EKU’s aviation program has received the 2009 Aviation Achievement Award, presented by the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame.

Joanne Glasser, who served as EKU’s 10th President from 2001 to 2007, will return to campus on Wednesday, Nov. 18, for an unveiling of her formal presidential portrait and a reception.

Felicia Szorad, an associate professor in the Department of Art and Design and Metals Program chair, has received the Ruth and Harold Chenven Foundation Award in recognition of her work in jewelry and metalsmithing.

Eastern’s Department of History is one of only eight departments across North America selected to be featured at the 2010 meeting of the American Historical Association as an exemplar of “best practices” in teaching and learning.

When driving north on US 421 from Big Hill, President Whitlock has often pondered what Daniel Boone and his fellow pioneers must have thought when, traversing much the same path, they gazed upon the gently rolling landscape of what is now Madison County.

For three decades, it has in many ways served as the public face of Eastern, hosting banquets, community education classes, conferences and workforce training sessions, as well as countless schoolchildren and others at Hummel Planetarium.

Dr. Allen D. Engle Sr., professor of management, is one of two educators appointed as scientific advisers to an ongoing research project in Central and Eastern Europe.

Gurney Norman, 2009-10 Kentucky Poet Laureate, will speak on campus Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 3:30 p.m. in Library 108. As Poet Laureate, Norman promotes the arts and leads the state in literary endeavors, including Kentucky Writers’ Day, which is celebrated on April 24 each year to honor the birth date of Kentucky author and poet Robert Penn Warren, the nation’s first Poet Laureate.

Sixty-four students in EKU’s nationally recognized Honors Program meet on the U.S. Capitol steps with Sixth District Congressman Ben Chandler. The students were in Washington, D.C. to present their academic and creative work at the recent National Collegiate Honors Council conference. The EKU contingent of presenters was the largest of any at the conference, and was the largest ever at the annual event. Eastern students participated in poster sessions, roundtable discussions, panel presentations, an Idea Exchange table presentation, and even a dance performance. Nineteen faculty mentors also attended the conference. In addition to a tour of the Capitol Building, the EKU group also enjoyed other sights of D.C., including a tour of the National Gallery of Art.

The EKU Theatre production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Candida” will be presented at 8 p.m. nightly Wednesday, Nov. 18, through Saturday, Nov. 21, and Sunday, Nov. 22, at 2 p.m. in the Gifford Theatre of the Campbell Building.

Dr. Stephen Black, associate professor of horticulture, has been honored for his outstanding contributions in the area of agricultural communications and education.

Calvin Beckford and Peter Kane from the London, England, Metropolitan Police Department will speak on campus about reducing crime through design as part of the Justice and Safety Speaker Series.

Eastern will present its 35th annual Madrigal Feastes on Friday, Dec. 11, and Saturday, Dec. 12.

Brightly colored beads slide across dowels as the students add and subtract to calculate a solution to the math problem.

Just a typical elementary school classroom – except that it’s an EKU classroom at and the students are education majors working on strategies to use with students who struggle in mathematics.

Eastern’s SERV Corps Program topped all AmeriCorps programs in the Commonwealth in this year’s Make A Difference Day Food Drive competition.

State Rep. Susan Westrom, center, was one of the presenters at the Kentucky Association of Social Work Educators’ Fall 2009 meeting, hosted by EKU's Social Work Program. She is pictured with social work educators from across Kentucky at the meeting at Shaker Village at Pleasantville. KASWE officials lauded members of the EKU Planning Committee (Norma Threadgill-Goldson, Michele Gore, Anthony Goldson, Bob Karolich and Caroline Reid) for their efforts in what KASWE President Pam Black called "the most impressive meeting of social work educators in the state thus far." Additional presenters included Gov. Steve Beshear; Dr. Debra McPhee, dean of the School of Social Work at Barry University, Miami Shores, Fla.; and Hank Cecil, legislative chair of the Kentucky National Association of Social Workers. More than 40 social work educators attended the two-day meeting and received free continuing education credits. The Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work supported the event along with KASWE.

The EKU String Orchestra will present its Fall Concert on Monday, Nov. 16, at 8 p.m. in Brock Auditorium.

Derek Nikitas is a faculty member in the creative writing MFA program and author of two recent mystery novels: "The Long Division" (2009) and "Pyres" (2007). Nikitas' first novel was nominated for the prestigious Edgar Award and has been optioned for film adaptation by Vox3 Films. His second novel, "The Long Division," is receiving rave reviews. Hear what Nikitas has to say about his scholarship in his first interview for the Focus on Scholarship webcast series here.

QEP Stars, a regular feature in EKUpdate, will take a look at those faculty members who are incorporating critical/creative thinking and communication strategies with their students. The feature hopes to show how those strategies have impacted the classroom experience, both from a learning and teaching standpoint. This issue's "QEP Star" is Debbie Haydon, associate professor in the Department of Special Education.

Reggie Beehner, Eastern Progress adviser and lecturer in Communications, is featured in this ongoing series designed to allow EKU leaders and others in prominent positions to discuss their roles as well as campus issues. Beehner, who holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Villanova University and a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University, originally arrived at EKU as an adjunct professor, teaching one journalism class in the spring of 2005. He was hired as a visiting instructor that fall and is now a lecturer. He has worked at more than a dozen newspapers, including the Lexington Herald Leader, the Biloxi Sun-Herald and the Post-Star (Glens Falls, N.Y.). He teaches design for newspapers and magazines, photojournalism, and Web design and multimedia.

Sally Martin, English and Theatre, was awarded $55,126 from the Kentucky Department of Education in support for the EKU Writing Project, a professional development program to help teachers improve as writers and teachers of writing.

Shirley Rivard, Deaf and Hard of Hearing Student Services, was awarded $197,559 from the Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation to provide services to deaf and hard of hearing students at EKU.

Michael Rodriguez, Center for Economic Development, Entrepreneurship and Technology, was awarded $86,000 from the University of Kentucky in support for the Small Business Development Center, providing business counseling, training, and information to existing and prospective business owners in a 15-county service area in central and eastern Kentucky.