UGA Columns March 4, 2019

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Researcher’s lab studies how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics RESEARCH NEWS

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Black Violin performance on March 7 to blend both classical, hip-hop music

March 4, 2019

Vol. 46, No. 27

www.columns.uga.edu

UGA GUIDE

4&5

Roberts, Johnson to address graduates at Commencement

The Commit to Georgia Campaign began in November 2016 and has raised more than $1.2 billion.

Illustration by Amanda Qubty

Ahead of schedule Commit to Georgia Campaign surpasses its $1.2 billion goal

By Katie DeGenova kdegen@uga.edu

The Commit to Georgia Campaign has reached an important campaign milestone: surpassing its $1.2 billion goal. The goal, which was announced in November 2016, was the most ambitious fundraising goal that the University of Georgia has ever set, and it was reached 16 months ahead of schedule. The campaign will continue through June 2020 as planned, and the University of Georgia will continue fundraising for all of its campaign priorities.

“I am thrilled to celebrate this milestone with our students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends,” said President Jere W. Morehead.

“However, this campaign is far from over. I look forward to seeing how much higher we can raise the bar—and increase the campaign’s transformative impact—in the remaining 16 months.”

Nearly 150,000 alumni, parents and friends have already contributed to the Commit to Georgia Campaign, including 7,015 current and former faculty and staff members who contributed more than $53 million. Significant progress has been made toward each of the campaign priorities—increasing scholarship support, enhancing the learning environment and solving grand challenges for our state and the world.

UGA donors have created 785 new endowed student scholarships, which will be awarded annually for generations to come. This includes 370 need-based scholarships that were established through the Georgia Commitment Scholarship Program, through which the UGA Foundation matches donor contributions dollar-for-dollar.

Donors in the campaign already have helped fund more than 10 major capital projects, including Delta Hall in Washington, D.C.,

the Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital, the new Business Learning Community, the west end zone of Sanford Stadium and the William Porter Payne and Porter Otis Payne Indoor Athletic Facility. They also have helped thousands of students pursue experiential learning opportunities, such as internships or study abroad. In addition, 87 new endowed positions have been created, helping the university to recruit and retain top faculty scholars and researchers.

“We’re so appreciative to everyone who has contributed to the campaign so far,” said Kelly Kerner, vice president for development and alumni relations and executive director of the UGA Foundation.

“While others may see this as a finish line, we see it as a new starting point. Between now and June 30, 2020, the Bulldog family will strive to make as large an impact as we can, unbounded by a fiscal goal.”

DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS

ABC News correspondent and UGA alumna Deborah Roberts will give the University of Georgia’s spring undergraduate Commencement address May 10 at 7 p.m. in Sanford Stadium.

Loch Johnson, Regents Professor of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia, will deliver the spring graduate address on the same day at 9:30 a.m. at Stegeman Coliseum. Tickets are not required for either ceremony.

Since graduating from UGA in 1982 with a degree in broadcast news from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, Roberts has risen through the ranks of television news, received

Deborah Roberts

Loch Johnson

numerous awards and been a regular reporter and contributor for programs such as Dateline NBC, 20/20, Nightline and Good Morning America, to name a few.

Born in the small Georgia town of Perry, Roberts was one of nine children. She began her

See COMMENCEMENT on page 8

ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

School of Law faculty member named University Professor

By Camie Williams camiew@uga.edu

Usha R. Rodrigues has been named University Professor, an honor bestowed on faculty members who have made a significant impact on the University of Georgia beyond their normal academic responsibilities. Rodrigues has expanded curricular and experiential learning opportunities for students while also fostering a culture of women’s leadership at UGA and the broader academy.

Rodrigues, the M.E. Kilpatrick Chair of Corporate Finance and Securities Law, served as the associate dean for faculty development in the School of Law from 2015 to 2018 and has served as University Council’s parliamentarian since 2014.

“Professor Rodrigues is an

indefatigable advocate for students, colleagues and the role that higher education plays in promoting innovation and entrepreneurUsha Rodrigues ship,” said Interim Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Libby V. Morris. “She is an exemplary leader who is richly deserving of the honor of being named University Professor.”

Rodrigues led a dramatic expansion of business law-related offerings in the School of Law, and she worked in collaboration with the Terry College of Business to establish a three-year joint See PROFESSOR on page 8

CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

UGA Miracle’s 2019 Dance Marathon raises University ranked No. 2 for $1.1 million for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta saving students on book money

By Marilyn Primovic mjp82278@uga.edu

More than 1,000 students and community members strapped hospital bands on their wrists and raised $1,144,453.19 for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta during UGA Miracle’s 24 hour Dance Marathon Feb. 23-24 in Tate Grand Hall.

This is the fourth consecutive year that this student organization has raised more than $1 million.

UGA Miracle, the largest student-run organization at the university, seeks to encourage the families of patients and financially support the Rehabilitation

Services and Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center.

“The first $1 million raised directly funds Rehab Services, and all additional funds support the Aflac Cancer Center,” said Lydia George, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta program coordinator.

This year, UGA Miracle focused on raising money for the aquatic therapy pool under construction in Scottish Rite Hospital.

“Evidence has shown this type of therapy can improve function, endurance, strength, balance, mechanical stability, flexibility and gait as well as provide pain relief for some patients,” George said.

The therapy pool will help Scottish Rite care for an even larger array of patients, and it is made possible by funding from UGA Miracle, George said.

To fundraise at Dance Marathon, attendees invited friends and family to sponsor them during the event. Some attendees committed to standing for 24 hours to honor patients.

“We are standing for those who can’t stand,” said Edie Threlkeld, UGA Miracle communications director.

“Have you ever tried to stand for 24 hours?” said Kelli Hopkins, See MIRACLE on page 8

The University of Georgia was ranked No. 2 by OpenStax on a list of top 10 schools that have saved their students the most money through adoption of OpenStax free college textbooks in the 2017-2018 school year. These textbooks helped 42,245 UGA students, according to data from Rice University-based publisher OpenStax.

Savings from these textbooks saved students around $3.9 million, according to UGA data.

UGA, as well as the University System of Georgia, has made a concerted effort to move toward free online textbooks, especially for largeenrollment courses, to save students

money and improve teaching.

“At UGA, we are growing a culture of open educational resources thanks to dedicated advocacy for affordable textbook alternatives by our students, faculty, staff and administrators,” said Megan L. Mittelstadt, director of the Center for Teaching and Learning.

“The majority of these savings are a result of the adoption of OpenStax texts—the high-quality, peer-reviewed OpenStax books are popular among our faculty seeking to implement open education resources in service of equity and student academic success. These

See RANKING on page 8

2 March 4, 2019 columns.uga.edu TERRY COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

Mason Lecture speaker urges students to volunteer and to ignore the naysayers

By Matt Weeks

mweeks@uga.edu

Shepherd Center co-founder Alana Shepherd urged University of Georgia students to volunteer, rely on themselves and be kind in all they do—traits that helped her change the world. She delivered her remarks Feb. 19 at the Mason Public Leadership Lecture in the Chapel.

Shepherd and her family co-founded Shepherd Center in Atlanta to treat spinal-cord injuries.

What began in 1975 as a six-bed rehabilitation unit has become a worldrenowned, 152-bed facility on the cutting-edge of medical science.

But Shepherd was never content with only operating the center. She has spent her life fighting for the recognition and rights of disabled people. Her advocacy resulted in the addition of lifts to the Alana Shepherd MARTA bus system, making HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport one of the country’s most accessible, and changing the funding and administration of the Olympic and Paralympic games forever.

She gave students three pieces of advice on how to live meaningful lives.

“First, I want you to enrich yourself, give of yourself, volunteer,” she said. “Often, we hear people speak of volunteering in terms of giving back, and truly all of us have that obligation to our community. But I hope you will understand that first and foremost through volunteering, you give to yourself. The excitement of new people, ideas and challenges, and the joy of knowing something good and significant has taken place in part through your efforts only enhances your personal growth.

“If you are like society as a whole, there are some of you who volunteer a lot and many others who think it’s something you always meant to do,” Shepherd also said. “It’s time to turn those good intentions into action and make volunteering a lifetime practice.”

Shepherd, along with her husband, Harold, and son, James, founded Shepherd Center after James suffered a paralyzing spinal-cord injury in 1973. Frustrated by the lack of state-of-the-art rehabilitation care in the Southeast, the family galvanized support to open a specialty facility.

“When you get involved with a nonprofit, you can be sure that leadership opportunities will come your way. Step up to the ones that match your skills and give you a chance to grow new skills. Organize a fundraiser. Rewrite the bylaws.

Serve on the board,” she said. “How we use time is nothing less than a mirror of our deepest and dearest priorities, and that’s a mirror we all need to look into on a regular basis.”

Shepherd’s second piece of advice was aimed at female college students in the audience, but she implored men to consider it as well.

“To you young women, I urge you to take charge of your own lives, be in command of your own affairs, be prepared to support yourselves,” she said. “Forge ahead toward your own goals—not stridently but with a gracious determined confidence that goes much further than shrillness or belligerence ever will.”

Shepherd also told students how she fought to bring the 1996 Paralympic Games to Atlanta. Her efforts led the International Olympic Committee to decree all cities seeking to be the site of future Olympic Games must include plans and proposed financing for the Paralympics as well as access to the same sites and athletic facilities.

Finally, she challenged students to be compassionate in the face of adversity.

“Be kind and caring in all that you do, even when it’s not needed or comfortable. Let me be more precise: There are going to be times in your life when someone goes through a tragedy, maybe a death in the family, an accident or injury, or some other desperate situation that seems awful and is awful. You may be caught between the feeling that you ought to do something and the fear that you don’t know what to say or you might make a fool of yourself,” she said. “Nobody expects you to bring pearls of wisdom. You don’t have to spend hours, just a few minutes will do. And you don’t have to come every day, just often enough to keep in touch.”

The results, she said, will speak for themselves.

“When you’ve done enough to touch somebody’s life, you’ll have the most amazing mix of feelings,” she said.

“There’s power in your presence. You have no idea how much.”

The Mason Public Leadership Lecture is supported by a grant from Keith Mason, an alumnus of UGA’s Terry College of Business and School of Law who serves as principal for KWM Capital Management in Atlanta. The lecture features prominent business leaders who have contributed significantly to their communities or spent time in a public service role.

OFFICE OF RESEARCH

Research to market: Participants in UGA I-Corps present their work The ideas range from blueberry sensors to ballistic materials as 11 teams of UGA faculty and student innovators work toward translating research into products for the market.

The teams are the latest cohort to participate in UGA I-Corps, a National Science Foundation-funded accelerator program. The teams presented their ideas at the UGA I-Corps Winter Showcase on Feb. 18 at Cine in Athens, presented by the law firm Fortson, Bentley and Griffin, P.A. UGA researchers are hard at work looking for novel solutions to real problems such as improving berry harvesting, improving the flexibility and breathability of ballistic vests, identifying where potholes will form before they appear and improving inventory management for scientific labs.

Turning solutions into commercialized products is one way these researchers can bring tangible results.

But, as I-Corps’ Jared Bybee said, “The

Andrew Davis Tucker

Entrepreneurs, students and faculty gather in the lobby of Cine before the presentations of new startup companies and ideas at the I-Corps Winter Showcase.

transition from research to product can be a bumpy one.” That’s especially true for innovators with little to no business experience.

Through an intensive six-week process, I-Corps guides researchers through the steps to creating marketready products.

COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF RESEARCH

By Kristen Morales

By Michael Terrazas

Forum puts spotlight on women in sport, leadership kmorales@uga.edu

As the national discourse about women, leadership and their pursuit of equity continues to rise, this year’s installment of the Global Educational Forum picks up that thread for the University of Georgia community to follow.

The 13th Global Educational Forum, hosted by the kinesiology department in the College of Education, brings nationally and internationally renowned experts to discuss women’s leadership roles, how sport plays a role in this leadership, health and educational issues and the global implications stemming Maritza McClendon from race and gender.

Featured speakers include Maritza Correia McClendon, the first Puerto Rican of African descent to be a member of the U.S. Olympic swimming team; Ketra Armstrong, an accomplished athlete and sports journalist who is the associate dean for graduate programs and faculty affairs at the University of Michigan; and J. Jarpa Dawumi, an assistant professor at Howard University whose background in law and Ketra Armstrong politics offers new perspectives on gender and international human rights.

“This year’s forum showcases the phenomenal ways women have actively contributed to social discourse that evoked substantial changes, specifically in underprivileged and marginalized communities, international organizations and social institutions that are committed to fight for humanity worldwide,” said Rose ChepyatorJarpa Dawumi Thomson, a professor of sport management in the kinesiology department and founder of the annual event.

“Our invited scholars will address persistent challenges that women face in their pursuit of equality.”

Chepyator-Thomson added that she hoped attendees would leave with an understanding not only of obstacles women face, but also with an idea of opportunities for the future, including creating more inclusive communities or ways to recover from unwelcome life experiences.

Registration for the event is free. This year’s Global Educational Forum will take place March 21 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Georgia Center for Continuing Education & Hotel. The event’s three keynote speakers include Dawumi at 8 a.m., McClendon at 12:30 p.m. and Armstrong at 3:30 p.m. The event also includes awards for student researchers; an invited scholar panel focusing on women in agriculture, health, religion and sport; and a student panel of speakers focused on leadership and development in sport. For details and to register, visit coe.uga.edu/events/global-educational-forum.

The Global Educational Forum is sponsored by the UGA African Studies Institute, the Latin American and Caribbean Studies Institute, the College of Education, the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the Graduate School, the kinesiology department, the Institute for Women’s Studies, the Office of Institutional Diversity and the Office of Global Engagement.

Two assistant professors win Sloan Fellowships michael.terrazas@uga.edu

Two UGA faculty members have been awarded a prestigious Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship to support their research for the next two years.

Elizabeth Harvey of marine sciences and Rachel RobertsGalbraith of cellular biology will each receive $70,000 from their fellowships over the next two years. Two of 126 Sloan Fellows nationwide for 2019, the assistant professors represent just the 12th Elizabeth Harvey and 13th Sloan recipients from UGA since the organization began its fellowship program in 1955.

“Sloan Fellowships are one of the most prestigious monetary awards in the country for faculty in the earlier stages of their careers, and I congratulate Elizabeth and Rachel for being recognized in this remarkable way,” said David Lee, vice president for research. “This Rachel signifies the quality of young faculty Roberts-Galbraith that UGA is recruiting, something we can all take pride in.”

Harvey, who earned her Ph.D. in oceanography from the University of Rhode Island in 2013, works on plankton ecology, with a particular focus on how interactions between individual plankton can influence larger-scale patterns in the species’ abundance, distribution and physiology. She is based at UGA’s Skidaway Institute of Oceanography in Savannah.

“It was thrilling to be nominated by my department, but getting the fellowship signals that you, as a researcher, are doing something right,” Harvey said. “The Sloan Fellowship allows researchers to ask questions that are a little more risky or open-ended.

I will be able to conduct some research with new colleagues to begin to generate and solidify collaborative research. Also, it will help support undergraduate and graduate students in conducting meaningful scientific research.”

Roberts-Galbraith studies planarians, or flatworms, in hopes of understanding the organism’s ability to regrow missing tissue after a range of amputations or injuries. She focuses on how planarians regenerate central nervous system tissue. She earned her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in 2010 and is the first UGA Sloan Fellow in neuroscience.

“This honor is a huge validation of our research program,” Roberts-Galbraith said. “Our goal is to learn from planarians what successful neural regeneration looks like—how an injured animal remakes neurons and other cells of the brain in the right numbers, with the correct organization and connections. The Sloan Fellowship will allow us to pursue several new and exciting directions in our effort to understand neural repair using our favorite little animals.”

RESEARCH NEWS

columns.uga.edu March 4, 2019

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Digest USG Foundation raises more than $900,000 for need-based scholarships

GREAT COMMITMENTS Andrew Davis Tucker

Resistance fighter

Stephen Trent’s research has led to a broader understanding of how bacteria change their surface to fight off antibiotics.

Stephen Trent’s lab studies how bacteria become resistant to antibiotics

By Leigh Beeson lbeeson@uga.edu

It was just a small, angry bump when it first showed up on Don Mullis’ hand.

He’d been doing yard work and felt a pinch when he reached into a box where he stores gas cans. He must have been bitten by one of the spiders living near the box.

“Didn’t think much about it,” he said. “Went in and did my first aid on it.” But then the spider bite got infected.

“It was eating the flesh away from my body—that’s when I got concerned.”

He headed to the doctor, where the wound was swabbed and sent to the lab to see what he was dealing with. It was MRSA, one of the most well-known “superbugs” (bacteria that have become highly resistant to the antibiotics meant to kill them), and one that is often mistaken for a spider bite at first. It’s also potentially life threatening if it spreads inside the body.

Mullis was in for a long ride.

Fighting antibiotic resistance is a never-ending struggle. By the time a new antibiotic is tested and proven effective, the bacteria it’s meant to fight are often already developing resistance to it.

The World Health Organization calls antibiotic resistance “one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development” in the

modern world. Superbugs like MRSA are predicted to kill 10 million people worldwide by 2050—more than cancer, traffic accidents, measles, cholera and tetanus combined.

“We’ve gotten to the point now where people are dying from a urinary tract infection, which is something our parents would have never thought possible,” said Stephen Trent, an infectious diseases professor at the University of Georgia. He’s even seen physicians on Twitter pleading for some new and effective treatment to stop a patient’s raging antibiotic-resistant infection.

Sometimes, they’re forced to employ specialized viruses that can kill the bacteria.

To combat the infection in Mullis’ hand, doctors tried several combinations of antibiotics before settling on one that he would have to take for a year.

The doctor told him they were going to saturate his body with medication in an effort to kill the bacteria.

The last 81 years flashed through Mullis’ mind.

One of the main focuses of Trent’s lab is how bacteria become resistant to colistin, a last resort antibiotic used to fight bacteria when nothing else will work.

“We don’t like to use it because it can shut down your kidneys and cause kidney damage, but we’ve gotten to the

point where we don’t have a choice,” he said. Like with other antibiotics, though, bacteria have now become resistant to colistin as well.

His lab concentrates on discovering how bacteria become resistant to colistin and looks for compounds (combinations of antibiotics) that can make the bacteria vulnerable to the disease-killing drug again. Trent’s work has led to a broader understanding of how bacteria change their surface, which he likens to armor, to fight off antibiotics and has been funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2002.

Mullis strictly followed his doctor’s orders. After months of applying ointments and a year of popping pills, his infection abated. He was lucky.

Trent said he’ll continue to look for the chink in the armor coating of bacteria, poking holes until he figures out how to break it open.

“The bottom line is that we are not being responsible enough when it comes to antibiotic usage,” he said. “We are in the fight of our lives against antibiotic resistance. But most of us don’t even know it.”

Editor’s note: This story is part of the Great Commitments series, which focuses on cutting-edge research happening on UGA campuses. Read more about UGA’s commitment to research that changes lives at greatcommitments.uga.edu.

DEVELOPMENT & ALUMNI RELATIONS

UGA Foundation approves sale of Costa Rica campus The University of Georgia Foundation has agreed to sell the university’s Costa Rica residential and research campus in San Luis de Monteverde, Costa Rica, to the Council on International Educational Exchange, the oldest and largest nonprofit study-abroad and intercultural exchange organization in the U.S. The University of Georgia Foundation Board of Trustees approved the transaction at its Feb. 22 meeting.

Proceeds from the sale, which will be final April 30, will enable UGA to create a $4 million endowment for annual scholarships that will allow more university students to study in Central America, South America and Africa.

In addition, CIEE has agreed to continue the operation of existing UGA programs in Costa Rica throughout 2019 and to invest in enhancements to

the Costa Rica campus so it can better serve future students from UGA and other colleges and universities.

“This sale will enable the UGA Foundation to have an even greater impact on students by providing new study-abroad opportunities for more University of Georgia students every year,” said Bill Douglas, chairman of the UGA Foundation board.

The University of Georgia is planning an ongoing relationship with CIEE that will provide UGA faculty and students continued access to the unique, experiential study abroad and research opportunities the campus provides, as well as to CIEE programs around the world.

“With a vast worldwide portfolio of academic, internship and servicelearning programs delivered across its 60-plus international sites, CIEE has the

expertise to manage the campus as a hub for student and research groups from a diverse set of universities,” said CIEE President and CEO James P. Pellow.

In the next year, CIEE will invest in upgrades to technology, laboratory equipment and security systems. CIEE will continue to engage responsibly with local communities, as it has done since the organization began operating in Monteverde in 1989.

“The purchase of the Monteverde campus reflects CIEE’s commitment to expanding our portfolio of high-quality international STEM programs for students from across the country,” Pellow said. “We look forward to adding this facility to our Global Institute Network, providing STEM courses, science labs and field research opportunities that will meet the growing demand from UGA and academic institutions nationwide.”

The 15th annual Regents’ Scholarship Gala, hosted by the University System of Georgia Foundation, raised more than $900,000 to s­ upport and provide need-based scholarships for students at all 26 USG institutions.

Gov. Brian Kemp also presented former first lady Sandra Deal with the 2019 Elridge McMillan Lifetime Achievement Award for her contributions to public education and literacy in Georgia.

“The USG Foundation works to provide financial support in the form of need-based scholarships to students at every institution and from every corner of our state,” said USG Chancellor Steve Wrigley. “The Regents’ Scholarship Gala brings together representatives from our colleges and universities, public and private supporters, and elected officials at every level in Georgia.

Each of these stakeholders provide critical support to public higher education.”

Ag college to hold two-day workshop in Athens for small-farm producers

Sustainable agriculture experts at UGA are offering a two-day intensive workshop to help small growers make the most of the upcoming season and build their farms into strong, productive businesses.

The workshop, to be held March 23 and 24 in Athens, will offer the latest information on sustainable weed and pest control, but will focus heavily on business planning and marketing.

Growers will have access to UGA farmbusiness development experts and hear from experienced growers who have turned their farms into successful businesses. In addition, a grocery buyer from Whole Foods will be available to answer questions about how to market to the chain.

Instructors also will lead growers through a costbenefit analysis of whether they should pursue USDA Organic Certification.

The workshop will be held at UGArden and the surrounding greenhouse complex on South Milledge Avenue. Classes run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

Preregistration is required, and space is limited. The early registration deadline is March 8. The registration fee is $150 and includes all instructional materials, supplies, lunches and snacks during breaks. Registration details, complete agenda and list of speakers can be found at hort.uga.edu. To register after the deadline or for additional information, contact organizer George Boyhan, professor of horticulture in the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, at 706-231-4137 or gboyhan@uga.edu.

UGA, Georgia Power Co. partner on workforce development guide

A new guide from the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government will help schools and businesses throughout Georgia connect to provide on-the-job learning experiences for students.

The free booklet, “Creating and Replicating High-Quality Experiential Learning Opportunities,” helps business leaders and educators identify opportunities for apprenticeships, ­internships, clinical experiences and job shadows, among others, that are most effective in developing a trained workforce equipped with critical technical, academic and employability skills. Prepared by the Institute of Government’s workforce development faculty with support from the Georgia Power Co., the guide contains case studies and methods for replicating existing training programs in high schools. It is online at the Institute of Government’s new Georgia Workforce Toolkit website, www.workforce.org.

PERIODICALS POSTAGE STATEMENT Columns (USPS 020-024) is published weekly during the academic year and

biweekly during the summer for the faculty and staff of the University of Georgia by the Division of Marketing & Communications. Periodicals postage is paid in Athens, Georgia. Postmaster: Send off-campus address changes to Columns, UGA Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Athens, GA 30602-1999.

For a complete listing of events at the University of Georgia, check the Master Calendar on the web (calendar.uga.edu/­).

The following events are open to the public, unless otherwise specified.

Dates, times and locations may change without advance notice.

UGAGUIDE

EXHIBITIONS

The Reluctant Autocrat: Tsar Nicholas II. Through March 17.

Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu.

Education of the Negro: A Depression Era Photographic Study by Dr. Horace Mann Bond. Through March 25. Special collections libraries. 706-542-5788. washnock@uga.edu.

Stony the Road We Trod. Through April 28. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu.

Fighting Spirit: Wally Butts and UGA Football, 1939-1950.

Through May 10. Special collections libraries. 706-542-8079. jclevela@uga.edu.

Nevertheless, She Resisted: Documenting the Women’s Marches. Through May 17. Hargrett Library Gallery, special collections libraries. 706-583-0213. jhebbard@uga.edu.

Under the Big Top: The American Circus and Traveling Tent Shows. Through July 5. Special collections libraries.

706-583-0213. jhebbard@uga.edu.

Out of the Darkness: Light in the Depths of the Sea of Cortez.

Through Oct. 27. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-1817. hazbrown@uga.edu.

MONDAY, MARCH 4 SPRING INTO GROUP FITNESS Purchase a Spring into Group Fitness multi-visit pass and get 30 classes for $30. This promotion will be available between until March 8, and passes expire after 30 visits or 45 days from date of purchase, whichever comes first. Ramsey Student Center. 706-542-8023. lisawilliamson@uga.edu.

WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH FILM SCREENING Directed and produced by award-winning filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen, RBG details the life and legal legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to ever serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. 6:30 p.m. 271 special collections libraries. 706-542-2846. tlhat@uga.edu.

PERFORMANCE The 38th annual BCM Dinner Theatre will present an abridged version of Into the Woods. The production is directed and performed by UGA students and raises money for SendMeNow summer missions. $10. 7 p.m. Baptist Collegiate Ministries.

TUESDAY, MARCH 5

LECTURE Cox Institute Fellow Amy Glennon will speak about news organization culture. 2 p.m. Peyton Anderson Forum, Journalism Building.

ECOLOGY SEMINAR “Forest Community Reassembly with Climate Change,” Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, professor of biology at the University of Washington. Reception follows seminar at 4:30 p.m. in the ecology building lobby. 3:30 p.m. Auditorium, Ecology Building.

706-542-7247. bethgav@uga.edu.

BASEBALL vs. Alabama State. $5-$8. 5 p.m. Foley Field.

FILM SCREENING Aviva Kempner’s Rosenwald: The Remarkable Story of a Jewish Partnership with African American Communities is the incredible story of Julius Rosenwald, who never finished high school but rose to become the president of Sears. Influenced by the writings of the educator Booker T. Washington, this Jewish philanthropist joined forces with African American communities to build more than 5,300 schools during the early part of the 20th century. 6 p.m. Auditorium, Special collections libraries.

706-542-5788. washnock@uga.edu.

READING Eidson Distinguished Professor in American Literature LeAnne Howe, together with the language and literacy education department in the College of Education and the Willson Center, will present a reading by writer Heid Erdrich. A member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibway, Erdrich is the author of five collections of poetry. 7 p.m. Cine.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6 ASH WEDNESDAY Christian religious observance.

ARTFUL CONVERSATION Join Sage Kincaid, associate curator of education, in a conversation about Rev. Howard Finster’s piece “Howard Goes from Jackass Speed to the Speed of a Jet with Peter Paul.” 2 p.m.

Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu.

BASEBALL vs. Jacksonville State. $5-$8. 5 p.m. Foley Field.

Violinist to evoke his fondness for English countryside in Faculty Artist Series concert

By Bobby Tyler btyler@uga.edu

UGA Presents is bringing Black Violin to Athens March 7 for a 7:30 p.m. performance in Hodgson Concert Hall.

Led by violist Wil B. and violinist Kev Marcus, Black Violin blends classical and hip-hop music to overcome stereotypes. The classically trained strings players are joined onstage by DJ SPS and drummer Nat Stokes in a high-energy concert that encourages people of all backgrounds to come together to break down cultural barriers.

Black Violin has collaborated with artists such as Kanye West, Aerosmith, Tom Petty, Wu-Tang Clan, Wyclef Jean and Alicia Keys. The band was featured by ESPN as the official artist of the 2017 U.S. Tennis Open as well as the 2016 and 2017 Heisman Trophy Award ceremonies.

The group has appeared on The Tonight Show, Ellen, The Wendy Williams Show, NPR and more. Black Violin’s most recent album, Stereotypes, hit No. 1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover chart and No. 4 on Billboard’s R&B chart.

Black Violin, alongside artists such as Yo-Yo Ma and Elton John, recently joined with Turnaround Arts to bring arts education to struggling schools in underserved communities. Turnaround Arts is a program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts founded by former President Barack Obama’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities in 2012.

Tickets for the concert start at $30 and can be purchased at the Performing Arts Center box office, online at pac.uga.edu or by calling 706-542-4400. A limited number of discounted tickets are available to current UGA students for $10 with a valid UGA ID (limit one ticket per student).

The concert is sponsored by Brad and Vera Tucker. This performance is funded, in part, by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and Georgia Council for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the Willson Center for Humanities and Art. Patrons are invited to make it an evening with a tour and free dessert at the Georgia Museum of Art at 5:30 p.m.

Hodgson Concert Hall is in the UGA Performing Arts Center at Black Violin will present its blend of classical music and hip-hop at a March 7 performance at 230 River Road.

7:30 p.m. in Hodgson Concert Hall.

MEN’S BASKETBALL vs. Missouri. $15. 6:30 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

SOFTBALL vs. Bowling Green. 1 p.m. Jack Turner Stadium.

READING AND BOOK LAUNCH Ed Pavlic’s first novel, Another Kind of Madness, will be published by Milkweed Editions in March 2019. Widely published as a poet, Pavlic is the author of the collection Visiting Hours at the Color Line, winner of the 2013 National Poetry Series. He has published essays, poems, fiction and dramatic pieces in numerous magazines and journals, including Boston Review, Harvard Review, Ploughshares and Callaloo. Widely respected for his scholarship, his critical work includes “‘Who Can Afford to Improvise?’: James Baldwin and Black Music, the Lyric and the Listeners and Crossroads Modernism: Descent and Emergence in African American Literary Culture.” A recipient of the Author of the Year Award from the Georgia Writers Association and a fellowship from the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute at Harvard University, he has received the Albert Christ-Janer Creative Research Award, the Darwin Turner Memorial Award from African American Review, and many other awards and fellowships. Pavlic teaches English at the University of Georgia. This book release reception and reading is presented by the Willson Center, the Creative Writing Program and the English department, in partnership with Avid Bookshop. 7 p.m. Fire Hall No. 2, 489 Prince Ave. 706-542-3966. wcha@uga.edu.

BASEBALL vs. Presbyterian. $5-$8. 2 p.m. Foley Field.

MICROBIOLOGY SEMINAR “The Complexity of Downsizing,” Duncan Krause, microbiology, University of Georgia. This special seminar is in honor of Krause’s retirement. 11 a.m. 271 special collections libraries. khbrown@uga.edu.

SOFTBALL vs. Elon. 3:30 p.m. Jack Turner Stadium.

SUNDAY, MARCH 10 BASEBALL vs. Presbyterian. $5-$8. 1 p.m. Foley Field.

SOFTBALL vs. Elon. Special promotion: The first 250 fans receive a Mario-themed T-shirt. 1 p.m. Jack Turner Stadium.

WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. Texas A&M. 1 p.m. Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

ART EXHIBIT OPENING RECEPTION Hildegard Timberlake, a long-time art enthusiast, is 95 years old. She suffered from a stroke 11 years ago and lost vision in her right eye. She has since learned to use her left hand and arm to paint. She has had several varying artistic themes, but flowers, scenery and nature have always been a staple of her work. 2 p.m. Visitor Center Great Room, State Botanical Garden.

706-542-6014. connicot@uga.edu.

SOFTBALL vs. Western Illinois. Special promotion: The first 250 fans receive a Mario-themed T-shirt. 3:30 p.m. Jack Turner Stadium.

FRIDAY, MARCH 8

MONDAY, MARCH 11

CONFERENCE The Dean Rusk International Law Center and the Georgia Journal of International and Comparative Law will host a daylong conference titled “The International Criminal Court: A Community of Nations.” The conference will feature expert academics, policymakers and practitioners. To register for the conference and to learn more about the experts involved, visit http://www.law.uga.edu/gjicl2019. 8 a.m. Larry Walker Room, Dean Rusk Hall. ajshaw@uga.edu.

By Camille Hayes ceh822@uga.edu

Michael Heald, associate professor of violin at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, will take the Ramsey Concert Hall stage March 5 at 7:30 p.m. for the next concert in the Faculty Artist Series.

Heald’s performance career began in England where he was a member of the English String Orchestra for three years, recording with Nimbus.

Among numerous other tours and accolades, Heald has performed many solo and chamber concerts with critical acclaim across the U.S. and Europe, collaborating with many great artists, including Heald’s guest artist for the performance, pianist Timothy Lovelace.

“It’s always wonderful to play music with someone [who has] an effortless sense of ensemble,” said Heald.

“I feel very fortunate to be able [to] continue to play with such a great friend.”

Lovelace, a pianist and conductor, holds the Ethel Alice Hitchcock Chair in Collaborative Piano and Coaching at the University of Minnesota. He has performed on four continents and has been featured at Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and New York’s

Merkin Concert Hall, among others. He will join Heald throughout the program on pieces by Schubert, Walton and Prokofiev.

The piece that will evoke the English countryside for Heald, and hopefully those audience members who have experienced it as well, is “Sonata for Violin and Piano” by Englishman William Walton.

“Walton’s music is very individual and clearly [has] a certain style,” Heald said of the piece’s strong jazz influence and sense of drama. “And through it all, the feeling of England and its character and countryside is very clear.”

Tickets to the concert are $12 for adults and $6 for students and children. They can be purchased online at pac.uga.edu, by calling 706-542-4400, or in person at the Performing Arts Center box office, located next door to the music school. Those unable to attend can watch the concert live on the Hodgson School’s website at music.uga.edu/live-streaming.

The Hugh Hodgson School of Music at the University of Georgia sponsors more than 350 performances each year. Go to music.uga.edu to view the school’s performance calendar and subscribe to the weekly email newsletter to learn more.

Calendar items are taken from Columns files and from the university’s Master Calendar, maintained by Marketing & Communications. Notices are published here as space permits, with priority given to items of multidisciplinary interest. The Master Calendar is available at calendar.uga.edu/.

4&5

Black Violin blends classical and hip-hop music

THURSDAY, MARCH 7

Violinist Michael Heald will take the stage at the next Faculty Artist Series concert March 5 at 7:30 p.m. in Ramsey Concert Hall.

columns.uga.edu March 4, 2019

MEMORIAL SERVICE Alan Watson, one of the world’s foremost authorities on Roman law, comparative law, legal history and law and religion, will be remembered at a memorial service that will be followed by a reception in the law school’s Eversheds Sutherland Courtyard.

Watson passed away Nov. 7, 2018, at age 85. He was a former Distinguished Research Professor and holder of the Ernest P. Rogers Chair at the law school. 10:30 a.m. Chapel.

WOMEN’S TENNIS vs. Louisiana State University. 3 p.m. Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

STUDENT SPRING BREAK No classes March 11 through 15. Offices open.

STAFF RESOURCES FAIR 2019 The Staff Resources Fair brings awareness to the multitude of resources, benefits and opportunities exclusive to the UGA community. 2 p.m. Tate Grand Hall, Tate Student Center.

706-542-2515. debimorr@uga.edu.

SOFTBALL vs. Western Illinois. 6 p.m. Jack Turner Stadium.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13 TOUR AT TWO Tour of highlights from the permanent collection led by docents. 2 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu.

SOFTBALL vs. North Carolina. 6 p.m. Jack Turner Stadium.

BASEBALL vs. Presbyterian. $5-$8. 6 p.m. Foley Field.

THURSDAY, MARCH 14

SOFTBALL vs. Bowling Green. 6 p.m. Jack Turner Stadium.

SATURDAY, MARCH 9 EXHIBITION OPENING Life, Love and Marriage Chests in Renaissance Florence. On display through May 26. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. gmoa@uga.edu.

MEN’S TENNIS vs. LSU. 1 p.m. Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

CLASS “Bulbs and Ephemerals: Garden Treasures” will help participants learn the identification, propagation and ecology of both native and exotic spring ephemerals will focus on minor horticultural bulbs and native wildflowers that thrive in zone 8A. $25. 2 p.m. Visitor Center, Classroom 2, State Botanical Garden.

706-542-6156. cscamero@uga.edu.

FRIDAY, MARCH 15 MEN’S TENNIS vs. Florida. 5 p.m. Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

TO SUBMIT A LISTING FOR THE MASTER CALENDAR AND COLUMNS Post event information first to the Master Calendar website (calendar.uga.edu/). Listings for Columns are taken from the Master Calendar 12 days before the publication date.

Events not posted by then may not be printed in Columns.

Any additional information about the event may be sent directly to Columns. Email is preferred (columns@uga.edu), but materials can be mailed to Columns, Marketing & Communications, 286 Oconee Street, Suite 200 North, Campus Mail 1999.

SATURDAY, MARCH 16 WORKSHOP In “Soils of the Georgia Piedmont and Beyond,” attendees will learn about the history of Georgia Piedmont soils and general soil ecology and biology. What is soil? What factors affect soil properties? These are a couple of the questions addressed in this class, which will include a lecture as well as a lab portion to explore soil in nature. $50. 9 a.m. Visitor Center, Classroom 2, State Botanical Garden. 706-542-6156. cscamero@uga.edu.

GYMNASTICS vs. Utah. $10. 4 p.m. Stegeman Coliseum.

SUNDAY, MARCH 17 MEN’S TENNIS vs. South Carolina. 1 p.m. Dan Magill Tennis Complex.

SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT TOUR Tour of highlights from the permanent collection led by docents. 3 p.m. Georgia Museum of Art. 706-542-4662. hazbrown@uga.edu.

MONDAY, MARCH 18 WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH FILM SCREENING Mankiller tells the story of an American legend, Wilma Mankiller, who overcame rampant sexism and personal challenges to emerge as the Cherokee Nation’s first woman Principal Chief in 1985. 6:30 p.m. 271 special collections libraries.

706-542-2846. tlhat@uga.edu.

READING Leontia Flynn has published three collections of poems. These Days (Jonathan Cape, 2004) won an Eric Gregory Award in manuscript and the Forward Prize for Best First Collection. It was shortlisted for the Whitbread Poetry Prize, and Flynn was named as one of 20 “Next Generation” poets by the Poetry Book Society. Drives was published by Jonathan Cape in 2008, when Flynn won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature and a major Individual Artist Award from the Arts Council Northern Ireland.

Profit and Loss was Poetry Book Society Choice for Autumn 2011. Flynn received the 17th annual Lawrence O’Shaughnessy award for Irish poetry in 2013 and the AWB Vincent American Ireland Fund literary award in 2014. She is currently writer in residence at the Bloomsbury Hotel, London. 7 p.m. Fire Hall No. 2. 706-542-3966. wcha@uga.edu.

COMING UP DISCUSSION March 19. Faculty burnout is characterized by emotional exhaustion, a growing feeling of dissatisfaction and/or an increasing negative outlook on one’s own work. At “Beating Classroom Burnout: Reinvigorating Your Classroom,” learn practical solutions (particularly for the second half of the semester) that can be implemented in the near term, as well as sustainable solutions for the future. Bring a syllabus and a schedule of course sessions across the semester. 2 p.m. 372 Miller Learning Center. 706-542-1355. megan.mittelstadt@uga.edu.

ODUM LECTURE March 19. The 34th annual Eugene P. Odum Lecture will be given by Emily Bernhardt, the Jerry G. and Patricia Crawford Hubbard Professor of Biology in the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. A reception follows the lecture at 4:30 p.m. in the ecology building lobby. Honoring the late Eugene P. Odum, founder of the Odum School of Ecology, the annual Odum Lecture Series features speakers addressing significant ecological questions in broad social and intellectual contexts. 3:30 p.m. Auditorium, ecology building.

706-542-7247. bethgav@uga.edu.

NEXT COLUMNS DEADLINES March 6 (for March 18 issue) March 13 (for March 25 issue) March 20 (for April 1 issue)

6 March 4, 2019 columns.uga.edu

Raye Rawls, a senior public service faculty member in the J.W. Fanning Institute for Leadership Development at UGA, received the 2018 Chief Justice Harold G. Clarke Award from the Georgia Supreme Court Commission on Dispute Resolution and the Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar of Georgia in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the field of alternative dispute resolution in Georgia.

Raye Rawls Rawls has worked in the field of dispute resolution since receiving mediation training in 1982, providing ADR neutral and training services to numerous court programs and private organizations. She is a long-standing approved trainer through the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution and has served as a mediator, arbitrator and facilitator in thousands of cases throughout the U.S. and internationally.

Rawls is the fifth recipient of the award, which was first presented in 2013. The Commission and the Dispute Resolution Section created the award in 2013 to honor the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold G. Clarke.

Rawls, a member of the Fanning Institute faculty since 2004, provides training and services in alternative dispute resolution processes such as mediation, arbitration and early neutral evaluation to communities, individuals and organizations.

Dodie Cantrell-Bickley, Grady College journalism lecturer, was inducted to the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in January.

Cantrell-Bickley currently co-produces Grady Newsource. She has more than 30 years of experience in broadcast journalism, working in a variety of roles. Her career began at WMAZ-TV in Macon, where she was a reporter and executive producer for five years. She won multiple AP and Emmy® awards and launched the station’s consumer journalism franchise. Cantrell-Bickley was named WMAZ’s vice president and news director in 1992, a role she held for 13 years. She continued her ascent in broadcasting management, becoming the president and general manager at WMAZ and later at WTLV/WJXX in Jacksonville, Florida.

She is a Grady College alumna, earning a master’s degree in narrative journalism. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership from Mercer University and a master’s degree in public administration from Georgia College and State University.

Lori J. Duke, assistant dean for Experience Programs and interim lead for curricular affairs in the College of Pharmacy, is president-elect of the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education.

Duke has held numerous leadership positions in the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, including completion of the Academic Leadership Fellow Program.

AACP appointed her to the ACPE board, and she previously Lori Duke has served as the ­organization’s vice president and board liaison to the I­ nternational Commission and the CPE ­Commission.

ACPE is the national agency for the accreditation of professional degree programs in pharmacy and providers of continuing pharmacy education.

In collaboration with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, ACPE also accredits pharmacy technician education and training programs, and offers evaluation and certification of professional degree programs internationally.

Kudos recognizes special contributions of staff, faculty and administrators in teaching, research and service. News items are limited to election into office of state, regional, national and international societies; major awards and prizes; and similarly notable accomplishments.

FACULTY PROFILE

Dorothy Kozlowski

During Tim Coolong’s years as state ­vegetable specialist, his research focused on variety trials and developing irrigation and fertilization recommendations for farmers.

Faculty member sees fertile ground for organic agriculture education

By J. Merritt Melancon jmerritt@uga.edu

With the current focus on local food and farm-to-table eating, it’s hard to remember that 20 years ago very few people cared where their tomatoes came from.

The cultural shift has changed the way that young people think about food and farming, and today’s college students have grown up with this new mindset.

“There’s really just an up swell in the number of students interested in food production,” said Timothy Coolong, associate professor of horticulture in UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

“Before, almost everyone who was studying horticulture was interested in ornamentals. You were lucky to have three or four students in a vegetable production class,” he said. “That has changed.”

This spring, Coolong is taking over the teaching of organic vegetable production courses in the horticulture department of the agricultural and environmental sciences department. It is a really exciting time for people who are interested in growing food, he said.

The intersection of increased consumer interest and new technology and research makes it a good time for horticulture students to focus on vegetable production.

Coolong has a long history in commercial vegetable production and was

excited to bring what he has learned over his years working with UGA Cooperative Extension back to the greenhouses where he got his start.

Until recently he served as UGA Extension’s vegetable production specialist in south Georgia, based in Tifton. In that role, he helped Georgia’s commercial growers of peppers, greens, beans and tomatoes tackle pests, disease and other production issues on their farms. In his new role, he’ll be teaching graduates and undergraduates the basics of organic vegetable production.

Originally from the Adirondack region of New York, Coolong came to UGA to pursue a degree in horticulture. He ended up earning three: a bachelor’s in 2000, his master’s in 2003 and a doctorate in 2007, with his doctoral research focused on improving the quality of Vidalia onions.

After graduation, he took a job as the vegetable Extension specialist with University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension and worked with small- and medium-sized vegetable farmers until 2012 when he returned to Georgia to work with traditional and organic vegetable producers.

Although Georgia is known for row crops like peanuts and cotton, Georgia farmers grow a lot of vegetables, and the state is home to several large-scale vegetable farms. There are more than two dozen vegetables grown commercially across the state and those crops were worth about $1.114 billion in 2016.

During Coolong’s years as state

FACTS Tim Coolong

Associate Professor College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Ph.D., Horticulture, University of Georgia, 2007 M.S., Horticulture, University of Georgia, 2003 B.A., Horticulture, University of Georgia, 2000 At UGA: Seven years

v­ egetable specialist, his research focused on variety trials and developing irrigation and fertilization recommendations for farmers.

In addition to his work across the state, Coolong has worked with several U.S. Agency for International Development projects in Africa and Asia, helping small holder farmers improve their planting techniques and productivity.

His experience has given him a broad view of what the future of vegetable horticulture might be like in Georgia, and he’s excited to work with students at UGA to move the industry forward.

In addition to courses in organic agriculture and controlled environment production, he’s planning to do more research and develop more courses focusing on growing vegetables in plant factories and hydroponics greenhouses.

ODUM SCHOOL OF ECOLOGY

UGA student joins new class of young science leaders University of Georgia ecology doctoral student David Vasquez was one of 40 young science leaders chosen to be a fellow of the Yale Ciencia Academy for Career Development. He attended the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting held Feb. 14-17 in Washington, D.C. Vasquez, a third-year student in the Interdisciplinary Disease Ecology Across Scales doctoral program, is studying how ecological and environmental conditions can affect the fitness and geographic range of parasites. He is supported by fellowships from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program and by the IDEAS traineeship program.

The Yale Ciencia Academy for Career Development provides graduate students with opportunities for

mentoring, networking and skills development, and for making contributions to their communities through science outreach. The program is led by the nonprofit organization Ciencia Puerto Rico, in collaboration with Yale University.

Fellows must apply to be selected to participate in the yearlong, mostly virtual program, which leverages the CienciaPR community—one of the largest networks of Hispanic/Latinx scientists in the world—to connect doctoral students in biological, biomedical, health and behavioral sciences with advisors, mentors and professional development opportunities. Through workshops and virtual conversations with successful scientists, participants can explore different careers, define their academic and career goals, expand

their networks, and acquire communication and leadership skills. The program also allows students to have an impact on society through science outreach. In addition, participants attend an in-person meeting at the AAAS conference, where they participate in program-organized workshops and meeting sessions.

“The Yale Ciencia Academy complements traditional graduate training with access to a diverse network of peers, role models and advisors,” said Giovanna Guerrero-Medina, principal investigator and director of the YCA. “The goal is to help students gain clarity in their academic and professional goals and become the scientists they want to be. We are excited about the talent and promise among this new class of YCA fellows.”

7

2019 PRESIDENT’S FULFILLING THE DREAM AWARD

columns.uga.edu March 4, 2019

‘Just what you’re supposed to do’ Giving back is second nature for community recipient of 2019 Dream Award

PUBLIC SERVICE AND OUTREACH

Native Plant Certificate takes root in Tifton

By Leah Moss

leahmoss@uga.edu

By Leigh Beeson lbeeson@uga.edu

Growing up on the east side of Athens, Michele Pearson was always a “why” kid.

“Why is the grass green and the sky blue? Why do we do this?” she remembers asking. “I don’t do well with a ‘because I said so’ response.”

While her unwillingness to follow the rules just because they were the rules drove her family crazy; that tendency to not accept the status quo and to argue for change is what won Pearson recognition at the 16th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Breakfast. The business owner and longtime Athens Housing Authority and Athens Area Chamber of Commerce board member was awarded the President’s Fulfilling the Dream Award, given to an outstanding member of the Athens-Clarke County community who is advancing King’s dream of equality and justice for all, on Jan. 18.

Pearson’s dedication to giving back started in high school when she served on Cedar Shoals High School’s student government association. From that point on, getting involved in her community became innate.

“Being an Athenian, I would think what did I see? What did I complain about?” she said. “I am one of the strong believers in ‘you don’t complain; you do.’ So, being an engaged citizen was just like breathing.”

When she graduated with bachelor’s degrees in history and business from Piedmont College in 2003, Pearson didn’t know what she wanted to do next.

She’d planned on law school, but an internship showed her that law wasn’t quite the right fit. But she’d worked in Piedmont College’s school of business while attending, and when a dean suggested getting an MBA, Pearson knew it would be the right fit.

After getting an MBA in management in 2005, she got to work.

She knew that one of the best ways she could effect change in her community was to help people learn more about finance, which ultimately led to her becoming a financial adviser and opening her own Edward Jones investment firm in Athens.

“I did not grow up with money at all,”

Dorothy Kozlowski

Michele Pearson was recognized as the community recipient of the 2019 Dream Award for her dedication to giving back to the Athens community.

Pearson said. “But it became the thing that I saw moving the needle. No matter what socioeconomic level you were, if you were able to understand financial freedom, then you could actually take charge and do things.When people have that empowerment, they can actually do what they want.”

That focus on helping people make the most of their circumstances brought Pearson, who was then serving as a representative for the Athens Housing Authority, to a community meeting in 2016 where people from a variety of local organizations were gathered, trying to determine what the future held for Athens.

As the discussion progressed, she realized there was only one other African American woman in the room and only one other woman in the group of about 20 people.

“I said, ‘There’s no way we’re going to work.’ If we’re going to start down this road of planning what Athens looks like in the future, the board needs to look like the community,” she said. “Everybody kind of looked around and said, ‘I hadn’t noticed.’ And I was like, ‘That’s because you never have to.’ ” Out of that discussion came the idea for a new organization, one that would

WEEKLY READER

help take control of the future of Athens to fix problems that exist and maximize the city’s potential: Envision Athens.

The housing authority and Envision, where Pearson now serves as chair, served as a springboard for her, launching her into more organizations and onto more boards, like Ebenezer Baptist Church, West Trustees, where she serves as secretary.

She became a member of the Winterville Local School Governance Team, which focuses on school improvement and planning; worked on the Mayor’s Task Force on ACC Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; served as the regional coordinator for the Edward Jones Alzheimer’s Awareness program; co-founded the Northeast Georgia Business Alliance; and has continued as a member of the Athens Housing Authority board since 2006.

Despite her community involvement record, she remains humble.

“My first thought when I found out I won the Fulfilling the Dream Award was am I old enough to get this award?” she said with a laugh. “What have I done to deserve this award? I still don’t see it.”

Because for her, being involved in her community is second nature. It’s just what you do.

South Georgia residents can now earn the Certificate in Native Plants from the State Botanical Garden of Georgia without making a four-hour drive to Athens.

Beginning this year, classes in the certificate program, established at UGA in 2007, are available in classrooms and gardens in or near Tifton, which is home to the UGA Tifton campus.

The premise of the program is the same: to educate landscapers, gardeners and citizens about the importance of preserving and protecting Georgia’s native plant species. Because Tifton is located in the Coastal Plain region of Georgia, students in that program will focus on native plants commonly found in flatlands, marshes and swamps, such as fire-dependent longleaf pine woodlands and carnivorous pitcher-plant bogs.

“As a landscape architect, I want to be able to work within all the systems of an area—the climate, geology, topography, soil—and understand how those conditions work together to support the different plant communities you see,” said Katherine Melcher, an associate professor in the UGA College of Environment and Design, who is helping teach the curriculum in Tifton. “If you’re thinking of this native plant growing here, it’s because of all these factors, like how there was an ocean here thousands of years ago.”

About 500 people have taken courses toward the Certificate in Native Plants since it was first offered in 2007. Nearly 10 graduate with certificates each year.

To earn the certificate, students must complete four core classes, six electives, a volunteer service project and two field trips. The schedule is flexible—students can complete the work in a year, or stretch it out over a period of years. They can take classes in either location.

Bonnie McCoy, from Merriweather County, began taking classes in Athens and is now finishing the certificate in Tifton.

“Growing up on a farm, I always wanted to know more about plants,” McCoy said. “Now I’m in a place where I can do more of what I want, and I’m so thankful to have two options to take classes.”

James Lewis began the certificate program as soon as it launched in Tifton.

For the past 11 years, Lewis was a professor at the Defense Acquisition University, a federal institution that prepares an adaptive and accomplished workforce for the U.S. military. About a year ago, he decided to pursue his passion for plants and open a nursery, Flat Creek Natives LLC in Perry.

“We specialize in native plants, and this program is helping me understand which native plants do better in which parts of Georgia,” Lewis said. “Native plants are Georgia’s legacy, they’re our history. Intuitively, they are better for the environment and animals.”

To learn more about the Native Plants Certificate program in Athens and Tifton, go to https://bit.ly/2SYWmdX.

CYBERSIGHTS

ABOUT COLUMNS

Book sheds light on two literary luminaries

The Letters of Flannery O’Connor and Caroline Gordon Edited by Christine Flanagan University of Georgia Press Hardback: $32.95 eBook: $32.95

This collection of letters and other documents offers the most complete portrait of the relationship between two of the American South’s most acclaimed 20th-century writers: Flannery O’Connor and Caroline Gordon.

Gordon (1895–1981) had herself been a protege of an important novelist, Ford Madox Ford, before publishing nine novels and three short story collections of her own, most notably, The Forest of the South and Old Red and Other Stories, and she would offer insights and friendship to O’Connor during almost all of O’Connor’s career.

As revealed in this collection of correspondence, Gordon’s 13-year friendship with O’Connor (1925–1964) and the critiques of O’Connor’s fiction that she wrote during this time not only fostered each writer’s career but also occasioned a remarkable series of letters full of insights about the craft of writing.

Columns is available to the community by ­subscription for an annual fee of $20 (second-class delivery) or $40 (first-class delivery). Faculty and staff members with a disability may call 706-542-8017 for assistance in obtaining this publication in an alternate format.

Columns staff can be reached at 706-542-8017 or columns@uga.edu

Editor Juliett Dinkins

Download Office ProPlus software for free

ugamail.uga.edu/download_office_proplus/ UGA students, faculty and staff have free access to download and install Office 365 ProPlus software through their online UGAMail ­account, which is powered by Office 365. Students and employees may download and install the latest, full version of Office 365 ProPlus software on up to 10 of their ­personal devices (computers,

tablets or phones) with Windows or Apple operating systems.

This service was previously available only to students through the Student Advantage program.

It is now available to all UGA faculty and staff, according to the university’s existing license with Microsoft. The program is not available to retirees.

Communications Coordinator Krista Richmond Art Director Jackie Baxter Roberts Photo Editor Dorothy Kozlowski Writers Kellyn Amodeo Leigh Beeson The University of Georgia is committed to principles of equal opportunity and affirmative action.

The University of Georgia is a unit of the University System of Georgia.

8 March 4, 2019 columns.uga.edu

MIRACLE

from page 1

COMMENCEMENT from page 1 post-college career at WTVM-TV in Columbus and subsequently worked at WBIR-TV in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she gained notice for her coverage of the state legislature.

Roberts further honed her reporting skills as bureau chief of WFTV-TV, the ABC affiliate in Orlando from February 1987 to May 1990, where she also served as the station’s field anchor at the Kennedy Space Center and co-anchor of the weekend news.

In 1990, Roberts began her network career with NBC News as a general assignment correspondent. She covered stories in the Southeast from the Atlanta and Miami bureaus and was dispatched to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait reporting on the lead up to the Persian Gulf War. Roberts was later named a magazine correspondent for Dateline NBC and reported from Barcelona during the 1992 Summer Olympic games, earning an Emmy nomination for this coverage.

In 1992, she received a University of Georgia Distinguished Alumnus Award, presented annually to recent graduates who have excelled rapidly in their professions.

Roberts joined ABC’s 20/20 in 1995.

Since then her curiosity has taken her around the world, from Bangladesh to report on women’s maternal health to Africa where she has traveled extensively, telling stories about the HIV/AIDS crisis and an Emmy-winning report on a woman who discovered her long lost mother in an African village. Roberts has won numerous awards for her work including a Clarion award for coverage of abuse within the Amish community.

In 2006, Roberts delivered UGA’s HolmesHunter Lecture, and in 2016 she presented an Alumni Seminar. Earlier this year, she participated in a panel discussion titled “Grady Greats: A Conversation on the Enduring Values and Power of Journalism.”

Johnson, who also holds the title of Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, is an accomplished scholar in political science, with numerous awards for his teaching prowess and research.

During his career at UGA, Johnson authored more than 30 books and more than 200 articles on intelligence agencies, foreign policy and national security. He served as editor of the journal Intelligence and National Security and as a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Intelligence History, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, Intelligence and National Security and

The Oxford Handbook of National Security Intelligence, among many others. His latest book is titled Spy Watching: Intelligence Accountability in the United States (Oxford, 2018). Johnson was a driving force in the creation of the School of Public and International Affairs in 2001.

In 2012, the 14 universities that comprise the Southeast Conference selected him as the inaugural recipient of its now annual prize: The SEC Professor of the Year.

After receiving his doctorate in political science from the University of California at Riverside in 1969, he taught at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, California State University (San Francisco) and Ohio University, where he was tenured in 1974.

From 1975 on, Johnson also served as a political consultant and congressional staff member, pushing for increased oversight of intelligence agencies. He was special assistant to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, which investigated the nation’s spy agencies and led to the establishment of oversight committees in the Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to monitor intelligence activities.

Additionally, Johnson served on the staff of the Senate’s Committee on Foreign Relations, as staff director of the House Subcommittee on Intelligence Oversight and on the staff of the House Subcommittee on Trade and International Economic Policy.

He became a member of the UGA faculty in the political science department in 1979, becoming a full professor in 1985. He took a year’s leave from the university in 1995 to work on the Aspin-Brown Commission on Intelligence. He also has taught at Yale University and Oxford University as a Distinguished Visiting Professor, and he has presented addresses on national security and foreign policy topics at more than 150 colleges and universities in North America, Europe and New Zealand.

During his time at UGA, Johnson has been involved in both local and national politics, including writing Friend of the Court petitions in intelligence-related court cases, serving as a member of the Georgia State Board of Elections and leading the SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax) campaign to finance a new Cedar Shoals High School and renovate public schools throughout AthensClarke County.

Johnson will retire at the end of the spring semester after more than 40 years at UGA.

Bulletin Board Columns publication break

For this reason, it is required that all individuals plan to attend the entire event, which will run from 7-10 p.m.

For more information, visit TEDxUGA.com/register.

Additional details will be shared with registrants via email.

Service-Learning Fellows

WIP proposal deadline

Columns will not be published March 11 because of spring break.

Regular weekly publication will ­resume March 18. Send announcements for that issue to columns@uga.edu by 5 p.m. on March 6.

Applications for the 2019-2020 Service-Learning Fellows program are due March 20.

Up to nine faculty members will be selected for participation in this yearlong program and will receive a $2,500 faculty development award.

All permanent, full-time UGA faculty members with an interest in service-learning are eligible.

Complete application materials, along with examples of previous Fellows projects, are available at https://bit.ly/2WWrJo3.

TEDxUGA registration

Registration for TEDxUGA 2019: Amplify is now open.

The seventh annual celebration of ideas worth spreading will be held March 22 at the Classic Center.

Individuals may register for $20 or $30 with a T-shirt. According to TEDxUGA organizers, there is no audience for the event—only participants.

The Franklin College Writing Intensive Program invites proposals from arts and sciences faculty in all disciplines for innovative courses that encourage writing.

The WIP aims to enhance undergraduate education by emphasizing the importance of writing in the disciplines by offering “writing-intensive” courses throughout the college.

Faculty who teach WIP courses are supported by a Writing Intensive Program teaching assistant, who is specially trained in writing-in-thedisciplines pedagogy.

Visit www.wip.uga.edu to find proposal forms and guidelines, as well as information about the program.

The deadline for proposal submissions is March 10. Direct questions to Lindsey Harding, WIP director, at lharding@uga.edu.

Bulletin Board is limited to information that may pertain to a majority of faculty and staff members.

Chad Osburn

For this year’s Dance Marathon, UGA Miracle focused on raising funds for an aquatic therapy pool.

Miracle family mom. “We have three children who will never stand on this earth, so this challenge has a huge impact on my heart,” she said.

At the conclusion of Dance Marathon, there is a ceremony called Circle of Hope where the Miracle kids and parents cut the hospital bands off their wrists, she explained.

“It would not be Dance Marathon without our Miracle families,” Threlkeld said.

The Miracle Family Relations Committee pairs Miracle students and families to spend time together through a program called Family Pals, where Miracle student Krista Smith met the Hopkins family.

“Being a Family Pal to the Hopkins family is one of the biggest privileges and most special opportunities at UGA,” said Smith.

Hopkins said her family’s first experience with Children’s was 26 years ago, when she was told her daughter, Mary Elizabeth, would not live past the age of 3.

“Thanks to God’s plan of blessing us with the wonderful doctors, nurses and staff, she lived to be 21,” she said.

She said three of her four children were treated at Children’s, and she is now the “mommie,” as she and the children spell it, of two angels.

Smith said the Hopkins family is the strongest unit of individuals she has ever known, and their daughter, Marlee Anne, 16, has become like a little sister to her.

“Whether it is working on homework, sending each other encouraging messages or watching her perform with her theater group, I am constantly blown away with

how much I am learning from her strength, kindness and positivity,” said Smith.

Each Hopkins family member champions their faith and lives as a role model to the Family Pal group, she said.

“They are the most selfless people I know, and we are always blown away at how much they serve us when we’re the ones who are here to serve them,” said Smith. “It just shows exactly how incredible they are.”

“We ask the students to come and see, to meet our family, hear our story, be part of our life and most of all to know the importance of having a tier one pediatric health facility in our state,” said Mike Hopkins, Miracle family dad. “Miracle’s efforts can sustain this not only for the current families but those to come.”

Smith explained how fundraising can be hard for college students, but it does not take much to feel motivated to fundraise at Dance Marathon when she thinks about the Hopkins family, her committee members and the hospital.

“I don’t really need much convincing that this cause is worth fighting for,” she said. “Marlee Anne alone raised $6,000 for her brother, Abe; $21,000 for her sister, Mary Elizabeth; and $18,000 for her sister, Michala, so that alone inspires me to hustle for it.”

“Please know, every dollar makes a difference at Children’s,” said Kelli Hopkins.

“You never know when the money you raise may be what gives a family just one more day with their child. When it gets hard to ask one more person to give to the cause, remember the impact you are having on lives.”

PROFESSOR

from page 1 juris doctor/master’s in business administration program. She played a role in establishing the Business Law Clinic, which gives students experience in legal services to small business owners and not-for-profit organizations. In addition, she helped launch UGA’s Corsair Law Society, a student organization that bolsters networking, leadership and career readiness for students interested in transactional law or corporate litigation outside the state. “(Rodrigues) has transformed the law school into a nationally recognized center for business law education and become a dynamic partner with the Athens business community,” said Erica Hashimoto, professor of law at Georgetown University.

Rodrigues served as a leader in a faculty collaboration known as eHub that helped spur the development of UGA’s Entrepreneurship Program, and she currently sits on the program’s advisory board. She also chairs the board of Four Athens Inc., a nonprofit technology accelerator based in Athens.

She was a member of the inaugural class of the university’s Women’s Leadership Fellows Program and participated in a yearlong women’s leadership initiative at the Law School known as Georgia Women in Law Lead. She spearheaded the creation

RANKING

of a multi-school consortium of law schools dedicated to women’s leadership and in 2018 hosted the group’s inaugural conference.

Rodrigues is a Fellow in the Southeastern Conference Academic Leadership Development Program and is a member of the American Law Institute.

“Her impact extends past the walls of the Law School and even the university,” wrote Dean Peter B. “Bo” Rutledge in a nominating letter. “Usha serves as a role model for others—for students, faculty colleagues and staff alike. She genuinely cares about people and their successes. She is a mentor to many, including women and people of all backgrounds and races.”

University Professors receive a permanent salary increase of $10,000 and an annual academic support account of $5,000. Nominations from the deans of UGA’s schools and colleges are reviewed by a committee, which makes a recommendation to the provost. First awarded in 1974, the professorship is limited to no more than one faculty member per year.

To learn more about University Professorships and for a list of past recipients, see https://provost.uga.edu/resources/ faculty-resources/professorships/universityprofessorships/.

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not only lower the cost for students, but data from a small sample of UGA courses using OpenStax books also shows improved end-of-course grades, especially for Pell recipients, part-time students and student populations historically underserved by higher education,” she said.

UGA was an early adopter of these free textbooks and pioneered ways large institutions can focus their implementation on a bigger scale and improve learning outcomes.

Peggy Brickman, a professor of plant

biology, and her colleagues teach general education biology courses taken by nearly 2,000 students a year. When she adopted an OpenStax textbook in 2013, CTL used a grant to fund a graduate assistant who worked with Brickman to redesign her course. It was an opportunity for Brickman to rethink how to best teach the course, and students have been thanking her ever since.

“It has saved hundreds of thousands of dollars for students,” Brickman said, “and the course is much better after we redesigned it.”