Dr. Shea is an internationally known leader and visionary in the fields of suicide prevention and creating resiliency, and has given more than 850 presentations worldwide. His clinical interviewing innovations have been adopted around the world. He has received various awards including an Outstanding Course Award by the American Psychiatric Association. He has authored six books and numerous articles on suicide prevention, many of which have been translated into numerous languages. He received his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Duke University, his M.D. from the University of North Carolina, and completed his residency at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the University of Pittsburg.

Dr. Shea will talk about a “tougher happiness – one that has resiliency in difficult times of stress, loss, and pain.” This event is co-sponsored with ORSPC by Glenn Funeral Home, Owensboro Health, and River Valley Behavioral Health. It is free and open to the public.

Please join the greater Owensboro community on Thursday, May 16 at 6:30 pm for a free lecture by Dr. Shawn Shea.

The Best Oral Presentation went to Laura Wygant, medical technology major. Her presentation was on Anorexia nervosa. Her faculty sponsor was Linda Girouard, Ph.D. An abstract of her presentation is below.

Anorexia nervosa can be caused by the psychological factor (society’s ideal of body image), the biological factor (neurological and hormonal), by other diseases such as depression or perfectionism, or by a combination of these factors. Anorexia was once related to religious practices such as Buddhism. A major media influence on anorexia is pro-anorexia websites. The websites show tips to hide the disease. An example of tips shared for weight loss is the use of nail growth polish to prevent the nails from becoming brittle and showing malnourishment. The possible major biological system related to anorexia is the serotonin system. Also, NET may be one of the first genes to be related to Anorexia nervosa. Perfectionism is one of the major diseases that is related to anorexia. People want to prove they are the best and push it to the next level and end up with the disorder. It is fairly difficult to diagnose AN since the patient is in such denial of the disorder and usually refuses medical treatment. Therapy is a major treatment technique for anorexics. Family therapy seems to be the most effective. The hope for this disorder is it has emerged to the public’s eye and now physicians are taking it seriously. Doctors are looking into the biological aspects of this disorder and one day may find a biological cure for anorexia.

The Best Poster Presentation went to  LeAnne Myers, art major. Her presentation was The Grimm Brothers’ ceramics. Her faculty sponsor was Ellen Dugan-Barrette, Ph.D. An abstract of her presentation is below.

I have read the Grimm Brothers fairy tales and have chosen three stories to correspond with three ceramic pieces. I have created three iconic symbols from each story, along with a synopsis of the tale and my project.

Myers’ ceramic pieces depicting three Grimm Brothers’ stories.

Connecticut

Stafford Springs: Nicole McDaniels, a BUonline student, was recognized by the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Scholastic Honor Society.

Indiana

Carlisle: Kelsie Burr received the St. Catherine Award for Scholar Athletes in Soccer.

Evansville: Sydney Seyffarth was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. Leslie Powell was recognized by the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Scholastic Honor Society.

Newburgh: Lindsey Phipps received the Virginia Stout Fitzgerald Endowed Scholarship.

Otwell: Katrina McCandless, a BU online student, received the Delbert S. Murphy Alumni Scholarship.

Princeton: Taylor Holley received the Henry B. and Eudora Payne Scholarship.

Kentucky

Beaver Dam: Charles Johnson received the Outstanding Accounting Student Award.

Brandenburg: Jesse Adams received recognition from the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Scholastic Honor Society and was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Caneyville: Trena Bratcher received the Rembrandt Award and the Theiphila Joan Oexmann Art Award for Best in Show for Digital Design.

Columbia: Jennifer Hovious, a BUonline student, received the High Scholastic Achievement Award.

Danville: Brian Wray received the St. Sebastian Award for Scholar Athletes in Tennis.

Eddieville: Stuart Lipscomb was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Elizabethtown: Jared Daugherty received the St. Sebastian Award for Scholar Athletes in Track and Field and Cross Country.

Elkton: Clayton Broderick received the St. Sebastian Award for Scholar Athletes in Soccer.

Elsmere: Corey Moore received the St. Sebastian Award for Scholar Athletes in Baseball; was recognized as an Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society New Member and the recipient of the Leadership Award.

Greensburg: Nathan Laramore was recognized by the Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society as a New Member.

Greenville: Embra Hawkins received the St. Catherine Award for Scholar Athletes in Track and Field and Cross Country. Schyler Pentecost received the Sr. Mary Jean Cotter Art Scholarship. Donita Mallory was recognized as an Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society New Member.

Hardinsburg: Julianna Whitfill received the St. Catherine Award for Scholar Athletes in Basketball. Giusy D’Antoni received the Virginia Stout Fitzgerald Endowed Scholarship.

Hawesville: Lucas Stone received the Outstanding Student in Computer Science Award. Sara Beth Morgan was recognized by the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Scholastic Honor Society. Maria Ochoa was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Henderson: Carla Crespo received the Delbert S. Murphy Alumni Scholarship; was named as an Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society New Member; and was recognized by the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Scholastic Honor Society. Miriam Key received the Juror’s Choice Award for the Theiphila Joan Oexmann Art Award for Ceramics, Printmaking, and Stained Glass.

Hopkinsville: Brittany Mason was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Leitchfield: Taylor Grant Collins received recognition by the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Scholastic Honor Society and was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Louisville: Sara Downs,  Mary Katherine McClure, and  Molly Payne were named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Madisonville: Daniell Rose Ripa was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Morganfield: Geneva Beaven received the St. Catherine Award for Scholar Athletes. Sara Rossio received the Sr. Mary Jean Cotter Art Scholarship; Achievement in Original Poetry Writing Award;  and Juror’s Choice Award for Theiphila Joan Oexmann Art Award in Drawing. Allena Rossio received the Sr. Mary Jean Cotter Art Scholarship; Theiphila Joan Oexmann Art Award-Best in Show; and the Juror’s Choice Award. Hayden Young received the Outstanding Mathematics Student Award.

Owensboro: Jennifer Aud Blandford received the Outstanding Student Teacher Award. Brittany Daugherty received the August C. Muckler Memorial Scholarship; Owensboro Civitan Jack Keeney Memorial Scholarship; and St.Catherine Award for Scholar Athletes in Golf. Tina Mattingly received the Outstanding Social Work Student. Logan Cecil received the Sr. Casimir Czurles Biology Scholarship and was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities. Joshua Givens received the Sr. Michele Morek Award for Outstanding Senior in the Biology Area. Dana Howard received the Owensboro Chapter-Institute of Management Accountants Award of Distinction and the Outstanding Business Student Award. Chelsea McFarland received the Lincoln Service Business Scholarship and the St. Catherine Award for Scholar Athletes in Volleyball. Sean McGehee received the Ebelhar-Whitehead Accounting Scholarship. Kristen Miller received the High Scholastic Achievement Award; Outstanding Student Teacher Award; Certificate of Completion in the Brescia University Honors Program Award; and Leadership Award in Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society. Ginger Mitchell received the First Year Programming Award. Kristen Potter received the Lucinda Clements Scholarship Award and an Outstanding Student Teacher Award. Mallory Ralph received the Outstanding Achievement In Speech Pathology and Audiology Award. Abigail Riney received the Charles E. Field Foundation Scholarship and was named as an Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society New Member. Austin Tapp received the Biology Assistant Award for Excellent Service in the Biology Area and a Leadership Award by the Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society.

Paducah: Evan Bickerstaff received the St. Sebastian Award for Scholar Athletes in Basketball and Golf and was named to Who Who’s Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Philpot: Samantha Hines was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Princeton: Ashlea Holt received the St. Catherine Award for Scholar Athletes in Softball and was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Providence: David Trey Drury was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Radcliff: Alexxis Ross-Logan was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Utica: Emily Adkins was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Webster: Tiffany Cashman received the Achievement in Original Fictional Writing Award.

Whitesville: Amanda Edge received the Juror’s Choice Award for the Theiphila Joan Oexmann Art Award for Photography. Jordan Hagan received the Outstanding Student Teacher Award. Marketa Kreuzingerova received the William Elmer Scholarship; New Student of the Year Award; Outstanding Freshman Math Award; was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities, and received the Outstanding Achievement in Spanish Award. Candance Lambert was named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Maine

Portland: Jennifer Bell, a BUonline student, was named as an Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society New Member.

Maryland

Aberdeen Proving Ground: Lori Tillery received recognition from the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Scholastic Honor Society.

Missouri

Arnold: Colin Davis received the Sr. Mary Jean Cotter Art Scholarship.

St. Louis: Jasen London received the High Scholastic Achievement Award; Leadership Award in the Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society; and the Fred J. Clements Science Award.

Minnesota

Blackstone: Yvonne Chita, a Buonline student, received the Sr. Alberta Birkhead Scholarship.

Ohio

Greenfield: Sarah Elrhanjaouiwas named to Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Homeworth: Dorthea Stanley received the High Scholastic Achievement Award and the Outstanding Field Practicum Student in Social Work Award.

Marietta: Amanda Smolenski received recognition by the Delta Epsilon Sigma National Scholastic Honor Society.

Tennessee

Connorsville: Sarah King was named to the Who’s Who Among Students in American Colleges and Universities.

Fayetteville: Glenn Cox received the Maggie Clements Religious Studies Award and was recognized by the Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society as a New Member.

The following students received admission into graduate programs:

Brittany Brandle: Western Kentucky University Masters Program In Social Work;

Sarah King: Murray State University Masters Program in Economics;

Nicole McDaniels: The Chicago School of Professional Psychology;

Athena Morrell: Suffolk University Masters Program in Mental Health Counseling and  the University of Massachusetts Masters Program in Counseling;

Amanda Snell: University of Southern California Masters Program in Clinical Social Work;

Dorthea Stanley: University of Southern California Masters Program in Social Work;

Radonna Thies-Jernigan: Worden School of Social Service at Our Lady of Lake University.

Additionally, faculty and staff were nominated and selected by Sigma Alpha Pi members to receive awards in three categories:

Excellence in Teaching

Awarded to up to three faculty members who:

1. Teach with passion and inspires students beyond the classroom, and who;
2. Demonstrate dedication to developing students beyond academic qualifications, and who;
3. Make a positive difference in the lives of Society members.

This year’s Excellence in Teaching award recipients are: Dr. Craig Barrette, David Bartholomy, and Dr. Daniel Kuntz.

Excellence in Service to Students

Awarded to up to three staff members who:

1. Exemplify leadership and mentorship on our campus, and who;
2. Demonstrate commitment to bettering the lives of students.

This year’s Excellence in Service to Students award recipients are:  Britton Hibbitt, Tom Pope, and Kenny Short.

Honorary Membership

Awarded to up to three staff or faculty members, administrators or local businesspersons who:

1. Embody the Society mission: “Building leaders to make a better world,” and who;
2. Demonstrate leadership qualities in a personal or professional capacity.

This year’s Honorary Membership award recipients are:  Todd Brock, Jason Cox, and Jeff Rudnik.

The event will be held in Room 111 of the Administration Building and is presented by Dr. Marlaine Chase, Chair of the Brescia University School of Education, and Tina Wolken, Assistant Professor of Education at Brescia.

There is no charge but teachers should RSVP by contacting Mary Alice Wethington at maryw@brescia.edu or 686-4230.

There is an influx of Asian, Burmese, and Hispanic children in the local school system creating a need for teachers with an ESL background. Recognizing this need, Brescia University developed a program which combines five classes totaling 13 credit hours, plus 30 hours of field experience and 30 hours of practicum. Classes in this program include Language and Culture, Linguistics, Acquisition and the Skill Set for Teaching ESL Students, Methods and Materials for Teaching P-12 ESL Students, and a practicum.

This program has been approved by the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board. The ideal candidate is one who is currently enrolled in an education program at Brescia University or a current teacher in the school system who would like to take these hours to receive the endorsement.

Following the program, students must pass the Praxis II English to Speakers of Other Languages’ test.

Classes will be offered one evening a week for a full semester to accommodate current teachers in the local school system. The first course, Edu 402- Acquisition and the Skill Set for Teaching ESL Students, will be held on Tuesdays from 5-7:40 pm beginning on August 27, 2013.

To enroll today in the ESL endorsement program, contact the School of Education at 270-686-4230 or email education@brescia.edu. You can also visit www.brescia.edu/esl for more information.

Brescia University will culminate the spring semester with a special evening prayer service for our graduating seniors and their families on Friday, May 10 at 7 pm in St. Stephen Cathedral (610 Locust Street, Owensboro, KY 42301). Seniors will receive their tassels and master’s graduates will be hooded at this event. Each graduate will also receive their alumni card. A reception, hosted by the Office for Alumni Relations, in the Campus Center Study Pavilion will follow the service. Desserts and punch will be available.

Commencement 2013 Streamed Live Online

Brescia University will have commencement streamed live online for those unable to attend the event. To view the link, please click here.

Honorary Degrees and Graduation

Brescia University is celebrating the graduation of 118 students at 10 am on Saturday, May 11, 2013 at the RiverPark Center (101 Daviess Street,  Owensboro, KY 42303) in Owensboro.

This year, Brescia will confer two honorary degrees, Honoris Causa. Robert H. Steele of Owensboro, will receive the Doctor of Humane Letters. Steele graduated from Brescia College in 1951. He has served as a Director on boards such as The Owensboro Riverport, The Owensboro Industrial Foundation, the Kentucky Racing Commission and the Owensboro National Bank. He is currently the owner of Massie-Clark Development and remains an active philanthropist and civic leader in the greater Owensboro area.

Brescia University’s commencement speaker this year, Sr. Diana Stano, OSU, will receive a Doctor of Education, Honoris Causa. Sr. Diana is the 16^th president of Ursuline College, Ohio’s oldest chartered college for women. A graduate of Ursuline College, Sister Diana joined the faculty after receiving her doctorate in Science Education from The Ohio State University.  At Ursuline she taught as a professor of education and served in various leadership positions, including the following: chair of the education department, founder and director of the graduate program in non-public administration, the college’s first master’s degree program; dean of graduate studies and director of institutional research until her appointment as president in 1996.

Locally, she has served as president of the Ohio Association of Colleges of Teacher Education and the Ohio Confederation of Teacher Education Organizations; as chair of the Ohio LEAD forum; as a member of the Board of the Greater Cleveland Educational Development Center, and the Greater Cleveland Administration Assessment Project, of which she was a founding member.  Nationally, Sister Diana served as chair of the Commission of Women in Higher Education of the American Council on Education Association.  She has served as secretary/treasurer and president of the Association of Catholic Leadership Programs, and as program co-chair of the North American Association of Ursuline Educators.  She has served as a trustee on College boards, is a member of the Board of Catholic Community Connects, a member of Council of Presidents of the NCAA G-MAC Conference, and as a trustee of the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Ohio Executive Committee and the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Foundation for Independent Colleges.

She is a member of Leadership Cleveland and has been a recipient of the YWCA “Woman of Professional Excellence”; was named a Rainmaker of the Year in Education by Northern Ohio Live magazine; and was featured in Inside Business magazine:  Profiles in Character.  Smart Business magazine included her in a cover story which brought together five area business leaders for a roundtable discussion on women in business.  She was featured as a “Woman of Note” in Crain’s Magazine and named a YWCA Woman of Achievement.

Sister Diana is a peer evaluator for the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association.  As a professional consultant, she has presented internationally in Taiwan, China, West Africa, and Canada.  A panelist in numerous forums, she has presented at national conferences including the International Leadership Association and the American Council on Education.  She has provided and led workshops for educators in public and private schools as well as religious and other non-profit organizations.  An active member of many professional associations, she has presented on the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Principle-Centered Leadership, and Excellence in Leadership Coaching for Leadership Development.

Her community involvements include the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair, the United Way of Greater Cleveland, accreditation visits of various schools and colleges and as a frequent community speaker.

Brescia welcomes Sr. Diana as she addresses the graduating class of 2013 on Saturday, May 11, at 10:00 a.m. at the RiverPark Center. Commencement is open to the public and seating is based on first come, first served basis.

Pablo is originally from Argentina, growing up in the middle of the Andes Mountains in San Salvador. In 2004 he came to the US to complete a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Mathematics at Brescia. While at Brescia, Pablo received the Outstanding Computer Science Student of the Year Award in both 2005 and 2006. He was a member of the Alpha Chi Honors Society and named to the Dean’s List for five consecutive semesters before graduating summa cum laude in May 2006.

Red Pixel Studios hired Pablo in June 2006 to do what he calls “living the dream of working every day on stuff I’d otherwise do as a hobby.” Pablo is a developer at Red Pixel and specializes in “building scalable, modular solutions that provide flexibility and lower cost of ownership,” according to his biography on their website. He develops applications in Flash and Adobe Air and writes in PHP and AJAX.

He has had the honor to participate in Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference for the past 4 years and in 2012, Pablo led the Red Pixel team that developed “Bicicleta, Buenos Aires,” an iPhone and iPad App that won the first place at the inaugural Buenos Aires Apps national contest in Argentina.

When not working on software development, Pablo says he spends his free time volunteering at Theatre Workshop of Owensboro and playing with his two-month-old puppy, Jude.

Brescia welcomes Pablo to campus to address students and their families at this year’s Honors Convocation, which takes place Sunday, April 28 at 2 p.m. in the Waitman Taylor Lecture Hall in the Science Building. Immediately following, there will be a “Celebration of Excellence” reception in the Campus Center. All are welcome to attend.

For more information on Honors Convocation, please contact the Academic Dean’s Office at 270-686-4250.

Rohnn Sanderson, Ph.D.

Brescia University Assistant Professor of Economics and Finance and Chair of the W.H. Thompson School of Business, Rohnn Sanderson, Ph.D., has been selected as an editor and member of the International Center for Global Risks Economic Research.

According to their website, the Center was created in 2012 to “unite scientists from different countries for addressing the burning economic problems.”

There are 30 countries represented in the Center, including those from France, Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Taiwan, China, USA, and more. The Center says the diversity of their members allows them to give comprehensive consideration to every issue they discuss.

The Center publishes all the results of their scientific work in a form of journal articles and special monographs. For more information on the International Center for Global Risks Economic Research, please visit http://businessperspectives.org.