Baylor Connections

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.

Larry Lyon

Baylor’s attainment of R1 research recognition represents a team effort that played out over a two-decade span. In this Baylor Connections, Larry Lyon takes listeners inside that journey. Dr. Lyon, Vice Provost and Dean of Baylor’s Graduate School, shares how initiatives like Baylor 2012, Pro Futuris and Illuminate helped Baylor advance on a path to research preeminence while remaining committed to its Christian mission.

Gary Mortenson

The Baylor University School of Music is celebrating its centennial this year—100 years of making music with spirit and excellence. In this Baylor Connections, Dr. Gary Mortenson, Dean of the School of Music, takes listeners inside the celebration and highlights a meaningful transition within Baylor orchestral studies.

Khristian Howard

Texas’ Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits families both nutritionally and financially. Many who are eligible, however, do not access available benefits. The Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty (BCHP) is working to bridge that gap to address food insecurity. In this Baylor Connections, Khristian Howard, Waco Manager for SNAP Strategy, shares how BCHP works to encourage participation in the program through a collaborative, comprehensive approach.