WHAT DOES R2 MEAN FOR YOU?

B EARINGSNEW MASTEROF SCIENCE INPHARMACEUTICALSCIENCES DEGREEPROGRAM APPROVEDMercer’s Board of Trustees during its fallmeeting approved a Master of Science inPharmaceutical Sciences degree program.The new graduate program in the College ofPharmacy on the Atlanta campus is designedto equip students with the necessary skills toperform in academia, in the pharmaceuticalindustry or in government, and addressesa shortage of entry-level researchers inagencies such as the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention and the U.S. Foodand Drug Administration. Students mustcomplete degree requirements within threeyears of matriculation and complete twoyears in residence.STETSONHATCHER SCHOOLOF BUSINESSRECOGNIZED AMONGTHE PRINCETONREVIEW’S ‘BESTBUSINESS SCHOOLSFOR 2021’Stetson-Hatcher School of Businessis one of the nation’s most outstandingbusiness schools, according to The PrincetonReview. The education services company chosethe school for its list, “Best Business Schools for2021,” released Dec. 8.Mercer JoinsUniversities StudyingSlavery ConsortiumMercer joined Universities StudyingSlavery (USS), a consortium of more than 70institutions created and led by the Universityof Virginia to collaborate in sharing best practicesand guiding principles about truth-telling projectsaddressing human bondage and racism ininstitutional histories. All member schools commit toresearch, acknowledgment and atonement regardinginstitutional ties to the slave trade, to enslavementon campus or abroad, and to enduring racism inschool history and practice. USS hosts semi-annualmeetings to allow participating institutions to worktogether to address both historical and contemporaryissues dealing with race and inequality in highereducation and in university communities.6THE MERCERIAN SPRING 2021Mercer-LedTeam Wins 200,000Top Prizein ArtisanalMining GrandChallengeGlobalCompetitionAteam of researchersinvolved in theMercer On Missionprogram on Oct. 1received the GoldAward and top prizeof 200,000 in theArtisanal MiningGrand Challenge.The global competition, whichreceived applications from 42different countries, recognizesinnovative solutions for transformingartisanal and small-scale goldmining (ASGM) for water andbiodiversity conservation.The Gold Award-winningapplication, titled “Mercury CaptureSystems for ASGM Gold Shops,”details a system developed bythe Mercer-led team to removedangerous elemental mercury vaporemitted during the final stages ofgold extraction and at the initialstages of gold refinement.

Mercer MusicatAffiliatesCapricorn with theGRAMMY MuseumB EARIN GS MCHRISTOPHER IAN SMITH PHOTO; MOM PHOTO; COURTESY GWINNETT COUNTYercer Music at Capricorn is now an affiliate of the GRAMMY Museum.The affiliation allows Mercer and the Los Angeles-based GRAMMY Museum to collaborate on educational and professional developmentprograms, share museum curricula and resources, participate intraveling exhibits, and develop internships.STEM Education Innovation LabPartners with Gwinnett CountySchools to Offer InnovativeAgSTEM Learning ExperienceThrough an innovative AgSTEM research project utilizing aquaponicsand smart sensor technology, and with support from an interdisciplinaryteam of research faculty, educators in Gwinnett County’s Archer SchoolCluster are being equipped with the tools and resources to teachevery subject through the lens of urban agriculture and conservation.Mercer’s STEM Education Innovation Lab, in collaboration with Gwinnett’sSoil and Water Conservation District and the USDA Natural ResourcesConservation Service Lawrenceville District office, has engaged regionalpartners to implement agriculture-based science, technology, engineeringand math (AgSTEM) in the Archer Cluster. The District awarded Mercer 50,000 in funding to administer this initiative, led by Dr. Justin Ballengerand Dr. Elaine Thurmond, both faculty members in the University’s TiftCollege of Education.THE MERCERIAN SPRING 20217

B EARINGSSCHOLARSHIPS& FELLOWSHIPS21 GILMANSCHOLARSMercer had 21 studentsamong morethan 3,400recipientsacross theU.S. chosenduring thetwo mostrecent selectioncycles to receivethe prestigious BenjaminA. Gilman InternationalScholarship to study or intern abroad.Teni Aina, Joyell Bailey,Camryn Bierria, Hailey Christian,Lea Dulcio, Savannah Duringer,Hailey Ferrel, Brianna Gonsahn,Savannah Granito, Evelyn Johnson,Annie Lam, Stephany Leal,Walter Lopez-Chavez,Kallie McDaniel, Alexandra Norori,Ayomide Odeboh, Obehi Onabanjo,Omar Peralta Rios,Ja’Diyah Shamsiddin,Alexandria Swinson andTran Vo were selected during thespring 2020 and fall 2020 cycles.Given the disruption of the COVID-19pandemic, the Gilman Program willsupport students who are unableto start their programs abroadin their original destinationor in the original timeframeby helping to identifyalternative program options,by permitting students to deferto a program through theend of 2021, or by supportingparticipation in a virtualstudy abroad or internationalinternship program.PICKERINGFELLOWSHIPAlumna Ariel Danielsrecently received theprestigious Thomas R.Pickering Foreign AffairsFellowship to pursuea master’s degree ininternational relations beforebeginning work for the U.S.Foreign Service. Daniels,from Milledgeville, earnedher bachelor’s degree in May2020 with a double-majorin political science andinternational affairs and aminor in French.DanielsBIO INNOVATION SUMMITMercer students won two of five poster session awards presented at the GeorgiaBio Innovation Summit held virtually Nov. 4-6 to gather hundreds of professionalsfrom industry, academia and government to discuss major trends and issues inbioscience. College of Pharmacy student Mani Deepika Vakkalanka was oneof three winners ofthe Anthony ShukerScientific Poster SessionAward, and School ofEngineering studentSarah Spaldingreceived the DownSouth Grace andPoise Award.Vakkalanka8THE MERCERIAN SPRING 2021Spalding

B IPJunior Marissa Murriel receivedthe Gilman-McCain Scholarshipto participate in the Mercer OnMission program in Ecuador.Murriel, from Columbus, is aglobal development majorwith a minor in Spanish.Freshman Mahnoor Sultan was chosenas a recipient of the inaugural McDonald’s/APIA Scholarship to provide financial supportand opportunities to Asian and Pacific IslanderAmerican college students. Scholarshipstotaling a half-million dollars were awarded byMcDonald’s to 55 students across the country.Fifteen students, including Sultan, receivedfour-year scholarships, while the remainderreceived one-year awards.ARIN GSSultanPHILLIPS SCHOLARSHIPSenior Faith Alexis Parker received theProfessional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE)Betty J. Phillips Scholarship, awarded through thePAGE Foundation. Parker, who is pursuing her Bachelorof Music Education in the Townsend School of Music,has committed to teach in Georgia for three years inexchange for receiving the 1,000 scholarship.MurrielAndersonHARRISDAVISAWARDCollege of ProfessionalAdvancement seniorRicks Anderson II recentlyreceived the inaugural HarrisDavis Transformational Powerof Education Award. Theaward, presented annuallyto an undergraduate studentwho has experienced thetransformational power ofeducation, is named foremeriti faculty membersDr. Colin Harris andDr. Duane Davis. Ananonymous College ofProfessional Advancementfaculty member providedthe initial gift ofapproximately 25,000 toendow the award.MARSHALLSCHOLARSHIP FINALISTParkerSenior McPherson Newell was selected as a finalist for theMarshall Scholarship, which finances young Americans of highability to study for a degree in the United Kingdom. Only asmany as 50 Marshall Scholars are selected each year to studyat the graduate level at a U.K. institution in any field of study.Newell, a biomedical engineering major from Augusta, hasalso been named a Goldwater Scholar, Newman Civic Fellow,Stamps Scholar and a finalist for the Truman Scholarship.NewellWOODROW WILSON FELLOWAlumnus Ryan McGuire was named to the second class of WoodrowWilson Pennsylvania Teaching Fellows, a highly competitive programthat recruits recent graduates and career changers withstrong backgrounds in the STEM fields andprepares them to teach in high-needsecondary schools. McGuire, fromKennesaw, began a master’s degreeprogram in education at theUniversity of West Chester lastfall. He earned his bachelor’sdegree, with a major inchemistry and minors inbiology and economics,from Mercer in May 2020.THE MERCERIAN SPRING 20219

B EARINGSFACULTY&STAFFHONORS&RECOGNITIONBROWNBACKAND THITSANAMEDALL-SOCONMercer wasrepresented byMatt Brownback,assistant athleticdirector for studentathlete supportservices, andDr. Makhin Thitsa,associate professorof electricaland computerengineering, onthe All-SouthernConference Facultyand Staff Team,announced Dec.17. Begun in 2016,the All-SoConFaculty and StaffTeam consists oftwo individualsfrom each ofthe 10 memberinstitutions whoshare the commoncharacteristics ofdemonstrated serviceto the institutionand contributions tocampus life and thelocal community.10BrownbackGRANT RECEIVESFULBRIGHT AWARDTO UKRAINEDr. GrantDr. Chris Grant, professor and chair of political sciencein the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, received aFulbright U.S. Scholar Program award to Ukraine fromthe U.S. Department of State and the J. William FulbrightForeign Scholarship Board. He will use the award to conductresearch and lecture at Kyiv Mohela Academy on theemergence of civil society in the former Soviet territory.THOMAS NAMEDEXECUTIVE DIRECTOROF ACTCProfessor of Philosophy Dr. Charlotte Thomaswas recently named executive director of theAssociation for Core Texts and Courses (ACTC),an international membership-driven professionalorganization dedicated to the improvement of liberaleducation through the use of core texts in commonlytaken undergraduate liberal arts courses. ACTC isone of a small handful of academic associations inthe world working to temper the ever-increasingspecialization of colleges and universities.Dr. ThomasCANNON SELECTEDFOR AMTE STaRPROGRAMDr. ThitsaTHE MERCERIAN SPRING 2021Dr. CannonTift College of Education faculty memberDr. Susan Cannon was recently selected to theAssociation of Mathematical Teacher Educators (AMTE)Service, Teaching and Research (STaR) Program. TheSTaR Program is an early career induction program forfaculty in mathematics education with tenure trackappointments at higher education institutions.

B EDR. GORDON JOHNSTON, professorof English in the College of LiberalArts and Sciences, authored Scaringthe Bears (Mercer University Press).Wryly funny and earthy, these poemsrefuse to waste their troubles. They talkback to the dangers along the trail.MERCERFACULTYAUTHORNEWBOOKSDR. RAMNEET KAUR, adjunctprofessor in the College ofProfessional Advancement, coauthored Psychological SkillsTraining for Human Wellness (SAGEPublications). The book provides acomprehensive reference to all aspects ofPST and presents a holistic view of thesubject area.DR. EDWARD C. KLATT, professorof pathology in the School ofMedicine, authored The Robbinsand Cotran Atlas of Pathology,4th Ed. (Elsevier Health Sciences).Designed to complement Robbinsand Cotran Pathologic Basis ofDisease, 10th Ed., and Robbins BasicPathology, 10th Ed.DR. MATT MARONE, associateprofessor of physics in the Collegeof Liberal Arts and Sciences,authored The Art of Teaching Physicswith Ancient Chinese Science andTechnology (Morgan and Claypool).Blending physics with the study ofancient Chinese science, technology, andculture is a unique and highly effectiveway to present the fundamentals ofphysics to non-science majors.DR. LYDIA MASANET, professor ofSpanish in the College of Liberal Artsand Sciences, authored Enhebradas(Editorial Adarve). Enhebradas is apolyphonic of sixteen female voices atdefining moments in their lives. Slivers ofrevelation explore a vast range of issues.ARIN GSDR. MICHAEL L. RUFFIN, adjunctprofessor of religion in the Collegeof Liberal Arts and Sciences,authored Praying with Matthew(Smyth and Helwys Publishing).The Gospels bear witness to Jesus’searliest followers’ remembrances of andthe early Christians’ understanding of hislife and teachings.DR. BRYANT SMALLEY, associatedean for research in the School ofMedicine, and DR. JACOB WARREN,associate dean for diversity, equityand inclusion in the School ofMedicine, co-authored Health Equity:A Solutions-Focused Approach(Springer Publishing). Health Equity isa comprehensive textbook that illustratesexisting conditions of health disparitiesacross a range of populations.DR. ROBERT N. NASH JR., associatedean and professor of mission andcomparative religion in the Schoolof Theology, authored Moving theEquator: The Families of the Earthand the Mission of the Church(Smyth and Helwys Publishing).We inhabit a diverse world, but the fullbenefit of such a world is possible only ifwe overcome our fears of other cultures,religions and worldviews.THE MERCERIAN SPRING 202111

What doesR2mean foryou?IMERCER’SHIGH RESEARCHACTIVITY RESULTSIN NATIONALRECLASSIFICATIONBy Kyle Searsn December 2018, Mercer announced the University’s most recentrise within the Carnegie Classification , the leading system of recognizing anddescribing academic diversity within U.S. higher education institutions since 1973.12THE MERCERIAN SPRING 2021

Among 30 categories,Mercer was elevated to thesecond-highest level — DoctoralUniversity with High ResearchActivity (R2) — representing theUniversity’s second promotionwithin the classificationssince 2014.What ProvostDr. D. Scott Davis called a“quantum leap” within theCarnegie Classification and thelandscape of American highereducation was the result ofmore than a decade of strategicplanning to enhance the researchprofile of the University whilemaintaining the distinctivecharacteristics that have definedthe Mercer experience forgenerations of alumni.What is the CarnegieClassification?Tionna Burner,senior, biochemistry andmolecular biology majorThe Carnegie Classification“is intended to be adescriptive taxonomy,” saidDr. Victor Borden, professor ofhigher education and studentaffairs at the University ofIndiana and project director forthe Carnegie Classification ofInstitutions of Higher Education.In the mid-2010s, theclassifications were restructuredto separate doctoral researchuniversities from doctoralprofessional universities, whichhelped pave the way for Mercer’sacceleration through threecategories in a span of four years.When the classifications wereupdated in 2015, Mercer waswell above the thresholds forresearch Ph.D.s and expendituresto be considered a doctoralresearch university. By the nextupdate in 2018, restructuring ledto the University’s elevation fromthe discontinued R3 (DoctoralUniversity with ModerateResearch Activity) categoryto R2.By the numbers, Mercer’s12 research Ph.D.s awarded in2008-09 had risen to 59 by 201617, which was the target yearused for the 2018 update. TheUniversity had 21.9 million inresearch expenditures in 200809 compared to 34.2 million in2016-17. This figure is projectedTHE MERCERIAN SPRING 202113

*Projected14THE MERCERIAN SPRING 2021Dr. Wayne Glasgow Senior Vice Provost for Researchstudents applying to master’s and doctoral programs.“Mercer has always had a good reputation for our undergraduatestudents matriculating to graduate schools across the nation,” saidDr. Davis. “Being at the R2 level allows even easier access for thosestudents in that they’ve received that personalized undergraduateexperience that they can’t get at other schools and it’s happening at anational research university.”R2 status also serves as a recruiting tool for professors, sendinga message to prospective faculty members that “You’ll be able toaccomplish all you want to accomplish, and you’ll be competitive forhigh-level grants,” said Dr. Glasgow.‘We’re really fulfillingour mission’High research activity “cuts across” all seven tenants of Mercer’smission to teach, to learn, to create, to discover, to inspire, to empowerand to serve, said Dr. Glasgow. “It gives us an opportunity to createoriginal ideas and be involved in discovery, not just learning aboutwhat other people have done.”Mercer’s rise in the Carnegie Classification is a result of a strategic,intentional process that has seen the University’s research expendituresincrementally rise from 18 million to almost 50 million over the lastdozen years.LEAH YETTER PHOTOS; BEKAH HOWARD PHOTO; PREVIOUS PAGE: CHRISTOPHER IAN SMITH PHOTOto reach nearly 50 million when the 2020numbers are finalized.The R1 (Doctoral University with VeryHigh Research Activity) and R2 levelsrepresent what the Carnegie Classificationviews as the country’s 262 researchinstitutions as of the most recent update.“These are universities that have astrong focus on research that has nationaland international impact. They havethe appropriate resources to provideopportunities to do a certain level ofresearch in a variety of areas,” saidDr. Wayne Glasgow, Mercer’s senior viceprovost for research.“These institutions are also significantplayers in terms of how many Ph.D.s they areproducing. They are producing people who arewell-equipped to be leaders in their fields, andthey also have the appropriate faculty to serve asmentors to these doctoral- level students.”Dr. Borden emphasizes that the CarnegieClassification is not intended to indicate anymeasure of “quality, impact or other outcome.”While terms like ‘rise’ are used to describemovement through the classifications, they are notdesigned to be a ranking of one institution overanother. The classifications exist for “researchand policy setting purposes,” he said, though theyhave been “appropriated for other uses.”Such uses include annual rankings publishedby U.S. News & World Report and others,eligibility for particular types of state and federalfunding and admission to certain researchconsortiums and organizations.In many ways, the Carnegie Classificationserves as a stamp of approval not just for theaforementioned opportunities but for Mercer

Simultaneously, Universityleadership has identified ways inwhich to draw upon Mercer’s longheld strengths while expanding itsresearch portfolio.Examples include interdisciplinarymajors like neuroscience as well asbiochemistry and molecular biology(BMB) that are research-intensivewhile leaning into Mercer’s emphasison undergraduate education.Mercer On Mission draws upon theUniversity’s service ethos whilecarrying out life-changing researchacross the globe. Additionally, theSchool of Medicine’s foundationalmission to provide physicians andhealth care professionals for rural andunderserved Georgia has resulted inMercer becoming a national leaderwith its Center for Rural Health andHealth Disparities, one of only tworural-focused National Institutes ofHealth (NIH) Centers of Excellencein the U.S.The medical school alsohouses the Georgia Rural HealthDr. Kevin Bucholtz Director of Undergraduate ResearchDr. Scott Davis ProvostInnovation Center, established in 2018 by state lawmakers toaddress the health-related challenges and disparities facing Georgia’srural communities.For these reasons and more, Mercer’s growing research profile isa product of decades of distinctive programming and institutionalvalues that have defined what it means to be a Mercerian.“A lot of graduates were integral in this process. It didn’thappen overnight with one researcher or one program,” saidDr. Kevin Bucholtz, professor of chemistry and director ofundergraduate research. “We don’t get thi

d. scott davis, ph.d. executive vice president for administration and finance james s. netherton, ph.d. senior vice president for strategic initiatives kellie raiford appel, j.d. senior vice president for marketing communications and chief of staff larry d. brumley senior vice president for enro