SERVING COMMUNITY

Students served at several locations around Whitley County on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Day to honor the legacy of a man who devoted his life to serving others. From distributing packages of food, to cleaning up around Cumberland Falls, to organizing recycled items, and more, Cumberlands students put on their gloves, rolled up their sleeves, and got to work.

“MLK Day of Service” has become an annual tradition for the university. Though each activity only took a couple hours each, students know the life lessons they’re learning through the experience will last a lifetime.

Sophomore Gerard Liao said, “It is my first time volunteering in the U.S., but I have done community hours back in my home country of Spain. Helping the community is always good. We have to help each other to be a better community and a better world. I think that’s the point.”

Devon Goings, ’17, MJA ’18, director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Cumberlands, commented on how the students’ volunteer efforts coincided with Dr. King’s message of unity. “Working together gives us a common mission and brings us together toward a common goal. It helps bring unity,” he said. “I think service also helps us appreciate the community we live in, and it gives us a new perspective. It helps us realize that the world is not just about ourselves. We can serve other people.”

Doctorate Physical Therapy

Cumberlands has named its new Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) program after Dr. Connie Hauser, a physical therapy pioneer and the founder and CEO of PT Pros. The announcement was made at the university’s annual Excellence in Leadership Series event, sponsored by Forcht Group of Kentucky. Dr. Hauser also received the 2023 Excellence in Leadership Award from the university. Mel Robbins, a serial entrepreneur, bestselling author, and host of the No. 1 ranking podcast on Audible, was the event’s keynote speaker and presented Dr. Hauser with the award.

Dr. Larry L. Cockrum, Cumberlands president, said, “Dr. Connie Hauser is a trailblazer and an outstanding role model for women in entrepreneurship. She was one of the first PTs to go into private practice in Kentucky. In addition to her advocacy and business acumen, Dr. Hauser has a heart for community service. Over the years, she has been a mentor to many individuals who followed her path.”

An accomplished leader and widely respected business owner, Dr. Hauser began PT Pros in 1980 with one location and has led it through immense growth. PT Pros now serves its patients from 14 offices spanning two states and employs more than 100 team members. She played an integral role in the creation of Cumberlands’ DPT program, which began in January 2022.

Best Researchers

Several alumni have recently won International Best Researcher Awards from ISSN (International Society for Scientific Network).

Bibhu Dash, PhD ’22, Meraj Farheen Ansari, PhD ’19, and Pawankumar Sharma, MSISS ’20, together with non-Cumberlands affiliated Dr. Swati Swayamsiddha, published a research paper entitled “A review of ONDC’s digital warfare in India taking on the e-Commerce giants” that was judged the Best Research Paper of 2022 by ISSN.

Nikhitha Yathiraju, PhD ’22, won the ISSN 2023 International Best Researcher Award in the category “Information Technology, Artificial Intelligence in Cloud Technologies and Cybersecurity.”

Dr. Bibhu Dash is an AI researcher and an architect in data and analytics in a Fortune 200 financial organization in Madison, WI; Dr. Meraj Farheen Ansari works as a cybersecurity engineer for a Fortune 500 financial firm in Chicago, IL; Pawankumar Sharma is a senior product manager (cybersecurity engineer) for Walmart in San Bruno, CA; and Dr. Nikhitha Yathiraju is a lead automation engineer at Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco, CA.