U n i v e r s i t y Honored as East Carolina University Scholar Teachers for 2007–08 were Xiaoming Zeng, Department of Health Services and Information Management; John Stiller, Department of Biology; John Reisch, Department of Accounting; Sid Rachlin, Department of Mathematics and Science Education; Laura Prividera, School of Communication; Nelson Cooper, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies; Mel Weber, Department of Hospitality Management; Bruce Leonard, Department of Graduate Nursing Science; Danny Morton, Department of Construction Management; and Kathryn Verbanac, Department of Surgery. Dr. W. Randolph Chitwood Jr., senior associate vice chancellor for health sciences, was elected president of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, which represents more than 5,400 surgeons, researchers and allied health professionals worldwide. Kimberly R. Baker-Flowers was named chief diversity officer and will lead the Office of Institutional Diversity, which promotes an environment that embraces, accepts and respects differences. She comes to East Carolina from a similar position at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She holds a law degree from Creighton University and a bachelor’s degree from Holy Names College in Oakland, Calif. Junior infielder Drew Schieber was chosen to wear the No. 23 jersey for the 2008 baseball season, selected as the player who best personifies the spirit of the late head coach Keith LeClair, who wore that number. Schieber, a sophomore from Blue Springs, Mo., played in 55 games his freshman year, batted .301 with six home runs, 22 RBI, 33 runs scored and stole 11-of-15 bases. Johnnie C. Moore Jr., the public address announcer for Pirate football games for 18 years, died April 16 in Winterville. He was 60. Moore coined the phrase “where it is a first down…Pirates! Aargh! He attended Barton 10
College and was a Vietnam veteran who spent the majority of his long broadcasting career at WNCT radio and television.
Kemal Atkins, assistant vice president for academic and student affairs for the University of North Carolina General Administration, was named East Carolina’a vice provost for student affairs. He will lead 12 departments on issues related to the undergraduate experience and student retention. He has undergraduate and master’s degrees from Appalachian State University and is pursuing his doctorate in higher education administration at N.C. State University. Scott Shelton, the chief of police at the University of Missouri-Kansas City for the
L i f e past seven years, was named East Carolina’s new police chief. Shelton, who will earn $125,000 a year, will replace interim Chief Janice Harris. Before his stint at UMKC, which was led by Chancellor Steve Ballard before he came to ECU, Shelton worked at the University of Missouri-Columbia. The East Carolina Alumni Association received the Grand Award for Overall Alumni Relations Program during the CASE III conference in Atlanta. The alumni association also was recognized with a Special Merit award for its Constituency Organization Program, “Freshmen Sendoffs.” Recipients of the 2008 Research and Creative Activity Awards are Margaret Bauer, the Rives Chair of Southern Literature in the English Department, and Ron Cortright, professor of exercise science and physiology. Bauer is the author of three books of scholarship on Southern literature. Cortright has received more than $1.3 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health to study the causes of obesity, diabetes and metabolism misfunction.
Dozens of faculty, staff and students were inducted into the Servire Society in March in recognition of their volunteer work on the campus and in the Greenville community. The induction ceremony came as the university continued celebrating its centennial. Recognized with the Centennial Award for Excellence were: Kathy Kolasa, Don Ensley, W. Randolph Chitwood, Martin Jackson, Margie Gallagher, Debra Crotts, Ed Crotts, Anita Proctor, Carolyn Willis, Anna Dougherty, Ricky Hill and Jim Westmoreland. Receiving both honors was Director of Publications Joanne Kollar, right, who retired this spring.