Mary Washington’s master messenger Marty Morrison is retiring! Cries are coming from throughout campus: Oh no! How will we find out about snow cancellations and timely warnings?! While no one can fill Marty’s folk heroine role, messages will continue — so will FOIAs, selective guides, press releases, media pitches, etc., etc. Meanwhile, we’d like to honor Marty for all she has done during her 12-year tenure here (and YES — for all of those in the dark, Marty IS a female!). Please come to Dodd Foyer at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 9 (which happens to also be Marty’s birthday!) for a heartfelt send-off.
Posters, Presentations Abound on Research & Creativity Day
Senior Gus Schneider poses beside his research poster.
UMW’s 13th Annual Research and Creativity Day held on Friday, April 27 showcased a year’s worth of groundbreaking student work, with faculty guidance, in everything from accounting to women’s and gender studies, from biology and chemistry to business administration and creative writing. The event featured poster sessions, musical performances, art exhibits and even a live play performance.
Carmen Martinez, left, and Josephine Gray display poster on biology research.
Its purpose is to showcase collaborative work between faculty and students and to celebrate the scholarly and creative endeavors of our academic community, said Grant Woodwell, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of geology. “The presentations and exhibits span the range of disciplines represented within the three colleges of the university.
UMW Psychology Students Claim Top State Awards
Megan Jacobs ’19 (right) and Associate Professor of Psychological Sciences Hilary Stebbins. Jacobs won one of the two Outstanding Undergraduate Papers awards given to UMW students by the Virginia Association for Psychological Science. Photo provided by Hilary Stebbins.
The Virginia Association for Psychological Science has recognized six University of Mary Washington students with awards for top research papers. The two top awards for Outstanding Undergraduate Papers were awarded to Megan Jacobs ’19 and the five-person team of seniors Kim Bui, Kara Hogue, Sidney McPhail and Corinne Rydgren, and junior Haley Turczynski.
The winning students competed among undergraduates representing 12 Virginia colleges, including James Madison, Virginia Commonwealth and Old Dominion universities. Some 24 undergraduate research papers were submitted.
Jacobs’ research paper “Physiological Differences in Stress Reactivity between Morning and Evening Chronotypes” examined the cardiac activity and cortisol level of people characterized as morning types versus those described as evening types when asked to perform a stressful task in the morning compared to the evening.
According to Associate Professor Hilary Stebbins who supervised the research, Jacobs’ findings suggest that the performance of evening types was impaired in the morning, which might be related to higher morning cortisol levels. “These findings have implications when we consider what we expect from our students, who are heavily skewed towards being evening types, in the morning,” said Stebbins.
The recognition is the second one for Jacobs, who received the outstanding undergraduate paper award last year for research on sleep deprivation as part of a four-member UMW team.
From L-R: Sidney McPhail, Kim Bui, Corinne Rydgren, Haley Turczynski and Kara Hogue at Psi Chi. The five-person team won an Outstanding Undergraduate Papers award from the Virginia Association for Psychological Science. Photo provided by Hilary Stebbins.
The second top prize award went to UMW’s five-person team composed of Bui, Hogue, McPhail, Rydgren and Turczynski for the paper “Error Related Brain Activity and Mindfulness.”
This research team examined the brain activity of people who meditate and people who do not meditate. They studied brain activity while the participants made mistakes to see how strongly they reacted to their errors. The group found that the meditators had a smaller error-related brain component that has been related to the conscious awareness of mistakes. The team also looked at a few variables that might explain why the meditators were reacting differently to mistakes.
“They found that cognitive fusion, which is how much someone fights their own thoughts and inner experiences, explained why there was a relationship between meditator groups and the error-related brain activity,” said Assistant Professor Emily Stanley, who supervised the study.
The winning students also were among undergraduate presentations given at the University’s Psi Chi Symposium held last week in the Hurley Convergence Center’s Digital Auditorium. Jacobs also won the award for Best Presentation for 491/492 teams at the symposium.
CAC Championship Weekend at UMW, May 3-4
This weekend, the University of Mary Washington will host three Capital Athletic Conference Championships at the Battleground Athletic Complex. On Friday, the Eagles softball team will host Christopher Newport University in game one of the CAC championship series at 4 p.m.
On Saturday, the softball championship series will continue at 10 a.m. and play a second game at noon if necessary. The women’s tennis team will host Christopher Newport at noon for the CAC title, with the men’s tennis team following at 3 p.m. against CNU for the men’s championship.
The winners of all of the championships will gain automatic bids to next week’s NCAA Championship tournaments. Admission for all events is free of charge. For more information, please consult www.umweagles.com or call Clint Often, assistant athletic director of communications, at 654-1743.
UMW Libraries Invite Faculty to Contribute to Assignment Bank
As the school year comes to an end, it’s a good time to look back on the assignments that you gave to your students. Which assignments worked particularly well? Would you be willing to share those assignments with your colleagues?
The UMW Libraries invite all faculty members to contribute assignments to the UMW Assignment Bank. The purpose of the Assignment Bank is to help instructors share innovative assignment designs with each other. You can upload your own assignments and browse other instructors’ assignments. Some assignments are available under Creative Commons licenses, so you can reuse them in your own courses.
The Assignment Bank is at http://umwassignmentbank.net/. To contribute an assignment to the Bank, go to http://umwassignmentbank.net/contribution.
Art After Hours at Belmont, May 23
Join us for a Thursday night happy hour at Art After Hours!
Belmont, Gari Melchers Home and Studio, invites you to come explore the studio, galleries, and gardens in a unique way with live music, drinks, and food trucks. Relax on the lawn with Fredericksburg’s favorite folk music from Cabin Creek, local beer and wine from 6 Bears & A Goat and Potomac Point Winery, and local-favorite food trucks Juan More Taco and Gourmeltz. The art galleries and studio will be open late for tours.
Thursday, May 23
6-8 p.m.
Gari Melchers Home and Studio
224 Washington Street
Fredericksburg, VA 22405
Art After Hours is free and open to the public! There will be $5 beer and wine tickets, and food trucks accept cash and cards. There will be limited onsite parking, with overflow parking at Pratt Park with shuttles to and from the event.
Come relax with us after work, stroll through our historic gardens, and enjoy the beautiful spring concert at Belmont!
Women’s Leadership Colloquium at Stevenson Ridge on May 7
The Women’s Leadership Colloquium @ UMW’s next networking event will be held on Tuesday, May 7 from 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at Stevenson Ridge.
This Old Piece…Finding and Finishing Furniture
The Beginner’s Guide to Annie Sloan Chalk Paint
Be inspired as you learn from Sara Branner and Mindy Gray, Co-Owners of SaraGray Designs, LLC, how to find and refinish furniture using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Participants will discover practical tips and gain the confidence to paint a piece on their own. A finished piece will be given away to one lucky person! All attendees will also get to experience one of their DIY workshops.
SaraGray Designs, LLC is a “Pop Up” studio/shop in Remington that features painted and farmhouse furniture, home accessories, jewelry, artwork and paper crafting items. DIY workshops are also held during the month.
Light food and wine will be provided. Cost per person: $15.
REGISTER TODAY! Space limited.
Larus Receives Waple Achievement Award
Political Science Professor Elizabeth Larus
University of Mary Washington Professor of Political Science Elizabeth Larus was named the recipient of 2019’s Waple Faculty Professional Achievement Award at a general faculty meeting on Wednesday, April 24.
Established in honor of Shirley Van Epps Waple, a 1952 Mary Washington graduate, the nomination-based award recognizes faculty members who have made significant contributions to their scholarly or creative area of expertise. The recipient must be a full-time faculty member for at least seven years.
Since coming to UMW in 1997, Larus has distinguished herself as an international expert in the politics of China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, and political science students at Mary Washington are eager to learn from her scholarly endeavors, which include three years conducting field research in Asia. Read more.
Geography Department goes “All In” in Fountain for Giving Day
When the University of Mary Washington announced that the theme of 2019’s Giving Day was “All In,” the Department of Geography took that literally. On Wednesday, April 24, geography professors went “all in” the fountain in front of Monroe Hall to celebrate the more than $23,000 the department raised during the annual event, held this year on March 19.
Department of Geography professors went “all in” into the fountain in front of Monroe Hall on April 24 to thank their Giving Day donors.
The professors who took the plunge were Dawn Bowen, Stephen Hanna, Joe Nicholas, Marco Millones Mayer, Caitie Finlayson, Melina Patterson and Jacqueline Gallagher. Their former colleague, Professor Emeritus Donald Rallis, who now lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, jumped into a fish pond there in solidarity.
Gallagher said that getting into the cool water on a warm spring day was a shock, but she was glad that she and her colleagues had the opportunity to put the “fun” in fundraiser.
“We are a fairly small department with about 90 majors, so to be able to raise this much in one day is huge,” said Gallagher, who is chair of the department, which was ranked by College Factual as No. 1 in Virginia and in the entire southeastern region, and No. 10 nationally by College Factual. “We work really hard to foster a sense of community and a strong connection with our students. And we work to keep that bond with our alumni and their families.
The funds raised will go toward the department’s Geography Alumni Scholarship, which is named in honor of Professor Marshall Bowen, and late Professors Samuel T. Emory, James Gouger and Richard Palmieri.
Founded in 1959 by Emory (the namesake of Sammy T’s restaurant in downtown Fredericksburg), the geography department celebrates its 60th anniversary this year and has a number of special events planned. On April 13, the professors gathered with 135 current and former students and their families at Brock’s Riverside Grill for the Geography Honor Society (Gamma Theta Upsilon) induction and annual awards presentation. The event usually draws a crowd of about 50 in a normal year.
The department will also host the Jeff Rountree Geography Challenge, an ongoing fundraiser that is separate from the Giving Day challenge. The 1991 graduate and CEO of the UMW Foundation – who majored in geography – will give $4,000 to the Rountree Endowment when 60 gifts are made to the Geography Alumni Scholarship. The Rountree Endowment is used to help students pay for equipment, data or travel to do research or present at conferences. It helps both graduate and undergraduate students in geography and geospatial analysis.
For more information about the Department of Geography, or to give to the Jeff Rountree Geography Challenge, please visit the Online Giving website or call (540) 654-1037.
UMW Announces 2019 Commencement Speakers
Two accomplished alumnae will be the featured speakers at the University of Mary Washington’s 2019 commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 10, and Saturday, May 11.
Terrie L. Suit, chief executive officer for the Virginia Realtors, will speak at the graduate ceremony Friday at 7:30 p.m. in Dodd Auditorium, George Washington Hall. Ann Elizabeth Guthrie, chief of communications for the National Gallery of Art, will deliver the undergraduate address Saturday at 9 a.m. on Ball Circle. Both ceremonies will take place on the Fredericksburg campus. Read more.
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- Terrie Suit is chief executive officer of Virginia Realtors.
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- Anabeth Guthrie is chief of communications for the National Gallery of Art.