Baylor Connections

Todd Still

How does the Church celebrate Easter amidst a worldwide pandemic? In this Good Friday edition of Baylor Connections, Dr. Todd Still, The Charles J. and Eleanor McLerran DeLancey Dean and The William M. Hinson Professor of Christian Scriptures in Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary, examines what it means to be the Church when we’re physically separated, recounts how the Church has grown during past times of plague and crisis and shares how the current moment compels us to find hope more deeply in Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection.

Cheryl Gochis

For each of the last nine years, Baylor has been recognized as a “Great College to Work For” by the Chronicle of Higher Education. In this Baylor Connections, Cheryl Gochis, vice president of human resources and chief human resources officer at Baylor, shares reasons why. From the university culture to benefits and more, Gochis examines ways that Baylor supports faculty and staff year-round, and specifically talks about the University’s response to help employees transition to remote work during the COVID-19 public health crisis.

Jeremy Everett

The Baylor University Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty recently announced a partnership to provide nearly one million nutritious meals weekly across the U.S. through a private/public partnership to ensure more children are fed when school is not in session. The COVID-19 public health crisis has forced the closure of schools across the country, and the United States Department of Agriculture has called on Baylor to help meet the escalating need. In this Baylor Connections, Jeremy Everett, founder and executive director of the Collaborative, shares how they have responded to COVID-19, ramping up long-standing efforts to end hunger across the state of Texas and around the nation.

Sara Perry

The response to the COVID-19 public health emergency means that many across the U.S. will be working from home in the weeks ahead to promote social distancing and slow the spread of the virus. Dr. Sara Perry, associate professor of management in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, is a leading expert and researcher on remote work. In this Baylor Connections, she shares how individuals and families can approach working from home from a variety of angles—a work-from-home checklist, parenting considerations for children home from school, physical workspace, routines, connectedness with coworkers and more.

Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa

Dr. Juan Carlos Esparza Ochoa is a leading expert on religion across Latin America and the Global South. He joined the Baylor faculty at the start of the 2019-20 season after managing the Pew Research Center’s religious demography projects. In this Baylor Connections, he paints a picture of the impact of religion on Latin American life and culture and shares his Baylor journey.

Amanda Hering

Dr. Amanda Hering applies her statistical expertise to a "once in a generation effort" to improve water treatment in the U.S. Hering, associate professor of statistical science, is an internationally-recognized leader in data sciences and their intersection with the environment. In this Baylor Connections, she shares about how data can help us utilize new paradigms of water treatment and delivery and examines the need for students trained in the data sciences in the years ahead.

Linda Olafsen

Dr. Linda Olafsen, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, researches semiconductors for a variety of applications from her lab in the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative. In this Baylor Connections, she shares how her research advances the search for lasers and other products that are more safe, useful and efficient, and talks about the impact of Baylor’s Tier 1 research vision in the School of Engineering and Computer Science.

Alan Schultz

Alan Schultz’s research takes him deep into the Amazon rainforests of Bolivia, where he studies the Tsimane’, an indigenous people group who have lived a pre-industrial forager-farmer lifestyle for generations. In this Baylor Connections, Schultz, an assistant professor of anthropology, examines the forces of change on the Tsimane’. As the outside world encroaches on their traditional lifestyle, he shares the impact on community, health, families and more.