Research « Baylor Proud

Points of Pride — Research

May

2012

Sandra Day O’Connor speaks at Baylor, studies BU students’ research on iCivics

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Photo Galleries, Research, Videos

An old friend and a new project brought U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to Baylor this week.

O’Connor’s long history with Baylor President Ken Starr is the common bond. The first female Supreme Court judge in U.S. history was Starr’s guest Monday afternoon in his continuing interview series, “On Topic with Ken Starr.” A packed Waco Hall crowd of faculty, staff, students and Waco residents listened to O’Connor share stories from her career for more than an hour. (Watch full video of the event here, or click here for a photo gallery from the Justice’s visit to Waco.)

O’Connor focused much of the conversation on her efforts to improve civic education. The Justice founded an online curriculum called iCivics in 2009 that uses games to introduce students, particularly those in the middle grades, to civic principles and ideas. (I checked the site out yesterday afternoon, and I must confess I got caught up in playing the games for more than an hour.)

Thanks to President Starr’s friendship with Justice O’Connor, Baylor was appointed last year to study the success of iCivics. Baylor Law School developed a model for using law students to lead iCivics activities in local classrooms, while the Baylor School of Education has analyzed the effectiveness of the program. A series of lesson plans developed by Baylor law students, graduate education students and undergraduate interns together make up the Baylor Model, which has been designed to be easily replicated in cities across the country. (Read more about that process here, or watch this video on the iCivics partnership between Baylor and Waco ISD.)

O’Connor is in Waco for three days to see the Baylor Model for iCivics firsthand. “I was thrilled, frankly, that Baylor, with the help of your president here, agreed that [the university] would help us evaluate iCivics,” O’Connor said Monday. “It’s been a huge help. My goal is to get people all across this country better educated in how our government works. When we got public schools in America, it was with the argument that … we have to teach it to all of our citizens, that they are part of it and how this government works.”

Sic ’em, Justice O’Connor!

Apr

2012

Fulbright, NSF awards among many for Graduate School students’ research and service

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Honors, Research

Ross Natividad The end of the school year is upon us — finals start Wednesday — and, as usual for this time of year, individual honors are rolling in. Students in the Baylor Graduate School, in particular, have been raking in the recognition over the last month or so. Here are just a few of the recent honorees:

Ross Natividad (pictured), a master’s student in Spanish, was awarded an English Teaching Assistantship through the Fulbright U.S. Student program. The Fulbright program is one of the most distinguished and competitive academic grant programs, and it is the largest international exchange program within the United States.
Zack Valdez, a doctoral candidate in geology and a TIE3 fellow, was awarded a National Science Foundation research grant for his work with switchgrass, a recognition that places Valdez and Baylor at the forefront of the alternative energy movement.
Blake McAllister, a doctoral candidate in philosophy, had some of his work deemed the best graduate student paper at the 2012 conference of the Society of Christian Philosophers.
Kyle Welty, a doctoral candidate in religion, was awarded the F. Bullitt Lowry Prize by the Southwestern Historical Association for his paper, “Evangelical Missionaries in the Slave Societies of the British West Indies, 1800-1835.”
Michael Whitenton, a doctoral candidate in religion, recently published his fourth academic journal article, “Rewriting Abraham and Joseph,” in Novum Testamentum, a journal devoted to the study of the New Testament and related subjects.

(more…)

Apr

2012

Baylor researchers release findings from first-ever scientific study of Eagle Scouts’ influence on society

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Research

Baylor Eagle Scout research One hundred years ago this month, Arthur Eldred completed the 21 merit badges necessary to earn the rank of Eagle — the first Eagle Scout in the history of the Boy Scouts of America. Plenty of anecdotal evidence gathered in the century since then attests to the benefits of Scouting, but surprisingly, no one had ever conducted a scientific survey on the impact of Scouting in fostering positive youth development — until now.

Last week, researchers with Baylor University’s Institute for Studies of Religion (ISR) and Program on Prosocial Behavior released findings from a national study that, as one would suspect, demonstrate the significant, positive impact Eagle Scouts have on society.

When the findings were announced on Baylor’s official Facebook page last week, it was interesting to read the comments from members of the Baylor family. Some were alumni who were also Eagle Scouts; others were current students who have attained the rank, or parents of such students. Each of the dozens of commenters shared a common pride in being both Baylor Bears and Eagle Scouts.

Sic ’em, Baylor researchers and Baylor Eagle Scouts!

Apr

2012

Baylor We Are: Discovering New Truths

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Baylor 2012, Pro Futuris, Research

Baylor researchers Finding balance has always been important at Baylor. Think “Pro Ecclesia, Pro Texana.” “Worldwide leadership and service.” “Faith and learning.” Equally important is “teaching and research.”

Baylor has a long history of great teachers, but in recent years the university has worked to bring its research efforts to a similar level. Baylor faculty contributions to major journals have more than doubled in the past decade. Total research expenditures (both from the university’s budget and external grants) have increased dramatically. And nothing testifies to Baylor’s emphasis on research more than the establishment of the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC).

A February report in the Waco Tribune-Herald noted that BRIC officials have heard from about 100 companies interested in partnering with the Baylor and Texas State Technical College researchers who will be working out of the new facility. Baylor programs will begin moving into BRIC by the beginning of 2013, if not sooner.

Last fall, Dr. Marlan Scully agreed to move his research on quantum optics, laser physics and bioengineering from Princeton to BRIC; other programs scheduled to move to BRIC include the Baylor Center for Spatial Research, the Hankamer School of Business’ Innovative Business Accelerator, the Baylor Institute for Air Science, Baylor’s Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics and Engineering Research, and TSTC’s technical training programs.

Why is such research important? Baylor’s draft strategic plan explains the answer under Aspirational Statement Two: “Baylor will be a place… where research discoveries illuminate solutions to significant challenges confronting our world and where creative endeavors reflect the breadth of God’s creation.”

Few universities recognized as having “high research activity” also have a Christian perspective; such an approach offers unique insights on issues ranging from health care and economics to human rights and social responsibility. Research into such areas allows our professors to remain on the cutting edge in their fields, gives undergraduate and graduate students hands-on opportunities in the discovery process, and contributes to finding solutions to some of the problems facing our world.

Sic ’em, Baylor researchers!

Previously on Baylor Proud:
* Forensics prof uses skills to bring closure to migrant families missing loved ones (Feb. 2012)
* Baylor research park moving forward with construction (Oct. 2011)
* Three Baylor students awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships (May 2011)
* Baylor researchers, alumni spreading awareness of and seeking cure for PTSD (Nov. 2010)
* Baylor professors receive $1.46 million NIH grant for cancer research (June 2010)

Feb

2012

Forensics prof uses skills to bring closure to migrant families missing loved ones

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Alumni, Research, Service, Videos

The remains of a 12-year-old boy found along the Texas border — almost certainly a migrant from Mexico — strike Baylor professor Dr. Lori Baker, BA ’93, MA ’94, hard. His clothes and belongings held no identification, and even a DNA test found no match.

It’s for individuals such as this that Baker, an associate professor of anthropology in Baylor’s College of Arts and Sciences, has established a database that she hopes can connect unidentified bodies with their loved ones — to provide families and friends with some closure, “a place to pray,” as she puts it.

KRGV Channel 5 in south Texas talked to Baker in depth about her efforts, highlighting her work in this lengthy video report. The work is not pleasant — as Baker says, “forensic scientists are never called in because something good happened” — but it is important. After all, everyone is someone’s friend, brother, sister or child.

Sic ’em, Dr. Baker!

Feb

2012

Media coverage of Baylor Libraries ‘Browning Letters’ project draws thousands of eyes to Baylor

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Research

Browning love letter Just in time for Valentine’s Day earlier this week, some of the most famous love letters ever were made available for viewing in their original handwritten form, thanks to a joint digitization project between Baylor and Wellesley College. Nearly 600 letters from poets Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, owned and housed at Wellesley, are now available for viewing online (along with some 800+ other Browning letters owned by BU) through Baylor Libraries’ digital collection.

An Associated Press story on the project was carried by more than 400 media outlets worldwide, including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post (with a great video), CBS News, ABC News, NPR, CBC-TV (Canada), The Guardian (UK) and the Belfast Telegraph (UK), and that coverage sent people in droves to the Baylor website.

Between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Feb. 14, the Browning Letters site was viewed more than 100,000 times per hour. Thankfully, Baylor’s servers were up to the barrage of traffic. Since then, several major media outlets have followed up to learn more about Baylor’s role in the digitization process.

The timing of the coverage was even more serendipitous as Baylor prepares to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Robert Browning’s birth. The university’s Armstrong Browning Library is home to the world’s largest collection of books, manuscripts, works of art and other materials related to the Brownings, and as such will host an international conference in November celebrating the Browning bicentennial.

Sic ’em, Baylor Libraries and the Armstrong Browning Library!

Jan

2012

Major media outlets’ coverage of BU research carries the Baylor name far and wide

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Research

Baylor research in the media What might seem obvious to some — that humble people are more likely than arrogant people to give of their time to help someone in need — wasn’t a given for Dr. Jordan LaBouff, BA ’05, MA ’08, PhD ’11.

“While it certainly seemed possible that humble people might be more focused on other people’s needs and thus more willing to help a peer in need, it also seemed possible that traits associated with humility (like modesty) might discourage helping a peer in need,” says LaBouff, who conducted his research on the subject while a doctoral candidate at Baylor. Furthermore, he adds, “in nearly 30 years of research on helping behavior, very few studies have shown any effect of personality variables on helping.”

LaBouff, Baylor psychology and neuroscience professors Dr. Wade Rowatt and Dr. Jo-Ann Tsang, doctoral candidate Megan Johnson, BA ’07, MA ’09, and undergraduate student Grace McCullough Willerton, BA ’07, collaborated on the study in Baylor’s College of Arts and Sciences. The results of their work, recently published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, have caught fire in media outlets all over the country and even internationally. See these headlines, for example:

MSNBC: “Need a hand? Find someone humble”
National Geographic: “Humble People Are Helpful People”
United Press International: “Humble people more likely to help”
United Kingdom Press Association: “‘Tis the season to be humble…”

And so it goes… From the Huffington Post to Technorati, MSN Health to CBC/Radio-Canada, the quintet’s research has carried the Baylor name into countless reports — even into Spanish over on the National Institutes of Health website.

Sic ’em, Baylor researchers!

Oct

2011

Baylor research park moving forward with construction

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Photo Galleries, Research, Videos

I had the opportunity last week to tour what will soon be Baylor’s new discovery/research park, the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC). It’s a work to behold, and once occupied, will provide an excellent home for Baylor research efforts in science, technology, engineering and math — a point well made by internationally renowned physicist Dr. Marlan Scully, who will relocate his labs from Princeton to Baylor when BRIC opens.

The gargantuan columns that make up the skeleton of the facility (originally built as a tire factory) will provide the framework for a beautiful showcase for Baylor’s research efforts. A long first-floor corridor will give visitors the chance to peer into labs on either side of the hall, while walls of windows (yet to be installed) on the second and third floor will provide a view from conference rooms back toward campus (about two miles away).

Check out this video from News Channel 25 or this photo gallery from Baylor Photography for a look inside the BRIC facility. Phase I of the project should be complete by next spring; researchers such as Scully could move in as soon as fall 2012.

Sic ’em, BRIC!

Sep

2011

Baylor Religion Survey results again draw national media attention to BU’s strong work

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Academics, Baylor 2012, Honors, Research

Whether you get your news from a national publication like USA Today, a website like The Huffington Post, a Christian media outlet such as The Baptist Standard, or a local newspaper like the Houston Chronicle, chances are good you’ve seen a headline about the Baylor Religion Survey this week.

The third wave of results from the survey — one of the most extensive surveys ever conducted on American religious attitudes — was just released by Baylor researchers, and like 2006 and 2008, it’s gathering strong attention from the media.

One of the more intriguing findings in this year’s results involved the effects of religious attitudes on one’s political and economic views. USA Today ran three different stories Tuesday (here, here and here) — two of them in their “Money” section. The HuffPost headline noted, “Believers Keep Faith in American Dream Despite Recession.” The Washington Post headline read, “Many Americans see God’s hand in economy.” (To read more of the news coverage, click here.)

As a tier-one institution built on a foundation of Christian faith, Baylor holds a distinct place in higher education, and groundbreaking work such as the Baylor Religion Survey should and does come from that position. As we’ve noted before, media attention like this shines a light on not only Baylor sociology, but on all the outstanding work being performed here.

Sic ’em, Baylor researchers!

Sep

2011

BRIC named a finalist for Global Innovator’s Award

Posted by The Baylor Proud Team in Honors, Research

BRIC Baylor’s BRIC project is really beginning to take shape; the old General Tire plant has been gutted down to its shell, with new walls going up daily and interior work just around the corner (see current photo and final drawing at right). That’s right in line with the original timeline, which calls for the Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative — Baylor’s first research park — to begin welcoming occupants from Baylor, Texas State Technical College and industrial partners next year.

But BRIC is already earning international plaudits for its vision, having been named one of eight finalists for CoreNetGlobal’s 12th annual H. Bruce Russell Global Innovator’s Award last month. The award recognizes innovation in economic development, technology, project management and development and workplace innovation; it is presented by CoreNetGlobal, a leading international association for corporate real estate and workplace professionals, service providers and economic developers.

Other finalists for the 2011 award include PricewaterhouseCoopers, CB Richard Ellis, the state of Pennsylvania’s Center for Trade Development, and New Zealand-based architecture firm Jasmax. In August, representatives from Baylor’s Office of the Vice Provost for Research, the Greater Waco Chamber, and Perkins+Will Architects went to Atlanta to deliver a presentation on the BRIC project. The winner of the award will be announced at the annual CoreNet Members Summit meeting on Nov. 6 in Atlanta.

Sic ’em, BRIC!

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