Scholarship and Awards Day Celebrates Student, Faculty Achievements

Belmont President Dr. Bob Fisher presents the Heart of Belmont Award to Margaret Shores.

The annual Scholarship and Awards Day convocation, a year-end celebration of academic achievement, was held Wednesday morning in the Massey Performing Arts Center.

Dr. Jennifer Thomas, recipient of the 2011 Chaney Distinguished Professor Award, gave the Honors Address for the ceremony, noting, “Honored students and professors, as you continue in your academic and life achievements, be kind to yourself… be grateful, embrace mistakes, ask for help and take risks. Most importantly, though, share these gifts and talents that you have and be a good example for others. Your words and actions are so enormously powerful.” To read the entire address, click the link: Awards day address-Thomas-S12.

Students honored in Wednesday’s ceremony included:

The Williams-Murray First Year Writing Awards: Nathan Tinnell and Julienne Irwin
The Alfred Leland Crabb Awards: Zach Selby and Jesse Johnson
The Stacy Awalt Writing Awards: Kent Toalson and Elli Whiteway
The Annette Sisson First Year Writing Award: Stephen Braxton Fralick
The Lumos Travel Award: Shirah Foy, Alexandra Haas, Rainu Ittycheriah, Lindsey Ricker, Alyssa Meisterling, Derek Price and Brent Shively
The John Williams Heart of Belmont Award: Margaret Lynne Shores
The First Year Award, Leadership: Brennon Reid Mobley
The Second Year Award, Leadership: Kelsey N. Maguire
The Third Year Award, Leadership: Andrew E. Bishop
The Fourth Year Award, Leadership: Shirah Eden Foy

Provost Dr. Thomas Burns presents the Chaney Distinguished Faculty Award to Dr. Rich Tiner.

In addition to student award winners, Dr. Rich Tiner, professor of media studies, was named the 2012 Chaney Distinguished Professor. The Chaney Distinguished Professor Award, determined on the basis of superior teaching, is presented each year to a faculty member who best represents the vision of the university to be a “premier teaching institution.”

Tiner said, “What a pleasant—and humbling—surprise! For me, this is a tribute to some terrific students, who make me look good by coming to class well-prepared and ready to engage. They make my work pure joy.”

Dr. Leslie Folds, associate professor of nursing, was awarded the 2012 Presidential Faculty Achievement Award. The Presidential Faculty Achievement Award is presented each year to a faculty member who has made outstanding contributions to student life outside the classroom. The award honors and recognizes excellence in faculty-student relationships, special abilities in meeting student needs – academic, personal and professional – and symbolizes Belmont University’s commitment to being a student-centered institution.

Folds said, “I feel so honored, blessed and humbled to receive the Presidential Faculty Achievement Award and to work at  Belmont University where  the focus for all of us as administrators, faculty and staff is to use our unique gifts to serve students. Every decision I make, I always ask myself ‘How will this impact my students?’”