News

Bassist Dennis Whittaker, a 1988 graduate of Baylor University, will return to campus for an alumni recital at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 19, in Roxy Grove Hall.

Ballet Magnificat! will perform excerpts from its full-length ballet productions for Baylor University students during Chapel at 10 and 11 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, in Waco Hall.

A lightning strike near Waco Hall caused a campus-wide power outage just after 10 a.m. Friday, Feb. 14. Power has since been restored.

Baylor University's department of religion will hold its annual lecture from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 18, in Bennett Auditorium. Dr. Sharyn Dowd, associate professor of religion, will lecture on "Word and Deed in Mark's Gospel." The lecture is free and open to the public.

Baylor University will bring several distinguished speakers to campus this spring, ranging from best-selling authors, theologians and a renowned historian to philosophers, poets and a Nobel Laureate chemist. Check back often for updates on upcoming lectures, symposia and conferences at Baylor.

Retired Brig. Gen. James Cross recently entertained Baylor ROTC cadets with tales of his experiences as President Lyndon B. Johnson's personal pilot and military aide. Cross, who had a distinguished Air Force career, served as Johnson's pilot from 1961, when LBJ was vice president, until 1968.

The next time Mobil releases a travel guide of the best restaurants in the country, don't be surprised to find Baylor's dining venues singled out for praise.

Baylor University's department of student union and office of international programs will host Study Abroad Night at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 17, in Barfield Drawing Room in the Bill Daniel Student Center. The free event is open to all Baylor students. Refreshments will be served.

Monday Morning, an alternative Christian rock band, will perform in the Rising Christian Artists series at 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, at the Bobo Baptist Student Center at Baylor University.

Baylor University alumni and football fans in San Antonio and Austin are invited to meet Guy Morriss, when the Bears' new head football coach visits those cities later this month.

Before the first pitch at upcoming Baylor baseball games in Houston and San Antonio, Baylor alums will hold rallies at the ballparks.

About 80 of the "brightest and best" law students from Texas and Louisiana will battle it out at Baylor University during the regional tournament of the National Mock Trial Competition Feb. 14-16 at the Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center.

Baylor University doctoral student Jacquelyn Duke made such a splash at one national water conference that it earned her an invitation to the nation's capital.

Baylor Law School students call it "Big Trial," a week-long program of hotly contested courtroom battles where future lawyers are thrown "in at the deep end."

Baylor Law School students worked overtime, preparing their cases for "Big Trial" - a week-long program of "real world" courtroom battles where the future lawyers go in front of a judge and a jury to conduct themselves in a full trial process, defending or prosecuting, analyzing, and making convincing speeches to juries. At the end of the day, they either celebrate victory - or show grace in defeat. Our photo feature shows a glimpse of this month's Big Trial action at Baylor Law School.

Baylor University faculty and graduate students will present their latest academic research at Scholars' Day on Wednesday, Feb. 12, in various rooms at the Bill Daniel Student Center. Presentations will run every hour from 8 to 11:30 a.m. and 2 to 4:45 p.m. The annual event is sponsored by the Graduate School.

An exhibit honoring black Americans is now on display in the foyer of Baylor University's Moody Memorial Library.

Registration is under way for the Feb. 15 Super Saturday sessions for preschoolers through high school juniors, sponsored by Baylor University's Center for Community Learning and Enrichment.

Baylor University's School of Education and the Center for Community Learning and Enrichment will host the 14th annual "Interdisciplinary Creative Problem Solving Conference" for gifted students and their teachers Feb. 28 through March 1 on the Baylor campus.

Dr. Richard B. Hays, The George Washington Ivey Professor of New Testament at The Divinity School at Duke University, will deliver the seventh annual Willson-Addis Lecture Feb. 19 at Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary.

Dr. William J. Abraham, The Albert C. Outler Professor of Wesley Studies in the Perkins School of Theology at Southern Methodist University, will present the third annual W.C. Dobbs Lecture in Applied Christianity at Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary.

Barry Lopez, winner of the National Book Award for his nonfiction work "Arctic Dreams," will deliver Phi Beta Kappa's Albaugh Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13, in Jones Theater at Baylor University's Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center. Lopez' lecture, "Water: Managing the Gift," is free and open to the public.

Baylor University will host the 50th annual All University Sing, a student musical production, Feb. 20-22, 27-28 and March 1 in Waco Hall. Tickets are available for the Feb. 27 performance.

Four special guests -- two conductors, a composer, and a soloist -- will be featured in a concert of the Baylor University Wind Ensemble, at 7:30 p.m Tuesday, Feb. 11, in Jones Concert Hall.

Inspirational singer and recording artist Wintley Phipps will speak to Baylor University students during Chapel at 10 and 11 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, in Waco Hall.

Baylor University's Women's Chorus, Men's Glee Club and Singing Seniors will combine for a joint concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9, in Jones Concert Hall.

Baylor University's gospel choir, Heavenly Voices, will present Gospel Fest 2003 on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 7 and 8, at Waco Hall. This year's theme is "Pregnant with a Promise" and will feature evangelist and gospel recording artist Kim Burrell.

David Livingstone, professor of geography and intellectual history at Queens University in Belfast, will speak to Baylor students in Chapel at 10 and 11 a.m. Monday, Feb.10, in Waco Hall.

Baylor University's professor of saxophone Michael Jacobson will perform contemporary music for the saxophone at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, in Meadows Recital Hall in the Glennis McCrary Music Building.

Pianist Jan Gottlieb Jiracek will perform at Baylor University at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 10, in Roxy Grove Hall. This performance is the final event of this year's Distinguished Artist Series.

Authors Rebecca Sharpless and Lois Myers will discuss their forthcoming book "Rock Beneath the Sand: Country Churches in Texas" at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, in the church at the Gov. Bill and Vara Daniel Historic Village.

Baylor University's ministry guidance program will host the President's Doctrinal Conference, an annual continuing education event for ministers, from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, in the Kronzer Great Hall at the Hughes-Dillard Alumni Center. The focus of this year's conference will be "What Do We Believe About Baptism and the Lord's Supper?"

Baylor University chemistry graduate Julia Chan has been recognized as a rising star, not once, but twice, by two of the most renowned science organizations in the United States.

On the hit television show "CSI," scientist Gil Grissom often consults with a forensic anthropologist about skeletal remains. Forensic scientist Mike Finnegan will talk about some of his experiences as a forensic anthropologist at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 6, in Roxy Grove Hall on the Baylor University campus. The lecture, "Forensic Anthropology Experiences: Service to Humanity with Humor," is free and open to Baylor faculty, staff and students.

Baylor University's department of student activities invites Baylor grandparents to participate in Grandparents Weekend on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 21-23. Scheduled activities on Saturday begin with registration and breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m. on the second floor of the Bill Daniel Student Center, where pre-ordered "All University Sing" tickets for Saturday evening can be picked up.

Flags across the Baylor University campus are at half-staff this week to memorialize the crew of the space shuttle Columbia. Despite another tragic loss for NASA and America's space program, Baylor physicist Truell Hyde said he will continue to pursue his dream of flying on a future shuttle mission.

Twenty-eight graduates of Baylor University School of Law are scheduled to receive juris doctor degrees during commencement ceremonies at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, in Jones Concert Hall at the Glennis McCrary Music Building.

Brig. Gen. (ret.) James U. Cross, who served as President Lyndon B. Johnson's personal pilot, and Chief Master Sgt. Robert Anderson, who represents the enlisted corps or the 147th Fighter Wing, will speak to Baylor University's ROTC cadets on Wednesday, Feb. 5. Cross will speak to ROTC classes at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. about his experiences in Vietnam, while Anderson will lecture to all cadets during the weekly leadership laboratory at 4 p.m. in Bennett Auditorium.

Thanks to assistance from Baylor University, the trails are happy once again for the Baylor Riding Association, a student organization that has been part of campus life for more than half a century.

Baylor University presented its most distinguished award - the Founders Medal - to longtime Baylor benefactors Joe L. and Barbara Balfanz Allbritton during the annual Founders Day celebration Jan. 29 in Waco Hall.

Baylor University Opera Theater will present four performances of Gaetano Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Jan. 30 through Feb. 1, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 2, in the Jesse H. Jones Theater of the Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center.

The Baylor University Libraries will host the fourth annual Job Shadow Day on Friday, Jan. 31. Approximately 50 students from University High School in Waco will be on campus from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to participate in the event.

Dr. Rodney Stark, a noted scholar in the field of sociology of religion, will lecture at 3 p.m. Monday, Feb. 3, in room 116 at the Draper Academic Building on the Baylor University campus. Stark's lecture, "Upper Class Aescetism: Social Origins of Aescetic Movements and Medieval Saints," is part of Baylor's Sociology of Religion Colloquium series and is sponsored by the department of sociology and anthropology.

Dr. Charles S. Madden, vice president for university relations at Baylor University, today announced that he is stepping down from his administrative post effective Jan. 31 to return to full-time teaching in the Hankamer School of Business.

Baylor University student government and community leaders will be among the early participants discussing Ernest Gaines' A Lesson Before Dying, the inaugural selection in the "One Book, One Waco" city-wide reading program, at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Barnes and Noble in Waco.

The Baylor Alumni Association will honor four graduates who have excelled in their fields and in their communities following graduation during the annual Distinguished Alumni banquet at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 31, in the Barfield Drawing Room of the Bill Daniel Student Center.

The American Philological Association (APA) recently honored Baylor University professor Dr. R. Alden Smith with the Award for Excellence in Teaching of Classics at the association's annual meeting in New Orleans, La.

The Baylor University Symphony Orchestra will present a concert with music by Rossini, Haydn and Stravinsky at 7:30 p.m Thursday, Jan. 30, in Jones Concert Hall.

Baylor University will highlight its 158th anniversary as the state's oldest continuously operating university with the presentation of the Founders Medal to Joe L. and Barbara Balfanz Allbritton during the 11 a.m. Chapel service Wednesday, Jan. 29, in Waco Hall.

Noted scholars in economics, English and history will participate in a symposium sponsored by Baylor University's Robert Foster Cherry Award program and will deliver public lectures Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 3-4.

Baylor Law School again made a "clean sweep" of the twice-yearly Texas Bar Exam in 2002, with its students achieving the highest passing percentage of the nine law schools in the state.

Israeli journalist Joel Bainerman will deliver a lecture titled "In a Season of War: Israel, Palestine, Iraq and America, An Israeli Journalist's Perspective" at 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30, in the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies Research Center on the third floor of Carroll Library at Baylor University. The lecture is sponsored by Baylor's Center for American and Jewish Studies, the journalism department and the Middle East studies program.

Dr. Carey Newman, director of church relations at Baylor University, has been appointed director of Baylor University Press, effective Feb. 1.

Baylor University alumni and football fans are invited to meet Guy Morriss, as the Bears' new head football coach hits the road in February for events in Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth.

Before the Bears and the Owls throw out the first pitch Feb. 15 at the Astros College Classic, Baylor alumni and their families will gather for a reunion, dinner and pep rally at Minute Maid Park in Houston.

Dr. Duane B. Huggett, an expert researcher on groundwater toxins, will speak at Baylor University at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 28, in room 120 of the Goebel Building on campus.

Baylor University President Robert B. Sloan Jr. will be the guest speaker at the Central Texas Winter Banquet on Feb. 18 in Temple.

John Kent, a senior University Scholar from Dallas, has been selected as the first Presidential Fellow at Baylor University. Kent, who is focusing his studies on political science and international studies, also participates in the Honors Program and the Baylor Interdisciplinary Core (BIC).

The Fitness Expo 2003 scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 18, at Baylor University's Bill Daniel Student Center has been moved to Saturday, Feb. 8.

Campus Living & Learning and the School of Engineering and Computer Science have announced a partnership in establishing Baylor's initial living-learning center, the university's first residential facility to be constructed in 40 years.

The Baylor Sciences Building is the largest of our new construction projects, and indeed the largest in the 157-year history of Baylor. The $103 million complex will be a multidisciplinary facility that will give Baylor an unprecedented environment for equipping students as leaders in solving future scientific challenges.

Baylor University business students, faculty and staff have an opportunity to assist families in the Waco community by helping make sure they receive tax benefits that they may not otherwise know to claim, such as the Earned Income Credit and the refundable Childcare Credit.

Hundreds of area residents gathered at the Starplex Galaxy 16 theater on Jan. 16 to learn about the 2003 fund campaign of the Baylor/Waco Foundation, a partnership between Baylor University and the Central Texas community. Debbie Keel, 2003 campaign chair, announced that monies raised this year will go toward three projects that will benefit Baylor and improve the quality of life for Central Texans.

Dr. Colin C. Adams, the Francis C. Oakley Professor of Mathematics at Williams College in Massachusetts, has been selected as the final recipient of Baylor University's Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teachers.

GEAR UP Waco, a multi-project initiative dedicated to helping Waco ISD middle school students prepare early for college, will provide a fun and engaging event this Saturday to help students and parents get ready for the upcoming Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills test.

The Association of Black Students at Baylor University will sponsor several events in celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. This year's theme is "MLK Celebration 2003: The Past, The Present, The Future."

Registration is under way for the Jan. 25 Super Saturday sessions for preschoolers through high school juniors, sponsored by Baylor University's Center for Community Learning and Enrichment.

Baylor President Robert B. Sloan Jr. addressed the spring faculty meeting on Jan. 14, articulating the progress of Baylor 2012, the university's 10-year vision. For the full text of his remarks titled "Change and Collegiality in the Community of Scholars," click on the full story below.

Joe Dawson was credited with saving countless American lives during the D-Day invasion, but the 1933 Baylor University graduate also kept safe some rare drawings on display at Armstrong Browning Library.

An exhibit featuring the works of five commercial artists will open next week at the University Art Gallery at Baylor University's Hooper-Schaefer Fine Arts Center. The Design Invitational will run from Tuesday, Jan. 14, through Friday, Feb. 7.

Java City, a new ARAMARK food service that will replace Moody Brews, is under construction on the garden level of Baylor University's Moody Memorial Library. The upscale cafe will serve gourmet coffees, fruit smoothies, sandwiches, salads and desserts.

High school seniors, transfer students and their parents are invited to visit the Baylor University campus Jan. 24-25 for Winter Premiere, sponsored by the Baylor office of admission services and the Baylor Chamber of Commerce.

Baylor University introduced George Van Linder as the new head coach of the women's soccer program during a news conference Dec. 27 at Floyd Casey Stadium. Van Linder comes to Baylor after a successful career as a soccer coach for SMU and Butler University.

Following Sunday morning worship services at Waco's historic Second Missionary Baptist Church, officials with the church and Baylor University completed a real estate transaction Dec. 22 that will allow both to continue to fulfill their mutual Christian mission.

Baylor University President Robert B. Sloan Jr. today announced the appointment of Dr. Judith Wright Lott, associate professor of nursing, as dean of the Louise Herrington School of Nursing, effective immediately.

Baylor Law School's former registrar, Charlotte Reese, affectionately known to students through the years as "Ms. Pronto," waited 73 years for her "dream come true" - a shiny Ford Thunderbird convertible.

Greeting students, faculty and visitors to Baylor Law School is a towering bronze sculpture of a standing bear, all decked out for the Christmas holidays.

Baylor University will confer degrees on more than 900 graduates in commencement ceremonies scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, in the Ferrell Center.

Baylor University students continue to study abroad in record numbers, according to an Institute of International Education report. "Open Doors 2002" ranks Baylor second in the nation among doctoral universities for the number of students who participated in study abroad opportunities for 2000-2001.

Baylor University introduced Guy Morriss as the Bears' new head football coach at a news conference Wednesday on campus at the Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center. The news conference, which was streamed live on the Internet, is now available on-demand at http://www.baylortv.com/.

Baylor University mourns the loss of Dr. L.V. McNamee, Professor Emeritus and Retired Dean of the School of Education, who passed away Dec. 6 in The Woodlands. He was 86. Funeral services were held Dec. 10 at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Bosque Chapel in Waco, with Dr. Glenn O. Hilburn officiating.

Before a standing-room-only crowd at Baylor Law School, Guy Morriss was introduced today as Baylor University's new head football coach. Click below for photos from today's news conference.

Inventor and chemist James Heath, 1984 Baylor University chemistry graduate and contributor to the discovery of the "Bucky Ball," has been named by Scientific American as one of its "Top 50 Visionaries."

Baylor Bear fans will have their first opportunity to hear from Guy Morriss, the university's new head football coach, when he is introduced during a news conference at noon CST Wednesday, Dec. 11, at the Sheila and Walter Umphrey Law Center. The news conference will be streamed live on the Internet at

The TexShare Interlibrary Loan Working Group selected Baylor Interlibrary Services as the 2002-2003 "Academic Interlibrary Loan Department of the Year" during its recent annual meeting in Dallas. More than 183 other libraries across the state were nominated for the award.

From the lighted spires of Old Main to the smiling faces of preschoolers at Santa's Workshop, the Christmas spirit is alive and well on the Baylor University campus.

High-definition television crews have wrapped up production on "Christmas at Baylor," a holiday special featuring orchestras and choirs from the Baylor University School of Music that will be available to the nation's PBS stations next holiday season.