Accomplishments - January, 2023
William Drennan, professor, SIU School of Law, recently published “Leona Helmsley: The Queen of Probate and Property? Practical Drafting Tips from Her Majesty’s Wills” in the January-February edition of ABA Probate and Property Magazine. A brief synopsis of the article is in IllinoisLawyerNow.com.
“The Death of Myth on Roman Sarcophagi: Allegory and Visual Narrative in the Late Empire” by Mont Allen, associate professor of classics and art history, School of Languages and Linguistics, was recently published by Cambridge University Press. The book provides greater understanding of classical mythology and funerary art — on the scenes from Greek mythology that ancient Romans chose to have carved on their coffins, and their reasons for selecting these myths.
Lanel Love, assistant dean of students and director of the First Saluki Center, has received the Patriotic Employer Award from Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Department of Defense agency, in recognition of the support she has provided for employees serving in the Armed Forces Reserve. Specifically, Love’s support for junior Molly Lindsey, an E-4 specialist with the Illinois Army National Guard and peer mentor for the First Saluki Center, was noted.
Robert J. McDermott, emeritus professor, public health and health education, has been named the 2023 American Academy of Health Behavior Research Laureate, the highest member honor bestowed by the organization. A founding member and first president for AAHB, McDermott is being honored for his research, quality of publications and mentoring activities, service to the community, funding and the impact of his scholarship in the field. He will give a research laureate presentation on March 12 during the 2023 AAHB annual meeting in San Francisco.
Edward Benyas, professor of oboe and conducting, School of Music, will be performing as oboist, at 7 p.m. today, Jan. 19, with his New Chicago Wind Quartet at the World Chess Hall of Fame concert series in St. Louis. The concert consists entirely of Benyas’ arrangements from stage and screen. On Friday, Jan. 20 and Sunday, Jan. 22, he will conduct Verdi’s tragic opera, “Macbeth” with the Winter Opera St. Louis at the Kirkwood Center for Performing Arts. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. The company includes internationally renowned principal singers, and a terrific chorus and union orchestra.
Lesley Shawler, assistant professor, behavior analysis and therapy, Rehabilitation Institute, has been selected as one of just 15 “40 and Under” scholars by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education. The Jan. 19 edition of the publication includes profiles of the 2023 Emerging Scholars of the Year being recognized for their work in teaching, research and service. A board-certified behavior analyst, Shawler works with SIU’s Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders. She also established a partnership with the local Head Start to reach underserved children, helps train students to become scientist-practitioner scholars and her work has been widely published.
Under the direction of Alice Berry, the 18-member Southern Illinois Reunion Children’s Choir performed at Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s inauguration on Jan. 9 in Springfield. The choir performed the “Star Spangled Banner” (19:00) and “I Sing Because I’m Happy” (2:10:20). The group is affiliated with the School of Music as one of its community ensembles.
Kofi Akamani, associate professor, forestry and horticulture, recently gave an invited talk, “Evaluating the Impacts of Collaborative Forest Management on the Resilience of Forest-dependent Communities: Implications for Climate Smart Forestry Assessment” at the 2022 American Geophysical Union annual meeting in Chicago. The talk focused on methodological protocols for assessing the outcomes of climate smart agriculture and forestry initiatives by borrowing from existing research in the field of sustainable forest management.
Quianya Enge, research assistant, Illinois Small Business Development Center, was among 40 community leaders from the eight states that comprise the Delta Regional Authority to be named a fellow of the 2023 Delta Leadership Institute (DLI) Executive Academy. DLI is an extensive, nine-month executive leadership program that brings together public, private and nonprofit sector leaders from the Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt.
