Middle Tennessee State University

After graduate student Abigail Kwarteng capped off her MTSU experience with a walk across the Murphy Center stage this past weekend, she set her sights on her next dream - to represent her native Ghana in high jump in next year's Summer Olympics Games in Paris.

The MTSU community came together last fall to host the "The Judds: Love is Alive - The Final Concert" featuring Wynonna Judd, and now the Blue Raider community can watch the finished product of their hard work and collaboration with the release of the concert TV special at 7 p.m. Central on Saturday, April 29, on CMT. The Nov. 3 live made-for-TV concert event at MTSU's historic Murphy Center involved faculty, alumni and over 50 student workers from the College of Media and Entertainment as well as a group of 45 choral students from the College of Liberal Arts who accompanied Wynonna for the concert finale. Media and entertainment students worked on everything from production and preparation to media coverage and performance for the live red-carpet broadcast, concert and CMT TV special.

Eleven MTSU undergraduates will head out both close to home, across the country and beyond this summer after qualifying for prestigious National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates, or REU, grant placements. The government-funded REU Sites program provides research opportunities for undergraduate students, according to the National Science Foundation website. Each site hosts about 10 students, who work on a specific research project with host-university faculty and other researchers for about six to 10 weeks. Funds cover stipends for the students' work and often will pay for students' travel and housing as well.

For the first time in school history, the Middle Tennessee State University equestrian team took home the Western National Championship trophy at the 2023 Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association National Championship. Held earlier in May at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, five Blue Raider riders qualified as a western team and four riders qualified individually through placing top four at semifinals earlier in the spring. In a down-to-the-wire finish, MTSU edged St. Andrews University and Midway College by one point after MTSU's Jordan Martin placed second in Team Open Horsemanship, the last team class of the day. For the entire story, go to https://mtsunews.com/equestrian-team-national-title-2023/.

Earning a degree just got a little easier for four nontraditional Middle Tennessee State University students who recently were named recipients of the 2023 June S. Anderson Scholarship. Funded through the June S. Anderson Foundation at MTSU, the scholarship recipients are given full tuition for a year.

Beta Gamma Sigma chapters are only permitted to establish at business institutions who have worked to attain prestigious AACSB accreditation. Currently, just over 845 universities have earned this accreditation. Of that number, over 600 have established a Beta Gamma Sigma chapter. From the pool of Beta Gamma Sigma chapters, only the top 10% of undergraduate students, the top 20% of graduate students and some of the most accomplished business practitioners are eligible to be recognized as a member.

Middle Tennessee State University recently announced the newest class of "True Blue 100" recipients - high school freshmen from across Tennessee identified by guidance counselors and teachers as students who demonstrate the ideals of the university's True Blue Pledge. "True Blue 100" represents 100 outstanding high school freshmen who share the university's core values and commitments and live up to them each day - all while excelling academically. Those core values and commitments include honesty and integrity; respect for diversity; engagement in the community; commitment to nonviolence; and academic achievement.

Middle Tennessee State University physics major Ariel Nicastro of Franklin, Tennessee, has been selected from about 200 applicants to participate in the 2023 Training and Research Experiences in Nonlinear Dynamics, a summer research program also known as a research experience for undergraduates or REU. Training and Research Experiences in Nonlinear Dynamics, or TREND, is a 10-week undergraduate summer research program in nonlinear dynamics at the University of Maryland in College Park, funded by the National Science Foundation. This year's program will take place from May 30 to Aug. 4. Nicastro will be among 12 undergraduate researchers from across the country. For more, go to https://mtsunews.com/freshman-lands-major-research-role/.

MTSU's School of Nursing recently welcomed 20 spring 2023 new members to the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing, today known as Sigma, during an induction ceremony at Tennessee Miller Coliseum in late April. To be eligible, you must have at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale and be in the top third of the graduating class.

"Each year, ISI reviews hundreds of applications to this program in search of students with great promise who will become leaders in fields ranging from business to medicine," said Tom Sarrouf, associate programs officer for ISI. The mission of ISI is to inspire college students to discover, embrace, and advance the principles and virtues that make America free and prosperous. To further this mission, ISI has chapters on college campuses across the nation, supports student journalism, publishes the Modern Age periodical, and conducts conferences like the honors program.

Middle Tennessee State University is congratulating the 5,920-plus students who appear on the dean's list for the fall 2022 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-fall-2022.

Ten MTSU undergraduate students and researchers attended the annual Posters at the Capitol event at the state Capitol in Nashville, Tennessee, on Wednesday, Feb. 15, to share their STEM research projects with legislators and peers, personally meet with state representatives and hear a short address from Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. "It's an excellent opportunity for students to be able to engage with their legislators and for their legislators to know more about their undergraduate research," said Kevin Ragland, associate director of the Tennessee STEM center and event organizer. "It's important for their legislators to know that undergraduate research exists and to know the scope of what they're able to do as undergraduates."

Middle Tennessee State University Computer Science and Data Science students were not only creating games and dabbling with virtual reality and artificial intelligence at this year's HackMT event, but also networking and establishing relationships with, hopefully, potential employers. Joined by representatives from industry partners, MTSU students on 10 teams spent 36 nonstop hours creating apps and more during the annual HackMT and project expo in the MTSU Science Building Sunday, Jan. 29. The marathon hackathon gathers software developers, visual designers, programmers and computer/data science students from MTSU and professionals from local industry to form teams to invent new web platforms, mobile apps and electronic gadgets during the weekend. Scholarships and awards were presented at the conclusion of the event, and participating teams were recognized. Go to https://mtsunews.com/mtsu-hackmt-wrapup-2023/ for the full story.

MTSU doctoral student Yolunda Nabors was recently named the university's first Tennessee Doctoral Scholar. Now in her final year of the Ph.D. in Economics Program, the award covers Nabors' tuition and provides her with a $20,000 stipend plus additional funds for research and professional development. The Tennessee Higher Education Commision designed the Tennessee Doctoral Scholar program to "increase the number of minority students who earn a Ph.D. in Tennessee and to encourage these graduates to seek faculty positions by providing financial assistance for up to three years of graduate study," according to the program's website.

Almost 70 of MTSU's brightest students are now members of Middle Tennessee State University's most prestigious honor society following the Phi Kappa Phi's fall 2022 initiation ceremony on campus. The primary objective of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi is the recognition and encouragement of superior scholarship in all academic disciplines. To be eligible, juniors must have completed at least 72 credit hours, with at least 24 semester hours and rank scholastically in the top 7.5% of their class; seniors also must have completed at least 90 credit hours, with at least 24 semester hours at their current institution and rank in the top 10% of their class; and graduate students also must rank in the top 10% of their class and have completed at least 18 graduate hours or the equivalent.

Middle Tennessee State University congratulates the almost 6,900 students who have been accepted for admission for the Fall 2023 semester. Founded in 1911 as one of three state normal schools for teacher training, Middle Tennessee State University is one of the oldest and largest undergraduate universities in the state of Tennessee. With a fall enrollment averaging more than 20,000 students for the past five years, MTSU remains committed to providing individualized service in an exciting and nurturing atmosphere where student success is the top priority. MTSU features eight undergraduate colleges and the College of Graduate Studies, and more than 300 programs and departments combined, including accounting, aerospace, concrete industry management, music and recording industry. Offering a wide variety of nationally recognized programs at the baccalaureate, master's and doctoral levels, MTSU takes pride in educating the best and the brightest students from Tennessee and around the world.

Middle Tennessee State University congratulates more than 9,100 students who have been accepted for admission for the Fall 2022 semester. Founded in 1911 as one of three state normal schools for teacher training, Middle Tennessee State University is one of the oldest and largest undergraduate universities in the state of Tennessee. With a fall enrollment averaging more than 21,000 students for the past five years, MTSU remains committed to providing individualized service in an exciting and nurturing atmosphere where student success is the top priority. MTSU features eight undergraduate colleges and the College of Graduate Studies, and more than 300 programs and departments combined, including accounting, aerospace, concrete industry management, music and recording industry. Offering a wide variety of nationally recognized programs at the baccalaureate, master's and doctoral levels, MTSU takes pride in educating the best and the brightest students from Tennessee and around the world.

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.

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.

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.