Seven Georgia Perimeter College Nursing program graduates, including two GPC nursing faculty members, have been recognized for excellence by the March of Dimes. Professor Brenda Cherry, who served as GPC’s interim nursing director for the past year, was cited for Excellence in Nursing Education at MOD’s annual awards event. Professor Jewel Adams was a finalist for Nurse of the Year. A 2009 graduate, Mylinh Yun, who works at Emory University Hospital, was named a “Rising Star” in nursing. Michelle Gray, also Emory, a 1976 grad, was recognized for excellence in nursing leadership. Recognized for excellence in clinical practice were Jimmy Robbins, who works Grady Hospital, and Debbie McNiesh, Atlanta Medical Center, both class of 2007; and Erica Shy, Grady, a 2000 graduate.

Dr. Valora Richardson, OIT, earned her doctorate in Instructional Technology from Georgia State University in December.

Dr. Jeff Portnoy, English, Clarkston and Honors Program director, published an essay entitled “An Honors Koan: Selling Water by the River” in the most recent issue of the Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council.

Jade Holley, Gateway to College Academy, and Kathryn Hall, DeKalb Early College Academy, presented at the College Connections for Student Success conference Feb. 19. Their topic was "Two Approaches to Early College."

Dr. Rosemary Cox and Dr. Jeff Portnoy, both English, Clarkston, moderated panels at the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Georgia Collegiate Honors Council held at Middle Georgia State College in Macon. Cox moderated “Surviving Hard Times: Guilt, Prejudice, and Anguish in Literature.” Portnoy, who is also the director of GPC’s Honor Program, moderated “From Ancient Times to Modernity: Human Machinations.” The professors accompanied 12 GPC students, six of whom presented papers, to the conference.

The Two-Year College Association of Georgia (TYCA-GA) elected several GPC faculty members to statewide offices: president, Deborah Byrd, English, Newton; treasurer, Jane Hercules, Communication, Newton; and event coordinator, Rick Diguette, Dunwoody. Shellie Welch, English, Clarkston, will serve for one more year as recruitment coordinator. Also, Byrd will serve as interim state representative to the association’s southeastern region until state-wide elections are held in the fall.

Patricia Mote and Simone Brito, both Anatomy and Physiology instructors at Dunwoody, gave a presentation at the annual National Association of Biology Teachers Conference in Atlanta Nov 20-23. They presented to Advanced Placement biology teachers in a session entitled “What Is the Big Idea About Anatomy and Physiology.” The presentation gave the teachers pedagogical ideas as well as a CD of resources to use when presenting anatomy and physiology topics from the new AP Biology curriculum framework. Mote also co-presented a workshop on using guided and open-ended inquiry methods for lab investigations.

An article on digital activism by Lauri Bohanan Goodling, English, was accepted for publication in Kairos: A Journal of Rhetoric, Technology and Pedagogy. The issue will be available on social media in May 2015. Also, Goodling is in the final editing stages of reviewing the book, “Multimodal Literacies and Emerging Genres,” which will be published in the next issue of Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture.

Dr. Teresa Canganelli, Spanish, Online, presented “The Swiss Army Knives of Mobile Apps: Tellagami, Audioboo, and Evernote” at the Louisiana Association of Computer Using Educators 2013 Conference Dec. 3 and also at Xavier University’s Professional Development Day Dec. 2, both held in New Orleans. She also presented “Just Hit ‘SEND’: Safe SMS Texting, Broadcasting Alerts, Polling and More” at the Texas Foreign Language Association’s conference in Frisco, Texas, Nov. 9.

David Yenerall, Physics and Astronomy, gave a presentation on the Van Allen probes, two NASA spacecraft measuring the radiation belt surrounding Earth, at Elachee Nature Center’s Natureversity Brown Bag Luncheon. He said the probes will allow scientists to learn more about the sun’s influence on Earth and space. The instruments measure the effect of solar storms on the belts and allow scientists to understand space “weather.”

Dr. Pamela Gore, Geology, Clarkston, discussed her research on hurricanes and climate change and also talked about her new book, “Roadside Geology of Georgia,” Feb. 16 as part of the ninth annual February Lecture Series at Andalusia Farm, the final home of author Flannery O’Connor and inspiration for some of her most acclaimed stories.

Clarkston Dean of Student Services Dr. Matthew Robison was elected to the board of directors of the American College Personnel Association’s Commission for the Two-Year College.

David Darracott, English, was one of the featured authors presenting at a writers seminar offered by the Forsyth County Public Library in Cumming Jan. 11. Darracott talked to participants about the process of writing a novel. He is the author of the novel “Internal Security.”

Interim President Rob Watts was the graduation speaker at Georgia Southwestern State University’s fall commencement in December. Watts asked the graduates two questions: 1) “What are you looking for in this next phase (of life)?” and 2) “What if you haven’t learned it yet?” Regardless of the answer, he implored them not to “settle for a job,” but rather, to “find your life’s work.”

“Group Fosters Future of Folk,” an article about a monthly music event organized by Chris Moser, Humanities, Newton, through a non-profit organization of which he’s president, was published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Katherine Fox, History, Online, was the 2013 winner of the History of Education Society’s Eggertsen Dissertation Prize for her dissertation, “Pidgin in the Classroom: Hawaii’s English Standard Schools, Americanization, and Hawaiian Identity, 1920-1960.”

Rodney Pegues, Health, Wellness and Recreation, was awarded a scholarship to attend the National Intramural Recreation and Sports Association National Conference April 21-26 in Nashville.

Donna Frazier, Recruitment, was featured in an article, “Meet the Women of Comcast Studio 25,” in Atlanta’s Women of Wealth Magazine. She is the executive producer of a show, “Metro Café,” on Comcast cable.