Statement Magazine Winter 2015

STATEMENT MOR E HE A D S TAT E UNI V E R SI T Y A L UMNI M AG A Z INE

MUCH

MORE

IN THIS ISSUE

■ Hill Harper (p. 9) ■ Surgical Success (p. 16) ■ Eagle Eye (p. 34) ■ Eagle Evolution (p. 36)

VOL . X X X II, NO.1

STEMulating

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics at MSU usher in the future of the Commonwealth and beyond

Fellow Eagles and Friends of MSU, As I travel around the region and beyond, I continue to be impressed by the graduates of Morehead State University. They are everywhere. They don’t brag about themselves or their accomplishments.

They just do their jobs and deliver quality performance. When I talk with them, they all have fond memories of their time at MSU — not only the fun times but the quality of the education they received. The themes repeat themselves over and over again: solid education, focused students, and caring faculty and staff.

I have met legislators, business leaders, plant managers, nationally recognized physicians and award-winning physicists. Our graduates include pioneers in innovative education, Tony Award winners, Hall of Fame athletes, acclaimed broadcasters, television celebrities, community philanthropists and “much more.” They all share the same warm feelings about Morehead State and talk about those special faculty and staff members who went above and beyond to help them succeed.

I’ve been at MSU for almost seven years, and the time has just flown by. It has been a truly rewarding experience that has enriched my life. The graduates of Morehead State have played and continue to play a major role in the progress and well-being of our region and beyond.

STEM education is an important part of what we’ve done and will continue to do. Our acceptance rates into medical schools, dental schools, veterinary colleges and other professional programs rival any in the state. Our students excel and compete favorably with their colleagues from other schools.

We will continue to improve our programs to keep that competitive edge.

So what’s ahead for 2015 and beyond? There are so many exciting initiatives that I really can’t address them all here. For example, our space science team continues to build working satellites and is partnering with NASA on some amazing projects. Our Department of Applied Engineering and Technology has received multi-million dollar grants and gifts from industry and foundations to build a new 21st Century Center for Manufacturing Systems. We will bring the first class of high school juniors gifted in the STEM disciplines into the Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics in the fall of 2015. The list goes on and on.

I encourage you to stay involved and come back to campus to visit and share your experiences. We need your input and we need your time, talent and treasure. The best part of my MSU experience has been the people. Thank you for being so very special. I wish you all a happy, healthy 2015.

James Shaw Vice President, University Advancement CEO, MSU Foundation Inc. 2 |

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Hill Harper provides energetic message to Eagle students

STATEMENT

MOR E HE A D S TAT E UNI V E R SI T Y A L UMNI M A G A Z INE

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A Hands-On Approach: Student research at MSU provides invaluable learning opportunities

V OL . X X X I, NO. 2

www.moreheadstate.edu/statement President, Morehead State University Dr. Wayne D. Andrews

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15

Understanding and perspective: Meet MSU’s new provost Chair, Board of Regents

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Surgical Success: Eagle alum Dr. Gary W. Mathern gives children better lives through neurosurgery

Paul C. Goodpaster (89) President, MSU Alumni Association Inc.

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19

Craft Academy provides unique experience to Kentucky high school students

20

Father and son hit the books together at Morehead State

22

New MSU facility could shape the Eastern Kentucky economy

James Shaw

23

Boyd builds a positive image for lab animal research

Editors

24

Eagle grad lands in the Ivy League

30

Eagle alum wins Kentucky Science Teacher of the Year award

Eric E. Howard (81) Chair, Board of Trustees, MSU Foundation Inc.

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36

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Kentucky economy could soar thanks to MSU space science Eagle Evolution: A visual history of the MSU mascot AROUND MSU

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EAGLE EYE

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FAME & GLORY

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CLASSNOTES

49

IN MEMORIAM

51

SAVE THE DATE

Steve Hicks (77) Publisher

Mindy Clark Highley (91) Jami Hornbuckle (96) April Hobbs Nutter (97) Art Director Toni Hobbs (02) Contributors Jason Blanton (03) Allison Caudill (05) Matt Schabert Matt Segal Creative Services Tim Holbrook (94), Photographer Guy Huffman (02), Photographer David Moore (09), Designer Managing Editor

IN THIS EDITION Science is all about seeking and finding answers to often complex problems. In this issue, you’ ll read about Eagle students, faculty and alumni who are using their knowledge and abilities in STEM-related fields to not only find success, but also impact the present and shape our future.

Blake Hannon Production Manager Amy Riddle (00)

Morehead State University is committed to providing equal educational opportunities to all persons regardless of race, color, national origin, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, disabled veterans, recently separated veterans, other protected veterans, and armed forces service medal veterans, or disability in its educational programs, services, activities, employment policies, and admission of students to any program of study. In this regard the University conforms to all the laws, statutes, and regulations concerning equal employment opportunities and affirmative action. This includes: Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Executive Orders 11246 and 11375, Equal Pay Act of 1963, Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and Kentucky Revised Statutes 207.130 to 207.240. Vocational educational programs at Morehead State University supported by federal funds include industrial education, vocational agriculture, business education, and the associate degree program in nursing. Any inquiries should be addressed to: Affirmative Action Officer, Morehead State University, 301 Howell-McDowell, Morehead, KY 40351, 606-783-2097.

STATEMENT is published two times a year by Morehead State University through an off-campus printing contract with Jeffrey Fannin Enterprises, Morehead, Kentucky. STATEMENT is distributed to alumni, faculty, staff, benefactors, parents, and other friends of Morehead State University. Articles may be reprinted without permission. We appreciate notification of reprint use. Opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the official policies of Morehead State University. Inquires should be addressed to: STATEMENT, Division of University Advancement, Palmer Development House, Morehead, KY, 40351, 800-783-ALUM, statement@moreheadstate.edu.

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AROUND MSU

MSU is top ranked college for 11th straight year Morehead State University has been recognized for the 11th consecutive year as one of the top public universities in the South in the 2015 edition of “America’s Best Colleges” by U.S.News & World Report.

“We are very pleased to be selected again this year as one of the outstanding regional public universities by this respected college guide,” said President Wayne D. Andrews. “We continue to improve the quality of life of our students, alumni and community.”

The newest rankings include MSU tied for 20th in the Top Public University-Master’s/South division, an improvement from 24th last year.

The rankings place emphasis on acceptance rates, graduation rates, admissions selectivity and small class sizes. MSU has consistently been recognized for relatively small class size and a high percentage of full-time faculty members, which are two important factors of student success.

The rankings include public and private institutions, which grant bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 12 states of the South, including Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Arkansas and Louisiana. The rankings are based on research of more than 1,400 institutions nationally.

MSU signs space science transfer agreement with ACTC Morehead State University and Ashland Community and Technical College signed an agreement to establish a transfer program in space science.

In the 2+2 transfer program, students will complete two years of specified courses at ACTC before transferring to MSU for their junior and senior years to finish the Bachelor of Science in Space Science.

Dr. Wayne D. Andrews, MSU president, and Dr. Kay Adkins, ACTC president and CEO, signed the agreement in the Rocky Adkins Pavilion on ACTC’s Technology Drive campus.

“Space science is an exciting high-tech field of the future,” said Dr. Adkins. “This collaboration with MSU will provide our students with an additional option for continuing their education in the region.”

“Our space science program is one of five in the United States to offer a bachelor’s degree in space science and has some outstanding students enrolled,” said Dr. Andrews. “We value our partnership with ACTC and look forward to making it simpler for students to convert their associate degrees and two additional years of study into a bachelor’s degree.”

For more information, contact Hope Perkey, ACTC/MSU transfer advisor, at 606-326-2098 or hperkey0001@kctcs.edu.

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AROUND MSU

Dr. Berglee, Fyffe join Board of Regents Dr. Royal Berglee and Brad Fyffe are new members on the Morehead State University Board of Regents.

Dr. Berglee, professor of geography and international studies, was elected for a three-year term by the faculty to serve as the 12th faculty regent on the Morehead State University Board of Regents, succeeding Dr. Ronald Morrison. For the past year, Berglee also has been the coordinator for study abroad programs. On campus, he has held a wide range of faculty leadership positions, including serving as chair of the University’s Tenure Committee. He is a former chair of the Faculty Senate and has served as a Faculty Senate representative from three different departments.

Brad Fyffe, Greenup senior, has been elected president of Morehead State University’s Student Government Association. He will serve as the student representative on MSU’s Board of Regents for the 2014-15 academic year.

A government and philosophy major, Fyffe served as vice president for SGA in 2013-14.

He also is vice president for Delta Tau Delta fraternity and is secretary for Societas Pro Legibus. An Undergraduate Research Fellow for the School of Public Affairs, Fyffe is a member of the Kentucky Young Democrats.

MSU’s 11-member governing board is comprised of eight citizens appointed by the governor and elected representatives of the faculty, staff and students.

MSU named military-friendly school for sixth straight year Morehead State University has, for the sixth straight year, been named a “Military Friendly School” by Victory Media, the premier media entity for military personnel transitioning into civilian life. This places MSU once again in the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools nationwide that are doing the most to embrace America’s veterans as students.

“We are pleased to be recognized as the campus community continues to build on MSU’s tradition of providing the help veterans and their families need to transition from soldier to student and ultimately to college graduate,” said Max Ammons, MSU’s director of military initiatives.

MSU also was previously recognized as a 2014 military/veteran-friendly university by GI Jobs magazine, Military Advanced Education journal, the Military Times and U.S.News and World Report.

For a complete listing of military-related services, including enrollment, support services and benefits information, visit www.moreheadstate.edu/veteran.

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COMING SOON!

ALUMNI WELCOME CENTER Every year, proud alumni of Morehead State University journey back to their alma mater to revisit their days as an Eagle and connect with fellow alums. While there are many nostalgic locations to visit on campus, soon there will also be a place for all Eagles to gather when they return home.

Tell us what you’d like to see in YOUR Alumni Welcome Center at www.moreheadstate.edu/alumniwelcomecenter.

To contribute to the creation of the Alumni Welcome Center, contact the Office of Alumni Relations & Development at 606-783-2033 or giving@moreheadstate.edu.

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MSU has been such a big part of my life. Over 36 years ago, I started my venture as a student in the late ‘70s. I worked in Alumni Relations for over 27 years and served as the executive vice president of the Alumni Association for over 15 years.

During my years at MSU, I’ve had so many opportunities and met so many wonderful people from all walks of life, forming numerous lasting friendships. I have wonderful memories I will carry with me into retirement and throughout the rest of my life.

Most of you know that plans are underway to build a new Alumni Welcome Center. The center is much needed and will allow fellow alumni to gather together in a common space to hold meetings and special events.

I’d like to personally ask each of you to join me in supporting this important and momentous effort.

Thanks again for allowing me the opportunity to serve the University we all hold so dear. It has been an honor.

Go Eagles!

Tami Jones (82)

Much more Eagle pride.

Kentucky residents, show your Eagle pride with a newly redesigned Morehead State license plate.

A portion of the fee will benefi t the University.

For more information, visit mvl.ky.gov or call your local county clerk.

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Early College student discovers rare pulsar In June, Rowan County Senior High School senior and Morehead State University Early College student Sonny Ernst made what was confirmed to be a scientific discovery of some significance — a rare type of pulsar.

Ernst’s discovery is special because it is a rotating radio transient, or RRAT, what some scientists believe to be a dying pulsar. Pulsars, many of which are billions of years old, are relatively new to the scientific world. The first RRAT was discovered in 2006. Since then, just over 85 rotating radio transients, including the one discovered by Ernst, have been discovered.

“This is a significant discovery,” said Dr. Ben Malphrus, chair of the Department of Earth and Space Sciences.

“RRAT pulsars are excellent laboratories for general and special relativity theory, as well as being interesting in an astrophysical sense as extreme stellar endpoints.”

Ernst performed the research leading to this discovery through his participation in a project designed to involve high school students in research in astrophysics called the Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC). The PSC is a joint project of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and West Virginia University, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation and implemented at RCSHS in collaboration with Morehead State that offers college credit to students involved in the program.

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FEATURE

Hill Harper provides energetic message to Eagle students Many people know actor Hill Harper as either the calm

encouraging the nearly 800 Eagle students and other

and sympathetic crime scene investigator Dr. Sheldon

spectators in attendance to use their own energy and

Hawkes from his time on the CBS series “CSI: NY” or his

positivity to become architects of their own lives.

current role as an ambitious and overly confident CIA bureau chief Calder Michaels in the USA Network spy drama “Covert Affairs.”

Harper’s accomplishments extend far beyond acting.

He is the author of four New York Times Bestsellers, has earned multiple NAACP Image Awards for his acting and

When Harper came to Morehead State on Nov. 13 for

writing and is the founder of the Manifest Your Destiny

“Perspectives with Hill Harper,” as part of the President’s

Foundation, a charity dedicated to providing mentorship,

Performing Arts and Speakers Program, he displayed a

scholarship and grant programs to underserved youth.

personality that was very different from the characters

When Harper speaks at institutions like Morehead State,

he portrays on television. Instead, he used his charisma

he tries to use his life experience and celebrity status to

and boundless energy to deliver a motivational message

make a difference.

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“If you’ve been blessed with a platform or an opportunity,

He also frequently touched on the point that students

what’s the use of having those resources if you don’t

needed to become “active architects” when setting

figure out a way to give back,” Harper said at a press

goals after college. That being said, Harper used his

conference. “For me, that’s what all this is about. The

choice to step away from a career in law to pursue the

more I can reach students and maybe expose them to an

possibilities of acting as a way to illustrate education

idea or motivate them in some way, it’s a good thing.”

should give students choices but also the confidence to

During his time at MSU, Harper was a fast and frenetic

pursue their greatest ambitions.

messenger walking the stage and floor of Button

“If you can actually get into your heart and out of your

Auditorium. He plucked students out of the audience and

head, you would get what you need to take the next

used theories of physics and even leading a sing-along of

step,” he said. “If (your choices) make too much sense to

“This Little Light of Mine” to illustrate the value of making

some people, then you’re probably not making your own

positivity contagious.

choices. I want you to be unreasonably happy, but to do

Harper also stressed the value of a college education.

that, you have to be unreasonable.”

He told a story about how he played basketball with a then-30-year-old Barack Obama at Harvard Law School, saying, “there will be times in your life when you think about what you want to achieve, you’ll have to go back to go forward.”

“

ere cynicism We’re living in a time wh u can start to use is running rampant. If yo ergy, you can chip some of your radiant en away into cynicism.

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“

Hill Harper

FEATURE

A Hands-On Approach Student research at MSU provides invaluable learning opportunities There’s a reason why science students from Morehead State University graduate feeling like they have the knowledge and skills they need to make an immediate impact in their field. Various factors, from the small class sizes to the expert, one-on-one instruction from faculty, all come into play. But when it comes to studying science, one of the most effective ways to learn is through hands-on experience.

Student research has always been a key component in the science curriculum for any number of areas of study at MSU. Whether it’s through our Undergraduate Research Fellowship program or other research opportunities, students often times find themselves working closely with faculty members, gaining invaluable experience and, in some instances, achieving notable accomplishments along the way. Here are three Eagle students that are soaring examples of how student research has done much more for their academic careers.

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Erich Hohenstein Growing up as a middle child in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, Erich Hohenstein was willing to go wherever he had to in order to get a high-quality college education.

When he contemplated coming to the United States to continue his studies, with all of the potential options, his advisor had a place in mind.

“My advisor back home recommended me to go to Morehead State,” Hohenstein said. “They told me it would offer a good education and because it’s in a small town, it’s a great place to study.”

Hohenstein has certainly done plenty of studying since he became an Eagle. He’s currently a senior triple major in math, physics and computer science. But this past summer, his love for science and success in the classroom allowed him to do even more traveling for his education.

He was accepted to a prestigious summer internship position at the European Organization for Nuclear Research in Meyrin, Switzerland, better known as CERN. The internship allowed Hohenstein to work in computer programming, becoming skilled in two different data formats. While that experience proved invaluable, he said some of the highlights of his trip were attending lectures from some of the world’s top physicists and taking in multiple cultures, both from traveling around Europe and interacting with fellow students from across the globe.

The internship was one of many sought-after science internships for which Hohenstein applied. Before getting

Hohenstein thinks the hands-on instruction and research opportunities at MSU were key to helping him get accepted to CERN. “With that research, I got to present at conferences in Morehead and Lexington. That was really good,” he said.

“That is one of those things that CERN looks at.”

accepted to CERN, he was an Undergraduate Research

Hohenstein said he plans to pursue graduate school with

Fellow in computer science, studying for two years under

the hopes of a career involving research in theoretical

Dr. Sherif Rashad, associate professor of computer

physics. With his drive and the skills he’s acquired at

science. He also assisted in research in astrophysics

MSU and at CERN, there seems to be no limit to how high

conducted by Dr. Thomas Pannuti, associate professor

– or far – he will go in his future science career.

of astrophysics and space science, in the space science program.

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Hohenstein pictured with “The Big Bang Theory” actress Dr. Mayim Bialik during her visit to MSU in January 2014.

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Dr. Janelle Hare, associate biology professor who specializes in microbiology, served as more of a mentor than a professor to Witkowski and he said her guidance and tutelage definitely gave him an advantage throughout his academic career.

“Doing research ultimately gave me a leg up in classes because I gained some knowledge and I learned topics before taking them in a traditional classroom setting,” he said. “I also like the labs at Morehead State that go along with classes because you get to do a lot of hands-on research you can’t do at other schools.”

The four years of undergraduate research Witkowski has done with Hare have been important, but some of their most recent research is particularly noteworthy. He and Hare co-authored a recently published article on the findings of types of bacteria under the bacteria genus acinetobacter that were capable of repairing their own DNA. The research was published in the international peer-reviewed journal, PLOS ONE, and they presented their findings at both the University’s Celebration of Student Scholarship and the Kentucky Academy of

Travis Witkowski

Sciences Annual Meeting, where they received a first place prize.

As a senior biomedical sciences major at Morehead

“Those are pretty cool times to gain experience

State, Travis Witkowski got into his chosen area of study

presenting our work,” Witkowski said. “That’s an

for equal parts interest and impact.

experience not a lot of undergraduates have: to go on the

“I really have a passion to help people and I’ve seen the way disease can hurt people and I want to do something about it,” he said.

Originally from La Grange, Kentucky, Witkowski excelled academically and became interested in biology taking AP classes at Oldham County High School. He attended MSU on the University’s Honors Scholarship with aspirations

Internet and say, ‘hey, there’s a paper I helped write,’ is pretty cool.”

After graduation, Witkowski plans to continue to focus on biological research in graduate school, hoping to become a researcher who studies human diseases and methods of treatment. He said he owes a lot to MSU and the unique learning opportunities it has given him.

to go to medical school. Part of being in the MSU

“After doing research for four years, I am feeling

Honors Program involves the Undergraduate Research

comfortable with it and feel like this is another passion

Fellowship, where a student gets to work closely with

that I have,” he said. “As corny as it sounds, it changed

an MSU faculty member on a specific research project.

my life.”

It was here that Witkoswki realized he wanted to make biological research his career aspiration.

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Margaret Powell Margaret “Maggie” Powell has a lot of friends who, like her, are attending college. However, based on conversations she has with them, it certainly seems like her experience at Morehead State might be quite a bit different than that of her peers.

“They don’t even know how to take it sometimes, ”Powell said. “Some of my friends say, ‘I can’t wrap my head around what you’re doing, because … you’re in college.’”

If you knew what Powell has managed to do during her four years at MSU, you’d probably have a similar reaction. Currently from Lebanon, Kentucky, but a native of Springfield, Massachusetts, Powell initially came to Morehead State to study space science. She was hired as a work study for Kentucky Space by Eric Thomas (92), director of the Space Science Center’s Star Theater. While she was there, she also got to do research for some of the program’s most significant projects to date, including the launch of the satellite KySat-1 and helping research and design the CXPN satellite. She also served as part of the ground operations team for the launch and early operations of satellites from the MSU Mission Operations Center.

Powell said the close working relationships she formed with her professors doing this research at MSU was not what she initially expected.

“I’ve always pictured that strict college at the beginning where your professor is your professor and that’s it,” she said. “I get there and your professor wants you to succeed more than anyone else besides yourself.”

After spending close to three years in the space science program, she landed a few internships that left a lasting impression. The first was with Pentair Electronics and Equipment Protection in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, and then she spent from Fall 2012 to December 2013 interning with

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“Everyone is a consumer and when I go buy something, I expect it to be perfect,” she said. “I think everyone deserves that moment when they buy something and say, it’s perfect. It’s exactly what I want it to be.”

Now, Powell is a senior design and manufacturing major who has already been tasked with a unique leadership challenge. She has gone from working with machines in space to machines on the ground as the robotics team leader in the Department of Applied Engineering and Technology under the advisement of associate professor Dr. Yuqiu You. Powell said being the robotics team leader has been a wonderful opportunity to gain both management skills and her professor’s input.

“She’s made me see what the industry standard is versus what you would see in the classroom,” she said. “I feel like it’s getting all of us ready for industry.”

Powell couldn’t have asked for a better college experience at Morehead State, and she believes student research has been essential to her success in the classroom and will be key to her success once she graduates.

Acer Technologies in West Liberty, Kentucky, focusing

“It’s almost to the point of indescribable,” she said. “There

on standards and quality control. This exposure to the

are so many opportunities and so many chances to

manufacturing industry led her toward a slightly different

succeed and get experience here that I don’t think a lot of

career path.

places offer.”

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Understanding and perspective MSU’s new provost, Dr. Steve Ralston, describes his strengths and his vision for the University’s current challenges and successful future.

What were some of the key reasons that led to your decision to accept Morehead State’s offer to be provost?

Among the many reasons I accepted the kind offer from Morehead State included the hard-working and dedicated faculty, staff and students. The heart of any great institution is its people. This is no less the case for MSU. Another reason I accepted the offer is the University’s commitment to student achievement.

MSU faculty and staff are focused on student success, in and out of class, on and off campus. The beautiful region also attracted me and, finally, President Andrews’ leadership, characterized by a high concern for mission and people, made it easy to accept.

This is your first position with MSU and you’re relatively new to the campus. What is it you enjoy about the University and what do you think its strengths are as an institution?

The strength of the institution, like all great institutions, is the people, and in particular, the faculty and staff. I also appreciate the ‘can do’ attitude so apparent among them. I find another compelling strength of MSU is its commitment to regional engagement.

You formerly held positions as the dean of the School of Communications and the Arts at Marist College and a professor and chair of the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University. What have you gained from that prior experience that will help you as provost?

I believe that my past academic administration experience has given me a wealth of perspectives from which to draw in solving challenges. Problem solving is often more productive with the inclusion of multiple perspectives. Moreover, having served successfully as a faculty, chair and dean, I bring to my role as provost multiple viewpoints and experiences.

As educational costs continue to grow, how do you convince students and parents that a college degree is still an important financial investment?

The data are clear: College degree attainment is a good investment. However, controlling costs along the way is critical. I believe that we must help students achieve their goals with the least amount of expense, which includes staying in college and graduating within four years. In this way, our students can spend less and make the most of their investment.

One of the challenges of any university is not only enrolling students but also retaining them. How would you improve MSU’s retention rates?

Retention and graduation are critical to our students’ success. There is a plethora of ways we assist student to stay in college and graduate in a timely fashion, including robust support services. Our student population is increasingly diverse, which is a positive trend but one that also brings greater need to provide appropriate support. I also believe that working smart at the time of recruitment pays great dividends by ensuring students have the right information at the right time before accepting our offer and coming to Morehead State. We must ensure potential students make the best choice for their future.

What are the leadership qualities you possess that you think will be most beneficial to the administration?

There is no substitute for effective listening. Effective listening begins with a desire to learn all that is possible about another’s perspective. My experience is that most people respond favorably when they believe they are heard.

What strides do you hope MSU makes in the future to help it become “the best public regional university in the South?”

I believe that if we will concentrate on meeting the needs of our students — undergraduate, graduate, adult and more — we will be successful. No matter the situation, if we ask ourselves what is the in the best interest of students, our future will be secure and bright.

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FEATURE outlets like the Los Angeles Times and Reader’s Digest to news programs like Nightline and the TODAY show.

But Mathern’s own success story was a long journey that began in the classrooms and on the campus of Morehead State University.

A native of Washington, D.C., Mathern, moved to Fairborn, Ohio, his sophomore year of high school. While in high school, he and one of his friends decided to travel to “this place in Eastern Kentucky” to go to school, which ended up being the starting point of his college career.

“We both very much enjoyed the class sizes and there were some pretty spectacular teachers,” Mathern recalls at MSU. “The competition that you used to hear about from the other big league schools, that wasn’t an Photo courtesy of UCLA

issue there. As students, we were all in this together.”

Mathern admitted he had a knack for academics but a

Surgical Success:

lack of direction, initially taking a diversity of liberal arts

Eagle alum Dr. Gary W. Mathern gives children better lives through neurosurgery

But during his last two years, he got some real-world

classes before leaning toward science and philosophy. experience that would give him a future focus.

One was interning with a local allergy specialist. The other was a National Science Foundation paid summer research project at the University of Kentucky that

It’s usually the responsibility of a surgeon to call upon their knowledge and skills to either save lives or improve the health and overall quality of life of their patients.

Dr. Gary W. Mathern (78) is often called upon to do this

cause of increasing cases of histoplasmosis (an infection from inhaling fungus spores) in Rowan County and surrounding areas.

in his profession, but as a pediatric neurosurgeon who

“It was a science to help people,” he said. “It was new,

specializes in pediatric or children with intractable

it was science, it was investigational, I thought it was

epilepsy, the end result is particularly unique and

pretty cool and medicine might be the way to go.”

extremely rewarding.

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involved mapping local bird roosts to locate the root

Mathern graduated from MSU with a double major in

“If I can stop this kid’s seizures, then I turn their life

biology and chemistry and a minor in philosophy, and

around,” he said. “If I operate on a kid who is two, I’m

went on to graduate with his M.D. from Case Western

buying them a life.”

Reserve University in Cleveland in 1982.

Mathern currently works at The Mattel Children’s

He initially enrolled in medical school to be either a

Hospital UCLA in Los Angeles as one of the top pediatric

general practitioner or a pediatrician, but he got his

neurosurgeons in the country. Many of his research

earliest experience in surgery during his third year

and success stories have been featured from news

clerkship. During that rotation in pediatric surgery, the

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Photo courtesy of Ann Johansson

chief of service told him he had what it takes to be a

A holiday trip to the Caribbean resulted in a meeting with

successful surgeon. His next rotation in neurosurgery

his future wife. He eventually moved to Los Angeles to

allowed him to combine his knack for surgery and a new

be with her and later landed a surgery internship at the

passion in the field.

Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

“The neurosurgeon is the intellectual surgeon. The

Since arriving at UCLA, Mathern has become what he

brain isn’t just a black box, you have to think you’re way

calls a “super specialist,” who performs some of the

through it,” he said. “It brings together the practical

most radical surgical procedures for some of the rarest

and the intellectual, the two kinds of themes I had been

brain conditions and diseases. One of these, known as

looking at over my life.”

hemimegalencephaly, causes newborns, infants and

Before he could become a surgeon, Mathern cut his teeth in downtown Cleveland. He completed a one-year rotational internship at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation before serving as an emergency room doctor at the

young children to experience an extraordinary amount of epileptic seizures – sometimes hundreds a day. It affects less than a dozen U.S. children each year and can severely inhibit a child’s mental development.

Lutheran Medical Center from 1983-85. Over this period,

Families often travel to see Dr. Mathern so children with

Mathern regularly found himself delivering babies,

hemimegalencephaly can undergo a procedure called

treating burn victims and caring for casualties of the

a cerebral hemispherectomy, where the malfunctioning

“knife and gun club.”

(and often sizable) part of the child’s brain is completely

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removed to stop the seizures. Choosing to put your child through this type of procedure is a harrowing decision

Photo courtesy of Ann Johansson

for any parent but Mathern always explains the rewards far outweigh the risks.

“The reality is you have to have more empathy and you have to explain this to the families and explain to them that this is the only option to give your child the best quality of life and the longest life they can have,” he said.

As a pediatric neurosurgeon, Mathern said his work on the operating table is often just the beginning.

“You think you’re doing the right thing, but you don’t know until you’ve followed these kids for a number of years,” he said. “Most neurosurgeons follow someone six months, a year and then they’re done. My practice is, as long as they are willing to come back, I’ll see them on an annual basis.”

When Mathern is not performing surgery, he is serving as an educator, a contributor to nonprofit consumer epilepsy organizations and an advocate for fighting epilepsy and supporting the families it affects.

He is currently professor of pediatric neurosurgery, director of the UCLA Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Program and co-editor-in-chief of the journal Epilepsia. He has assisted in the development of epilepsy surgery programs for children in Brazil, China, India and Taiwan.

Photo courtesy of Ann Johansson

He was a speaker at a TEDx presentation in 2011 titled “What Can You Do with Half a Brain?” and was honored in 2012 with the Ambassador for Epilepsy Award by the International Bureau for Epilepsy and the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), which Mathern said was a highlight of his career.

“If you’re coming from LA, the worst thing you want to do is believe your own press releases. As individuals, we are our own worst enemies when it comes to selfassessment,” he said. “When your peers recognize your accomplishments, that’s when you pay attention.”

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Morehead State, he found direction. After he left, he found a passion and a specialty. Now, he wants not only make a positive impact on the young individuals he operates on, he wants to use his standing in the educational and medical communities to make a difference that can be seen and felt years from now.

“There are things where I can say I’ve contributed back to the common good and here are the examples,” he said. “There’s a social role for the academic specialist.

For me, it’s one of our obligations in 2014. It’s taking

Mathern has come a long way from the young man

science methodology and purpose and social good and

who lacked direction as a teenager. When he came to

wrapping it together.”

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FEATURE

Craft Academy provides unique experience to Kentucky high school students Whether it’s the success of graduates from its Department of Applied Engineering and Technology or the campus being home to the Commonwealth’s only space science program, Morehead State continues to emphasize education in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

MSU has taken another huge step in its mission toward STEM education with the establishment of the Craft Academy for Excellence in Science and Mathematics, which will provide an incredible opportunity for Kentucky’s young students.

The Academy is a dual-credit residential high school that will allow academically exceptional high school juniors and seniors to take college-level courses while living in a newly renovated residence hall designed specifically for Academy students. They will be able finish high school and earn a minimum of 60 credit hours they can use to further their education at MSU or transfer to another college/university.

MSU President Dr. Wayne D. Andrews worked alongside Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers, House Majority Floor Leader Rocky Adkins (82) and Alliance Resource Partners CEO Joe Craft to establish the Academy. State lawmakers budgeted $2.3 million to fund the Academy and Craft pledged $4 million to support the project, making it the single largest cash gift in the University’s history.

“I’m excited to be a partner with Morehead State University in making this program available to exceptional young men and women to develop their God-given talents,” Craft said at a press conference for the Academy’s unveiling in April. “My passion is to provide opportunities for people that want to help themselves and develop professionally.”

“This is what happens when people reach, when they think and try to figure out not how to stop something but to make something work,” Sen. Stivers added. “Today, I think, is something that you will see make systematic changes in Eastern Kentucky and a huge difference for our youth and the way we are perceived, not only here in the state, but nationally and internationally.”

Dr. Carol Christian, director of the Craft Academy, said it will start by enrolling 60 juniors in Fall 2015 with hopes to grow enrollment to 120 juniors and seniors annually.

“There are many academically exceptional students across the Commonwealth,” Christian said. “Universities must step up to the plate to replenish STEM fields on a local, state and even global level. The overall goal is to develop the next generation of leaders and change-makers.”

For more information, email craftacademy@moreheadstate.edu or visit www.moreheadstate.edu/craft-academy.

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FEATURE

Father and son hit the books together at Morehead State Like most caring, supportive and attentive fathers, Brad

After leaving MSU, Brad did what many Eastern

Johnson is very interested in how his son, Tildon, is doing

Kentuckians did for a living and “went underground.”

in school. In fact, they talk about classes all the time –

He took a job in coal mining with Mine Management

just not in the ways most people would expect.

Consultants, an engineering firm in Jenkins, Kentucky.

Tildon is currently a student at Morehead State University, and Brad is not just a proud parent, he’s also a fellow Eagle. Both Brad and Tildon are on a journey to earn their college degrees at MSU. For Tildon, his pursuit

mining that would span almost two decades, with Brad earning 15 certifications and learning practically every trick of the trade both above and below ground.

of higher education is a new chapter. For Brad, however,

“The more I could learn from it, the more I liked it,” he

going to college has been a completely new beginning.

said.

Actually, to say it’s “completely” new for Brad, 44, would

It was back in 1996 that Brad and his ex-wife had Tildon,

be a bit inaccurate. Growing up in Pike County in the

the first of three children. One year later, Brad started to

small town of Virgie, he enrolled in MSU after graduating

feel the physical wear-and-tear of the mines. It started

high school in 1988. He majored in robotics engineering,

off as lower back pain and got progressively worse the

which was a good fit for his childhood fascination with

more he bent over and crawled underground upwards

taking things apart and putting them back together and

of 70-80 hours a week. One time, he bent down to pull a

his overall academic strengths in math and science.

pair of pants out of the dryer and had to miss four days of

Brad only attended MSU until 1990 before he dropped out, chalking it up to having the wrong set of priorities.

“I spent more time socializing than going to school,” he said. “At that time, I was smart enough, just not mature enough.”

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It would be the start of what would be a career in coal

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work when his back gave out.

“He kept doing stuff less and less,” Tildon recalls. “He’d come home some days and all he could do was sit around. He couldn’t get back up.”

“It catches up with all of them,” Brad explained of coal

Brad changed his major to construction management

miners. “They always say the mine will get you early or

with a concentration in civil engineering. Now a senior,

late, but one way or another, it’ll get you.”

he was elected president of the University’s branch of

After a severe injury working on a rock truck in 2009, Brad injured his back so badly that something he had been putting off doing had to be done. After a trip to the doctor, he learned he no longer had discs between three of his vertebrae. He had two options, neither of which were good: Keep going without surgery and end up in a

the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and is completing an internship with the University’s Office of Facilities Management. Brad said he’s as much a mentor as a student, and MSU’s faculty appreciates his unique situation and what he brings to the table with his extensive work and life experience.

wheelchair by the time he’s 50 or undergo back surgery

“They understand I’m not just that student. I’m a father,

and never be able to return to the mines, and the career

I’m a husband, I’m a lot of different things,” he said.

he loved, ever again.

“They really embraced that and made it really easy to get

By that time, Brad had a young daughter he hoped to

my degree there.”

one day walk down the aisle, so a decision was made.

As for Tildon, 18, he certainly shares his father’s love for

After the surgery, he received disability, but his physical

science. He’s a freshman living on campus and majoring

limitations and not being able to work or support his

in space science with aspirations to build satellites either

family like he used to led to a bout with depression and

working for NASA or with MSU’s Department of Earth &

heavy drinking.

Space Sciences.

Once he came through that dark time, he decided he

Both Brad and Tildon are looking forward to earning their

was too smart and too driven to stay at home. Before

college degrees. However, when Brad dons his cap and

his surgery, he would often talk to Tildon about his MSU

gown in Spring 2015, it’s going to be a huge achievement

days, even driving him around campus showing his son

not just for himself but for everyone close to him.

the classrooms and hangouts he used to frequent as a student. When he spoke to his family about the possibility of returning to school to earn his college degree, there was only one real option in his mind.

“I told my wife, if I’m going to do this, we’re going to go to Morehead and do this,” he said.

“It’s going to be a big moment for my whole family,” Tildon said. “That will be one moment that I’ve thought about since I was little.”

Until then, Tildon just loves being able to call his dad one of his classmates. He loves being able to stop by the house and talk about school. He loves when the two

So, in 2012, Brad, Tildon and the rest of his family packed

meet up at the Adron Doran University Center every

up from their long-time home in Dorton, Kentucky, so

week to grab a bite and bond like best friends. But, even

Brad could go back to MSU to major in nursing. But that

more so, he loves seeing the renewed energy his father

major soon changed when he walked by Rader Hall

has getting a second chance to pursue his dream.

and saw students working with survey equipment. He went up to speak with them and learned that they were a part of MSU’s Department of Applied Engineering and Technology.

“I thought, that’s not a whole lot different than what I was doing in the mines,” he said.

“It makes me extremely proud to tell people who my dad is. He is a guy who, at 42 years old, decided to scrape up from the bottom to make something for his family. That’s something I can brag about.”

“Morehead State is going to provide everything you need,” Brad said, “but it’s up to you to go get it.”

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FEATURE

New MSU facility could shape the Eastern Kentucky economy Ever since it was founded in 1887, Morehead State

Global Opportunities in Product Lifestyle Management

University has been devoted to giving its students an

software (GO PLM), which has a commercial value of

education and skills that would have a positive impact on

$209 million.

the future of Eastern Kentucky.

For students in the Department of Applied Engineering

entry-level engineers with 21st century skill sets,” said

& Technology (AET), their ability to graduate and have

Jim Shaw, vice president of university advancement.

an immediate impact will be greatly enhanced thanks

“Our students can now take the theory and take the

to the establishment of the 21st Century Center for

software and apply it to state-of-the-art equipment.”

Manufacturing Systems.

The ultimate goal of the 21st Century Center for

The idea for this facility first came about as part of the

Manufacturing Systems is to both prepare students for

Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) initiative, which

jobs of the future and provide Eastern Kentucky with a

was created to help usher in the “new economy” for

highly skilled workforce that will hopefully attract new

Appalachian Kentucky as coal and mining jobs diminish.

businesses and lead to more job creation.

Morehead State University’s Office of Alumni Relations

“The 21st Century Center for Manufacturing Systems

and Development and AET received a challenge grant

will enhance our potential to teach-cutting edge

from the James Graham Brown Foundation with a value

technologies, conduct applied research in science,

of $497,505. The Foundation’s grant matched gifts and

technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and

pledges received through 2014. The anticipated total cost

aid technology transfer from the University to industries

of the center is $1.5 million, with MSU and private donors

that will result in economic development in the region,”

raising the remainder of the expense in addition to MSU’s

said Dr. Ahmad Zargari, AET professor and department

$500,000 commitment.

chair.

The funds will be used to repair existing laboratories and

For more information on how to donate to the 21st

construct the center itself, which will give AET students

Century Center for Manufacturing Systems, go to

access to the latest equipment and allow the AET

www.moreheadstate.edu/giving.

department to fully utilize the recent gift from Siemens

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“The push in AET over the years has been to provide

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Boyd builds a positive image for lab animal research Summer Boyd (02) absolutely loves what she does for a living. That being said, she hopes to do her job so well that in the future, it will no longer be required.

“I approach my job every day thinking of the three R’s: reduction, replacement and refinement,” said Boyd, who is senior training and project manager at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas.

“I think any lab animal person will say the same thing. We want to put ourselves out of business.”

A native of Winnona Lake, Indiana, Boyd followed in the footsteps of her parents, Paul (77) and Christine (76), and came to Morehead State on a cross country and track scholarship to earn an associate degree in veterinary technology. At first, she wanted to go on to veterinary school, but MSU’s intensive and invaluable program revealed a different path.

“I decided that was more where my heart lies, being a nurse for animals rather than being a doctor for them,” Boyd said.

She eventually landed her first vet tech job in her home state, working for the lab animal program at Purdue University, where she also earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in veterinary technology. Her career would later take her to Texas. She was a vet tech supervisor at the University of Texas Galveston in 2007 and later an educational specialist for the Cancer Prevention Research Training Program at the UT MD Anderson Cancer Center before “moving across the street” to work for the Baylor College of Medicine in 2011, first as a training coordinator and then at her current position.

Boyd’s career has been dedicated to both increasing the effectiveness and safety of lab animal testing and improving the field’s public image. She even recently appeared on the cover of an ad for the American Association for Lab Animal Science (AALAS) to hopefully raise awareness for what she sees as important work.

“These animals are little baby heroes that are doing the hardest job that we won’t even ask a person to do. It’s necessary research because human beings want to be safe,” she said. “It’s a fine line to walk sometimes. I know at the end of the day, I made a difference. I know it sounds crazy, but I love to go to work. I feel like I accomplish something so much greater than me every day.”

As Boyd continues to do her work with both competency and compassion, she said she gained a lot of confidence in her abilities while honing her skills at MSU. “I always tell everybody that of my three degrees, my associate degree from Morehead State is my most precious one,” she said. “It’s the one I use the most.”

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Eagle grad lands in the Ivy League Some students may hit the books, but Lauren Maynard (12) embraces them.

“I’ve always loved school,” the Pikeville native said. “I always enjoyed it and I guess it came easily because I enjoy it.”

Even though Maynard has always excelled academically, the MSU grad is occasionally in disbelief when she thinks about where she ended up. Currently, Maynard can be found walking the esteemed grounds of one of the world’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning as a student at Harvard Law School at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Maynard experienced Morehead State before she became a student there thanks to her participation in the Kentucky Governor’s Scholars Program and the Future Educator’s Association.

As much as she loved school, dealing with numbers was her greatest interest and she eventually went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. Before graduation, she contemplated law school after seeing her then boyfriend and current husband, Jordan (10), attend law school at Northern Kentucky University. She took the LSAT her junior year and did okay. She decided to take it again and her score improved … a lot. In fact, it was worthy of the Ivy League.

“It wasn’t something that I planned from the beginning,” she recalls. “When I saw the new score, I did think it was possible and decided to go for it.”

Even with her exceptional LSAT score, she thought Harvard might be a long shot. After a bit of prodding from Jordan, she applied, went through the interview process and was accepted. Even though Maynard said studying at Harvard isn’t quite as different as many people think, there are still moments walking campus that remind her where she is.

“All these buildings, literally the oldest ones are from the 1700s. It kind of takes your breath away,” she said.

Maynard has plenty of books to embrace on her way to a Harvard Law degree. She would ideally like to work in either government or the private sector dealing with statutes and regulations. She said she hopes to use the wealth of knowledge and experience she gets from Harvard Law and bring it back to the Commonwealth.

“I would eventually like to give back to Eastern Kentucky,” Maynard said. “I would like to do something systematically there and really try to do something to make a difference. It’s home and there’s work to be done.”

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Eagle’s internship was a call to the wild How does a self-proclaimed “homebody” from Northern

plans to earn her bachelor’s in Spring 2015. But this past

Kentucky end up spending a summer internship halfway

summer, she got the educational experience of a lifetime

around the world in South Africa? For Morehead State

completing a four-week internship at the Cango Wildlife

senior Sarah Jo Schmitt (14), she simply followed her

Ranch in Outdshoorn, South Africa.

passion wherever it would take her.

There, she got to live with students from across the

Growing up in Petersburg, Schmitt was always fond of

globe and get up close with the country’s wildlife,

animals and worked at the petting zoo at the Creation

interacting with and assisting in veterinary procedures

Museum in her hometown. Her graduation present – a

on tigers, lions, crocodiles, meerkats, lemurs, tortoises,

trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World in

porcupines, elephants and a variety of other animals.

Orlando – made her want to work with animals more than ever.

“They would say, ‘before you go to bed, we have to play with the cheetah cubs,’” Schmitt said. “They brought

“I just thought it was so cool that they got to work so

them in the living room and they climb all over you and

close to the animals … and it was to help the animals,”

it’s pretty amazing.”

Schmitt said.

Schmitt credits her knowledge and passion for veterinary

Even though it was a bit far from home and she hadn’t

technology to MSU. She’s spent the past two semesters

really heard much about Morehead State, she went to an

living on the University Farm working with horses and

open house. Her petting zoo farmer’s tan caught the eye

other animals and really getting a feel for what her

of veterinary technology professor Dr. Phillip Prater.

job may entail after she graduates. At this point, she is

“He kind of pulled me aside,” Schmitt recalls. “He said, ‘you know, I can tell an agriculture kid when I see one.’”

That personal attention left an impression on Schmitt and she later became an Eagle. She earned an associate degree in veterinary technology in Spring 2014 and

certainly proud she became an Eagle.

“I had never heard of Morehead State before and it’s so amazing. I wish more people knew about it,” she said.

“Coming to MSU was definitely one of the best decisions I ever made.”

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MSU anthropologist is fueled by discovery Anthropology has always interested Dr. Timothy Hare, associate professor of anthropology in the School of Public Affairs’ Institute for Regional Analysis and Public Policy (IRAPP). He initially got in it for the sense of discovery that comes from examining the past. That being said, the field continues to surprise him.

“Anthropology is big. It’s so diverse,” Hare said. “There’s plenty that changed my mind within anthropology and what I was going to do.”

Nowadays, Hare’s anthropologic work in and out of the classroom is just as much about uncovering the past as much as it is shaping the future.

The native of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, earned both a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and a master’s degree in economic anthropology. He enrolled in 1994 at the State University of New York in Albany and eventually walked away with a Ph.D. in economic anthropology in 2001. During much of this period, he was in doing fieldwork helping to unearth an ancient Aztec city in Central Mexico, combing through artifacts to discover the nature of the city’s political and economic systems and how they change over time.

“It is a lot of detective work. You have to look for the clues left behind and decipher them. For me, that’s pretty exciting,” Hare said. “The idea is to understand the big picture of humans and societies and how they transform.”

Hare came to MSU in 2003 when his wife, Janelle, was hired as a biology professor. When he’s not instructing students, he continues to make the trip down to Central Mexico every other summer to continue to map and study the Aztec city.

However, a great deal of Hare’s past and current work is contemporary research focusing on the Commonwealth’s future through IRAPP. His research has focused on the disparities in lung cancer in Eastern Kentucky and he’s worked with criminologist Paul Steele to examine regional crime patterns, map gang territories and publish findings on the access sex offenders have to mental health services.

“Whether it’s working with ancient people or working with modern day people today, I’m still looking for the same things — looking for the material clues that show what’s affecting people,” Hare said.

Hare thoroughly enjoys his work and hasn’t lost that sense of wonder and discovery he first had. As a professor at MSU, he gets an added thrill of passing his passion and knowledge on to a new generation.

“I guess it’s rewarding in two different ways. The work I do informs my teaching and I take satisfaction in working with students and helping them develop strong skills in research and helping people,” he said.

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Pannuti does explosive space research at MSU Some people may look up at the sky and wonder.

Dr. Thomas Pannuti has spent his entire career looking beyond the sky — getting answers to the universe’s most confounding and fascinating questions and phenomena.

As an associate professor of space science and astrophysics, Pannuti continues to do important research while passing on his enthusiasm and knowledge for space science to the next generation.

Born and raised in Irving, New York, Pannuti got his science education on both sides of the country.

He earned his bachelor’s in physics with a minor in astrophysics in 1994 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, New York, before going to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque to obtain both a master’s degree and Ph.D. in physics. His post-doctoral work took him to MIT Kavil Institute for Astrophysics and Space Science Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from 2000-03 and later to the Spitzer Science Center at Caltech in Pasadena, California, from 2003-06.

When Pannuti learned about a position in MSU’s Department of Earth and Space Sciences in 2006, it felt like the stars aligned.

“I’ve always wanted to teach and conduct research with students and this seemed like a great fit for what I wanted to do,” he said.

Since coming to MSU, Pannuti has not only helped to develop upper-level astronomy classes, he has allowed students to assist him in conducting important space science research.

“They’re just like professional astronomers,” he said. “For students, opportunities to be involved in projects like this are very limited. They are representing Morehead State on a national and an international scale, and that means a lot to me.”

Using MSU’s state-of-the-art equipment, he has continued to expand on his earlier research on multi-wavelength (X-Ray, optical, infrared and radio) observations of galactic and extragalactic supernova (a.k.a. exploding star) remnants and the acceleration of subatomic particles. In his most recent findings, he’s discovered supernova remnants from a supernova in the Milky Way galaxy that swept up an incredible amount of material – roughly 45 times the mass of the Sun. “As a researcher, the exciting thing is for many of these results, I’ve been the first person to explore these objects. I’ve had the chance to prove some theories and challenge others,” he said. “There’s a recognition and a far reach of what’s being accomplished here.”

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Kerr awarded Health Physics Society’s highest honor Some people may have seen images of those who have

until 2011, Kerr worked as a U.S.

been affected by atomic bombs and other forms of

appointed consultant on radiation

radiation, but George Kerr (62) has made the impact of

dosimetry to the Radiation Effects

radiation on the human body his life’s work.

Research Foundation (RERF),

This past spring, he was honored for his work in health physics with the Robley D. Evans Commemorative Medal Award, the most prestigious award from the Health and Physics Society. Of the society’s 5,000 members, Kerr is only the 10th member to receive this recognition.

A native of Circleville, Ohio, who now resides in Knoxville, Tennessee, Kerr earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics before going on earn a master’s in physics from North Carolina State University and his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from the University of Tennessee.

From 1964 to 2000, Kerr worked as a physicist for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He retired from Oak Ridge in 2000 but would later go on to

where he conducted research on the medical effects of radiation exposure on atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

Kerr describes receiving the Robley D. Evans Medal recognizing his dedication to his field as a “mighty good feeling,” and he said he owes MSU a debt of gratitude for his achievements.

“I got a first-class education at Morehead State,” he said.

“The years I spent at Morehead were probably some of the most enjoyable years of my life.”

become a self-employed physics consultant. From 1973

Pollard’s career continues to lift off at NASA It only seems appropriate for Kathleen Pollard (78) to have

the University of Alabama in

the responsibility she has in her current position. This

Huntsville in 1998.

proud Eagle is helping NASA take flight.

Pollard, who first began working for NASA in 1985 at the

responsibilities and move

Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, was

up NASA’s ranks to her

recently promoted as manger of the Program, Planning

current position, which

and Control Office for the Space Launch Systems (SLS)

entails formulating and

Program.

implementing SLS resource

The Manassas, Virginia, native transferred from Virginia Tech to Morehead State in 1976 when her husband took a job at Ashland Oil. She earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from MSU. Upon moving to Huntsville for her husband’s new job, she applied at NASA and was first hired

28 |

She continued to gain

plans and its $1.6 billion annual budget. The SLS Program’s focus is on the engineering, construction and launch of the rockets that will have Americans exploring deep space by 2018.

on as a price analyst with procurement and then the shuttle

“It’s a really cool endeavor to work on,” Pollard said. “At

program. She later went back to school to eventually earn a

the end of the day, you just hope you’ve made the country a

master’s degree in industrial and systems engineering from

better place.”

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MSU and Highlands Museum and Discovery Center unveil new exhibit Morehead State University and the Highlands Museum and Discovery Center unveiled their new astronomical exhibit, “Satellites, Aerospace and the Bluegrass State,” with a reception and ribbon cutting ceremony Dec. 4.

Designed by Eric Thomas (92), director of MSU’s Star Theater and staff member of the space science program, the exhibit will inform visitors about the role satellites play in the field of aerospace, featuring 1:1 scale models of satellites built and flown

by MSU, and highlighting the University’s role in preparing students to work in the challenging field of aerospace. The exhibit takes up 840 square feet in the basement of the Highlands Museum and Discovery Center and was created to encourage middle school and high school students to learn about space science and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines.

“We are excited to get this exhibit open and excited about the partnership between MSU and the Highlands Museum and Discovery Center,” said Thomas. “A lot of people worked on this project and we couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out.”

Thomas also stated the MSU’s space science program intends this to be a long-term relationship with the Highlands Museum and Discovery Center. Through this partnership, the exhibit space will continually be updated and collaborations on workshops, summer camps and guest speaking opportunities will also be forthcoming.

“It started out as a small project and turned into this,” said Dr. Ben Malphrus, chair of the Department of the Earth and Space Sciences. “This exhibit is for all ages and we hope that this will excite students into careers in STEM, especially careers in engineering and space.”

Additional information is available by calling the Highlands Museum and Discovery at 606-329-8888 or Thomas at 606-783-9593.

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Eagle alum wins Science Teacher of the Year award As a teacher at Simons Middle School in Fleming County, Kentucky, Cindy Combs (99, 08) believes her students should definitely hit the books. As a science teacher, however, she also believes there is benefit that comes from putting the books down.

“I find that if students can get their hands on doing things and start doing the science instead of just reading about it, they actually get involved in it and they really enjoy it,” Combs said.

Combs’ dedication to science is working for her students, but it’s also winning the respect of her peers. Last fall, Combs was named middle school science teacher of the year by the Kentucky Science Teacher Association

numerous state teaching conferences, being a member

(KSTA).

of various educational committees and participating in

Before Combs became an award-winning teacher, the Laurel County, Kentucky, native found her pathway to teaching while attending Morehead State. She originally

Aerospace Careers in Kentucky (PEACK) workshop hosted by MSU in 2013.

planned to study either social work or psychology

“It’s not just about teaching and that’s it. I’m constantly

and work with children before changing her focus to

working on ways to expand my knowledge and

education. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in

understand my content,” she said. “It’s not just a single

elementary education and soon landed her first teaching

approach that’s going to help students understand it. It

job at Rowan County Christian Academy. She taught

takes a little bit of all of it working together.”

various subjects, but one in particular quickly became her passion.

Combs was equally surprised and honored to receive the award from KSTA and she said the hands-on approach

“I found when I was teaching science, I would get

and dedication of her science instructors at MSU taught

really excited about it,” she said. “I could see my energy

her a valuable lesson she will take with her throughout

there.”

her career.

After more than five years at Rowan County Christian

“The more we learn about science, the more we find out

Academy, she went to work for Hillsboro Elementary

what we thought we knew is not really the way it is,” she

School in 2005 for two years and decided to go back to

said. “That’s what I tell my kids. In science, you’re not

MSU to get her master’s in middle school education. In

wrong. You can’t be afraid to make a mistake this is how

her current position, Combs is always focusing on how

we learn and how we change.”

she can do her job better, attending and presenting at

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science-based workshops like the Project to Elevate

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FEATURE

Kentucky economy could soar thanks to MSU space science When people talk about diversifying an Eastern Kentucky economy dominated for a century by coal mining and poverty, they often don’t aim very high: low-wage factories and corporate call centers.

But you can see another possibility at Morehead State University’s Space Science Center. Over the past decade, in partnership with the Kentucky Science and Technology Corp. and the University of Kentucky, the center has become a world leader in designing and building small, high-tech spacecraft of the future.

One morning last week, I stood with Kris Kimel, president of KSTC, in the center’s control room as engineers used computers to locate two Moreheadbuilt satellites now circling the Earth. Faculty and students use the control room to download data and upload instructions to the satellites as they pass within range of one of the world’s biggest space-tracking

KSTC set up a lab in California’s Silicon Valley. Benjamin Malphrus, chairman of Morehead’s Department of Earth

antennas, visible out the window on a nearby hilltop.

and Space Sciences, and UK engineering professor

“This is a different kind of call center,” Kimel said.

about 20 graduate students, learning all they could about

Lexington-based KSTC was created 27 years ago as

James Lumpp spent several weeks there in 2005 with new satellite technology.

a nonprofit corporation to develop innovation-driven,

They collaborated with engineers at NASA and Stanford

entrepreneurial companies in Kentucky. A decade ago,

University. Among them was Robert Twiggs, who helped

Kimel saw an opportunity to grow Morehead’s already

develop some of the first small satellites, including

strong astrophysics program in a new direction.

the CubeSat, which has become an industry standard.

He realized that the micro-technology then revolutionizing computers and cellphones would also

Twiggs left Stanford in 2009 and moved to Morehead to teach.

change spacecraft, especially as NASA was turning over

KSTC created Kentucky Space LLC in 2010 as a nonprofit

much of its traditional work to private industry. Somebody

corporation to coordinate this university research with

needed to design and build this new stuff, Kimel thought.

industry. Last week, KSTC created Space Tango, a for-

Why couldn’t it be done in Kentucky?

profit enterprise, to commercialize the work.

“We knew we had really smart people here; we knew

Much of that work involves designing and building

we had smart students,” he said. “But we had to be

CubeSats, which are 10-centimeter cubes packed with

aggressive and ambitious and move quickly.”

off-the-shelf technology and powered by solar panels.

W inter 2 015 | 31

When launched from a rocket or the International Space

companies already have been created out of Kentucky

Station, the satellites take advantage of space’s zero-gravity

Space’s work and he said he thinks that is just the beginning.

environment to gather a variety of scientific and commercial research data. Other CubeSat uses range from tracking ships at sea to making high-resolution photographs of Earth for mapping and surveillance. Almost all of Kentucky Space’s hardware and software is designed and built in Kentucky.

“We’re trying to develop a home-grown set of technologies that can integrate into spacecraft,” Malphrus said. “There’s an incredible variety of applications people have thought of, but we don’t even know what all the applications are yet.”

not. Aerospace products have become Kentucky’s largest export, edging out motor vehicles and parts, according to the state Cabinet for Economic Development. A diverse array of aerospace exports totaled $5.6 billion last year — 22 percent of the value of all Kentucky exports.

Economic development strategies are changing from the old model of luring corporate branch plants with jobs that are here today and may be gone tomorrow when incentives run

Another Kentucky Space product is the DM processor,

out or cheaper labor is found elsewhere. There is more long-

whose development was funded by the Defense Department.

lasting economic impact in creating specialized knowledge

It is a supercomputer — 20 times more powerful than a

and an environment where entrepreneurs can use it to

desktop computer — that can be built into a small satellite

create high-value companies.

for such applications as on-board processing of highresolution images. It weighs about 12 ounces.

Kentucky Space, Morehead and UK have had several experiments on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. They also have built two research platforms on the space station and are developing more.

“We’re clearly one of the global leaders in trying to work on and design this next generation of spacecraft,” Kimel said.

“Our specialty is building small machines quickly.”

Kentucky Space also recently announced a partnership with FedEx Corp. to develop a Space Solutions division to help global clients safely move payloads between laboratories and launch sites.

Morehead State’s space science studies program now has about 60 students. This fall, it will start its first master’s degree program in space systems engineering with 10 students. While many are from Eastern Kentucky, about one-third of the students are internationals who sought out Morehead, Malphrus said.

Kentucky Space and Space Tango are small, with five contract employees and one full-time engineer: Twyman Clements, 27, a UK engineering graduate who grew up on a farm near Bardstown. But Kimel said a half-dozen small

32 |

Spacecraft might seem an unlikely Kentucky product, but it’s

w w w.moreheadstate.edu /statement

“This is not just about education; we’re growing a new industry here,” Kimel said. “If we don’t commercialize this technology, these students won’t stay here because there won’t be opportunities for them.

“I’m not one of these people who thinks everyone should stay in Kentucky; they shouldn’t,” he added. “But for those that have the opportunity and want to, great. And we want people to come here from other places who are interested in this industry. We want them to say this is the place to be.”

Eastern Kentucky has a long way to go in creating the workforce to support many high-tech companies but Kentucky Space shows what is possible. It isn’t the only answer for the region’s economic challenges, but neither are low-wage factories and call centers.

“Kentucky historically has done an excellent job of putting together other people’s ideas,” Kimel said. “What we need to start doing is building our own ideas because that’s where the value proposition is. We have to find things that we can do better than anybody else.”

- By Tom Eblen Reprinted with permission from the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Creating A Legacy for

Future Generations . . .

The Thomas Raymond Curtis Scholarship In 1997, an unassuming teacher from Flat Gap made an extraordinary decision that would touch the lives of students from Johnson County forever. Thomas Raymond Curtis lived modestly and worked passionately in Johnson County, Kentucky, for 30 years. When he passed away, he left the largest bequest in the Morehead State University Foundation’s history, $1.3 million, to fund the Thomas Raymond Curtis Memorial Scholarship.

In 1999, the first Curtis Scholarship was awarded. Since that time, the Curtis Scholarship has been the incentive for many other students to achieve their dream of becoming teachers. Each year, at least one scholarship valued at $10,000 per year will be awarded to a member of the graduating class of Johnson Central High School. This scholarship can be renewed for three years if a minimum renewal criterion is met.

Since the fund was created, over $558,000 has been awarded in student scholarships, and, with investment income, the fund has grown to its current market value of nearly $1.53 million.

From left, Stephen A. Trimble, recently-retired Johnson County Schools superintendent, and Kayla Cantrell, the 2014-15 recipient of the Thomas Raymond Curtis Memorial Scholarship.

The Visionary Society includes individuals who remember MSU through planned gifts such as bequests, gift annuities, trusts, life estates, life insurance, or another planned gift vehicle and therefore provide for the future beyond their years.

If you have chosen to include MSU in your estate plans, we want to recognize you. Please contact the Office of Alumni Relations and Development at 1-877-690-4483 so we can add your name to the Visionary List!

What will your legacy be?

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EAGLE EYE

HOMECOMING From left: Athletic Hall of Fame inductees Marquis Sykes (03), Ricky Minard (ND) and Gary Shirk (73); Alumni Hall of Fame inductees Kim McClanahan (79, 80), James Osborne (65), Debra Merchant (78); and Keith Kappes (70), Founders Award recipient, were all honored at MSU’s 2014 Homecoming Banquet on Oct. 4.

The MSU Marching Band once again put on an amazing musical showcase during the halftime festivities.

Eagle running back Rees MacShara scores a touchdown during the Homecoming contest with Campbell.

Reno (Rennie) Davis of Lancaster and Austin Casebolt of Pikeville (center) were named Morehead State University’s 2014 Homecoming Queen and King.

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EAGLE EYE

COMMENCEMENT FALL 2014

Johnson Arena was once again filled with proud spectators during MSU’s Fall 2014 Commencement.

Melissa Bull (14) of Pearl City, Illinois, was the student speaker.

Cadets of MSU’s ROTC program were commissioned as officers by Lt. Col. Robert Hilton during the commencement ceremony.

Among those who took part in the ceremonies was Matthew E. Prater (14) of Hillsboro, Kentucky, who was a candidate for a Bachelor of Science in Animal Science. He was congratulated by MSU President Wayne D. Andrews.

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EAGLE EVOLUTION There have been many people who have shown up to support Morehead State University student-athletes over the years, but there’s only one that has the ability to instantly get kids smiling and crowds cheering. That would be our MSU Eagle mascot, currently known as Beaker.

In our last issue of STATEMENT Magazine, we did a piece on Jeff Wilkinson (76), who we highlighted as MSU’s “first Eagle mascot” when he donned the “war eagle” outfi t back in 1969. After the article was published, we received a message from another alum, Lee Mueller (77), stating that our assertion that Wilkinson was the first Eagle mascot may have been a bit inaccurate.

After consulting his 1962 yearbook, he found a picture of Jim Norsworthy (62) dressed as “the Collegiate Eagle,” a mascot he claims was started as a new tradition by the University’s men’s club, the Collegiate Knights, during the 1961-62 academic year.

We here at STATEMENT Magazine would like to apologize for the error ... but we’d also like to thank Mr. Mueller for the inspiration for the piece you see here. We figured after this oversight was brought to our attention, we would do some yearbook digging of our own to see just how much our beloved mascot has evolved into the Beaker you see today.

The readers have squawked, and we have answered.

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1969

1970

1963

1979

1991

1984

2000

2014

W inter 2 015 | 3 7

FAM E & GLORY

Soccer program earns seventh NSCAA Team Academic Award The Morehead State soccer program has once again earned a Team Academic Award from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. The award, which celebrates achievements during the 2013-14 school year, marks the seventh overall and fifth consecutive year MSU has earned this honor.

MSU was one of six Ohio Valley Conference teams earning this year’s accolade. Soccer also claimed the honor in 2002-03, 2006-07, 2009-10, 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13.

“We stress the importance of being great students and great athletes,” Head Coach Warren Lipka said. “I am very proud of our program for accomplishing this mark again.”

To qualify, a team must compile a minimum 3.0 grade point average for a specific academic year. The 2013 team claimed the OVC Tournament Championship and made the program’s second NCAA Tournament appearance.

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FAME & GLORY

Carver returns to lead sports medicine program Jamey Carver, who previously served

Prior to his promotion to assistant AD, Carver was

more than 10 years on the Morehead

elevated to head trainer for men’s sports in 2008-09.

State sports medicine staff, has

He began his career at MSU in 2001, first serving as

returned as assistant athletic director

the men’s basketball trainer from 2001-08 and later

and director of sports medicine.

as football trainer from 2008-11. A former graduate

Carver was promoted to assistant AD and director of sports medicine in 2011-12 before pursuing other opportunities. He spent the last two years as a surgical assistant at Cave Run Surgical Specialists in Morehead.

Carver also participated in outreach programs for local high schools the past two years.

assistant at the University of Kentucky, Carver earned his master’s degree in kinesiology from UK in 2001. He earned a bachelor’s degree in exercise science from Northwestern State in 1998. Carver is married to the former Brandy Morris (02), an assistant principal at Rowan County Senior High School and former soccer student-athlete at MSU. The couple has three daughters: Mia, Ava and Lana.

“Light Up The Lot” draws enthusiastic crowd A large and enthusiastic crowd attended Morehead State’s first-ever “Light Up The Lot” basketball preview event Oct. 16 in the parking lot of the Academic-Athletic Center.

A special FlexCourt was erected during the day and fans were treated to complimentary food.

The event, presented by the Kentucky National Guard, also featured performances by Morehead State’s cheerleading and dance teams and an exhibition game with the Greek organization all-stars.

The 2014-15 men’s and women’s basketball teams were introduced and both participated in skills and shooting

ultimate success without the support from the community and campus.”

competitions. Head Men’s Coach Sean Woods made

Head Women’s Coach Greg Todd, who is in his first

a “grand” entrance in a convertible from Larry Fannin

season at MSU, said his team and staff were thrilled to

Chevrolet/Buick/GMC in Morehead.

be part of such a unique event.

“We appreciate everyone who came out,” Woods said.

“I had never been involved in an outdoor preview event

“What a great event. We hope this is the first of many

like this,” he said. “We want to thank our staff for putting

like this in the years to come. We feel like we have a very

on a wonderful event and I think everyone who came out

strong team this year and we certainly cannot achieve

enjoyed the activities.”

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FAME & GLORY

Sean Woods to be included in ESPN “30 for 30” documentary Sean Woods, who is in his third season as the head men’s basketball coach at Morehead State, will be included in an ESPN “30 for 30” documentary on Selection Sunday in March. Woods played at the University of Kentucky from 1989-92 and has been coaching at the collegiate level since 2003.

ESPN’s documentary is titled “’I Hate Christian Laettner” and features the former Duke star. Laettner hit one of the most memorable shots in NCAA Tournament history, helped the Blue Devils to two NCAA national championships and played 13 seasons in the National

Woods has been associated with six Division I men’s

Basketball Association.

basketball programs. The 2014-15 season is his seventh

A starting point guard, Woods played on nationallyranked teams his final three seasons. He helped the Wildcats to a Southeastern Conference Tournament championship his senior year. He still ranks first in

as a D-I head coach and 12th at the collegiate level. He spent an hour with ESPN representatives on Oct. 15. His segments were taped inside the MSU basketball locker room.

Kentucky history for career assists (5.30) and career steals (1.58) per game.

Volleyball program sets single-match attendance record with 4,012 A school-record crowd of 4,012 rolled through Wetherby and Laughlin Gyms on Say Boo to Drugs Night on Oct. 31 to watch the MSU volleyball team take on Belmont.

While the Bruins came away with a 3-2 victory, Head Coach Jaime Gordon was thrilled with the overwhelming support.

“A school-record crowd with a win would have been nicer than a school-record crowd with a loss, but the support was still outstanding,” Gordon said. “Our players and coaches want to thank everyone who came out. We hope they return for future matches.”

Morehead State volleyball had an uncharacteristic three-win season in 2014 but still owns 12 Ohio Valley Conference Championships. Prior to 2014, the program had eight consecutive 20-win seasons.

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FAME & GLORY Jade Flory earns Second-Team Academic All-American Honors Jade Flory, a senior forward

choice in 2014 after being named OVC Player of the

on the MSU soccer team,

Year in 2013. She recorded 27 goals and 13 assists for 67

has been named a Second-

points as an Eagle.

Team Capital One Academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America. She becomes MSU’s first Academic All-American, in any sport, since 2011.

A native of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, Flory ranks third in school history for goals and points despite playing just 44 matches in a Morehead State uniform and fourth in assists. As a senior, Flory ranked among the league leaders in assists (T-1st, 8), goals (2nd, 13), points (2nd, 34), points per game (2nd, 1.55), game-winning

“I am really proud of Jade and everything she has accomplished,” Head Coach Warren Lipka said. “This is a very prestigious honor for academics and athletics.

Jade is the true meaning of a student-athlete. She competes at a high level, takes academics seriously and gives back to the community.”

Flory owns a 3.66 cumulative grade point average as a business administration major. She is in her second year at Morehead State after transferring from Youngstown State. Flory was a First-Team All-Ohio Valley Conference

goals (3rd, 4) and assists per game (5th, 0.36).

Flory recorded three goals against Eastern Kentucky as a junior and three more at Illinois-Chicago as a senior. She posted six multi-goal performances in her two seasons at Morehead State.

Emma Keough (12), a former middle blocker for the volleyball program, was MSU’s last Academic AllAmerican. She earned the honor following her senior campaign in 2011.

EAGLE SOFTBALL

EAGLE BASEBALL

2015 HOM E SCH EDULE

2015 HOME SCHEDULE

DAY Fri. Sat. Sun. Fri. Sat. Sun. Tues.

Fri. Sat. Sun. Tues.

Fri. Sat. Sun. Fri. Sat. Tues.

Wed. Fri. Sat. Sun. Wed. Fri. Sat. Sun. Thurs.

Fri. Sat.

DATE Feb. 20 Feb. 21 Feb. 22 Feb. 27 Feb. 28 March 1 March 10 March 13 March 14 March 15 March 17 March 27 March 28 March 29 April 3 April 3 April 4 April 7 April 8 April 17 April 18 April 19 April 29 May 1 May 2 May 3 May 14 May 15 May 16

OPPONENT Bowling Green Bowling Green Bowling Green Coppin State Coppin State Coppin State Ohio Southeast Missouri * Southeast Missouri * Southeast Missouri * East Tennessee State Eastern Kentucky * Eastern Kentucky * Eastern Kentucky * La Salle La Salle La Salle Alabama A&M Alabama A&M SIU Edwardsville * SIU Edwardsville * SIU Edwardsville * Northern Kentucky Eastern Illinois * Eastern Illinois * Eastern Illinois * Murray State * Murray State * Murray State *

TIME 3 p.m.

2 p.m.

1 p.m.

3 p.m.

2 p.m.

1 p.m.

3 p.m.

3 p.m.

2 p.m.

1 p.m.

3 p.m.

3 p.m.

2 p.m.

1 p.m.

3 p.m.

6 p.m.

1 p.m.

6 p.m.

4 p.m.

6 p.m.

2 p.m.

1 p.m.

6 p.m.

6 p.m.

3 p.m.

1 p.m.

6 p.m.

6 p.m.

1 p.m.

DAY Wed. Sat. Sun. Sat. Sun. Wed. Tue. Wed. Sat. Sun. Wed. Sat. Sun.

DATE March 11 March 11 March 14 March 14 March 15 March 21 March 21 March 22 March 22 March 25 March 25 March 31 March 31 April 8 April 8 April 11 April 11 April 12 April 15 April 15 May 2 May 2 May 3

OPPONENT Dayton Dayton Jacksonville State * Jacksonville State * Jacksonville State * Eastern Illinois * Eastern Illinois * SIU Edwardsville * SIU Edwardsville * East Tennessee State East Tennessee State Cleveland State Cleveland State Northern Kentucky Northern Kentucky Belmont * Belmont * Belmont * Wright State Wright State Tennessee Tech * Tennessee Tech * Tennessee Tech *

TIME 2 p.m.

4 p.m.

1 p.m.

3 p.m.

1 p.m.

Noon 2 p.m.

Noon 2 p.m.

2 p.m.

4 p.m.

2 p.m.

4 p.m.

2 p.m.

4 p.m.

1 p.m.

3 p.m.

1 p.m.

2 p.m.

4 p.m.

1 p.m.

3 p.m.

1 p.m.

To purchase tickets, view current schedules and more, visit

www.MSUEagles.com.

All Time Eastern | * = Ohio Valley Conference game

W inter 2 015 | 41

CLASSNOTES Marianne Castillo (73) published two

president of Outdoor Power Source

Phillips-Cunningham, who currently

volumes of inspirational poetry titled

Inc., in Elizabethtown. Lt. Col. Warren is

serves as instructor of communication

“From The Heart: Book One” and “From

retired as manager of community and

and director of forensics in the

The Heart: Book Two.” Now retired and

public relations at Blue Grass Energy in

University of Indianapolis’ Department of

residing in Corpus Christi, Texas, Castillo

Nicholasville and is a 39-year veteran of

Communication, has served on numerous

was formerly a physical education

the U.S. Army.

NFA committees for nearly three decades.

Martha Emmons (75) was named

Lee Mueller (77) was one of seven

Kentucky’s 2014 Speech Teacher of the

journalists inducted into the Kentucky

Year. Emmons currently serves as the

Journalism Hall of Fame during 2014.

coach for the speech team and forensics

Mueller, now retired, formerly served as

team at Paducah Tilghman High School,

the Eastern Kentucky bureau reporter for

a position she’s held since 2004. She is

the Lexington Herald-Leader in Lexington.

the co-owner/manager of BikeWorld in

The Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame

Paducah.

was organized by the University of

teacher and girls basketball coach at St. Joseph Academy in Brownsville, Texas.

Her books are available to purchase on Amazon.

Audrey Phillips-Cunningham (76, 79) was honored by the National Forensic Association (NFA) with the Eddie Myers Carolyn Schaefer Bewley (75) and Lt. Col. (Ret) Tony Warren (78) are now married.

Bewley is a retired registered nurse and birth place manager at Hardin Memorial Hospital in Elizabethtown and is currently

NFA Distinguished Service Award. The award is presented to members of the

Kentucky Journalism Alumni Association to honor journalists, living or dead, who are natives of Kentucky and spent significant portions of their careers in the Commonwealth.

NFA community who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to the mission, goals and events of the organization.

Story retires as MCTC president After 32 years with Maysville Community and Technical College (MCTC) and seven years as the institution’s president, Ed Story (62) retired Dec. 31, 2014. But when he was a teenager growing up in Fleming County, higher education wasn’t the first thing on this farm kid’s mind.

“I had not intended to go to college, actually, and I had a senior English teacher that encouraged me to go one semester,” Story said. “I guess I must have got hooked on education.”

That first semester led to Story becoming the first in his family to graduate college, earning his bachelor’s degree with a double major in biology and geography. He served as a science teacher in public education for 10 years in Kentucky and earned his master’s in biology from Murray State University before moving to the University of Southern Mississippi to earn his Ph.D. in biology and come on at Southern Miss as a faculty member.

Story moved back to Kentucky to be closer to his family and took a job at MCTC as a biology instructor in 1982. He would later become a division chair and chief academic officer before being selected as MCTC’s president in 2007.

Story has seen a lot in his 32 years with MCTC and is proud to have been a part of the College’s growth and expansion during his tenure, but he said nothing quite compares to what he and his institution has helped others to achieve.

“Probably the most important thing is watching the students go through the line at graduation and helping them move from one level to another in education or career tracks,” he said. “We change lives at this college every day and that’s our mission, to make life better for our students.”

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CLASSNOTES Barker tackles complex health problems at ASU When she graduated from Morehead State, Dr. Anna Barker (63) felt like she left with a great “transdisciplinary background” studying a variety of subjects. However, Barker’s main interest ended up being how things work on an elemental level.

“I think chemistry especially appeals to people who like to think in three dimensions,” Barker said.

Since the Olive Hill native earned her bachelor’s degree in chemistry from MSU, she’s tackled multidimensional problems throughout an incredible scientific career, and continues to do so at her current position at Arizona State University.

Barker currently serves as co-director of Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) with the goal of using a trans-disciplinary approach to understand and provide innovative solutions for many forms of cancer and some of the most complex problems and diseases in biomedical and health sciences.

Prior to joining ASU, Barker had an extensive career in research and managing advanced research teams in the academic, nonprofit and private sectors. After graduating with both her M.A. and Ph.D. from Ohio State University (where she trained in immunology and microbiology), she went to serve as a senior executive at the Batelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, for 18 years. She then co-founded a publicly traded biotechnology company and later became the deputy director and deputy director for strategic scientific initiatives for the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health. Here, she led an effort to implement research that combined fields from the physical sciences like mathematics, physics and engineering with cancer biology.

Barker has always enjoyed trying to solve “head-exploding problems” in her career, and what MSU gave her as a student has only fueled her drive to succeed.

“What I really took away from Morehead State was a real love of learning,” she said. “I really loved to learn and I took that in every position I’ve ever held and every position I’ve ever done and I try to instill that excitement in people.”

Eddie McNutt (78) has been selected

decades working in information systems

For the last three years, Huysman has

as the new manager of information

management and 18 years at his current

spearheaded an effort to develop a

technology at Eastern Kentucky Power

position as CIO of St. Claire Regional

supply chain workforce pipeline through

Cooperative in Winchester. He will

Medical Center in Morehead.

the development of a regional career

oversee the company’s network and computer operations and business applications.

McCleese was named “100 Hospital and Health System CIOs to Know” in 2014 by the Becker’s Hospital Review,

McNutt has worked for EKPC for 32

a publication focusing on up-to-date

years and was first hired as a computer

business and legal news and analysis

operator. He later served as a senior

relating to hospitals and health systems.

programmer before moving into his more recent position of business applications supervisor in 2002.

John Huysman (82) was honored in June with the Richard L. McLaughlin Volunteer of the Year Award by the Florida Economic

Randy McCleese (80, 02, 12) has been

Development Council. The award was

selected to serve as the 2014 chair of

given for his work on the training center

the College of Healthcare Information

project and its ancillary economic

Executives (CHIME) board of trustees.

contributions to the state of Florida.

training facility in the south central Florida heartland which is designated as a Rural Area of Economic Concern, eventually resulting in a $3.5 million state appropriation to Glades County for the construction of Gateway Logistics & Manufacturing Training Center.

Huysman’s career in education spans 32 years, including teaching K-12, adult education and as an adjunct professor for undergraduate and graduate-level courses.

McCleese has spent the past two W inter 2 015 | 4 3

CLASSNOTES Jeff Elswick (82) received the 2014 State

Dr. Frank Spaniol (84), professor of

Brad Phillips (87) had his baseball

of Kentucky Financial Services Advocate

kineseiology at Texas A&M University

playbook, “Baseball Playbook for Youth,

of the Year award by the Kentucky District

– Corpus Christi, recently appeared in

High School and College Players and

Office of Small Business Administration

the second episode of the third season

Coaches,” published in May. The book

in Lexington. He earned his nomination

of Stan Lee’s “Superhumans” on H2, an

is available in both paperback and

after being named the 2013 Small

extension of the History Channel. The

digital formats at Amazon and Barnes

Business Champion of the Year by the

show, inspired by comic book icons, takes

& Noble. Phillips was a baseball player

2013 Northeast Kentucky Small Business

viewers across the globe in search of

at MSU from 1984-87 and a graduate

Awards Committee, which is sponsored

real-life “superhumans.” Spaniol served

assistant coach in 1988 under Coach

by the Morehead State University Small

as an on-screen sport science expert

Steve Hamilton. He went on to coach high

Business Development Center at the

during a trip to Bangkok, Thailand, to

school baseball in Michigan from 2003-10.

Ashland regional campus.

analyze the skills of Kie Willis, a renowned

Elswick has spent 40 years in the banking industry and currently serves as senior

free runner and parkour champion from London, England.

Dominick Yanchunas (90) has been promoted to editor at Professional Mariner magazine. Yanchunas won

vice president and chief commercial

Spaniol is a national and international

the 2013 National Azbee Award for

lender at Kentucky Farmers Bank in

leader in sport science research, having

Investigative Reporting for his story on

Ashland.

published numerous articles in journals

the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster

and being rewarded more than 20

in Italy. He was also elected to the board

research grants for exercise science and

of the American Society of Business

instructional technology.

Publications Editors, New York chapter.

Mains’ science career is buzzing with MosquitoMate When Morehead native Jimmy Mains (02, 05) was a little kid, he liked playing in the creek near his house collecting all kinds of “critters.” As an adult, Mains is focusing on one critter, in particular.

Mains is the chief scientist and chief operating officer at MosquitoMate, which is dedicated to using novel methods to control mosquito populations.

Before Mains would move on to studying bugs, he was a standout student-athlete who earned an athletic scholarship playing second base for the Eagles baseball team. He earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biology from MSU and spent his post-graduate work studying birds in the Daniel Boone National Forest.

Mains developed the biotechnology for MosquitoMate at the University of Kentucky on the way to earning his Ph.D. in entomology in 2012. MosquitoMate’s products specifically target the Asian Tiger mosquito that’s commonly found in the U.S. and infects males with a either a bacteria that sterilizes female mosquitos or giving them a powerful larvicide that eliminates breeding mosquitos.

Mains and his company currently have a grant to conduct field tests in Lexington, New York, Florida and Los Angeles. In the future, he hopes to apply for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration to have MosquitoMate be available to mosquito control and abatement districts across the country.

Mains has essentially made his early fascination with critters into a full-time job, but he said MSU is what helped him pursue his love to this level.

“I give all my credit to where I am now to MSU,” he said. “It really gave me a solid foundation to advance my career.”

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CLASSNOTES Means receives Thirty Under 30 Award from Pi Kappa Phi Glenn Means (11, 13) doesn’t seem to know how to achieve. He only really knows how to over-achieve.

One year after being selected to participate in the 2013 Health For America fellowship program in Washington, D.C., Means received the 2014 Thirty Under 30 award from Pi Kappa Phi fraternity.

Pi Kappa Phi’s Thirty Under 30 was started in late 2013 as a way for peers, older alumni and friends of the fraternity to recognize young alumni for their achievements after they graduate college.

Means was a member of MSU’s Delta Eta chapter, where he served in several officer positions including Archon. While at MSU, he was active on campus in the Student Government Association, the Alumni Advisory Board and Board of Regents while earning his bachelor’s degree in psychology and later a master’s degree in public administration.

Currently, Means works as a college and career advisor for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR UP) Kentucky, a federally-funded program administered by the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. It provides academic advising, life skills training, college tours and other resources to students and parents in 30 middle schools and their corresponding high schools in 22 Kentucky counties.

Means remains active in his community raising awareness for equality and education. He seems determined to make a difference, and he said MSU played a big part in shaping him.

“As far as my career and where I will go, MSU helped me find my passion and helped me keep moving forward,” he said.

Matthew Lewis Johnson (97) is currently

Ramona Justice Vikan (98) was named

serving as a visiting professor of theatre at

one of the Forty Under 40 by the Dayton

Eastern Kentucky University in Richmond.

Business Journal. This honor is bestowed

He also plans to teach theatre at Centre

upon Dayton, Ohio’s top 40 business and

College in Danville while maintaining his

community leaders under 40 years old.

work as a director and designer.

Tim Moore (96) has been named a plant superintendent for Brock Grain Systems, a leading global designer, manufacturer and marketer of systems and solutions for producing grain, poultry and eggs, and processing poultry in Milford, Indiana. Moore has nearly 18 years of

She is currently employed at TACG LLC.

Prior to his current position, Johnson

She joined the then-named Ahrens

was an instructor at the University of

Consulting Group in 2007 and was

Kentucky, an associate artistic director of

promoted to director of acquisition and

the then-Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival

program management services in 2013.

and a stage actor, commercial actor and puppeteer for numerous shows and theatre companies in Atlanta, Georgia.

Vikan also participates in numerous Dayton area philanthropic and professional organizations. She helped

plant experience, working in metal and

launch SouthBrook Christian Church’s

automotive industries at companies like

Cancer Hope ministry in 2011. Cancer

Six Sigma, Toyota Production System

Hope supports those battling cancer

(TPS) and 5S.

and their families through fellowship and support.

Much more about you.

Share your story. Email your classnote to alumni@moreheadstate.edu.

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CLASSNOTES

Eagle’s calling takes her to Cambodia Lori Frees (03) works in a place where providing clean water isn’t a common occurrence, it’s a massive event.

“It’s as if you won a football game and scored a touchdown. They just cheer,” Frees said describing a time she helped dig a well for a Cambodian village. “And if they’re pumping at the time, they keep pumping and the kids just play in it.”

Frees, originally from the aptly named town of Mineralwells, West Virginia, attended Morehead State on an equestrian scholarship but ended up with a Bachelor of Science in Geology. It was a subject that really connected with both her love of the outdoors and her inquisitive nature. Upon graduation, she held positions as a biologist, geologist and chemist working with the Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection in Frankfort until 2009.

Frees’ heart wasn’t in the Bluegrass State as much as it was helping people in Third World Countries. After departing her government job, she sold everything she owned and found her way to Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital and largest city. She has spent the last five years there as part of Resource Development International, a Louisville-based nonprofit dedicated to providing clean water and education on health, nutrition and water-related issues.

“There’s some kind of deep inner joy and peace that comes with serving other people,” Frees said. “There’s something inside me that resonates knowing that you’re doing something worthwhile.”

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Brian Isaac Phillips (98) was recently

served as producing artistic director.

communications director for Three

announced as a member of the Forty

He has also worked for Cincinnati

Chimneys Farm, Roytz still remains

Under 40 class of 2014 by The Business

Playhouse in the Park, Ensemble Theatre

very active in the equine industry. She

Courier in Cincinnati, Ohio. The program

Cincinnati, Cincinnati Opera, Cincinnati

manages freelance writers and marketing/

recognizes Greater Cincinnati’s next

Ballet, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra,

PR consulting clients in the industry,

generation of young leaders and

The Children’s Theatre, Know Theatre of

writes a weekly column about retired

innovators who have already made a mark

Cincinnati, New Stage Collective and over

racehorses and their careers after racing,

professionally in the community.

100 productions for CSC.

and assists in Thoroughbred aftercare

Phillips has lived in Cincinnati for 16

Jen Roytz (03) is currently working as

years and has been with the Cincinnati

a contract consultant for the Markey

Shakespeare Company (CSC) for the

Cancer Foundation. Following her

past 16 seasons. For 11 seasons, he has

previous position as marketing and

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efforts.

CLASSNOTES Holtkamp goes from MSU stage to FOX drama Every aspiring actor is ready for his or her close-up. Blaine Holtkamp (88) has already had his a few times.

The Independence, Kentucky, native, who spent his college years as an avid actor in MSU’s theatre program, has spent the last decade on the hit FOX crime drama “Bones” serving in roles both behind the scenes and in front of the camera.

The path that led Holtkamp to his job in television after initially earning his bachelor’s degree in communication – radio, television and speech, with a minor in theatre, took him to plenty of places. He worked as an entertainer at both Disney World in Orlando and EuroDisney in Paris and was a player in Off-Broadway productions in New York before eventually moving to Los Angeles.

Holtkamp made a living doing voiceover work and commercial acting. You may have even seen his face performing opposite comedian Adam Carolla in a Taco Bell TV spot or ads for Honda and Quizno’s.

But Holtkamp would soon land his current gig on “Bones” as a stand-in/photo double, who works with lighting and camera crews to set up shots for the lead actors. He’s been with the show since its first episode and has also played a recurring role as one of the FBI lab techs.

The show is now in its 10th season, and for all the acting Holtkamp does, he can’t act like he saw this coming.

“You don’t go in expecting something like that, but when it happens, it’s a great thing to happen,” he said.

Holtkamp will also be the first one to credit Morehead State for helping him believe it was a possible for a kid from Kentucky to find acting success in Hollywood.

“The theatre program got me to where I wanted to be,” he said. “They let you see that it was a possibility. You could go out there and actually make a career of acting.”

Is there a future Eagle in your family?

Share your baby announcement with us and we’ll mail a “Future Eagle” baby bib to celebrate your newest family member!

To request a bib, email alumni@moreheadstate.edu with “Future Eagle” as the subject line. You may also post pictures of your little one in the bib and share it with us on Facebook (search for “Official Morehead State Alumni & Friends” and become a fan). This is open to both parents and grandparents who are MSU alumni.

Future Eagle Jennie Arya Depp, son of Casey Depp and Noel Bramblett Depp (98).

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LA G GALA G GA SPRING Saturday, April 25, 2015 ´ ´ ´ ´

Mesdames et Messieurs!

Experience the spectacle and excitement of the Morehead State University Spring Gala at the world famous Moulin Rouge!

It will be everything you can-can imagine, from magnifique Parisian dining to fantastique cabaret acts!

For more information, contact MSU’s Office of Alumni Relations and Development toll free at 877-690-4483 or email events@moreheadstate.edu.

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IN MEMORIAM The Morehead State University family remembers ...

Hazel H. Calhoun: 1944

William Floyd Davis: 1962

William Richard Kirkpatrick: 1970

Wendell Lee Vittitow: 1980

John E. Collis: 1949

Olive Rose Hannah: 1962

Myron Lee Doan: 1971

Jan D. Tuckley: 1981

Andy P. Wheeler: 1949

Ninettie F. Risner: 1962

Alvin G. Phillips: 1971

Earl Howard Alderman, Sr.: 1985

Madison E. Pryor: 1951

Faye Madonna Sykes: 1962

Philip Russell Rice: 1971

Barry A. Williamson: 1986

William B. Furnish: 1953

Niles King Walton: 1962

Luther S. Safriet: 1971

Ramona Carol Suttles Carroll: 1991

Charles G. Porter: 1953

Carol Ann Georges: 1963

Donna Q. Booth: 1973

Leland Harold Hogge: 1991

Phyllis Ann George: 1954

Clara C. Gingerich: 1963

Elva Curt Cornett: 1973

Robert Tyler Needham: 1991

Jean H. Woods: 1954

Charles A. Gordon: 1963

Diane M. Lindsey: 1974

Steven Wesley Fife: 1991

Thelma J. Delong: 1956

John Thomas Tucker: 1964

Richard K. Barber: 1976

Randall Willard Armstrong: 1993

Shirley Potter Hamilton: 1957

Patsy Adams: 1967

Eloise A. Hall: 1976

Amy Elizabeth Amburgey: 1993

Bobby D. Breeding: 1958

Dale E. Fraley: 1967

Dallas Arthur Hill: 1976

James Paul Ison, Jr.: 1994

Sandra S. Dillman: 1958

Susan Arthur Mullins: 1967

Samuel T. Sanders: 1976

Ralph F. Henry: 1995

M. Katherine Dunaway: 1958

Luna Joyce Ferris: 1968

Jacquelyn Lee Ramsden: 1977

David P. Beaver: ND

Georgia Crump May: 1958

Ada Lee Salisbury: 1968

Maria M. Sloan: 1977

Terry Cain: ND

Albert L. Todd: 1959

Susan W. Dodson, Ph.D.: 1969

Mary Jane Colley: 1978

Jean Click: ND

Martha P. Nevin: 1960

William Ross Hollar, CPA: 1969

Carman Regina Lee: 1978

Sally Ann Harlan: ND

Edith B. Tolliver: 1960

Dennis J. Judge: 1969

James D. Newman: 1978

Carroll Thomas Otis: ND

Woodrow W. Burchett, Jr.: 1961

Nelle Walters Dickison: 1970

Thomas G. Boodry, USMC: 1979

Alice F. Wick: ND

Orbie K. Rivers: 1961

Russel Jay Flippin: 1970

Peggy B. Butcher: 1979

Elliott P. Slagle: 1961

Jean Pierre Houser: 1970

Barbara E. Rice: 1979

To make a gift in memory of one or more of these individuals, call the Office of Alumni Relations & Development at 877-690-GIVE.

2014 Memorial Brick Dedication Ceremony Morehead State University is proud to recognize the faithful years of service of our former employees who have passed on during or after their years of employment through the Memorial Bricks Program. Through this program, these employees will be forever recognized in the center of campus along the Memorial Brick Walk.

Each year, a Memorial Brick Dedication Ceremony is held on the Friday of Homecoming Weekend. We invite you to help us identify and memorialize others whose names should be added in future years. Please contact the MSU Office of Alumni Relations and Development at 606-783-2033 or 877-690-4483 or email alumni@moreheadstate.edu.

Darrel Bloomfield 1991 – 2012

Leona Marie Stafford Fuoss 1967 – 88

Steven Joe “Steve” Porter 2004 – 2014

Thelma Ruth Clark Branham 1966 – 89

Dan Johnson Haley 1983 – 84

Dr. Layla Bayati Sabie 1965 – 2001

Troy Wyatt Burgess 1964 – 90

Dr. M. Louise Hickman 1968 – 85

Melissa Denise Gilliam Sabon 1999 – 2000

David Ramon Collins 1998 – 2000

Roger Lee Hilderbrand 1974 – 99

Rosemary Grower Stokes 1976 – 82

John E. Collis 1949 – 88

Russell Glen Howard 1975 – 99

Patricia Ann Ascough Watts 1970 – 90

Virginia Lucille “Bunny” Cooper 1983 – 87

Dr. David Kent Hylbert 1963 – 99

Sandra L. “Sandy” Weaver 1978 – 81

Jacklynn Scott Darling 1979 – 2014

Emil Mabry 1977 – 2004

Dr. Charles Benson Whitfield 1981 – 84

Myron Lee Doan 1972 – 2004

Dr. Franklin Mayer Mangrum 1959 – 99

Mescal Dillon Gray Fraley 1967 – 88

Jack W. Peters 1979 – 99

A complete list of all memorial brick honorees is available at www.moreheadstate.edu/memorialbricks.

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IN MEMORIAM Shirley Potter Hamilton (57), 79, of Morehead passed away Nov. 23, 2014, at Baptist Health Hospital in Lexington, Kentucky.

Born in Raceland, Kentucky, Hamilton graduated from Morehead State with both a bachelor’s degree in 1957 and a master’s degree in 1962. She began her career in Morehead as a city planning aid and joined the staff at MSU in 1979.

She was assistant director of community services with the Appalachian Development Center and other titles, which reflected her dedication to community development and continuing education.

She was a member of the Morehead/Rowan County City Council, Morehead Women’s Club and Adult Basic Education/Literacy Board. She received MSU’s 1997 Distinguished Staff Service Award before retiring as director of community development and continuing education in 2000.

Jay Flippin (70), 68, passed away peacefully in his home on Oct. 16, 2014, after a battle with liver cancer.

Flippin is a native of Stuart, Virginia, and attended Mars Hills College in North Carolina, where he earned a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance. He came to Morehead State University in 1969 to earn a Master of Music in piano performance and later became an MSU instructor.

Flippin taught keyboards, jazz studies, theory, history of Rock n’ Roll and music history for 45 years at Morehead State University. Following retirement, he served as an adjunct professor at MSU, Kentucky Christian University and Marshall University. He has also served as accompanist/arranger for the Lexington Singers since 1976.

He performed as a soloist, accompanist, conductor and ensemble player throughout the U.S., South and Central America, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean, playing with the likes of Clark Terry, James Moody, the Count Basie Orchestra, Percy Sledge, Ray Charles, LeAnn Rimes and Wilson Pickett. Flippin composed and arranged more than 3,500 works, wrote more than 300 jingles, scored more than 30 films and videos. He won five Emmys for scoring documentaries and received a Daytime Emmy nomination in 2001 for Best Original song. In February 2006, Flippin was chosen as the Kentucky Artist of the Year by the Governor’s Council for the Arts.

Dr. Madison “Matt” Pryor (51), 86, passed away Nov. 12, 2014, at his home in Cherry Grove, South Carolina.

Pryor is a native Kentuckian, graduating from Lafayette High School in Lexington as a standout student-athlete in football and track. He earned his undergraduate degree from Morehead State, where he was a star halfback on the football team.

He served in the U.S. Army and then returned to school to earn his master’s degree from Ohio State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee.

Pryor served as a biologist on two research trips to Antarctica in 1959 and 1962 to study emperor penguins and later returned to MSU in 1964 to serve as a professor of biology and Russian for three decades. During his tenure, he served as acting chair of the Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences on two occasions and a faculty representative on the Board of Regents from 1971-74 before retiring in 1993. He also received the University’s Distinguished Faculty Award in 1968.

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SAVE THE DATE SATURDAY, JAN. 31 Open House, 11 a.m., ADUC THURSDAY, FEB. 5 MSU Alumni Reception at the Kentucky Music Educators Association Conference (Louisville, KY) 5:15-7:30 p.m., Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant FRIDAY, FEB. 6 MSU Alumni Reception at the Ohio Music Educators Association Conference (Cleveland, OH) 6:15-7:45 p.m., Westin Cleveland Downtown, W. Stenia Room SATURDAY, FEB. 7 Alumni Day at MSU Basketball 5:15 p.m., Tip-off MSU Women’s Basketball vs. Tennessee State 7:30 p.m., Tip-off Men’s Basketball vs. Belmont Join the MSU Alumni Association for a special reception in the West Lobby of Johnson Arena between games.

TUESDAY, MARCH 3 Career Fair, 10 a.m., ADUC SATURDAY, MARCH 7 Open House, 9 a.m., ADUC FRIDAY, APRIL 10 MSU Alumni Day at Keeneland Details coming soon!

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THURSDAY, APRIL 23 President’s Spring Concert on the Lawn featuring the MSU Percussion Ensemble and Steel Band 5-7 p.m., ADUC Commons FRIDAY, APRIL 24 Spring Celebration Golf Outing hosted by the College of Business & Public Affairs Eagle Trace Golf Course SATURDAY, APRIL 25 MSU Annual Spring Gala, ADUC Corporate and individual sponsorship opportunities available

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THURSDAY, MAY 7 24-Hour Challenge, Multiple Event Locations Details coming soon!

FRIDAY, JUNE 12 – SATURDAY, JUNE 13 Breckinridge All-School Reunion MSU Campus SATURDAY, JUNE 27 MSU Alumni Day at Kings Island (Cincinnati, OH) THURSDAY, OCT. 8 – SATURDAY, OCT. 10 MSU Homecoming www.moreheadstate.edu/homecoming W inter 2 015 | 51

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