurst North East in North East, Pa., where she served as athletic director in addition to her head coaching responsibilities.

Weaver has served as interim Athletic Director since November for Danny Powell, who currently serves as Associate Vice President for Student Affairs.

Powell informed the senior leadership team that he would like to continue working in Student Affairs and offered his support for Coach Weaver to be named full-time Athletic Director.

Weaver is “the right person to lead the athletic department” in the coming years, Powell said.

Photo by Stuart Holt

Weaver to Lead Warriors in New Era of NCAA D-III Competition

“Amy was the first hire I made as A.D., and she has proven herself to be capable and worthy of the job, and she has the full respect of the staff,” he said. “She is a great friend and a tremendous person and I can’t think of anyone I would like to see more in that role.

She will be terrific.”

Hendrix Hires Coach for First Football Team in 52 Years New Warrior Coach Ready to Blow the Whistle After Long Time-Out

By Rob O’Connor ’95 Managing Editor Justin “Buck” Buchanan was named head coach of the first men’s football team at Hendrix in 52 years.

Buchanan has coached for Louisiana College, an NCAA Division III institution in Pineville, La., since 1999 and was one of the original staff members when the school’s football program was restarted. Most recently, he served as associate head football coach. He is an alumnus of D-III member Austin College in Sherman, Texas, where he graduated cum laude and received the school’s top scholar athlete award and worked as a graduate assistant for the men’s football and women’s basketball programs.

38 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

“I am honored and excited to have this extraordinary opportunity to coach the first football team at Hendrix in 52 years,” said Buchanan. “I look forward to working with the student-athletes, fellow coaches, faculty, staff, and alumni at Hendrix and the Conway community. It’s great to be a Warrior.”

The College announced last spring that it will join the non-scholarship NCAA Division III Southern Athletic Association in the 20122013 academic year and add two new sports — men’s football and women’s lacrosse.

The new sports will begin play in the 20132014 year. Hendrix last played football in 1960 and, in addition to hiring a head football coach, a national search is under way to recruit a women’s lacrosse coach.

“Selecting a new head football coach after

Courtesy Photo

athletics

Head Softball Coach Named Director of Athletics

a 52-year ‘time out’ is a critical choice,” said Amy Weaver, Director of Athletics at Hendrix.

Hendrix appointed a committee of faculty, staff, and alumni, and retained a national search firm to assist in the selection process, she said. The College received nearly 150 applications for the position.

Buchanan was “a perfect fit,” Weaver said.

“We are so fortunate to have someone of Justin’s caliber, character, and commitment to Division III culture,” she said. “He is a great addition to our coaching staff and will be a strong leader for this new sport.”

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athletics

Rebound for Glory

Sophomore Sees Record-Setting Season

Jamie Tate ’14 sees every rebound as an opportunity.

“I used to be completely horrible at basketball, but rebounding was the only thing I was good at,” said Tate. “It doesn’t require much skill, just pure effort.”

Tate, a politics major from Nashville, Tenn., claimed the total rebounds and rebounds per game school and Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference single-season records, pulling down 341 boards for a 14.2 average over 24 games with at least two more to play.

On Jan. 22 at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., Tate passed Mandy Williams’ ’97 Warrior record of 237 set during the 1995-96 season. Tate made history again on Feb. 11 by surpassing the SCAC record of 320 rebounds.

On Jan. 8 in Sherman, Texas, Tate recorded one of the most spectacular single game performances in Hendrix and SCAC history.

She came down with a record-setting 29 rebounds, 14 of which were on the offensive end, breaking the 17-year-old league record of 28 and the school mark of 25 held by Christina Byler ’11 against Sewanee in 2010.

The record-setting performance is also the most by anyone in all of collegiate basketball for the season.

“Breaking the six rebounding records is an amazing accomplishment for anyone,” said Emily Cummins, head women’s basketball coach. “It shows you what a knack she has for getting to the ball and absolutely shows how hard she works day in and day out. Breaking those records as a sophomore is a tremendous accomplishment and a testament to her work ethic.”

In Tate’s two-year career, she has already racked up 573 rebounds, ranking 10th in Hendrix history and only 180 behind Byler’s record of 753.

This season, Tate ranks 10th in NCAA Division III with 15 double-doubles and has four games with 21 rebounds or more. She also currently has a streak of 19 consecutive games with 10 or more rebounds.

For her efforts, Tate has won the SCAC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week twice this season.

“Jamie is hands down the hardest working player I have ever coached,” said Cummins.

“She never takes a day off during practice and is the most consistent player that we have. Her

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will to compete on every possession is the reason for her success. Jamie is the kind of player that every coach wants — hardworking, dedicated, constantly wants to improve, and above all else, she is an all-around great person on the floor as a leader and off the floor to her peers.”

“I have heard Jamie say many times that she sets goals for herself in games,” Cummins added.

“She will focus her efforts on one or two things, such as not missing a box out.

She has a special understanding of what it takes to rebound and breaks those things down. She is very good at analyzing how she is doing in a game and recognizes the areas she needs to improve on throughout the game.”

“It takes a special player to recognize areas of improvement and then capitalize on them during a game,” she said. “Jamie just has that instinct to know where the ball is coming off the rim and she just tracks it down. With her quickness, explosiveness and strength, I never have any doubt that when a shot goes

up, Jamie will come down with the rebound.”

“I truly believe that Jamie gives more to this program than she realizes,” said Cummins.

“She gives us a spark on the floor and gives our team a lot of character. She absolutely has a huge impact on this team ... I look forward to the next two years with her and fully expect to see many more accomplishments from her.”

Field hockey

Men’s basketball

Erika Jasso ’15 was selected to the Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association All-Great Lakes Region First Team. The forward from Oceanside, Calif., is the third Warrior in program history to earn All-Region honors.

Nick Heathscott ’12, a biochemistry and molecular biology major from Conway, was named to the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District Team. He is the fifth student-athlete in Hendrix history to be selected to an Academic All-America team.

Men’s soccer

Fall sports

Duncan Keegan ’12, a biology major from Signal Mountain, Tenn., was named to the College Sports Information Directors of America Capital One Academic All-America First Team.

He is the fourth student-athlete from Hendrix to earn Academic All-America honors. Keegan and Connor Silvestri ’13 were also selected to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America All-Far West Region Third Team.

The Warriors had 56 student-athletes named to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Fall 2011 Academic Honor Roll. The men’s and women’s soccer teams had 13 studentathletes each named to the honor roll. Volleyball was next with 11, followed by field hockey (9), women’s cross country (7) and men’s cross country (4).

Photo by Bruce Layman ’12

By Cody Usher Sports Information Director

Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 39

alumni voices: tim mckenna ’90

To call me a rookie world traveler in the late summer of 1990 would be to give me credit much undeserved. Looking back now, I’m certain a stowaway would have been better prepared for the journey. With only one airplane trip to my name and a pile of unnecessary luggage in the cargo hold, I waved a tearful goodbye to my family and girlfriend (now wife JoDee Wilson McKenna ’92) and crammed into a seat one row from the smoking section for the first of four flights on my 23-hour journey to Wellington.

My Watson project was to travel to New Zealand to do conservation work, primarily with the Department of Conservation (DOC). I was excited to visit New Zealand and do environmental work, but I was equally pleased to be postponing for a year the “real-life” decision of attending law school or finding a job.

In hindsight, I should have prepared a bit more for the trip. I arrived in Wellington with little more than a fax inviting me to DOC’s headquarters to discuss project options. That promise of a meeting and a well-thumbed travel guide were about the extent of my preparations.

My initial meeting at DOC headquarters was disappointing. The people I met were concerned that having an unpaid American volunteer would be politically unpopular as the recession had left many New Zealanders without work. While exploring other options to do conservation work, I decided I would find a place to stay in Wellington.

Looking back, my lack of travel experience actually enhanced my trip. Instead of going the easy route of a youth hostel, I answered “flat mate wanted” ads and ended up renting a house with a group of great local guys my age. These guys introduced me to the best spots for a good cheap meal, taught me rugby and cricket, and became my surrogate family during my trip. No matter where I was in New Zealand, I would return to Wellington at least once a month to hang out with these guys.

The setback at DOC headquarters only delayed things for a few weeks, as I soon

40 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

Courtesy photo

Jumping Head-long into Watson Fellowship Experience in New Zealand

received a call that the Turangi DOC office wanted my help with projects in Tongariro National Park. This proved to be a wonderful stroke of luck. The regional director in Turangi had found a spot for me at the park. I later found out that he had traveled the U.S. years earlier and had been helped out on occasions, so this was a “pay it forward” moment.

My initial assignment was to help with a three-day adventure race called Mountains to the Sea. As a time keeper, I was whisked

by helicopter through the various legs of the race — mountain trail running, kayaking and biking.

My second assignment was just as amazing.

I was given the keys to a four-wheel drive truck, water testing equipment and a map of various remote mountain streams to test for water quality. Driving from one crystal clear stream to another, I figured the testing was a formality. Unfortunately, when the results came back from the lab, Giardia was present.

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Of course any trip this long has low points as well. I bought a heavily used car that needed a new radiator after only 30 miles, leaked exhaust fumes into the car, and drank a quart of oil every fill up. I also experienced severe motion sickness a mile off the cost of Kaikoura at the exact time a group of whales surfaced by our boat. All of my pictures were out of focus and off center.

After much prodding from my friends, I concluded my trip with a bungee jump from the 150-foot Kawarau Bridge near Queensland in the Sound Island. Like so much of my year, it was done with a strange mixture of apprehension and naïve enthusiasm. Would I have done it had I not steadied my nerves by quickly downing a warm beer that I found in the trunk of my car? Who knows? But I’m glad I did the jump just as I’m forever grateful for having the opportunity to spend a Watson year of wonder in New Zealand.

This made national news as it was the first time Giardia had been confirmed in the park streams and led to a push for park users to treat or boil their water before drinking it.

Other highlights of my trip include working as a hut warden on Mt. Tongariro and Mt. Ruapehu and doing research with the rare species legislation team for the DOC headquarters in Wellington. I was awarded “player of the match” in my first cricket match with the DOC team.

During my rotation as bowler (pitcher), I accidently “bowled” out the first two batters on one pitch each. My delivery was unorthodox and the ball slipped from my fingers both times leading to a lofted slow pitch that both batters whiffed at taking a full swing. I also met the famous Hendrix graduate Kim “Kiwi” Stevenson ’77 from Rotorua who was a standout distance runner for Hendrix in the mid-1970s. He was leading high school physical education in Rotorua, and I joined his school in their annual outdoor camping week where they repaired trails, completed a ropes course, rock climbed, rappelled and learned an overall appreciation for the outdoors.

Tim McKenna ’90 is the director of staffing at Acxiom Corp.

Left: McKenna next to one of the many fur seals that make their breeding site at Red Rocks on Wellington’s south coast Below: A view of Mt. Cook, New Zealand’s tallest mountain

Courtesy photo

Courtesy photo

Right: At the end of his trip, McKenna bungee jumped off of the 150-ft.

Kawarau suspension bridge near Queenstown in New Zealand’s South Island

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Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 41

alumni news

d a Ro ! p i r T

Odyssey College for Alumni & Friends Why plan just one road trip? Join us on campus Saturday, May 19, and Sunday, May 20 for Odyssey College 2012. You don’t have to be an alumnus or alumna to join in the fun — friends, parents of students, faculty, and staff are invited to participate. You will receive 24 hours of classroom experience including: • An update on all things Hendrix from President J. Timothy Cloyd.

• One view of Hendrix at Sundance by Ashlie Atkinson ’01, who was represented at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival with two films, My Best Day and Compliance.

• Author Dee Davis Oberwetter ’81, sharing her Odyssey which led her to write women’s fiction. (Extra points for spotting Hendrix College references in her A-Tac book series).

Are you ready for a Road Trip?

Alumni will be on the road back to Conway April 20-22 for Alumni Weekend 2012, and we hope that you will be among them.

The weekend will include the 1962 Half Century Club luncheon, individual class parties, Dr. Marylou Martin’s last lecture and reception, East Hall reunion lunch, Alumni Choir reunion and memorial service, Warrior Booster Club events, and more!

Registration includes a ticket for the Alumni Awards Banquet Brunch or a ticket for the East Hall Reunion Barbeque Lunch, Continental Breakfast on Sunday, and Sunday lunch.

Visit www.hendrix.edu/alumni for more details and to register online. For questions, contact us at alumni@hendrix.edu or call tollfree at (877) 208-8777.

• Jay Kell ’99 of Verge Wines bringing us his picks during the fabulous wine tasting dinner Saturday evening at Michelangelo’s.

• Sunday brunch.

• An update on The Village at Hendrix.

• My favorite new book — Bring your favorite new book from this past year and prepare to defend!

• Your one opportunity each year to actually spend the night in a Hendrix dorm!

Questions? Call us toll-free at (877) 208-8777 or email us at alumni@hendrix.edu.

Social Media Photo by Flickr user cranberries

Find your Hendrix friends online and join the conversation.

Crystal Bridges Museum visit planned for June 3 Join your Hendrix alumni and friends on June 3 to explore the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Ark. Your day will include beautiful works of art, fantastic walking trails, and a reception to celebrate the day.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Paris’ Musée du Louvre will begin a four-year initiative for an annual traveling art exhibit. The exhibit will explore the birth of American landscape painting through the works of Thomas Cole and Asher Durand. The installation will include earlier paintings by Pierre-Antoine Patel the Younger, which influenced Cole’s work. This is a must see exhibit and there is no better group to experience it with than Hendrix College alumni and friends.

42 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

The event will begin with a tour of the Crystal Bridges Museum at 3:30 p.m. on June 3. A reception at 6 p.m. will wrap up the day.

If you live in Central Arkansas and want to travel with friends, then register for the Coach bus that will pick up passengers in Little Rock and Conway before heading to Bentonville.

The bus will leave Little Rock at 11:30 a.m. and Conway at 12:30 p.m. The return bus trip will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Cost is $15 per person for the museum tour and reception. Total cost for those traveling by bus will be $50 per person. You can register online at www.hendrix.edu/crystalbridges.

Space is limited, so register today!

For questions, contact us at alumni@hendrix.edu or call toll-free at (877) 208-8777.

Alumni & Friends Facebook page facebook.com/hendrixalumni

Hendrix Parents Facebook page facebook.com/hendrixparents

Hendrix College Alumni Association LinkedIn Group linkedin.com/groups?gid=75438

Hendrix Alumni Twitter twitter.com/hendrixalumni

Hendrix Web Community hendrix.edu/alumni

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James E. Major Service Award

The Hendrix Alumni Board of Governors will honor four outstanding alumni at the Alumni Association Awards Brunch April 21 at 10:30 a.m. in Worsham Student Performance Hall in the Student Life and Technology Center.

The James E. Major Service Award will be presented to Lynn McKnight Beatty ’75. The award, given for meritorious service to the College, is named for Dr. James E. Major ’40, senior vice president emeritus of Hendrix and a minister in the Little Rock conference of the United Methodist Church. A Clinton, Ark., native, Beatty completed postgraduate work in library science at the University of Central Arkansas and began working at Olin C. Bailey Library at Hendrix College in September 1976 as assistant cataloger. She is a member of Wesley United Methodist Church, where she has served as church librarian and communications director, and received the church’s 2011 UMW Special Mission Recognition Award. She is also a member of the board of directors of the Wesley Foundation Campus Ministry at the University of Central Arkansas.

Distinguished Alumnus Award The Distinguished Alumnus Award will be presented to Walter T. Murphy ’61. The award is given by the Hendrix College Alumni Association to alumni who have distinguished themselves in their vocations, service to humanity, and service to the College. After teaching mathematics for a year at the University of Arkansas, where he earned his master’s degree, Murphy began a 34-year career with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. He worked at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where he served as chief of shuttle engineering for the Air Force, leading a team of NASA and Air Force personnel and their contractors through the final development and integration of the space shuttle. He served as director of engineering and development at Kennedy Space Center in Florida from 1990 to 1997. Mr. Murphy has received numerous awards including the NASA Exceptional Service Award, the Kennedy Space Center Director’s Award, the NASA Outstanding Leadership Award, and the Presidential Meritorious Executive Award. He was married for 44 years to the late Virginia A. Pool ’60.

Outstanding Young Alumna Award Dr. Eva Hurst ’98 will receive the Outstanding Young Alumna Award given to an alumna of

the College, within 15 years of her graduation from Hendrix, who has shown accomplishments and promise in her chosen profession or in service to the broader community and has demonstrated a continuing loyalty, support, and advocacy for the College. Dr. Hurst joined the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis in 2007. She directs the Washington University Center for Dermatologic Surgery, where she performs more than 1,500 skin cancer surgeries annually. She has lectured nationally on both skin cancer treatments and cosmetic dermatology. She serves on the medical school’s Admissions Committee and is active on numerous committees for the American Academy of Dermatology and the Women’s Dermatologic Society.

The Alumni Board of Governors presents its annual awards at Alumni Weekend. Nominations are solicited from Hendrix faculty, staff and alumni. To be considered for the 2013 awards, nominations must be received

by Sept. 30, 2012. For more information, visit the Alumni Board of Governors page at www.hendrix.edu/alumni.

Rev. Diane Wimberley ’80 will receive the Humanitarian Award. The honor is given to a graduate who has significantly improved the quality of life in the world through service and dedication to humanity. After graduating from Hendrix, Wimberly worked in a juvenile halfway house before earning her master’s degree in social work. She worked as a crisis intervention social worker at Houston Northwest Medical Center until she entered seminary at Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University. She was ordained as a deacon in 1987 and completed seminary in 1989. She served at churches in Texas until 2003, when she moved to La Paz, Bolivia, to serve as a missionary and to work in pastoral development and theological education and travel throughout the country, visiting local congregations and districts while providing workshops on Methodism, leadership, Bible study, and more.

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Photo by Stuart Holt

Humanitarian Award

2011 Alumni Association Winners Jack Frost ’72, James E. Major Service Award; April Ambrose ’01, Outstanding Young Alumna Award; Clyde Briant ’71, Distinguished Alumnus Award; Chris Barrier ’64, Humanitarian Award

Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 43

alumni news

2012 Alumni Association Awards

alumnotes

Alumnotes

connecting with classmates

Share your news with other alumni by visiting www.hendrix.edu/alumni and using the online form. Information received after February 1 will appear in the fall edition.

1952

1991

Garth Martin of Little Rock received the Herbert and Ida Besser Memorial Award from St. Vincent Infirmary for outstanding volunteer service to the hospital.

1965

Vivian Lawson Hogue retired from Conway High School East after 23 years of teaching.

1969

Kathy Huff Smith was presented with the John and Patricia Bailey Family Distinguished Teaching Award in Sept.

2011. The award is presented to a teacher at Mount St. Mary school in Little Rock for overall excellence in teaching during the previous school year.

1976

Mark Denman of Nassau Bay, Texas, was elected as chairman of the U.S. Rice Miller’s Association. Denman is currently the COO of RiceTec, Inc., Consumer Division.

1981

Bret Jones appeared in the West End run of

“Cool Hand Luke” at the Aldwych Theatre, London.

1985

David Scurlock, M.D., of Atlanta, Ga., is a family practice physician with Piedmont Physicians. He also participates with Flying Doctors of America Medical Mercy Missions and recently traveled to Guatemala, American Samoa and the Solomon Islands.

1988

J. Arthur “Art” Gillaspy, Jr. was appointed Interim Chairperson of the Department of Psychology and Counseling at the University of Central Arkansas.

Dr. Mark Allan Jackson was promoted to associate professor in the Department of English at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn., where he teaches English, folklore and popular culture. See marriages.

Karl Serbousek of North Little Rock graduated from St. Gregory University with a

44 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

bachelor of arts in theology in September 2011.

1989

Greg M. Joslin was appointed by Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola to the Board of Directors of the Little Rock Port Authority for a five-year term. Joslin is also a commercial broker with Irwin Partners in Little Rock.

Devon Cockrell is a Captain in the Army reserve and is on active duty at Fort Bragg, N.C., as the Reserve Psychological Operations Officer Course Manager, B Company, 5th Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group (A), John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School.

1992

Mark Barr of Little Rock was selected for a writing fellowship at Yaddo in New York.

Dr. Renee Holmes Cole of Iowa City, Iowa, is a tenured associate professor of chemistry at the University of Iowa.

Bracken Darrell ’85 Named Logitech Leader Bracken P. Darrell ’85 was recently named president of Logitech. A current member of the Hendrix College Board of Trustees, Darrell will assume responsibility for research and development, sales and marketing, manufacturing, supply chain, IT, human resources and legal functions, according to a Logitech press release.

Darrell joins Logitech from Whirlpool Corporation, where he has been serving as executive vice president of Whirlpool Corporation and president of Whirlpool EMEA. Prior to joining Whirlpool in 2008, Mr. Darrell was with Proctor & Gamble, most recently as president of Braun globally, based in Germany. In addition to serving in Proctor & Gamble for 12 years, Darrell spent five years with General Electric Company, most recently as general manager of Consumer Home Service for GE Appliances. Darrell previously held positions with PepsiCo and Arthur Anderson. He received an

M.B.A. from Harvard University in 1991 and a bachelor’s degree in English from Hendrix.

Darrell received the Hendrix Odyssey Medal, given to alumni whose personal and professional lives embody the values of engaged liberal arts and sciences education, in 2007-2008.

www.hendrix.edu

J.P. Cunningham ’75 A second edition of Somerset, written by J.P. Cunningham, has been published both in paperback and in Kindle version. Somerset follows a northeastern Arkansas family through their struggle with a quest for redemption. Somerset may be purchased at major book retailers and online.

Pat Rudolph ’88, David Taylor ’88, and Shari Jones-Taylor ’88

1996

spent a week in a 15th-century home in the Languedoc region of France. Pictured are Dave and Shari by the Hérault River near Saint-Guilhem-le-Désert.

Rev. Andrew Thompson ’98 Appointed Wesley Scholar for Arkansas UMC Conference Rev. Andrew Thompson ’98 was recently named Wesley Scholar for the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church. The appointment was made by Bishop Charles Crutchfield.

Crutchfield, a Hendrix College Board of Trustees member, is the presiding Bishop for the Arkansas UMC Conference. No other annual conference has a clergyperson appointed specifically to provide insight into the Wesleyan roots of United Methodism.

His role will evolve over time, Thompson said. He will work with the Holiness of Heart and Life Network, the Center for Clergy and Laity Excellence in Leadership and with local congregations.

“I think direct engagement with local churches will be a significant part of this ministry,” he said.

Thompson is an instructor of historical theology and Wesleyan studies at Memphis Theological Seminary. He is a Th.D. candidate at Duke University, where his dissertation focuses on the means of grace in John Wesley’s doctrine of sanctification. Before completing his doctoral studies and becoming a professor,

www.hendrix.edu

Rev. Barkley Thompson of Roanoke, Va., serves on a statewide Interfaith Advisory Council and the Board of Trustees of the Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, Texas. Rev. Thompson is also the rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church of Roanoke.

Patti Nelson is the director at Pegasus ArtWorks, a statewide fine and performing arts program for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Delaware, Md. She is also a resident artist and instructor at the Cheltenham Center for the Arts in Philadelphia, Pa. See Marriages.

2002

Ashley Harden Hill of Jonesboro, Ark., and her husband Brian expanded their business by purchasing Little Rock’s Sylvan Learning Center.

2003

Dr. John Michael Hardin of Carl Junction, Mo., was named medical director of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Mercy-St. John’s Hospital/Clinics in Joplin, Mo.

2004

1997

Dr. Sarah Blount Long of Nashville, Tenn., received her Ph.D. in school psychology and is now employed as a school psychologist. See New Children.

1998

Dr. Justin Long of Nashville, Tenn., received his M.D. and is now a radiology resident with Vanderbilt University. See New Children.

Heather Watson-Ayala is the Consul to the United States Embassy in Lilongwe, Malawi. See New Children.

Jamey Campbell of Gallatin, Tenn., is the Vice President of Business Development at Schenk Photography.

Thompson served two appointments as a local church pastor.

Through these experiences, he has seen the gap between the church and the academy – “a gap I think is much too wide,” he said.

“With [my] duties as Wesleyan scholar for the Annual Conference, I will be able to focus that much more directly on how the work of a Wesleyan theologian should serve the life of the church at the ground level.”

Initiatives at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

Mark Wesson of Walnut Creek, Calif., earned a master of public health degree at the University of California, Berkley and is now an associate planning manager with Kaiser Permanente of Northern California. See Marriages.

1999

2005

Robyn Poerschke of Aurora, Colo., received her Ph.D. from the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Utah in August 2011. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Colorado, Denver.

Alex Reading Meyer is the Director of Prematurity

Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 45

alumnotes

1995

alumnotes

2006

Dr. Amy Hillard of Dayton, Ohio, received her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Nebraska in August 2011. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Wright State University in Dayton where she is examining workplace climate for women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as part of a five-year, four-institution grant from the National Science Foundation.

Brad Howard is the communications director for the Blue Dog Coalition, a group of fiscally conservative Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives.

2007

Holly Robbins of Washington, D.C., is an attorney in the Energy and Real Property group of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. in Houston, Texas. In 2011, she received the Washington Foreign Law Society’ Ibrahim Shihata Prize for scholarship in the area of Islamic jurisprudence.

2009

Sara “Sunny” Young works for The Food Family Farming Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on making healthier school lunches a reality for students.

2010

Bradley Fogleman of Little Rock is an environmental scientist with the Center for Toxicology and Environmental Health in North Little Rock.

46 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

Dr. Brian Rush Simpson Receives Recognition from the Mental Health Council of Arkansas Dr. Brian Rush Simpson ’96 received the 2011 practitioner award from the Mental Health Council of Arkansas.

Simpson joined the staff at the Arkansas State Hospital in 2009 after three years of work for New York University. At the state hospital he works as a primary psychiatrist for one of the hospital’s most violent forensic units.

Under his leadership, the unit experienced a significant decrease in the frequency of violence, and many long-term patients began experiencing significant improvement in the signs of symptoms of their mental illness. As section chief of forensic services, Simpson collaborates with other forensic professionals to identify weaknesses in the forensic system and to propose both short- and long-term solutions.

Before graduating from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in 2000,

Simpson earned a bachelor’s of arts in biology at Hendrix. Simpson is currently the section chief of forensic services at the Arkansas State Hospital as well as a clinical assistant professor in the UAMS psychiatry department and a member of the forensic psychiatry fellowship faculty.

Carey Voss Receives Arkansas Arts Council Fellowship Carey Voss ’02 has received an individual artist fellowship in sculpture/installation art from the Arkansas Arts Council. Voss is one of three recipients of this particular fellowship which is worth $4,000. The fellowships, selected by a jury of out-of-state professional artists, writers, performers and art administrators, are awarded annually to local artists in recognition of their individual artistic abilities. They enable artists to set aside time for creating their art and improving their skills.

Voss is a mixed media painter and sculptor.

In addition to making her artwork, she is a resident master and academic coordinator at the Hughes Residential College at the University of Central Arkansas where she has also worked as an adjunct instructor in the Honors College. Her installations have been featured in galleries throughout the United States. Her current exhibition “The Roadkill Project” is a site-specific sculptural series in which she creates fabricated dead animal sculptures using biodegradable materials, such as papier-mâché, organic soil, wildflower seeds, crêpe paper, liquid latex, and natural fibers.

Voss graduated from Hendrix with a degree in studio art and she earned her Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from American University in Washington, D.C. She currently resides in Perryville, Ark.

www.hendrix.edu

alumnotes

Dr. Donald E. Porter Receives Prestigious National Science Foundation Award Donald E. Porter, Ph.D. ’03 received the prestigious National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program Award.

The award recognizes promising young faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholar through the integration of both education and research. Porter’s project, “Beyond Virtual Hardware: VMM/OS Co-Design for Lightweight, Flexible Virtualization” will be funded by the NSF through May 2017.

The award, a five-year grant for approximately $400,000, will go toward funding research into the development of efficient computer virtualization techniques, which allows computer users to run one computer system inside of another. For instance, a user can run a Windows program inside of a virtual machine on an Apple computer. Virtualization is increasingly used to improve the compatibility, security and flexibility of modern computers.

Porter graduated from Hendrix with a degree in computer science and mathematics and earned his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. He is

currently an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at Stony Brook University in Stony Brook, N.Y. Learn more about his research at www.hendrix.edu/research.

Marriages

Nathan Fenster ’07 to Laura Thorp ’07, June 25, 2011.

Dr. Mark Allan Jackson ’88 to Carolyn Cosnotti, July 10, 2011.

Joseph Robert Utect ’09 to Sonya Nicole Morgan ’10, Sept. 4, 2011, Greene Chapel.

Jonathan Lane ’94 to Jill Gieringer ’97, Nov. 4, 2011.

Nicholas Jones ’11 to Lauren Fletcher ’11, March 4, 2011.

Aidan Rashon Eyres, son of Ruth Eyres ’92.

Ansley, third child, third daughter to Amy Dunn Johnson ’96 and her husband David. Pictured are Ansley and her older sisters Sydney and Emery.

Patti Nelson ’96 to Brooke Hyman, April 10, 2011.

Dr. Beth Storm ’96 to Adam Rule, Sept. 17, 2011.

Brendan O’Reilly ’98 to Amy Hawkins, June 11, 2011.

Mark Wesson ’98 to Viviane Seki Sassaki.

Tami Clinkingbeard ’02 to David A. Marks, June 2, 2011.

Lauren Adele Cox ’06 to Luca Caffettani, Sept. 4, 2011.

Courtney Rogers ’06 to Dan Webster, May 29, 2011.

www.hendrix.edu

Laura Thorp ’07 and Nathan Fenster ’07 were married on June 25, 2011. Photo from left to right: Elizabeth Price ’07, Kim Barrett ’07, Nathan Fenster ’07 (groom), Laura Thorp ’07 (bride), Ashley Hancock ’07, and Kelsey Steele ’08.

Liam and Hadley Panek, sons of Katy Enoch Panek ’01 and her husband Ralph Panek.

Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012 47

alumnotes

New Children Mark Owen, first son, second child, to Jennifer Keith Ferguson ’93 and her husband Todd, March 9, 2011.

Cato James, first son, second child, to Andrea Anderson Gluckman ’96 and her husband Steve, Sept. 14, 2011.

Helen and Mark, daughter and son of Jennifer L. Ferguson ’93 and her husband Todd.

Marion Lynn to Heather Watson-Ayala ’97 and her husband Geovani, February 2011.

Hudson James, first son, first child, to Leah Dial-Fillip ’97 and her husband Jim, July 9, 2011.

Pearson Ruth, first daughter, second child, to Brian Vandiver ’97 and Janna Adams Vandiver ’99, Dec. 27, 2011.

Sarah Margaret, third daughter, fourth child, to Tim McClure ’98 and Alice Ann Nixon McClure ’01, Oct. 25, 2011.

Eleanor Grace, first daughter, first child, to Cindy Sheffield Michaels ’99 and her husband Darren, Sept. 23, 2011.

Kayleigh Trischelle, second daughter, second child, to Chrystal D. White-Johnson ’00, April 20, 2011.

Former Hendrix roommates, Lauren Byrne Hughes ‘02 with son Griffin and Laura Jennings Earley ‘02 with son Alston. Photo was taken December 2011.

Vaughan Covington Conner-Thompson, first son, first child to J. Alex Thompson ’00 and his wife Andrea Conner, Dec. 27, 2011.

Isaac Finley, first son, second child, to Finley Vinson ’00 and Erica Stuck Vinson ’01, Dec. 21, 2011.

Lincoln Sloan, first son, first child, to Dr. Kim Turnbow ’01 and her husband Lance, June 20, 2011.

Lillie, first daughter, first child, to Jennifer Prewitt-Freilino ’02 and Paul PrewittFreilino ’03, December 2011.

Ruby Frances, first daughter, third child, to Dr. Derek Leonard ’02 and Dr. Megan Leonard ’02, Nov. 21, 2011.

Emma Jayne, first daughter, first child, to Noel Alexander ’03 and Jessica Duke Alexander ’03, May 2011.

Owen Patrick, first son, first child, to Sarah Razer Carnahan ’03 and her husband Daniel Carnahan, Oct. 26, 2011.

Sylvan Song Horey, first son, first child, to Dr. James Horey ’03 and Dr. Alison Boyer ’03, Nov. 7, 2011.

Savannah Cate, first daughter, first child, to Birc Morledge ’03 and his wife Amy, Dec. 6, 2011.

Jacob, first son, first child, to Dr. Justin Long ’04 and Dr. Sarah Long ’04, July 27, 2011.

In Memoriam Mildred Rankin Priddy ’29 Stanley Clifford Beers ’35 Elizabeth Cornish Haltom ’39 Byron Clay Cravens ’40 John D. Wilbourne, Jr. ’40 Frances Louise Eppes Devereux ’41 Mattie Sue Martin Emerson ’42 Margaret Peninger Bennett ’42 Charles William Gregg ’43 Mary Jo Rowe Kimmins Mead Glover ’45 Mary E. “Zibble” Clegg Holmes ’45 Betty Jo Sears McCart ’45 Tommie Bennett Walker ’45 Nina Lou Huffaker Erminger ’46 Byron Luster McSpadden ’46 Wade Hampton Garton ’47 Frances Gwendolyn McClurkin Jones ’47 Patricia Joan Hatton Mueller ’47 Phillip Neil Reed ’47 Carl Allen Dillaha ’48

48 Hendrix Magazine | Spring 2012

Hazel Clarice McConnell Hanna ’48 Mary McGuyre Ware ’49 Billy Doyle Young, Sr. ’49 Carroll Gene Blessing ’50 Hannah Sue Duffie Weaver ’50 Robert Stanley Hicks ’51 Martha Sue Moore Jefferies ’51 Joseph Philip Melton, Jr. ’51 Jane C. Harton Peyrouse ’51 Charles Lee Dean ’52 Charles H. Hollaway ’52 Barbara Ann Barksdale ’53 Mary Ruth Warren Greene ’53 Faril Simpson, Jr. ’53 Martha Lou Grove Ellis ’54 Edith Anne Abel Heffron ’54 William Earl Maxwell, Jr. ’54 Carolyn Sue Clifford Meigs ’54 Shirley McElroy Bell ’54 John Robert Chapman ’57

Charles Harold Harger ’59 L. Gerald Parchman ’60 J. Ted Blagg ’63 B. Frank Jewell ’67 Frank Warren Roland ’68 Poleda C. Glanton ’69 Heather Glidwell McDonald ’75 William Earl Maxwell, Jr. ’76 Donna Lee Baxter ’84 Mark Allen Goodwin ’92 Amy Carol Hitchcock ’99 Benjamin Brian Wise ’99* Adam James Smith ’06 Hillary Robson ’12 *died from injuries received during an insurgent attack on his fourth deployment overseas.

www.hendrix.edu

Help Build His Future

Your connection to Hendrix College may begin early in life, but it lasts forever. Include Hendrix College in your will and help ensure a strong foundation for generations to come.

You may direct your planned gift to scholarships, funds for faculty use, or to endow innovative programs like Your Hendrix Odyssey: Engaging in Active Learning. You may even offer unrestricted support for the College’s critical needs. Any way you stack it, your legacy is an investment in the future of Hendrix and our students.

please join us

For more information, contact Lori F. Jones ’81, CFP® Director of Planned Giving (501) 450-1476 or email JonesL@hendrix.edu www.hendrix.edu/buildhisfuture

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1600 Washington Avenue Conway, Arkansas 72032

Hendrix College Chamber Orchestra started in 1990 with six students under the direction of Dr. Karen Griebling. The ensemble now includes five times as many students, who are able to perform challenging music by a variety of composers.