Baylor Connections

Wiff Rudd

Master Teacher is the highest designation awarded to Baylor faculty for sustained excellence in teaching. Wiff Rudd, Professor of Trumpet in the Baylor School of Music, was recently named Master Teacher along with three other colleagues across campus. A longtime educator and performer, Rudd shares how the two threads of his career intertwine and why the role of teacher has represented a high calling in his life.

Billington Peer Leader Program

Preparing students for leadership is a key part of the Baylor mission, and programs across campus embody that calling. One is the Billington Peer Leader program in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business, a student-led and student-focused initiative to support Pre-Business students as they navigate the transition to college. Laura Lalani, Associate Director for Student Success Initiatives, and Madeline Prescott, a student leader within the Billington program, share how the program develops leaders and sets students up for a successful college experience.

Pablo Rivas

Expansive leaps in technologies like AI prompt important questions about their impact on people. Pablo Rivas, assistant professor of computer science, is a leader at the intersection of technology and ethics. Rivas, Baylor’s site-director for the Center on Responsible Artificial Intelligence and Governance, unpacks questions around responsible AI and examines the role Baylor can play as an ethical voice amidst this growth.

Elisabeth Kincaid

Baylor’s Institute for Faith and Learning (IFL) offers numerous resources to faculty, staff and students to assist in integrating academic excellence and Christian commitment. Elisabeth Kincaid, a theologian, lawyer and business ethics scholar, was named last Spring as the new IFL director. Here, she shares her path to Baylor and examines why IFL is such a meaningful piece of the University.

Chris Jaeger

All lawyers must understand elements of psychology to successfully navigate the human elements of the legal system. Few people are as qualified in this area as Chris Jaeger, associate professor of law at Baylor. With both a law degree and a Ph.D. in psychology, Jaeger combines both streams to better understand the ways individuals process significant concepts like reasonableness in his award-winning research.

President Livingstone

A new strategic plan, an addition to the University’s longstanding motto, and a second-half football surge: these are just a few of the highlights of an eventful 2024 that saw continued growth as a preeminent Christian research university. President Linda A. Livingstone, PhD., takes listeners inside some of the highlights, honors and opportunities that defined the past 12 months and set the stage for 2025.

Dennis Tucker

What does it mean to readers that the Psalms are a book of poetry? What can the topics embedded within the 150 chapters of the Psalms tell us about God’s relationship to man? Truett Seminary’s Dennis Tucker, PhD., is a researcher and expert on the Psalms. He shares how we can better consider the Psalms through approaches both practical and scholarly, and shares readings to consider for the New Year.

Kim Smith and Will Bergin

Students who participate in Study Abroad opportunities find that the experiences shape them long after the trip is through. In this Baylor Connections, a student and professor immerse listeners in their trip to Costa Rica. Kim Smith, clinical assistant professor in Health, Human Performance and Recreation, led the Health Sciences Abroad  trip; Will Bergin, a senior Health & Sciences Studies major, participated. They provide insights from a life-changing summer trip.