A large stack of books sit on shelves and the floor.

Professional Notes: Sept. 11

Alvin Abraham, Dean, Executive Director and Eugene and Mary Frey Endowed Chair in the Dougherty Family College, was recognized on a national list of influential young executives. The Business Journals' Influences: Rising Stars selects 100 business men and women across the country who are having an impact relatively early in their careers on their companies and their communities.

Vanessa Cornett, College of Arts and Science music program associate professor, published a book through Oxford University Press, called "The Mindful Musician: Mental Skills for Peak Performance." Cornett also completed this summer a two-week faculty residency in Turkey, sponsored by the U.S. Embassy in Ankara. The cultural exchange was developed by Turkish music professors who want to educate their musicians about the American research on performance anxiety management for musicians. Cornett traveled to three cities (Ankara, Diyarbakır, Antalya) and gave workshops at seven different performing arts schools.

Hans Gustafson, director or the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, and Fr. Steve McMichael, director of the Theology Department’s Theological Encounters: Encountering Islam program, hosted eight international professionals from Southeast Asia at St. Thomas on July 22, 2019. Gustafson and McMichael discussed the programs they direct aimed at bridging academy with community, especially in the context of furthering Muslim Christian relations. The eight professionals were visiting Minnesota as part of the Professional Fellows On Demand Religious Freedom and Interfaith Dialogue funded by the U.S. Department of State, coordinated by World Learning (Washington, D.C.), and hosted locally by Global Minnesota (Minneapolis, MN). The three-week program aims to create a network of spiritual and community leaders prepared to use media tools to promote moderation, build tolerance, and prevent conflict. They will return home with tools to promote religious understanding and cooperation in their communities.

Gustafson also published “Pansacramentalism, Interreligious Theology, and Lived Religion” in Religions 10.7 (2019). He also presented “The Value of Lived Religion Methods for Interreligious Pedagogy and Leadership” at the biennial conference of the European Society of Intercultural Theology and Interreligious Studies in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina on April. 26, 2019.

David Jamieson, Opus College of Business professor and director of the doctorate in Organization Development and Change program, was given the Distinguished Educator Award, which honors a long and successful career in education in this field, at the recent International Conference of the Academy of Management in Boston.

Robert Kennedy, professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Catholic Studies program, was a keynote speaker at the 60th anniversary of IESE in Barcelona, Spain, July 5.

Greg Vandegrift, clinical professor in the College of Arts and Sciences Communication and Journalism program, was nominated for a Regional Emmy in Category 18A: Health – News Single Story/Series for "A dementia friendly state of mind."

Christian D. Washburn, PhD, professor of Dogmatic Theology, recently published “St. Lawrence of Brindisi on the One True Church of Christ” in Collectanea Franciscana 89 (2019), 161-194.

Robert Werner, College of Arts and Sciences, geography and environmental studies, wrote a successful proposal to bring 10 AmeriCorps volunteers to perform home repairs on the Crow Creek Sioux Reservation at Fort Thompson in South Dakota. On behalf of Dacotah Tipis Habitat for Humanity, he also received a grant of $10,000 from the South Dakota Community Foundation to pay for building materials the AmeriCorps team will use.

Craig Hara, College of Arts and Sciences, music program, is the new music director and conductor of the East Metro Symphony Orchestra (EMSO). EMSO is a community orchestra based in Woodbury offering four to five concerts each season, and educates and inspires through thoughtful collaborations with local artists and organizations, unique programming, special educational partnerships, and programs for seniors.

Rev. Kevin Zilverberg, Assistant Professor of Sacred Scripture, lectured in Latin on “Jerome’s biblical translations according to their chronology of composition,” while on staff for the annual Latin immersion conference of the Institutum Veterum Sapientia, Belmont Abbey College, NC, July 28 – Aug. 3, 2019. He also translated Dr. Massimo Grilli’s article “Guidelines and Challenges for New Testament Biblical Theology,” from Italian into English (Studia Biblica Slovaca 11/1 (2019), 29-41).