Professor of Psychology Miriam Liss is among 13 Virginia college educators to receive a 2015 Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV). The awards are the commonwealth’s highest honor for faculty at Virginia’s public and private colleges and universities, recognizing superior accomplishments in teaching, research, and public service. Liss, a clinical psychologist, has conducted research on parenting, division of labor, and work-family balance. Liss and Associate Professor of Psychology Holly H. Schiffrin are the authors of Balancing the Big Stuff: Finding Happiness in Work, Family and Life. Liss also has published articles about autism and developmental disorders, sensory processing sensitivity, self-injurious behaviors, feminist identity, and body image. She regularly presents at national conferences and has been interviewed by The Washington Post, MSNBC.com, and LiveScience.com. Since SCHEV's first awards in 1987, more … [Read more...]
Math Professor Receives Fulbright
Julius Esunge, assistant professor of mathematics, recently received a Fulbright grant. He will teach and do research at the University of Buea in Cameroon beginning in spring 2016. An expert in stochastic analysis, Esunge blends math and statistics to assess and solve problems. As part of his Fulbright grant, Esunge will return to his undergraduate alma mater to teach probability and actuarial mathematics and lead a graduate seminar in stochastic analysis. He also will construct and compare predictive models for health care costs. Esunge joined the UMW faculty in 2009. He received a master’s degree from Lehigh University and master’s and doctoral degrees from Louisiana State University. “The opportunity to return to the University of Buea and actively mentor a new generation of students is priceless,” Esunge said. … [Read more...]
Books by UMW Faculty
Sufism and American Literary Masters Edited by Mehdi Aminrazavi, professor of philosophy and religion Essays examine the influence of Sufism on 19th- and early 20th-century American literature, particularly in the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman. – SUNY Press, November 2014 Turtles All the Way Down Translated by David Ambuel, professor of philosophy This is a translation and commentary on Plato’s Theaetetus, exploring themes of knowledge and judgment. – Academia Verlag, January 2015 … [Read more...]
BSN Completion Gains Accreditation
Two aspects of the University of Mary Washington’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program recently received approval from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the accreditation body for degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern region. The BSN Academic Partnership Plan lets students live on UMW’s Fredericksburg campus while taking courses at both the university and Germanna Community College. That part of the program begins in fall 2015. Through it, students attend both institutions the first year; study at the community college for the next two years and complete an associate degree; and return to UMW during the fourth year to complete the bachelor’s degree. The BSN Concurrent Enrollment program also received approval from the accrediting body and will begin in fall 2015. In 2014, UMW began accepting students to its BSN completion program, in which students who already are registered nurses can complete their … [Read more...]
Song, Composer, Going Strong
When she returned to UMW last December, Irene Taylor Robinson ’47 wasn’t sure what all the fuss was about. As the guest of honor at a luncheon, she had expected to talk about “High on Marye’s Hilltop,” the Mary Washington Alma Mater that she and the late Jean Crotty Machonis ’47 co-wrote. She was surprised, though, to be treated like a star by the younger alumni who’d come to see her. “We wrote a little song, but I’ve never really given much thought to it,” the 89-year-old said. “I’m a little floored that people want to meet me, and they are so kind in what they say.” Most of the fans had learned “High on Marye’s Hilltop” as freshmen at Mary Washington, where it is sung it at every commencement and homecoming. They’d sung it in dorms, at class meetings, and at Grad Ball. “It’s part of the Mary Washington soundscape for students and faculty,” said Professor of History Jeffrey McClurken ’94, one of two UMW historians at the luncheon. Robinson and her friend Machonis … [Read more...]