Baylor Connections

Sara Ray

Every college student faces questions about finances as they plan for the future while navigating the present. In this Baylor Connections, Sara Ray, program manager for Student Financial Literacy at Baylor, shares how her office provides resources to build financial literacy and equip them, through individual counseling and education programming, to prepare for success.

Tom Ward

Why does John Duns Scotus still resonate, more than 700 years after his death? Tom Ward, associate professor of philosophy at Baylor, was captivated by Duns Scotus as a student. Today, he translates his work through a prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities grant and is writing an introductory book on Duns Scotus more broadly. In this Baylor Connections, Ward explains how Duns Scotus’ work enables us to consider God, faith and the “first principle” still today.

Jim Marsh

Supporting mental health and wellness is a priority at Baylor, with numerous resources available for students. In this Baylor Connections, Dr. Jim Marsh, Dean of Student Health and Wellness, examines the challenges students face and shares the heart behind programs designed to meet their mental and physical health needs.

Erika Abel and Leigh Greathouse

Erika Abel and Leigh Greathouse are passionate about providing opportunities for undergraduate students to become involved in research, focusing in Greathouse’s lab on the relationship between the microbiome, health and disease. Abel is a clinical professor of biology in the Honors Program, while Greathouse serves as associate professor in nutrition science in Human Science and Design. In this Baylor Connections, they share how an investment from the Honors College is opening new pathways for students to engage in high-level cancer and diet research.

Holly Joyner

What does it mean to help students become globally minded? In this Baylor Connections, Holly Joyner unpacks how the Center for Global Engagement (CGE) brings the world to Baylor and sends Baylor into the world. Joyner, who serves as assistant director of marketing and communications at CGE, explains how the Center for Global Engagement offers programming and other resources to help students engage internationally.

Michael Thompson

Baylor’s Robert Foster Cherry Award for Great Teaching promotes the value of teaching and honors those who do it well. The $250,000 award is the single largest monetary award presented by a university to an individual for exceptional teaching. In this Baylor Connections, Michael Thompson, committee chair for the award and professor and associate dean in Baylor Engineering and Computer Science, discusses the Cherry Award and highlights the role of great teachers.

Mandy McMichael

The history of Baptist women in ministry has long gone untold, but Dr. Mandy McMichael, associate director and the J. David Slover Assistant Professor of Ministry Guidance in Baylor’s Department of Religion, is working to change that. In partnership with Baylor’s Institute for Oral History, she is curating an oral history on the struggles and joys of Baptist women leaders. She examines that topic, and her research on the cultural intersection of faith and beauty pageants, in this Baylor Connections.

Kendra Gagnon

Baylor’s Department of Physical Therapy blazed trails as the first doctoral program to blend a two-year degree program with hybrid delivery. Baylor DPT students and faculty reach across the country, learning virtually while regularly visiting Waco for intensive in-person immersion sessions on the Baylor campus. In this Baylor Connections, Kendra Gagnon, clinical professor and chair, takes listeners inside the fast-growing program and shares how it meets needs in communities across the nation.