Here’s a roundup of education briefs from around Southwest and Southside:
Randolph will inaugurate president on Saturday
Randolph College will inaugurate its 11th president, Sue Ott Rowlands, on Saturday. She took office last summer.
The Installation Ceremony will take place on Saturday, April 15, at 2 p.m. in Smith Hall Theatre at Randolph College. (The academic procession will begin at 1:45 and go from the library to Smith). The ceremony will include the main address by Ott Rowlands, a welcome by Lynchburg Mayor Stephanie Reed, and a reading by world-renowned poet Nikki Giovanni. A reception will follow the ceremony in SunTrust Plaza.
Ott Rowlands comes to Randolph most recently from Northern Kentucky University, where she served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. She began her term in office at Randolph on July 1, 2022.
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Mountain Gateway to host two lectures on human longevity
Two lectures concerning human longevity, part of a Distinguished Lecturer Series hosted by the Jackson River Governor’s School at Mountain Gateway Community College, will be presented via a Zoom meeting on Thursday, April 13. The guest speaker is Dr. Steven Austad, Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Senior Scientific Director of the American Federal for Aging Research.
The first presentation, sponsored jointly by the Greenbrier Valley Chapter of Sigma Xi and JRGS, will begin at 9:00 am. The topic is “The 150-Year Old Human: How Soon? How Desirable?”
The second presentation, beginning at noon, and sponsored jointly by Sigma Xi and the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine, is titled “Methuselah’s Zoo: What Nature Can Teach Us About Living Longer, Healthier Lives.”
The public is invited to the 9:00 am lecture in Room 424, Warren Hall, on the MGCC Clifton Forge Campus, or join the meeting via Zoom. The meeting ID is 813 7915 6791 and the passcode is 065493.
The public may also join the noon meeting via Zoom. The meeting ID is 835 3652 5588, and the passcode is 809320. The phone-in number for both is 301-715-8592.
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Virginia Tech to host public lecture on viruses and bacteria
The Virginia Tech College of Science will present the inaugural Robert E. Benoit Distinguished Lectureship in Biological Sciences on Wednesday, April 12, at the Holtzman Alumni Center’s Assembly Hall.
Steven Wilhelm, the Kenneth and Blaire Mossman Professor of Microbiology at the University of Tennessee, will give the talk titled “Viruses and Cyanobacteria in Fresh Waters: A Molecular Biologist’s Tales.” The lecture begins at 3:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Attendees are invited to stay for a reception after the talk. Registration is encouraged.
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Anthony Vance named Ralph Medinger Lenz Professor in Business at Virginia Tech
Anthony Vance, professor of business information technology in the Pamplin College of Business and Commonwealth Cyber Initiative fellow, was named the Ralph Medinger Lenz Professor in Business by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors.
The Ralph Medinger Lenz Professorship was established in 1988 through a gift from Ferguson Enterprises in honor of Ralph Medinger Lenz, a member of the Virginia Tech Class of 1931. The professorship recognizes excellence in scholarly research.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 2021, Vance’s scholarship focuses on how to help individuals and organizations improve their cybersecurity posture, particularly from behavioral, organizational, and neuroscience perspectives. His work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals including Management Information Systems Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of Management Information Systems, and the Journal of the Association for Information Systems.