Charles J. Shields, associate director of the Chappell Great Lives Lecture Series, is featured in the Sunday, Nov. 27 edition of The New York Times Sunday Book Review. The article, “How It Went,” is a review of Shields’ book, And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, A Life.
Esther Yook, director of the Speaking Center and the Korean Program, received the Top Paper Award at the National Communication Association in November 2011 for her manuscript “Communication Centers and Retention in Higher Education: Is There a Link?”
She also co-presented a short course on establishing communication centers and chaired a Korean American Communication Association session on challenges for Korean American scholars in academia.
The James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library is pleased to announce the hiring of Mr. Jarod Kearney as curator following a national search that yielded more than 100 applicants. Kearney was curator of the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum from 2007 to 2011. He also has held curatorial and administrative posts with the Rye Historical Society and Hallockville Museum Farm and Folklife Center, both in New York, and the Greensboro Historical Museum in North Carolina. In addition to extensive experience with exhibits and collections management, Kearney has a strong background in museum education and theater.
The James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library is the largest repository in the country of artifacts and documents related to the fifth president of the United States. The museum is a National Historic Landmark owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia and administered by the University of Mary Washington.
Chad Murphy, assistant professor of political science, was featured on CBS-6 (WTVR, Richmond, Va.) on Wednesday, Nov. 9. During the interview, Murphy discussed the results of the Virginia Senate 17th district election. The news segment aired during the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. broadcasts.
John N. Pearce, former director of the James Monroe Museum and Memorial Library and former professor of historic preservation at the University of Mary Washington, has been honored with the prestigious History Award from the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The distinction, given for lifetime contribution to American history, is awarded to only seven Americans each year.
Diana Wallace Perrussel, regent of the Overwharton Parish Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, presented the gold medal to Pearce on Saturday, November 12 at the residence of UMW alumna Judy Barton who nominated her former professor.
Pearce was recognized for his leadership of the James Monroe Museum and his long-standing devotion to preserving history in Fredericksburg and other parts of the nation. Among his vast accomplishments, Pearce worked to restore the 1849 building that houses St. George’s Episcopal Church in Fredericksburg, raised money to preserve the 18th century Masonic cemetery, established the only Welsh festival on the East Coast to honor the heritage of the fifth president of the United States, helped create the James Monroe Presidential Center and served as liaison for the Enchanted Castle site established by Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood in the early1800s.
