Dear Bellarmine Students, Faculty and Staff,

I am delighted to welcome you all back to campus and to extend a warm welcome to all of our freshmen. The freshman class is a record-breaker in a number of categories, including a whopping 42% percent from out of state. The Class of 2012 represents an increase in diversity (14% minority students compared to 7.3 % last year); grade point average of 3.46; average ACT score of 24.1 and students from 14 foreign countries. In addition, more than 850 students are living on campus this fall. Welcome to you all.

Bellarmine Continues Top Rankings

Bellarmine has once again been included as one of the nation’s best institutions by several publications. The Princeton Review features the college in the 2009 edition of its annual book, "The Best 368 Colleges." Only about 15 percent of America’s 2,500 four-year colleges and two Canadian colleges are in the book.

Accolades were given for the first time by Forbes magazine, which named Bellarmine No. 83 in the best colleges and universities in the nation. The number 83 ranking places Bellarmine as just one of two Kentucky institutions to make the top 100, and ranked Bellarmine among some prestigious company: Georgetown University ranked 76th, Notre Dame 77th, Duke 80th, Johns Hopkins 81st and Emory 82nd.

Bellarmine’s graduate schools were also ranked as the top Kentucky “master’s university” according to the U.S. News and World Report. U.S.News and World Report’s 2009 college rankings place Bellarmine 16th in the South region of the “Best Universities-Master’s” category. Bellarmine also appears in the publication's listing titled "Great Schools, Great Prices." For more information on these accolades, visit Bellarmine’s news site.

John Escosa honored for CPA exam score

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has announced the winners of the 2007 Elijah Watt Sells Awards. The awards are presented annually to the 10 candidates earning the highest cumulative scores on the four sections of the Uniform CPA Examination. These candidates must have completed testing during the previous calendar year and passed each exam section on their first attempt. In 2007, there were over seventy-six thousand examinees. Among those awarded was Bellarmine’s own John Briscoe Escosa III. Mr. Escosa graduated with a BA and an MBA is currently working for Deloitte & Touche, LLP in Indianapolis. To read more about this fantastic achievement, click here.

Women's Council Designers' Show House

This year the Bellarmine University Women’s Council celebrates its 45th anniversary and 35th Annual Designers’ Show House, The Manor House at Glenview Springs. This year’s show house is located at 6005 Springhouse Farm Lane (off Lime Kiln Lane) and the dates for this event will be Sept. 6 – 21. Parking will be available on site. Click here for the lowdown.

Assistant Dean Todd Reale

Bellarmine welcomes Todd Reale to the newly created position of assistant dean for career services and experiential learning. The announcement also signifies the unification of Bellarmine’s Career Center and the Office of Internships and Experiential Learning. This organizational change aligns with Bellarmine’s mission to develop within each student the intellectual, moral, ethical and professional competencies for successful living, work, leadership and service to others. See this news item to read more about Reale’s appointment.

First Generation Students

Bellarmine University has been selected by the Council of Independent Colleges (CIC) to receive the Wal-Mart College Success Award—a $100,000 grant to help build on Bellarmine’s demonstrated successes in enrolling, retaining, and graduating first-generation college students. Bellarmine was one of only 20 colleges selected through a highly competitive application process to receive the award, which is intended to help institutions that are already deeply committed to the education of first-generation students. More information is available here.

Paul Pearson book

Congratulations to Dr. Paul Pearson upon the publication of Seeds of Hope : Thomas Merton's Contemplative Message (Semillas de Esperanza: El Mensaje Contemplativo de Thomas Merton) edited by Fernando Beltrán Llavador and Paul M. Pearson. (Cóbreces : Cistercium-Ciem, 2008). This book, published bilingually in English and Spanish, contains the proceedings from the 2006 Merton conference in Avila, Spain that was sponsored jointly by the Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University and the Center for Mystical Studies in Avila. It also includes the essay “Emblems for a Season of Fury: The Art of Thomas Merton” by Paul Pearson.

John Stemmer Book

Please join me in congratulating Dr. John Stemmer, Director of Library Services, on the publication of his book, Merged Information Services Organizations at Liberal Arts Colleges, (VDM, Verlag, 2008). The book examines the effectiveness of merged library and IT units in a college environment. Congratulations, John!

Robert Korn Articles

Dr. Robert W. Korn, Emeritus Professor of Biology, has published two articles, one an invited review for the International Journal of Plant Development Biology 2: 1-12 titled Phyllotaxis and the other Clonal aspects of plant cell proliferation and their applications to animal cell and bacteria in Cell Proliferation 41: 691-708.

CPA Society Awards Scholarships

The Educational Foundation of the Kentucky Society of Certified Public Accountants (KyCPA) has awarded scholarships to these Bellarmine students:
Heather Nichols
Sara Renyer
Almedina Smajlovic
Joseph Guelda
Shane Mains
Joseph Harris
Kimberly Kaufield
Tara Maeda
Heather Struble
Megan McGraw
Gina M. Solomos
Kayla Bonsutto
Matthew Brumleve

Congratulations to all.

Gail Henson book

Congratulations to Dr. Gail Henson upon the publication of The Gentle Agitator - Lessons from the Life of Dr. Samuel Robinson. The book tells the story of the formative years of Dr. Samuel Robinson, beginning in 1935 in Memphis, Tennessee, and continuing to present-day Louisville. The oral biography acknowledges Dr. Robinson’s legacy as a gentle, but powerful figure in the history of civil rights in Kentucky.

Sherill Cronin Paper

Congratulations to Dr. Sherill Cronin and her co-author Dr. Ruth Carrico on their paper "Infection Prevention and Control Competencies for Hospital-Based Healthcare Personnel" which has been accepted for publication in the American Journal of Infection Control

Caren Cunningham Art In Germany

Professor Caren Cunningham was one of fifteen artists from around the globe invited by Mainz, Germany, to participate in the "Mainz-Kunst in der Stadt" (Art in the city) project. Caren chose to interpret this year's Kunst in der Stadt theme of "bridges" both literally and physically into her sculpture entitled, The Folly. With the assistance of a hard working group of Louisvillians and Mainzers, she was able to complete the construction within the 20 hour art festival deadline. The end result was a 9' x 7.5' x 6' free standing sculpture which incorporated the parts of four bridges from Louisville and Mainz. Over 2,100 colored plastic caps were attached to the piece. The caps were collected by both Germans and Americans and care was given to mix the different caps throughout. The city of Mainz purchased The Folly and will publicly display it in its city hall.

Richard Burchard's Music Part of Courier-Journal Feature

Hidden in the Ground: Clearing the Minefields of Cambodia is a feature that brings awareness to the daily devastation that land mines pose to the people of Cambodia. Music for the video was composed by Bellarmine music professor Richard Burchard. Read the article and watch the video here.

Dr. Kerri Horine

Congratulations to Kerri Horine who has received her Ph.D. in Humanities from the University of Louisville. Dr. Horine is an adjunct faculty member in our Humanities Departments and is currently teaching English. She is also one of our Bellarmine alumna from the English department.

"Balanced Way" meals at Bellarmine

This year, Bellarmine's dining services are offering a new way of eating: "The Balanced Way." The new program, which begins September 19, offers nutritious, satisfying meals and snacks that boost metabolism and promote peak performance. For more information, please visit thebalancedway.com