Here are educational briefs from around the Southwest and the South End. Want more education news? There is no full-time education reporter west of Richmond. You can help change that. Help us fund this space.
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AmazonVP in tech speaking
Virginia Tech President Tim Sands is having a conversation with Amazon Vice President Babak Parviz on Monday, September 12 at 5 p.m. at the Moss Arts Center in Biscburg.
The event is free and open to the public. Registration is requested, but walk-ins are welcome.
Parvez, creator of Google Glass, will present his talk “Building from Amazon” and share insights from his work experiences and how Amazon built two products – Amazon Explore and Amazon Glow.
Following the presentation, he will join Sands for an interactive discussion about future innovations and how his career has landed him at Amazon.
Parviz’s work is on display at the Science Museum in London. He has received numerous recognitions and awards, including the National Science Foundation Career Award, MIT Technology Review 35, Time Magazine Innovator of the Year (2008 and 2012), IEEE Circuits and Systems Industry Pioneer Award, Your Health’s Top 10 Medical Advances of the Year. and About.com’s top creative. He was named one of the 50 Most Creative People in the United States by Ad Age.
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Ferrum College has named its alumni awardees
Ferrum College has announced this year’s three annual alumni awards: Young Scholars, Distinguished Scholars and the Beckham Medal. The awards were They are part of a tradition that began in the 1920s with the recognition of several college founders/leaders. Winners are selected by alumni, faculty or staff, a selection committee of the Alumni Board of Directors, and approved by the President.
In the year October 15, 2022 The 2022 recipients will be announced at an awards ceremony on Saturday, October 15, 2022, during Homecoming weekend at 11:00 a.m. in the Blue Ridge Mountain Room in Franklin Hall. All Ferrum College alumni are invited to attend.
Young students: Matthew Woods 12
The Young Alumni Award is presented to a young person who has demonstrated professional and personal success after graduating from Ferrum College within the past 15 years.
Rocky Mount resident Matthew Woods has served students, teachers, and schools in a variety of capacities for over twelve years. His professional experience includes being a high school social studies teacher, middle and high school assistant principal, middle school principal, director of student support services, adjunct professor, and field instructor for student-teachers at the college level. Woods also hosts an educational podcast, leading to the woodsAnd is an accomplished keynote speaker and educational consultant.
Woods holds a Bachelor of Science in History and Social Studies from Ferrum College, a Master’s in Educational Leadership and Administration from Virginia Tech, a Graduate Certificate in Education Law and Policy, and an Educational Specialist in Middle Grades Education from the University of Georgia. Woods is currently completing his doctorate in educational leadership and administration from Radford University with an expected graduation date of December 2022.
Dear Alumni: Kartan Kurin ’84
Cartan F. Currin III of Richmond graduated from Ferrum College with a degree in public administration. A native of Petersburg, he has held public service and economic development executive positions with the City of Petersburg, Brunswick County and the City of Richmond. Governor Jim Gilmore appointed him as the first executive director of the Virginia Tobacco Compensation and Community Revitalization Commission.
Currently, Kurin serves as president of the Commonwealth Alliance for Rural Colleges, representing Appalachian Law School, Averett University, Bloomfield University, Eastern Mennonite University, to provide resources and foster economic development and public-private partnerships. Ferrum College.
Beckham Medal: Phyllis Karavatakis ’76
Named after Dr. Benjamin M. Beckham, the first president of Ferrum College, the Beckham Medal is the highest tribute to an alumnus. The distinction honors those who exemplify the college’s motto, Not yourself, but others and demonstrate exceptional career achievement, service to their community, and dedication to Ferrum College.
Phyllis Karavatakis, a resident of Union Hall, was senior/executive manager of financial performance and achievement of strategic objectives for Carter Bank & Trust, a $4 billion community bank in Virginia and North Carolina.
A graduate of Franklin County High School, Karavatakis earned degrees from Ferrum College, a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from the University of Richmond, and completed the Virginia Bankers Association School of Banking Administration at the University of Virginia. She has held several executive appointments including Chair of Ferrum College’s Board of Trustees and Chair of the Audit Committee. President and Board Director of Southside Business Technology Center/Launch Space; Piedmont Arts Foundation Committee Chair; Chairman of the Martinville and Henry County Chamber of Commerce; and a board member of the United Way of Martinsville and Henry County, the Patrick Henry Community College Foundation and the Southern Virginia Recreation Facilities Authority.
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The Fralin Institute has released a lineup for Strauss’ lecture series
The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC has released this year’s list of speakers who will be part of the Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Lecture Series.
Among the speakers were three members of the National Academy of Sciences, three members of the National Academy of Medicine, and one member each from the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Invention, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The series includes a Fellow of the International Association of Statistical Statistics, a Fellow of the Academia Europaea, and a US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner.
Here is the lineup for the 2022-23 Maury Strauss Distinguished Public Speaking Series:
- “Socially-Oriented Science and Technology: At the Intersection of History, Sustainability, and Equity with Applications to Biotechnology and Biotechnology,” Christine Ortiz, Morris Cohen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, September 22.
- “Breeding Cereals to Cope with a Changing Climate,” by Pamela Ronald, Distinguished Professor, Department of Plant Pathology and Genomics Center, University of California, Davis, October 20.
- The Food and Drug Commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration, Robert M. “Misinformation and Disinformation Challenges discuss health topics of national public health importance,” said Califf. Khalif is the founding director of the Duke Clinical Research Institute, an internationally recognized expert in cardiovascular medicine and health outcomes research, and one of the most frequently cited authors in the biomedical sciences. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, virtual presentation on November 3.
- Gurpreet Dhaliwal, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, said on November 17, “Diagnostic Reasons and Cognitive Processes in Clinical Problem Solving.” His research interests include clinical reasons, diagnostic errors, and clinical and diagnostic performance and improvement. .
- Modulating Depression Circuits Using Deep Brain Stimulation, by Helen Mayberg, Professor, Neurosurgery, Neuroscience and Psychiatry; Director, Nash Advanced Circuit Medical Center; Member, National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, on December 15.
- “Tackling the Health Consequences of Climate Change with Data Science,” by Francesca Dominici, Clarence James Gamble Professor of Biostatistics, Population and Information Sciences; Associate Director, Data Science Initiative, TH Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University; Member, National Academy of Medicine and International Association for Mathematical Statistics, on January 19, 2023.
- “Effects of Mindfulness Interventions During Pregnancy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy During Pregnancy,” Damien Fair, Professor, Institute of Child Development, Department of Pediatrics; Director, Institute for Masonic Mental Development, University of Minnesota Medical School, on February 9, 2023.
- “Harnessing the Power of Big Biobanks for Precision Medicine,” by Zhengming Chen, Richard Peto Professor of Epidemiology, Nuffield Department of Public Health, Academia Europaea, University of Oxford, March 16, 2023.
- “Macromolecular Design and Synthesis and Nanoscale Targeting of Nanoscale Assembly of Synthetic Biomaterials for Cancer,” Paula T. Hammond, Division Head and Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Member, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and National Academy of Engineering, date TBD in April 2023.
Most of the talks will begin with an in-person reception at 5 pm, and the presentation will begin at 5:30 pm at 2 Riverside in the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute. All classes are free and open to the public. To make it accessible to a wider audience, most talks are broadcast live with amplification and archive.
