Faculty Excellence

This week in Highlanders in the News: Musician and “Jazz Inspired” radio host Judy Carmichael passes the mic to WVRU-FM General Manager Ashlee Claud for a show-anniversary interview; WDBJ7 drops in on the Esports Center in Cook Hall;  and Professor of Biology Karen Powers, Ph.D., heralds the return of the Allegheny woodrat. 

This week in Highlanders in the News: Friends, fans and former colleagues pay tribute to Radford University’s first athletic director and men’s basketball coach, Chuck Taylor; several overviews of the Sept. 30 inauguration of President Bret Danilowicz; and coach and pianist Erica Sipes unveils a grand performance.  

This week in Highlanders in the News: A new group of exhibits and events, on and around the RU campus, shines a rare light on art emerging from North India’s Mithila region; head baseball coach Alex Guerra ’11 and assistant basketball coach James Haring talk to the pods; and Radford’s Mayor David Horton ’90 prepares for his second term in office. 

Radford, Virginia, home of the Highlanders and Radford University, has been named by Realtor.com as one of America’s Most Affordable College Towns for Homebuyers in 2022. Radford ranked No. 8 on the list of places where, the website notes, “scholarly buyers can go to find a good deal on a home.”

Firm Night, a networking event that offers business students face-to-face meetings with potential employers, reached new highs this year. On Sept. 6, more than 80 Highlanders took part and were able to huddle with three dozen prestigious firms – a record level for the Davis College function.

This week in Highlanders in the News: Director of Appalachian Studies Theresa Burriss, Ph.D., memorializes regional scholar Helen Matthews Lewis; Radford theater vets Sarah Coleman ‘18 and Drew Callahan ’19 prepare to take the stage in a Roanoke production; and Falyn Taylor ’19 begins her first fleet tour with the United States Navy. 

This week in Highlanders in the News: The director of Radford University’s School of Social Work, Diane Hodge, Ph.D., LSCW, weighs in on socially assistive robots and their prospects in medicine; Deborah Icenhour B.S. ’73, M.S. ’74, takes charge of Virginia’s state fair association; and President Bret Danilowicz, Ph.D., makes the rounds both on Twitter and IRL. 

The start of freshman year is almost always daunting, so we decided to solicit advice from the professionals. We posed three questions – designed to benefit Radford University’s newly arrived Class of 2026 – to faculty and staff, professors and instructors, and deans and department heads and this is what they told us.