Morehead State University honored five individuals during the University’s Fall Convocation on Wednesday, Aug. 13.
The 2014 award recipients were: Dr. Timothy Hare, associate professor of anthropology in the Institute for Regional Analysis and Public Policy, Distinguished Researcher; Dr. Stacy Baker, professor of music tuba/euphonium, Distinguished Teacher; George Eklund, associate professor of English, Distinguished Creative Productions; Joshua Moore minority academic services coordinator, Distinguished Staff Service; and Kelly Collinsworth, associate professor of legal studies, Distinguished Faculty Service.
Dr. Hare earned a Master of Arts degree in economic anthropology at the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. degree in anthropology at the University at Albany in the Institute for Mesoamerican Studies. Today, he works as a regional analyst and divides his time between the spatial analysis of social, economic, and health factors across central Appalachia, and the study of regional socioeconomic transformations in ancient Mesoamerican societies.
He began investigating economic and social transformations in ancient societies while conducting field research in community organization at the ancient Aztec city of Otumba in the highlands of central Mexico. Since then, he has directed several archaeological projects aimed at reconstructing how political and economic transformed in the development of ancient Aztec and Maya societies.
Dr. Hare has co-directed archaeological investigations at the ancient city of Mayapán in Mexico since 2001. His anthropological work has appeared in Latin American Antiquity, Anthropos, and the Journal of Archaeological Science.
He also conducts regional analysis of development issues, especially health outcomes in the states comprising central Appalachia. His experience as an economic anthropologist and conducting regional analysis fits perfectly with studying the factors determining disparities in health outcomes across central Appalachia. He is currently working as part of the Appalachian Cancer Network exploring disparities in respiratory disease across central Appalachia. In 2013, he published an article comparing the geographical patterns of elevated lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease across central Appalachia that showed surprising differences between the two spatial distributions. An additional article in press describes the geographical variation in lung cancer mortality in eastern Kentucky and explores the factors influencing cancer distribution. He also recently presented his work on female/male differences in lung cancer rates in Appalachia at the meeting of the Appalachian Community Cancer Network.
Looking to the future, he is collaborating with Charles Mason, MSU professor of geoscience, in compiling preliminary data on the relationships between geological formations and cancer rates in east Kentucky. Preliminary analysis of the spatial association between Black Shale formations and cancer rates in Kentucky suggests that high levels of organic radioactive materials and heavy metals in the soil and groundwater might play a role in cancer disparities in the region. His goal in engaging in community research in Appalachia is to make it possible to better target specific factors contributing to elevated cancer rates in particular locations.
Dr. Baker received both her M.M. and B.M. degrees from the University of Michigan where she graduated summa cum laude as a James B. Angell Scholar. She holds a D.M.A. in Performance and Literature with highest honors from the University of Illinois.
She enjoys an active solo career appearing as a featured artist at numerous International and Regional Tuba/Euphonium Conferences (ITEC); International Women’s Brass Conferences (IWBC); U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” Tuba/Euphonium Conferences, and the International Euphonium Tuba Festivals. She has toured and recorded throughout the United States and Europe as a founding member of the tuba/euphonium quartet JUNCTION, and with the Lexington Brass Band and Monarch Brass Ensemble.
She is a member of the Athena Brass Band, the Horizon Brass Quintet, and SYMBIOSISDUO. Her duo’s debut album, “SYMBIOSIDUO,” was selected as finalist for the 2010 Roger Bobo Award for Recording Excellence in Chamber Music by the International Tuba/Euphonium Association (ITEA). The duo's second album, "Playground," will be released in January, 2015.
Dr. Stacy Baker and Dr. Gail Robertson of SymbiosisDuo served as Co-Instrumental Advisors and Co-Curriculum Designers for the Pro-Series Elite Practice Systems for Tuba and Euphonium published and released in October 2013 by the American Product Group, LLC. Drs. Baker and Robertson provided all exercises and quartet arrangements and performed as on-screen talent for this revolutionary pedagogical series of 10 DVDs for tuba and 10 DVDs for euphonium which will be reviewed in the Fall 2014 issue of the I.T.E.A. Journal.
Dr. Baker also has performed as principal tubist with the Warren Symphony and the Allen Park Symphony, and as substitute tubist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony, the Champaign/Urbana Symphony, the Danville Symphony, and the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Baker served as co-editor of the International Women’s Brass Conference Newsletter and has served on the IWBC Board of Directors.
This is the second time Eklund has won MSU’s Distinguished Creative Productions Award. He also received the honor in 2007.
Eklund has taught at MSU since 1989. He has been awarded the Al Smith Fellowship in Poetry by the Kentucky Arts Council.
He earned a B.A. degree in English education from the University of Dubuque (Iowa) and the M.F.A. degree in English from the University of Iowa.
He started his educational career in 1974 as a high school English teacher in Massapequa, N.Y., and has made stops in New York City, Dubuque, Iowa, and Iowa City at the University of Iowa from 1987-89.
His recent works include: The Island Blade, a collection of poems published by ABZ Press in 2010; Each Breath I Cannot Hold, a poetry collection published by Wind Publications in 2010; and Wanting To Be an Element, a chapbook published by Finishing Line Press in 2011. He also has been publishing translations of poems by Mexican poet Mario Bojorquez.
Eklund is president-elect of the Kentucky State Poetry Society and has been an advisor for Inscape, Morehead State University’s literary and visual arts publication, along with the Fine Arts Network and Non-Traditional Eagle Society.
Moore is a native of Franklin. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in human resources management and Masters of Arts in Education in student affairs in higher education from Western Kentucky University.
He began working at MSU in 2011. Moore began working with the DREAMS Mentoring and Leadership Program, which is a campus wide mentoring initiative for first-year students.
Outside of DREAMS, he has been very instrumental in the implementation of an African American male initiative, Men’s Empowerment Network (MEN), with hopes of increasing the retention and graduation rates of the university’s African American male student population. MEN will have its inaugural class of 20 males beginning this semester. He also provides support to the Office of First Year Programs by assisting with the planning of the Summer Success Academy, New Student Days and SOAR. Moore also serves as the campus advisor to the Multicultural Leadership Council and the Delta Rho chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity.
Outside of MSU, he is involved in various professional and social organizations including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated; Alpha Kappa Psi, Professional Business Fraternity; American College Personnel Association (ACPA); and the Kentucky Association of Blacks in Higher Education just to name a few. Moore attends the First Baptist Church in Winchester, where he serves as the campus liaison to ensure MSU have a place to worship.
Collinsworth received her Juris Doctor degree from The Ohio State University in 1997. Prior to coming to MSU to teach in the Legal Studies program, she worked for 11 years as a staff attorney for Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, a non-profit civil legal services provider, representing clients in this region with legal needs related to housing, consumer, elder, public benefits, and family law.
After arriving at MSU, Collinsworth continued her commitment to public service in the region and has worked to instill a service ethic in her students. She incorporates numerous service learning and engagement opportunities in her classes. Most significantly has been her students’ involvement with Legal Aid of the Bluegrass’ Pro Se Divorce clinic, which allows area couples to file and obtain a free divorce, when they would otherwise not have the resources to hire an attorney. Through the clinic, Legal Studies’ students, under Collinsworth’s supervision, assist clients in filling out the necessary paperwork to obtain a divorce. After funding cuts in 2012 threatened to end the Pro Se Divorce clinic offered by Legal Aid of the Bluegrass,
Collinsworth volunteered to coordinate and oversee the clinic so the clinic could continue.
She is active in the service learning community on campus, having served as the Facilitator of the Service-Learning Learning Community, as a Center for Regional Engagement Faculty Engagement Fellow, and as a representative on the Carnegie Community Engagement Re-Classification Workgroup. Additionally, Collinsworth has served on numerous departmental and university committees and participated in and organized many campus events. She has also organized and chaperoned student trips to Paris, Washington D.C., and Italy, and served as a Dreams Mentor, a Leading Edge Leadership Program mentor, and an Eagle Ally. In addition, she is the faculty sponsor of the Alpha Lambda Pi: Legal Studies Club and a campus Quidditch Team club.
Outside of campus duties, she has served as attorney-coach for the Bath County Middle School Mock Trial Team and as an Operation Preparation Volunteer at Bath County High School, providing career and undergraduate advising. She also serves on the steering committee for the Bath County Gateway Wellness Coalition.
Morehead State University honored five individuals during the University’s Fall Convocation on Wednesday, Aug. 13.
The 2014 award recipients were: Dr. Timothy Hare, associate professor of anthropology in the Institute for Regional Analysis and Public Policy, Distinguished Researcher; Dr. Stacy Baker, professor of music, Distinguished Teacher; George Eklund, associate professor of English, Distinguished Creative Productions; Joshua Moore minority academic services coordinator, Distinguished Staff Service; and Kelly Collinsworth, associate professor of legal studies, Distinguished Faculty Service.
Dr. Hare earned a Master of Arts degree in economic anthropology at the University of Iowa and a Ph.D. degree in anthropology at the University at Albany in the Institute for Mesoamerican Studies. Today, he works as a regional analyst and divides his time between the spatial analysis of social, economic, and health factors across central Appalachia, and the study of regional socioeconomic transformations in ancient Mesoamerican societies.
He began investigating economic and social transformations in ancient societies while conducting field research in community organization at the ancient Aztec city of Otumba in the highlands of central Mexico. Since then, he has directed several archaeological projects aimed at reconstructing how political and economic transformed in the development of ancient Aztec and Maya societies.
Dr. Hare has co-directed archaeological investigations at the ancient city of Mayapán in Mexico since 2001. His anthropological work has appeared in Latin American Antiquity, Anthropos, and the Journal of Archaeological Science.
He also conducts regional analysis of development issues, especially health outcomes in the states comprising central Appalachia. His experience as an economic anthropologist and conducting regional analysis fits perfectly with studying the factors determining disparities in health outcomes across central Appalachia. He is currently working as part of the Appalachian Cancer Network exploring disparities in respiratory disease across central Appalachia. In 2013, he published an article comparing the geographical patterns of elevated lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease across central Appalachia that showed surprising differences between the two spatial distributions. An additional article in press describes the geographical variation in lung cancer mortality in eastern Kentucky and explores the factors influencing cancer distribution. He also recently presented his work on female/male differences in lung cancer rates in Appalachia at the meeting of the Appalachian Community Cancer Network.
Looking to the future, he is collaborating with Charles Mason, MSU professor of geoscience, in compiling preliminary data on the relationships between geological formations and cancer rates in east Kentucky. Preliminary analysis of the spatial association between Black Shale formations and cancer rates in Kentucky suggests that high levels of organic radioactive materials and heavy metals in the soil and groundwater might play a role in cancer disparities in the region. His goal in engaging in community research in Appalachia is to make it possible to better target specific factors contributing to elevated cancer rates in particular locations.
Dr. Baker received both her M.M. and B.M. degrees from the University of Michigan where she graduated summa cum laude as a James B. Angell Scholar. She holds a D.M.A. in Performance and Literature with highest honors from the University of Illinois.
She enjoys an active solo career appearing as a featured artist at numerous International and Regional Tuba/Euphonium Conferences (ITEC); International Women’s Brass Conferences (IWBC); U.S. Army Band “Pershing’s Own” Tuba/Euphonium Conferences, and the International Euphonium Tuba Festivals. She has toured and recorded throughout the United States and Europe as a founding member of the tuba/euphonium quartet JUNCTION, and with the Lexington Brass Band and Monarch Brass Ensemble.
She is a member of the Athena Brass Band, the Horizon Brass Quintet, and SYMBIOSISDUO. Her duo’s debut album, “SYMBIOSIDUO,” was selected as finalist for the 2010 Roger Bobo Award for Recording Excellence in Chamber Music by the International Tuba/Euphonium Association (ITEA). The duo's second album, "Playground," will be released in January, 2015.
Dr. Stacy Baker and Dr. Gail Robertson of SymbiosisDuo served as Co-Instrumental Advisors and Co-Curriculum Designers for the Pro-Series Elite Practice Systems for Tuba and Euphonium published and released in October 2013 by the American Product Group, LLC. Drs. Baker and Robertson provided all exercises and quartet arrangements and performed as on-screen talent for this revolutionary pedagogical series of 10 DVDs for tuba and 10 DVDs for euphonium which will be reviewed in the Fall 2014 issue of the I.T.E.A. Journal.
Dr. Baker also has performed as principal tubist with the Warren Symphony and the Allen Park Symphony, and as substitute tubist with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the Illinois Symphony, the Champaign/Urbana Symphony, the Danville Symphony, and the Owensboro Symphony Orchestra. Dr. Baker served as co-editor of the International Women’s Brass Conference Newsletter and has served on the IWBC Board of Directors.
This is the second time Eklund has won MSU’s Distinguished Creative Productions Award. He also received the honor in 2007.
Eklund has taught at MSU since 1989. He has been awarded the Al Smith Fellowship in Poetry by the Kentucky Arts Council.
He earned a B.A. degree in English education from the University of Dubuque (Iowa) and the M.F.A. degree in English from the University of Iowa.
He started his educational career in 1974 as a high school English teacher in Massapequa, N.Y., and has made stops in New York City, Dubuque, Iowa, and Iowa City at the University of Iowa from 1987-89.
His recent works include: The Island Blade, a collection of poems published by ABZ Press in 2010; Each Breath I Cannot Hold, a poetry collection published by Wind Publications in 2010; and Wanting To Be an Element, a chapbook published by Finishing Line Press in 2011. He also has been publishing translations of poems by Mexican poet Mario Bojorquez.
Eklund is president-elect of the Kentucky State Poetry Society and has been an advisor for Inscape, Morehead State University’s literary and visual arts publication, along with the Fine Arts Network and Non-Traditional Eagle Society.
Moore is a native of Franklin. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in human resources management and Masters of Arts in Education in student affairs in higher education from Western Kentucky University.
He began working at MSU in 2011. Moore began working with the DREAMS Mentoring and Leadership Program, which is a campus wide mentoring initiative for first-year students.
Outside of DREAMS, he has been very instrumental in the implementation of an African American male initiative, Men’s Empowerment Network (MEN), with hopes of increasing the retention and graduation rates of the university’s African American male student population. MEN will have its inaugural class of 20 males beginning this semester. He also provides support to the Office of First Year Programs by assisting with the planning of the Summer Success Academy, New Student Days and SOAR. Moore also serves as the campus advisor to the Multicultural Leadership Council and the Delta Rho chapter of Sigma Pi Fraternity.
Outside of MSU, he is involved in various professional and social organizations including Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated; Alpha Kappa Psi, Professional Business Fraternity; American College Personnel Association (ACPA); and the Kentucky Association of Blacks in Higher Education just to name a few. Moore attends the First Baptist Church in Winchester, where he serves as the campus liaison to ensure MSU have a place to worship.
Collinsworth received her Juris Doctor degree from The Ohio State University in 1997. Prior to coming to MSU to teach in the Legal Studies program, she worked for 11 years as a staff attorney for Legal Aid of the Bluegrass, a non-profit civil legal services provider, representing clients in this region with legal needs related to housing, consumer, elder, public benefits, and family law.
After arriving at MSU, Collinsworth continued her commitment to public service in the region and has worked to instill a service ethic in her students. She incorporates numerous service learning and engagement opportunities in her classes. Most significantly has been her students’ involvement with Legal Aid of the Bluegrass’ Pro Se Divorce clinic, which allows area couples to file and obtain a free divorce, when they would otherwise not have the resources to hire an attorney. Through the clinic, Legal Studies’ students, under Collinsworth’s supervision, assist clients in filling out the necessary paperwork to obtain a divorce. After funding cuts in 2012 threatened to end the Pro Se Divorce clinic offered by Legal Aid of the Bluegrass,
Collinsworth volunteered to coordinate and oversee the clinic so the clinic could continue.
She is active in the service learning community on campus, having served as the Facilitator of the Service-Learning Learning Community, as a Center for Regional Engagement Faculty Engagement Fellow, and as a representative on the Carnegie Community Engagement Re-Classification Workgroup. Additionally, Collinsworth has served on numerous departmental and university committees and participated in and organized many campus events. She has also organized and chaperoned student trips to Paris, Washington D.C., and Italy, and served as a Dreams Mentor, a Leading Edge Leadership Program mentor, and an Eagle Ally. In addition, she is the faculty sponsor of the Alpha Lambda Pi: Legal Studies Club and a campus Quidditch Team club.
Outside of campus duties, she has served as attorney-coach for the Bath County Middle School Mock Trial Team and as an Operation Preparation Volunteer at Bath County High School, providing career and undergraduate advising. She also serves on the steering committee for the Bath County Gateway Wellness Coalition.