Happy 10th Anniversary to CSU Servant Leadership

I just had the wonderful opportunity to attend the 10th anniversary celebration of the Columbus State University's Servant Leadership program.

Dr. Stuart Rayfield, CSU's Frank Brown Distinguished Chair in Servant Leadership, directs an extraordinary program in a city named by the Greenleaf Center as the first Servant Leadership City in the U.S. At today's celebration, the 24 graduating seniors in the CSU program discussed their experiences and their yearlong project, yielding 1,500 volunteer hours. The celebration also revisited annual projects from the first nine years of the program.

This special program, now includes both the baccalaureate scholars as well as an M.S. program that focuses on servant leadership as well. My sincere thanks go to all involved in this wonderful initiative.

Rocking the House with 360 Degrees of Music

Congratulations to the Columbus State University Choral Union, the Trumpet Ensemble, the Trombone Octet and the Trombone Choir for their exceptionally powerful concert, Surround Sound: 360 Degrees of Music.

Special thanks to professors Constantina Tsolainou, Robert Murray and Bradley Palmer for their teaching and conducting on behalf of this event at our own Legacy Hall. The hall was packed with patrons of all ages, and the music was wonderful.

Berlin Study Abroad Program Offers Powerful Lessons

A special shout-out goes to professors Mariko Izumi (Communication) and Carmen Skaggs (English) for their exceptional work in orchestrating an incredibly powerful study abroad experience, a Berlin-based course focused on "Memorializing the Holocaust." Last night I attended a series of incredible presentations by our talented students who recently returned from a spring break trip to Germany. The poetry readings, digital storytelling and counter-monument presentations were exceptional. I remain most impressed by the power of what takes place in our classrooms and the enormous benefits of study abroad.

Hunter Lecturer Astronaut Enlightens, Helps CSU Celebrate Center Donation

This year's Hunter Lecture featured Dr. Bernard A. Harris Jr., the first African American astronaut to walk in space. The lecture coincided with an incredibly powerful conference, NeXtGen STEM: Innovative Solutions for Tomorrow's Emerging Workforce.

As a special bonus, Dr. Harris appeared at our Coca-Cola Space Science Center, where Dr. Shawn Cruzen and team announced a $250,000 gift from MeadWestvaco to support continued expansion of the center, as well as to honor its unveiling of the NASA space shuttle nozzle. On campus, Dr. Harris spoke to close to 1,000 high school students from Columbus to Atlanta and mesmerized them with his epic stories of space, including traveling over 7 million miles!

Southern Literary Festival Speakers Enthrall; Organizers Recognized

What a weekend! Columbus State University had the distinct pleasure of hosting the extraordinary 2013 Southern Literary Festival and bringing to the campus and community such luminaries as Natasha Tretheway, the nation's poet laureate.

Also speaking at the festival were fiction writer Kevin Wilson, poet Daniel Albergotti, nonfiction writer Madge McKeithen and Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried, our First Year Experience common reading for 2012-2013.

My sincere thanks go to CSU professors Nick Norwood, Aaron Sanders and Terry Irvin, as well as the Department of English, for their exceptional work in orchestrating this important event. I had the pleasure of hearing O'Brien twice, once on campus and again at the Springer Opera House. His talks were powerful and moving.

Computer Science Professor Receives Fulbright Scholar Award

Professor Vladimir Zanev will teach in Bulgaria next fall as a participant in the Fulbright Scholar Program.

Zanev will take a sabbatical from the TSYS School of Computer Science in CSU's Turner College of Business to be able to take advantage of his U.S. Scholar Grant in the Fulbright program. He will serve as a visiting lecturer at the University of Mining and Geology in Sofia, the capital of the southeastern European nation.

Susan Hrach Wins Regents' Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award

Special congratulations are due to our colleague Dr. Susan Hrach, professor of English and director of CSU's Faculty Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning, for winning the coveted Felton Jenkins Jr. Hall of Fame Faculty Award.

It's the first time that one of our faculty has been honored in such a grand fashion by the state Board of Regents. This is exceptional recognition for Dr. Hrach, who was praised for her work in three major areas: reading and assessing literature in translation with core curriculum students; analyzing the historical and cultural function of translated literature with upper-level students; and managing culture shock in study abroad programs.