Faculty and Staff Class Notes

Judith Iriarte-Gross (Chemistry), pictured above with Vice Provost Cheryl Torsney (l), was selected for the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network Excellence in Advocacy Award. She is director of MTSU’s Women in STEM Center.

Connie Bartemus, pictured above, has joined the Honors College as executive aide. She has clerical support experience in a range of fields, including association management, software development, and, most recently, K–12 education.

Paul Craig (Aerospace) published his 14th book, Flight Times: Instruction and Inspiration from the 2nd Best Flight Instructor, in February. Chapter 31 includes the story of Collin McDonald, an Honors student who successfully re-created the Vin Fizz cross-country flight of aviation pioneer Cal Rogers for his Honors thesis project. Craig was thesis director for McDonald and is currently thesis director for Honors Aerospace major Ivy Adams, who is researching the history of the U.S. Post Office airmail service and has visited navigation flight arrows in Indiana, Ohio, and Kansas (see related article on page 8).

John Dubois (Biology) received the Honors College Exemplary Faculty Service Award at the annual award ceremony in April.

Rebekka King (Philosophy and Religious Studies) was the recipient of the 2022 Outstanding Honors Faculty Award.

Patrick Ritchey (Communication Studies) was given the John T. Bragg Sr. Award at the spring Student Government Association and Center for Student Involvement and Leadership annual awards banquet.

Philip E. Phillips (Honors associate dean) was elected president of the Poe Studies Association (PSA) for 2022–24. He served previously as PSA president (2014–16) and as a member of the editorial board of The Edgar Allan Poe Review. He is the recipient of the PSA’s J. Lasley Dameron Award for his book Poe and Place (Palgrave, 2018).

John R. Vile (Honors dean) saw his book America’s National Anthem: “The Star-Spangled Banner” in U.S. History, Culture, and Law (published January 2021) named as one of the top 10 Outstanding Reference Sources for 2022 by the Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) of the American Library Association. His book Prayer in American Public Life was published this year by the First Amendment Press.