News

Baylor University regents today approved a $320.5 million budget for 2003-04, endorsed modifications to four graduate programs and voted to construct a new parking garage to service the Baylor Sciences Building, which will be completed by fall 2004.

Baylor University broke ground May 16 on the $33 million, 212,000-square-foot North Village Residential Community, the first residential facility to be constructed on campus since 1967. Scheduled to open in fall 2004, the North Village addresses the second imperative of Baylor 2012, the university's 10-year vision - "to create a truly residential campus."

Baylor University will break ground at 2 p.m. Friday, May 16, on the North Village Community, the university's first residential facility to be built on campus in 40 years. The ceremony will take place under a tent at the construction site adjacent to the Dutton Avenue Office and Parking Facility and the Rogers Engineering and Computer Science Building.

Two prominent Baylor University alumni -- one a former Baylor president, and the other a former United States ambassador -- will receive annual awards during spring commencement ceremonies on Saturday, May 17, at the Ferrell Center. The Baylor Alumni Association will present the George W. Truett Distinguished Church Service Award during the 9:30 a.m. ceremony and the Price Daniel Distinguished Public Service Award during the afternoon ceremony at 2:30 p.m.

The Institute for Family Business at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business is accepting applications for the 14th Annual Texas Family Business of the Year awards, which will be presented Oct. 23 at Baylor.

Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, known for its innovative and high quality MBA programs, has introduced a new MBA specialization in healthcare administration, which will be available this fall.

Dr. Blaine McCormick, assistant professor of management and entrepreneurship at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, will present "The Edison Effect: Seven Steps to Move You to Higher Innovation" from 7:30 to 9 a.m. Thursday, May 22, at Cityplace, 2711 N. Haskell, 42nd floor, in Dallas.

The Waco chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) is inviting attorneys from across Texas to improve their jury selection skills during the chapter's Masters on Jury Selection Program, scheduled for May 16 at Baylor Law School.

Fall 2003 will mark the beginning of a new era in Baylor's finance program as the portfolio practicum class is taken to a new level with the state-of-the-art Capital Markets Investment Center.

Baylor University President Robert B. Sloan Jr. and Baylor Alumni Association Interim Executive Vice President Os Chrisman announced approval May 10 of an agreement that will enable the two organizations to better serve more than 100,000 Baylor alumni worldwide.

Baylor University's traditional Ring Out ceremony and the Passing of the Key will be held at 6 p.m. Friday, May 16, at Burleson Quadrangle on the Baylor campus.

Baylor University's Air Force ROTC unit will commission 18 graduating students as second lieutenants in the United States Air Force at 6 p.m. Saturday, May 17, in Barfield Drawing Room at the Bill Daniel Student Center. Guest speaker at the commissioning ceremony will be Col. Alan Thompson, commander of the Air Force ROTC nationwide.

Rachel Moore, senior lecturer in the department of English at Baylor University, has been selected as a Piper Professor for 2003 by the Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation. As a recipient of the award, Moore will receive an honorarium of $5,000 as well as a certificate and gold pin.

The Baylor University Alumni Association and the Retired Professors Center will honor four retired faculty members and one retired staff member at the annual Retired Faculty and Staff Awards Luncheon at noon Saturday, May 10, on the fifth floor of the Cashion Academic Center in the Hankamer School of Business.

The Baylor community mourns the death of Professor Emeritus William Gardner Gately, who passed away Tuesday, May 6. Funeral services were held at 11:30 a.m. May 9 at Wilkirson Hatch Bailey Chapel in Waco, Texas. Dr. Steve Manson, pastor of Central Christian Church in Waco, and Dr. Herbert Reynolds, Baylor president emeritus, officiated at the service.

Fifty years ago on May 11, 1953, Baylor students were finishing up their last round of classes before dinner. The dread that some students felt for the upcoming final exams was surpassed only by dark rain clouds that had chased away sunny skies. No one knew that a devastating tornado was about to strike Waco, bringing death and destruction to the city that Monday afternoon.

A mobile clinic rolled into Nuevo Laredo, Mexico in March with Baylor University graduate nursing students eager to serve two barrios and an orphanage with four days of free medical and dental care, along with spiritual guidance.

Dr. Kevin G. Pinney, associate professor of chemistry at Baylor University, his research team and OXiGENE Inc., Pinney's corporate sponsor, have announced the development of a new tumor-starving compound, a significant step forward in the quest for a cancer-eradicating agent.

Dr. James Bennighof, professor of music theory in Baylor's School of Music, has been named vice provost for academic administration, effective Aug. 1.

Baylor University's new seismometer, installed in March at the China Spring seismic site, recorded the 4.9 magnitude earthquake that shook northeast Alabama at 3:59 a.m. April 29.

Baylor University will receive approximately $19.4 million this month when the Marrs and Verna McLean Foundation Trust is dissolved and proceeds distributed to several Texas educational institutions. One-third of Baylor's proceeds from the dissolution will be distributed for the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, which also has benefited from the trust's income over the years.

Baylor University will hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 30, on the first floor of the Dutton Avenue Office and Parking Facility to announce a significant national partnership between Baylor and one of the world's premier casual dining companies. The agreement will mark the nation's first-ever collaboration between the company and a university.

Baylor University will launch the nation's first-ever "Chili's Too" restaurant on a college campus, when the well-known fast-casual restaurant opens in August on the first floor of the soon-to-be-completed Dutton Avenue Office and Parking Facility.

The fourth annual Physics Circus presented a high-energy science demonstration for middle and high school students April 14-29 on the Texas State Technical College (TSTC) campus in Waco. Designed by Baylor University's Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics, and Engineering Research (CASPER), the popular science exhibition instills a love for science in students at an early age.

Dr. Blaine McCormick, assistant professor of management at Baylor University's Hankamer School of Business, has been chosen by the 2002-2003 senior class as the recipient of the Collins Outstanding Professor Award.

The Baylor University Symphonic Band will present its final program of the school year at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 28, in Jones Concert Hall.

Baylor honored Ann Miller, one of its most beloved and respected members of the faculty, at the annual Academic Convocation April 23 in the McLean Foyer of Meditation at Armstrong Browning Library.

Noted clerics and scholars will gather at Baylor University for a conference that focuses on the Holocaust, genocide and war. Sponsored by Baylor's Center for American and Jewish Studies and the J.M. Dawson Institute for Church-State Studies, the event will take place Tuesday, April 29, through Thursday, May 1, and is free and open to the public

Beaumont attorney and major Baylor Law School benefactor Walter Umphrey will give the keynote address at Baylor Law School's commencement ceremonies scheduled for 10 a.m., Saturday, May 3, in Jones Concert Hall of the McCrary Music Building.

The Baylor University Chamber Singers will celebrate their 40th anniversary with concerts at 3 p.m. Sunday, April 27, and at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, in Armstrong Browning Library's McLean Foyer of Meditation.

Due to CNBC coverage of the war in Iraq, the Power Lunch segment featuring Baylor business students and their stock recommendations has been postponed.

Under beautiful blue skies, construction crews lifted the first of two 7,000-pound spires onto the towers of the Dutton Avenue office and parking facility April 24.

Lt. Gen. Joseph H. Wehrle Jr., assistant vice chief of staff for the U.S. Air Force (essentially third in the Air Force chain of command), will serve as the keynote speaker at Baylor University's ROTC military ball at 8 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at the Lee Lockwood Library.

The Iota Chapter of Brothers Under Christ (BYX) will host its fourth annual "Island Party" from 5 p.m. to midnight Saturday, April 26, at Fountain Mall on the Baylor University campus.

The Honorable Mehmet Tomanbay, a Member of Parliament in the Republic of Turkey, will lecture on "Turkish Politics and the War in Iraq" at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 24, in room 116 at the Draper Academic Building on the Baylor University campus. The lecture is part of the Council for International Education's Global Issues lecture series.

Baylor University faculty members examined "The Baptist and Christian Character of Baylor" during a two-day colloquy April 10-11, honoring Dr. Donald D. Schmeltekopf, provost and vice president for academic affairs, who will retire in May.

Registration is under way for the April 26 Super Saturday sessions for preschoolers through high school juniors, sponsored by Baylor University's Center for Community Learning and Enrichment.

Baylor University's admission services and Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity, will host hundreds of prospective students and their parents for Spring Premiere, Friday and Saturday, April 25-26.

The Baylor University Jazz Ensemble will present its final concert of the 2002-2003 school year at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 24, in the Jesse H. Jones Theater of the Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center.

The Baylor Opera Theater will present its spring program of "An Evening of Opera Scenes" at 7:30 p.m. Friday, April 25, and Saturday, April 26, in the Blackbox Opera Theater.

Baylor University faculty members examined "The Baptist and Christian Character of Baylor" during a two-day colloquy April 10-11, honoring Dr. Donald D. Schmeltekopf, provost and vice president for academic affairs, who will retire in May. The first session focused on "A University in the Largest Sense of the Word."

Baylor University faculty members examined "The Baptist and Christian Character of Baylor" during a two-day colloquy April 10-11, honoring Dr. Donald D. Schmeltekopf, provost and vice president for academic affairs, who will retire in May. The final session focused on "What Does It Mean to Support Baylor's Mission?"

Baylor University faculty members examined "The Baptist and Christian Character of Baylor" during a two-day colloquy April 10-11, honoring Dr. Donald D. Schmeltekopf, provost and vice president for academic affairs, who will retire in May. The colloquy was highlighted by a dinner and keynote address April 10 by Notre Dame Professor David Solomon.

Baylor University faculty members examined "The Baptist and Christian Character of Baylor" during a two-day colloquy April 10-11, honoring Dr. Donald D. Schmeltekopf, provost and vice president for academic affairs, who will retire in May. The second session focused on "Faculty Hiring, Tenure and Promotion."

On March 26, 2003, President Robert B. Sloan Jr. presented the following remarks to National Science Foundation Director Dr. Rita Colwell in Washington as part of a Texas education summit sponsored by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.

Baylor University will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its library system at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, April 24, at Burleson Quadrangle on campus. Former Texas Gov. Mark White, a Baylor alumnus, will deliver the keynote address. The festivities are free and open to the public.

Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards returned to her alma mater April 15 to deliver the second lecture in the Public Leadership Series, delighting the standing-room-only crowd in Barfield Drawing Room with anecdotes from her long career in politics and challenging them with sometimes sobering accounts of the struggles women have overcome to gain acceptance in public life.

Ann Miller, professor of English and Master Teacher at Baylor University, will be presented with an honorary doctor of humane letters degree during the annual Honors Week Convocation at 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 23, in the Foyer of Meditation at Armstrong Browning Library.

A capacity crowd of Baylor law alums, friends, faculty, staff and students of Baylor Law School honored leading Albuquerque and New Mexico attorney Turner W. Branch Saturday as the 2003 Baylor Lawyer of the Year. The award is given annually to an outstanding alumnus who has brought honor and distinction to Baylor Law School and the legal profession.

In observance of the Easter holidays, no classes will be held at Baylor University April 18-21, and several university departments and buildings will have special hours.

The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) will award $5,000 in scholarships to seven Baylor University students during banquet ceremonies tonight on the Baylor campus.

The Baylor Brass Quintet will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, in Roxy Grove Hall.

Baylor University celebrated its annual Diadeloso April 10 on Fifth Street and at Fountain Mall.

Baylor University senior physics major Michael Henry has been awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation to pursue graduate work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Thru traffic on Third Street will be closed beginning Monday, April 14, for approximately seven weeks as crews install a chilled water/steam pipe from the Baylor Sciences Building to the Baylor Energy Complex.

Baylor University's Concert Orchestra will perform a program of music by Antonio Vivaldi, Peter Warlock, Edvard Grieg and Benjamin Britten at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, in Jones Concert Hall.

The Baylor Woodwind Quintet -- five members of the Baylor University music faculty -- will present a concert at 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, in Meadows Recital Hall.

Baylor University's band program will celebrate its centennial in April with what else - music!

Always one of the most eagerly awaited events of the year, the 2003 President's Concert will be presented at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12, in Jones Concert Hall.

Remember the days when it was taboo to eat and drink at the library? Those days are long gone, with the opening of "Java City" on the garden level of Moody Library.

Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards will deliver Baylor University's Public Leadership Series lecture at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 15, in Barfield Drawing Room. The lecture, which is being held in conjunction with Mortar Board Women's Day, is free and open to the public.

Jane Hampton Cook, a Baylor University graduate who now serves as deputy director of internet news services for the White House, will speak to students in Dr. Doug Ferdon's journalism history and magazine and feature writing classes at 9 and 11 a.m. Wednesday, April 9, in room 245 of the Castellaw Communications Center.

Baylor University will celebrate its 69th annual Diadeloso, beginning at 11 a.m. Thursday, April 10, on Fifth Street and at Fountain Mall.

Tune in to CNBC at noon (eastern time) on April 30 to see Baylor business students Tyson Strauser, Jake Trousdale and Alex Gwynn on "Power Lunch."

Russ Gill, a Gulf War veteran and Baylor University alumnus, will speak to ROTC cadets about his experiences in Desert Storm at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, in Bennett Auditorium.

Baylor University's Center for Community Learning and Enrichment has applications available for University for Young People, a summer enrichment program of interdisciplinary courses and camps for elementary through high school students.

Baylor University's Dining Services will hold a ribbon cutting for the new Java City, a café that will offer an extensive menu of coffee products, fresh baked goods, sandwiches and Fresh Market Smoothies, at 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 9, on the garden level at Moody Memorial Library. After the ceremony, the Baylor Jazz Combo will provide entertainment, while guests sample gourmet coffee and baked goods.

Finalists in Baylor Law School's annual Strasburger & Price, L.L.P. Spring Moot Court Competition demonstrated their courtroom skills before a packed audience Saturday afternoon at the James Kronzer Appellate Advocacy Courtroom.

Baylor University's School of Music is trying to help solve the shortage of church organists with two music camps this summer - the Summer Organ Institute June 8-14 for piano and organ students ages 11 to 18 and the Pipe Organ Encounter July 7-11 for adults.

Baylor University President Robert B. Sloan Jr. has announced the appointment of Dr. Stephen Prickett, Regius Professor Emeritus of English Language and Literature at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and a visiting scholar at Duke University, as the new director of Baylor's Armstrong Browning Library.

Bears for Brigades, a group of current Baylor University students and graduates, is encouraging other students, faculty and members of the Waco community to take an active role in supporting American soldiers in Iraq.

Dr. Gary Hardie, professor of cello at Baylor University, will present a faculty recital at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 8, in Roxy Grove Hall. He will be joined by another long-time faculty member, Associate Professor of Piano Jane Abbott-Kirk.

A number of Baylor University's graduate programs get high marks in U.S.News & World Report's "2004 Best Graduate School" rankings, released April 4. Included in the magazine's "top" categories are Baylor's law, business, nursing, education, clinical psychology, speech-language pathology and other health-related programs, including two Baylor-U.S. Army programs operated at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio.

For the second year in a row, a Baylor University student has been selected for the prestigious Truman Scholarship. John Hill, a junior from Arlington, was one of 76 students chosen out of 635 applicants representing 305 colleges and universities nationwide.

Calvin Smith, former director of Baylor University's Strecker Museum and chair of museum studies, will teach his final continuing education class during April. "Dinosaurs, Mammoths and Man" will meet from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Monday, April 7, and Friday, April 11, at Strecker Museum in the Sid Richardson building on campus. A rare field trip to the Waco Mammoth Site will take place Saturday, April 12.

If you can't make it to the Ferrell Center for Friday's Women's National Invitation Tournament championship game between Auburn and Baylor, you can view the game live at no charge on your computer.

Faculty members from the Baylor University art department will showcase their latest work at the Martin Museum in the Hooper-Schafer Fine Arts Center. The exhibition will be held from April 4 until May 3 in conjunction with a display of student work in the University Art Gallery.

Baylor University student Delip Patel, a junior University Scholar from Webster, is one of 300 recipients of the Goldwater Scholarship, the premier undergraduate scholarship in the United States and its territories in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.

Church leaders and lay members, administrators and professional staff members of faith-based agencies and students will examine ways congregations can strengthen families and communities during the fourth annual "Hand in Hand: Family, Church and Community" conference. Scheduled for April 6-8 at Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary, the conference is coordinated by Baylor's School of Social Work and Center for Family and Community Ministries.

David Warren, a well-known columnist for the "Ottawa Citizen," will discuss "Church & Mosque & State" at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 3, in the Church-State Studies Research Center on the third floor of Carroll Library and at 4 p.m. Friday, April 4, in room 120 at Morrison Hall on the Baylor University campus. The lectures are free and open to the public.

A former United States Poet Laureate, an acknowledged poetry scholar and three other distinguished poets will read from their works and discuss contemporary poetry at the ninth annual Beall Poetry Festival, which will run Monday through Wednesday, April 7-9, at the Cashion Academic Center on the Baylor University campus.

Baylor business students earned first place in the George Washington/KPMG MBA Case Competition held March 21-22 in Washington, D.C. The event brings MBA students from business schools across the world into competition, showcasing the talents of top MBAs who apply their skills and problem-solving abilities to issues involving prominent nonprofit organizations.

More than 2,200 volunteers from Baylor University student organizations and the Waco community took part in Steppin' Out, Baylor's bi-annual day of service, on Saturday, March 29. For four hours, students and other volunteers painted houses, landscaped yards and gardens, visited nursing homes and cleaned up around Lake Waco.

Baylor University's Indian Subcontinent Student Association will present its eighth annual "Gateway to India" cultural program at 7 p.m. Saturday, April 5, in Waco Hall.

Violinist Paul Coletti will present a Lyceum Series concert at Baylor University at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 5, in Meadows Recital Hall in the Glennis McCrary Music Building.

Beth Dougherty, assistant professor of political science and chair in international relations at Beloit College in Wisconsin, will deliver Baylor University's annual Laura Blanche Jackson Lecture in World Issues at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 3, in Miller Chapel. Dougherty will speak on "Welcome to Free Eritrea: The Construction of Identity in a New African State."

Dr. Thomas Hanks, professor of English at Baylor University, will speak to students at 5 p.m. on Thursday, April 3, in Kayser Auditorium in the Hankamer School of Business.

Jeffrey Powers, assistant professor of horn in the Baylor University School of Music, will present a faculty recital at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, in Roxy Grove Hall.

The Baylor University Women's Chorus will present a concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 1, in Jones Concert Hall.

The Golden Key International Honor Society will host its annual regional leadership conference April 4-6 on the Baylor University campus.

Baylor University's Habitat for Humanity, the first-ever college chapter of the international Christian housing ministry, will celebrate its 15th anniversary with a house raising beginning at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, March 29.

Registration is under way for the March 29 Super Saturday sessions for preschoolers through high school juniors, sponsored by Baylor University's Center for Community Learning and Enrichment.