Middle Tennessee State University

Middle Tennessee State University video and film production major Brian Maxwell is already taking what is has learned and is using it to give back to the local community in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. A former inmate himself, he understands the importance of education to reduce recidivism and he is using his own equipment to provide a unique learning experience for some of those currently incarcerated at the Rutherford County Correctional Work Center.

Erin Sheehan of Nashville, Tennessee, a graduate student in the Middle Tennessee State University Department of Social Work, organized a lecture featuring newly elected state Rep. Aftyn Behn on Nov. 2, 2023, in the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building on campus. Sheehan, an MTSU National Association of Social Workers ambassador who has followed Behn's political career over the past year, is enrolled in the MTSU MSW program and working toward a master of social work degree. Watching Behn's approach to her new role piqued Sheehan's own interest in politics and policies. So she reached out to the newly elected representative, who agreed to speak at MTSU about how a career in social work goes beyond the clinical level. Sheehan wanted Behn to speak and inspire fellow social work students who attended the event.

A group of Middle Tennessee State University faculty, under the leadership of chemistry professor Andrienne Friedli, recently launched a last-dollar scholarship program to fund and support undergraduate and graduate biochemistry and chemistry students in need.

Kathryn Blankenship, Middle Tennessee State University professor in the Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology program, and Victoria Trevino, a program senior who plans to pursue medical school, were guests on this month's "Out of the Blue" television magazine program to discuss the program and its opportunities for undergraduate research.

Last week's sixth annual Open House undergraduate research event, organized by Middle Tennessee State University's Undergraduate Research Center, burst with curiosity from attendees and passion from student researchers and their wide variety of presentations.

Three Middle Tennessee State University students working with Department of Psychology faculty captured top prizes in the Tennessee Psychological Association Convention in Franklin, Tennessee. The event brought together students from across the state who submitted proposals for the annual poster and research competition. Theme for this year's convention was, "Connect to Learn, Connect to Grow."

Approximately 62 Middle Tennessee State University students were initiated into the Chapter 246 of the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society on Oct. 20.

Six of Middle Tennessee State University's Chinese Music Ensemble students spread musical and cultural diversity around the country with recent well-received performances at the University of North Georgia-Dahlonega as well as Washington, D.C. Under the direction of founder Mei Han, the ensemble's program contained traditional, contemporary and cross-cultural compositions.

Middle Tennessee State University interior design students recently took home top honors at the Formica Form, a national furniture design competition that held regional awards at the Inspire Nashville trade show. As part of the experiential learning, or EXL, capstone course for juniors taught by assistant professor Carrie Pavel, students designed a piece of furniture that utilizes Formica as a material in the project based on the theme of maximalism.

Two Middle Tennessee State University Honors students were accepted to attend the 2023 First Generation Student Forum at American Enterprise Institute's Washington, D.C., headquarters in November.

The Middle Tennessee State University Chair of Excellence in Urban and Regional Planning, or COE-URP, aims to encourage dialogue about pressing urban and regional issues in the Middle Tennessee region. Announced in the spring and launched Fall 2023, the COE-URP Scholars Program is a nine-month research and engagement program for undergraduate students designed to bring students, professors and community members together to address pressing urban and regional concerns through academic research.

Middle Tennessee State University Honors College alumna Ivy Adams was recently announced as a recipient of the 2023 Phi Kappa Phi Love of Learning award! Approximately 200 active Phi Kappa Phi members nationwide receive this $1,000 award each year to help fund post-baccalaureate professional development to include (but not be limited to): graduate or professional studies, doctoral dissertations, continuing education, career development, travel related to teaching/research/learning. Adams completed her bachelor's degree in December 2022, majoring in Aerospace and minoring in Business Administration, Honors, Asian Studies and Chinese. She completed her masters in August 2023, majoring in Aeronautical Science with concentration in Aviation Management.

Middle Tennessee State University is congratulating the students who received their degrees at its summer 2023 commencement ceremony. MTSU's summer commencement saluted members of the second Class of 2023 during a single ceremony in Murphy Center to confer their degrees.

Two Middle Tennessee State University Honors students were named the 2023 Homecoming King and Queen. Alexander Hamilton, a senior organizational communication major from Falkville, Alabama, and Lily Beth Woods, a senior finance major from Murfreesboro, were crowned 2023 Homecoming King and Queen by MTSU President Sidney A. McPhee during halftime ceremonies in Floyd Stadium Saturday, Sept. 23. Both are Blue Elite Tour Guides and involved in the University Honors College. Hamilton serves as an MTSU student ambassador and with the Student Organization for Advancement in Research, while Woods is an Student Government Association senator and member of Epsilon Tau chapter of Alpha Delta Pi.

The following people recently were initiated into The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, the nation's oldest and most selective collegiate honor society for all academic disciplines.

Six Middle Tennessee State University students spent the summer exploring pathways to graduate degrees during the pilot Undergraduate Experiential Training, or U*NEXT, a 10-week immersive grant program meant to help increase diversity of underrepresented groups to have access to STEM careers.

Middle Tennessee State University is congratulating the almost 300 students who appear on the dean's list for the summer 2023 semester. To qualify for this distinction, an undergraduate student must maintain a current semester grade-point average of 3.5 or above and earn at least 12 semester hours. The complete list of honorees, compiled by the MTSU Registrar's Office and alphabetized by the students' surnames and home counties, also is available as a searchable PDF in this story at MTSUNews.com, the university's news site: https://mtsunews.com/deans-list-summer2023/.

Eight Middle Tennessee State University students - a record number - qualified for and attended the prestigious National Flute Association, or NFA, Convention in Phoenix, Arizona, earlier this month.

Catheryn Bolick (Middle Tennessee State University, 2019) is a 2023-2024 recipient of a Michael Barla Scholarship. Catheryn Bolick graduated magna cum laude with a perfect 4.0 GPA from Middle Tennessee StateUniversity (MTSU) in May 2023 with bachelor's degrees in biology and clarinet performance, with minors inFrench andchemistry. In 2018, she was one of only twenty students selected for the Buchanan Fellowshipprogram through the MTSU Honors College, culminating in November 2022 with the defense of her originalmolecular biology research thesis. She received several awards throughout her undergraduate career, mostnotably several Outstanding Student of the Year awards from the Biology Department and the HonorsCollege, as well as a 2023 Phi Kappa Phi National Fellowship. Catheryn served in many leadership roles forthe MTSU Circle since her initiation in 2019, including secretary, vice president, and Circle President (2022-2023). She also served as a music theory tutor, vocalist for the Reformed University Fellowship music team,clarinet teacher, swim instructor, and nursery volunteer for her church. She performed clarinet in variousmusical ensembles through the MTSU School of Music and community ensembles, and performed classicalballet with The Dancer's School in Murfreesboro, TN. She is currently pursuing a PhD in Cancer Biologyfrom the Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine.

Middle Tennessee State University's first cohort of Physician Assistant Studies students and their families gathered recently to celebrate a milestone with the inaugural "white coat" ceremony that symbolizes the next step in their academic careers. Students are trading in their gray scrubs for white coats as they shift from the classroom to clinical rotations over the coming year in preparation for an in-demand profession.

Middle Tennessee State University alumnus (Class of 2023) Benjamin Adams recently completed the Intercollegiate Studies Institute's 2023 Honors Conference in Annapolis, Maryland. Adams was one of 50 students from across the country selected to attend the weeklong bootcamp focused on the United States' combination of biblical history, classical Greek philosophy, Roman government, and London's economic prowess.

Catheryn Bolick of Smyrna, Tennessee, has been awarded an $8,500 fellowship by The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

Phi Kappa Phi recently announced the recipients of a 2023 Fellowship. The prestigious $8,500 fellowships were awarded to 54 students nationwide.

Middle Tennessee State University is congratulating the students who received their degrees at its spring 2023 commencement ceremonies. MTSU's two-day commencement event in May split the members of the first Class of 2023 into four Murphy Center ceremonies to receive their degrees.

Eight MTSU undergraduates took their research projects across the pond to the annual World Congress on Undergraduate Research, also known as WorldCUR, at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, earlier this spring.

Middle Tennessee State University Honors student Matthew Siciliano, a political science major, has received a scholarship for an academic internship at the Washington Center for Fall 2023.

MTSU's Diversity Dissertation Fellowship program will welcome three new fellows from across the country to campus this fall to support them in completing the final year of their doctoral degrees and to bring their expertise to the classroom and larger campus community. Nia Allen, pursuing her degree in hospitality and retail management, will work out of the Department of Human Sciences; Sandra Jacobo, pursuing her degree literature, will work out of the Department of English; and Toni Owens, pursuing her degree in human and community development, will work out of the Department of Social Work.

Kevin Bicker, associate chemistry professor, and his mentee Janna Abou-Rahma, undergraduate researcher and biochemistry major, appeared on this month's "Out of the Blue" episode to share about Abou-Rahma's recent win at a highly competitive health challenge and her experience working in Bicker's lab.

The Ralph and Elizabeth Gwaltney Centennial Scholarship, a centennial scholarship funded by Don and Carolyn Midgett, has been awarded to Hailey Harrison.

The Hanna Romans Witherspoon Scholarship is awarded annually to a junior or senior Honors student at Middle Tennessee State University.