News roundup: Richardson receives USG teaching award
Staff report
Augusta University professor Deborah S. Richardson has been named the recipient of the Board of Regents’ Scholarship for Teaching and Learning Award.
The psychological sciences professor, whose doctoral degree is from Kent State University, has long been a leader in promoting learning and teaching at AU. In particular, she has worked hard to understand both student and teacher success in the classroom. She frequently does research on this with professor Robert Bledsoe in English and World Languages. This includes work on how students perceive what makes for successful teaching in the classroom.
Richardson’s published research has had more than 10,000 citations during her career.
Zeiders earns National Humanities residency
English associate professor Blaire Zeiders has been selected for a summer residency grant by the National Humanities Center.
Zeiders will spend this month in the Research Triangle Park, N.C., working on research for a book titled The Arthurian Catechism: Reading Literature as Liturgy in Early Modern England.
The AU professor’s research this summer will be focusing on how Catholics in England viewed King Arthur in the face of the Protestant Reformation.
Orientation starts June 4
Incoming AU students will begin freshman orientation on Thursday, June 4.
Normally, the new students would meet in the Allgood Hall atrium on the Summerville Campus. However, Allgood is being refurbished, so they will meet in the Science Hall lobby instead.
New student orientation will continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays through July 16.
Munn heading Georgia Cancer Center
Dr. David Munn has become the director of the Georgia Cancer Center. Munn had been in the interim director for three months.
Munn has done research on how an enzyme called indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) shields cancer cells from immune attack. This discovery has led to the development of IDO inhibitors, critical in both cancer and leukemia treatment.
Welcome back dates set
AU has announced dates and times for various welcome-back-to-campus events during the Weeks of Welcome.
Freshman Convocation will be on the Summerville Campus on Aug. 17 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m.
The Welcome Back Bash will take place at Christenberry Fieldhouse on Aug. 21 at 7 p.m. Lake Day will be Aug. 22 at Clarks Hill Lake from noon until 5 p.m.
Club Fest will be held on Aug. 25 on the Summerville Campus and on Sept. 2 on the Health Sciences Campus. Both will begin at 11:30 a.m. and last until 1 p.m.
Fall semester classes will begin Aug. 18.
AU Athletics Hall of Fame adds five inductees
The second class of the Augusta University Athletics Hall of Fame was installed on May 29 the Marriott Convention Center.
Entering were Broc Everett, NCAA Division I golf national champion in 2018; Shannon Wilkerson, the 2009 NCAA Division II baseball player of the year; Keshun Sherill, the all-time leading scorer for AU men’s basketball; Lausanne Monday, the all-time leading scorer for women’s basketball; and Lenny Carson, former men’s basketball assistant coach and now the color commentator on the Roar Network.
Some 300 people attended the event, with the then interim athletics director Melissa Brocato giving the opening remarks and President Russell T. Keen providing the welcome. Christenberry Fieldhouse P.A. announcer Jason Scherer was the master of ceremonies.
The first class was inducted in 2025, and it included William A. Bloodworth, Tyrekus Bowman, Clint Bryant, Nick Evans and Martin Vanover. The 2010 and 2011 men’s golf national champions were also inducted.
During the summer, the sidewalks on the grassy area west of the JSAC on the Summerville Campus of Augusta University are being revamped. (Bell Ringer staff photo) At the top of the page, AU’s annual Freshman Convocation will be held on the Summerville Campus on Aug. 17 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. on Aug. 17. Fall classes will start the next day.
