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COMMUNITY NEWS
Faculty awards and accomplishments
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Professor of Theatre Dr. Alan Litsey received the Suzanne M. Davis Memorial Award from the Southeastern Theatre Conference
during the group’s convention in March. The award honors one SETC member for distinguished service to the group over a
number of years. Litsey is directing a new play by Jeanmarie Collins, “Mr. Will and Dutch: Alabama’s Legendary Bankheads,”
which premieres in June in Jasper.
•
Dr. Maria Stadnik, assistant professor of mathematics, and Dr. Greta Valenti, assistant professor of psychology, accompanied
11 BSC students who gave presentations at the Southern Regional Honors Council’s annual meeting from March 18-22 in
Greeneville, S.C.
•
A new book edited by Dr. Randall Law, associate professor of history, came out April 13.
The Routledge History of Terrorism
examines the convoluted history of the transnational phenomenon over 32 chapters from various experts in the field.
•
Dr. Lester Seigel ’79, Joseph Hugh Thomas Professor of Music, received the 2014 Thomas R. Smith Award of the state chapter
of the American Choral Directors Association. The award recognizes those “who have made outstanding contributions to the
choral art.”
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Dr. Shane Pitts, Jack G. Paden Professor of Psychology, was the lead author on an article recently published in the journal
Social
Psychological and Personality Science. “When one is ostracized, others loom: Social rejection makes other people appear
closer” examines how people who have been rejected feel that others are physically closer to them than they really are.
Slagter
Brasher
Mays
Spring graduation
ceremonies and speakers
BSC Professor of Political Science Dr. Bob Slagter will address the Class of 2015 during the 156th Commencement
ceremony on Saturday, May 16, at 9 a.m. at Bill Battle Coliseum on campus. A President’s Reception will be held on campus
immediately after the ceremony.
Slagter was named Birmingham-Southern Outstanding Educator of the Year during the college’s 2014 graduation ceremony.
The award is given to a member of the BSC faculty who, according to recommendations by his or her colleagues, excels in all
aspects of teaching, including scholarship, classroom performance, and student advising. The award includes a cash stipend
and an invitation to speak at the following Commencement.
Slagter joined the BSC faculty in 1985, focusing primarily on the field of American politics; he now specializes in Asian
politics and development. After serving in the U.S. Army as a conscientious objector medic, he received his bachelor’s,
master’s and Ph.D. in political science from Southern Illinois University.
Dr. Larry Brasher, BSC emeritus professor of religion, will deliver the annual Baccalaureate address on Friday, May 15, at 11
a.m. at Canterbury United Methodist Church in Mountain Brook. A Capping ceremony will be held that same day at 3 p.m.
in the coliseum.
Stephanie Houston Mays ’04 will deliver the Convocation address at Birmingham-Southern’s Honors Day ceremony on
Thursday, April 30, at 10 a.m. in Munger Hall Auditorium. Mays, who received her J.D. from the Cumberland School of Law
at Samford University, was recently promoted to shareholder at Birmingham-based Maynard, Cooper & Gale PC.