Butler Professor of Chemistry Robert Pribush has been named a fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in recognition of his 40 years of classroom, laboratory, and extramural activities, and his service to the ACS community.

He will be inducted at the society’s fall national meeting in Indianapolis this September, in a ceremony hosted by ACS Immediate Past President Bassam Z. Shakhashiri.

“This is an honor bestowed on members for their outstanding accomplishments in scientific research, education, and public service,” Shakhashiri said in announcing the 2013 class of ACS Fellows. “Their individual contributions to ACS, to science, and to society are hallmarks of distinction in keeping with the ACS mission of advancing the chemical enterprise and its practitioners for the benefit of earth and its people. Selection as an ACS Fellow greatly honors each individual and also honors ACS. It is also a charge to each fellow to maintain his or her excellence in advancing chemistry and serving society.”

There are approximately 163,000 ACS members. The Class of 2013 fellows includes 96 members.

More information is here: http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/funding-and-awards/fellows.html

The ACS noted Pribush’s many contributions:

Contribution to the science/profession: Throughout 40 years of classroom, laboratory, and extramural interactions, instilled a love of science while infusing a sense of vocation and purposeful career selection in countless university students. Outside of the classroom made numerous contributions as a textbook author, journal reviewer, technical consultant/expert witness, with over 95 publications and presentations in research involving chemistry pedagogy, forensic chemistry, chemistry of art, photochemistry, synthesis, and spectroscopy.

Contribution to the ACS community: Served as founder and second chair of the Younger Chemists Committee. Has been a 20+ year Indiana Local Section Councilor and served on over 20 national, regional, and local committees, including chairing a scholarship/Chemistry Olympiad program that yielded a student selected for the four-member 2013 U.S. National Chemistry Olympiad team that latter won two gold and two silver medals; the Indiana Section student won gold. Served on six ACS Division of Education Examination committees, chairing three committees in three different areas of chemistry. Named recipient of the ACS Board of Directors 2014 Volunteer Award.

“In receiving recognition as a fellow of the American Chemical Society,” Pribush said, “I am deeply honored to represent Butler University in joining esteemed American Chemical Society colleagues with academic, government, and industrial affiliations throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia.”

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

After watching network professionals produce a fast-paced newscast in a Chicago television studio, a dozen Australian students took their turns in Butler’s news production lab in July, turning out sample “Butler Beat” video casts with “down under” accents.

Students from Macquarie University near Sydney and Flinders University in the city of Adelaide, on Australia’s southern coast spent three weeks on campus, as part of an exchange program between their schools and Butler that goes back close to a decade.

Most of the visitors were screen production majors, so were new to the hands-on aspects of television and digital news production they learned from faculty in the College of Communication’s Creative Media and Entertainment and Journalism programs.

Communication studies at the Australian universities are more theory based than CCOM’s programs, said Multimedia Coordinator Eric Esterline, who oversaw this year’s visit and instruction.

“Here, we provide both theory and practice in our studio labs,” he said.

The group took side trips from Butler to see professional broadcasters at work in Indianapolis and Chicago. CCOM Board of Visitors member Barry Hohlfelder ’66 arranged for the students to witness a news broadcast in the Chicago NBC studio. (Hohlfelder worked as an NBC producer, director and reporter for 37 years.)

Michael McNally of Flinders University said the NBC broadcast was a trip highlight. “It was incredible to see a news production at that scale,” he said.

“NBC was so interesting,” said John Heng, also of Flinders. “They were straight on professionals. The director was firing away, very assertive.”

Heng said he’d “taking a liking to directing,” when he led his classmates in the Butler production lab. “Butler’s program is better than Flinders’ in terms of equipment. We don’t have much studio space,” he said.

Student Lauren Brice enjoyed learning a variety of news production skills in the Butler labs. “I’ve gotten to work with the teleprompter, directing, running video, doing camera and anchor,” she said. “I’ve never done television work before; that’s why I decided to come on the exchange.”

In Indianapolis, the visitors toured Emmis Communications headquarters, and went behind the scenes of live sportscasts at an Indianapolis Indians baseball game and an Indiana Fever women’s basketball game.

CCOM Professor Ken Creech developed the U.S./Australian exchange back when Butler’s television and radio program resided in the Jordan College of Fine Arts. The Center for Global Education oversees the exchange, which provides reciprocal visiting privileges for Butler students at Flinders and Macquarie. Close to 20 Butler students have spent a semester at one of those universities.

“When we started the program, it only involved students from Macquarie University,” Creech said. “After I visited Flinders and Professor Alison Wotherspoon from Flinders spent a week at Butler, students from the Adelaide school flocked to the program. Now it’s a great mix of students who bring much to the overall dynamic of the program.”

“We will have students going to Macquarie in fall,” Esterline said. “And some Australian students come here for semester-long programs.”

Esterline instructed the bulk of the class sessions during the Australians’ visit, covering media literacy, social media, video editing, and more. Creech presented on legal issues in news and media. Additional instruction came from CCOM faculty Nancy Whitmore, on ethics in journalism; Scott Bridge, on the differences between print and electronic news; and Christine Taylor, on television production.

Media contact: Mary Ellen Stephenson
(317) 940-6944
mestephe@butler.edu

Butler University celebrates three major anniversaries this fall: Clowes Memorial Hall and the Irwin Library both turn 50, and the Center for Faith and Vocation commemorates 10 years.

Clowes Hall turns 50 this year.

“Clowes Hall, the Irwin Library, and the Center for Faith and Vocation each enrich Butler academics and student life, while serving the greater community with ready access to information, knowledgeable guest speakers, and entertainment,” Butler President James M. Danko said. “Butler and Indianapolis are richer for having them as part of our campus and our city.”

Clowes Hall, which opened Oct. 18, 1963, was conceived by Dr. George Clowes and his wife, Edith Whitehill Clowes, as a center of culture and entertainment. More than 9 million people have seen the 10,000-plus performances there, presented by luminaries such as Barbra Streisand, Miles Davis, and the rock band Cream.

The venue ranks among the top 100 theaters in the world for number of tickets sold.

Clowes also serves as a centerpiece for pre-K-12 educational programming. During the 2012-2013 school year, education programs alone brought better than 30,000 students to the 2,100-seat hall, which was designed by famed Indianapolis architect Evans Woollen.

Clowes Hall will celebrate its 50th with events that include:

-Mark O’Connor with Butler University School of Music Ensembles/Butler Ballet performance of an original piece by Gustavo Ramirez Sansano – Thursday, Oct. 24, at 7:30 p.m. (free)

-Colbie Caillat and Kenny Loggins – Friday, Oct. 25, at 8 p.m.

-Whoopi Goldberg – Saturday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m.

-Disney’s Pixar in Concert with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra – Sunday, Oct. 27, at 2 p.m.

Tickets are on sale now. More information is available from the Clowes Hall box office, (317) 940-6444.

One month before Clowes Hall opened, Butler moved its library collections from cramped quarters in Jordan Hall to its new library building. Students found 12 large reading areas, nine seminar or study rooms, five lounges, and 51 individual study carrels with built-in desks waiting for them. At that time, the library held 165,000 books; today, that number is around 880,000.

On May 1, 1965, the library was formally dedicated as Irwin Library. The ceremony honored the contributions of the Irwin, Miller, and Sweeney families, who had played prominent roles in the life of the University for more than a century.

Architect Minoru Yamasaki, whose best-known work includes the World Trade Centers, designed the library.

The library will celebrate its anniversary with an open house from 2-4 p.m. Monday, Sept. 9. Festivities will include cake, a display of historic and contemporary photos of the building, and personnel dressed in clothing from the 1960s.

For more information, call (317) 940-9235.

The Center for Faith and Vocation, located in the Blue House (4615 Sunset Ave.), gives students space to reflect on faith and spirituality during their time at Butler. Its mission is to encourage and challenge students to think about how they are being called to make a difference in the world.

The center strives to deepen students’ understanding of their own faith, diverse religious traditions, and the meaning of vocation. Students can explore these issues through internships with religious, community, and service organizations; on-campus programs; one-on-one counseling; and opportunities for international travel.

Among the center’s contributions to the community is the annual Seminar on Religion and World Civilization. This year’s theme is “Freedom of Expression and Religion.” The topics to be explored are: “Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Faith: Understanding the First Amendment and Its Global Implications;” “Islam and Free Expression;” “Mr. Putin Goes to Church: Religion and Freedom of Speech in Modern Russia;” and “Academic Freedom and Faith in Higher Education.”

More information is available at www.butler.edu/faith-vocation/.

Founded in January 2003, the Center for Faith and Vocation at Butler University is one of 88 Programs for the Theological Exploration of Vocation funded by Lilly Endowment Inc.

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

Butler University has been listed in The Princeton Review’s “Best in the Midwest” section of its website feature called “2014 Best Colleges: Region by Region.”

The results are posted online.

The website identifies schools recommended as “regional bests” across the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and West. In total, 643 schools received this designation—about 25 percent of the country’s four-year colleges. Of those, 155 are in the Midwest.

Schools were selected primarily for their excellent academic programs, as well as what enrolled students reported about their campus experiences.

Butler students had overwhelmingly positive things to say, according to the Princeton Review post.

“‘As soon as I walked onto the campus of Butler University, I knew it was the place I would attend for college.’ That’s the kind of thing you hear from Butler students a lot. Butler’s small, ‘absolutely beautiful’ campus is just the right size, big enough that students ‘don’t feel like [they're] still in high school,’ but small enough that they ‘generally know someone in every class.’

“The professors at Butler ‘truly care about you as a student and make sure that you understand the material and are interested in what is going on.’ They are ‘very knowledgeable…and they will go above and beyond trying to help you succeed.’ ‘The class sizes are smaller so there is more one-on-one interaction with your professors and classmates.’ ‘As with any university, various majors have various levels of difficulty and time commitment.’

“An English writing/Spanish major says, ‘Butler provides a rigorous course load. I am always working on homework, but I love it.’ Another student adds, ‘Butler overall is very academically challenging.’ Beyond the classroom, ‘internships are huge no matter what major you are, and there are great opportunities to get out and have hands-on, real-world experiences.’ Butler students are very happy with their experience, and they gush, ‘I can’t imagine myself anywhere else.’”

The 155 colleges chosen for the “Best in the Midwest” list are located in 12 states: Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

“We’re pleased to recommend these colleges to users of our site as the best schools to earn their undergrad degrees,” said Robert Franek, senior vice president/publisher for the Princeton Review, a privately held education services company.

For this project, The Princeton Review asked students attending the schools to rate their own schools on several issues, from the accessibility of their professors to quality of their science lab facilities—and answer questions about themselves, their fellow students, and their campus life.

Only schools that permitted the Princeton Review to independently survey their students were eligible to be considered for regional “best” lists.

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

To help women thrive in leadership positions, Butler University’s College of Business will offer an executive education workshop called Advancing Women in Leadership (AWL) one day a month from October through March.

The program will take place over six days—from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Oct. 10, Nov. 14, Dec. 12, Jan. 16, Feb. 13, and March 20—on the Butler campus.

Cost is $3,600 per participant, which includes tuition, learning materials, meals, and refreshments. Companies that wish to send more than one person receive a 10 percent tuition discount on each enrollment—up to six from a single organization.

Registration is available through Oct. 3.

More information will be available at a free webinar from 5:30-6:30 p.m. Sept. 4, or by calling (317) 940-8651, emailing ExecEd@butler.edu, or visiting www.ButlerCorporateEducation.com.

Advancing Women in Leadership will help women uncover and integrate their unique strengths and qualities in order to thrive and succeed in current and future leadership roles. Through an action learning approach and the guidance of an executive coach, each participant will:

-Gain knowledge of emotional intelligence and the link to leadership effectiveness.

-Acquire skills to build self-awareness, overcome blind spots and sustain effective leadership behaviors.

-Apply an intentional process to align personal values with everyday leadership behaviors.

-Develop skills to sense others’ feelings and perspectives, emotional currents and power relationships to manage diverse groups.

-Apply innovative frameworks and methodologies to drive performance.

-Implement a leadership development plan based on a 360 leadership assessment.

There are no prerequisites to enroll. The ideal candidate for this program is currently a middle level high potential manager with five to 10 years of progressive management experience who manages people, money and/or resources, desires to move up in the organization, has a strong performance record, has been identified as having high potential, and brings a rich perspective and set of diverse management experiences to draw upon and share.

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

Butler University has received an achievement award from the National Panhellenic Conference recognizing the quality of its sororities in areas that include academics, programming, and community relations.

“These awards are given to those who are following the exemplary standards set for Panhellenic women,” said Nicki Meneley, executive director of the conference.

Becky Druetzler, Butler’s director of Greek life, said this recognition puts the University in the top 5 percent of all Panhellenic communities in the United States and Canada.

College Panhellenics, which are cooperatives comprised of all sororities on a campus, are scored on seven criteria. Butler was one of 19 schools to win an achievement award. Fourteen schools received excellence awards.

“I am extremely proud of our students for this outstanding accomplishment,” Druetzler said. “This is the outcome of a new awards process for NPC, and we did not know what to expect. Recognition acknowledges core competencies in the areas of academics, community impact and relations, communication, council structure, judicial procedures, recruitment, and programming. Butler Panhellenic leaders have consistently employed best practices in their council operation and management.”

Butler has seven National Panhellenic Conference sororities: Alpha Chi Omega; Alpha Phi; Delta Gamma; Delta Delta Delta; Kappa Alpha Theta; Kappa Kappa Gamma; and Pi Beta Phi.

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

Mark Minner, a 2012 Butler graduate, has been selected as the radio play-by-play announcer for Butler Men’s Basketball.

Minner, who has served as a Halftime, Post-Game, and Studio Host for the Butler Basketball Radio Network for the past three years, succeeds Brandon Gaudin, the new Georgia Tech football and men’s basketball play-by-play voice.

Minner also will serve as the primary voice for Butler Football for webcasts of the six home games on ButlerSports.com. He had done the play-by-play for selected road webcasts in 2012 for the Pioneer Football League champions.

“Mark has been a key piece of our Athletic Department since he enrolled at Butler five years ago,” said Associate Athletic Director Mike Freeman. “He has great talent as a broadcaster and is an incredibly driven person. Teaming Mark with color analyst Nick Gardner will keep our broadcasts at a passionate and professional level that our fans are used to.”

As an undergraduate, Minner was the women’s basketball play-by-play voice for Butler webcasts all four seasons. He was the host of the Bulldog Blitz show produced by BU students, and he also did play-by-play for soccer and volleyball webcasts.

The versatile Minner has done freelance play-by-play for Turner Sports for NCAA Championships in baseball and women’s golf. He has an extensive baseball background, having done Butler baseball play-by-play last season and serving as the number two broadcaster for the Kane County Cougars minor league baseball team in both 2009 and 2010.

Minner will continue in his current full-time position at FirstPerson, leading an account team in implementing strategies around benefits and employee engagement for a group of clients.

Butler men’s basketball will air on 1070 the Fan for the fourth consecutive season. Former Butler player Nick Gardner begins his eighth year as the color analyst for the Butler Basketball Radio Network.

Media contact:
Jim McGrath
jmcgrath@butler.edu
(317) 940-9414

Google the words “Breaking Bad best show ever” and you’ll find a string of critics making that argument.

Gary Edgerton

Butler College of Communication Dean Gary Edgerton, a television scholar for 30 years and author, most recently, of the book The Sopranos (Wayne State University Press), says “best ever” might be too strong.

“But I think Breaking Bad is in the conversation,” he said.

Edgerton said the list of “best shows ever” begins with The Sopranos—“It changed television”—and certainly includes The Wire and Mad Men, as well as Breaking Bad. You could add Deadwood, Six Feet Under, and The Shield to that list, he said. Maybe Justified too.

“It’s hard for me to choose a best television program, and when people talk about the ‘best show ever,’ a lot of that has to do with what they’ve most recently watched,” Edgerton said. “I’d say if we’re talking influential, The Sopranos is far more influential than Breaking Bad is.”

Breaking Bad has earned rave reviews since its 2008 debut, when it introduced Walter White (played by Bryan Cranston), a cancer-riddled New Mexico chemistry teacher who became a methamphetamine maker so he could leave his family financially secure. The show, which airs on AMC at 9 p.m. Sundays, is scheduled to end its five-season run on Sept. 29.

 “What I would say about Breaking Bad is, I don’t think I’ve seen a show that continues to get better each season,” Edgerton said. “The first season was really good, but I don’t think anyone was talking about it at that time as being among the best shows ever on TV. Then the second season, it took a qualitative leap forward. And by the third season, people were saying it was as good as anything that’s ever been on TV. Some people think the fourth season was the best so far.”

“But,” he added, “why do we have to choose the best? Why can’t it just be up there?”

Edgerton said what all the “best shows ever” have in common is that they’ve demonstrated that television can be as good as the most sophisticated movie, novel, play, or other story form.

Edgerton, who has written 11 books about television and film and serves as co-editor of The Journal of Popular Film and Television, said he has no idea how Breaking Bad will end.

“Just as Tony Soprano was destined to die, Walter White is destined to die,” he said. “I’m sure the writers have tried to do their best to come up with the most satisfying and unpredictable ending. The beauty of this is, with these programs that have made it into this area of the very best, you cannot predict.”

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

Butler Ballet will hold auditions for Clara, Fritz, party children, Polichinelles, and other children’s roles in The Nutcracker beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 in Studio 310 of Lilly Hall on the Butler University campus.

Boy and girl auditioners, ages 6-14 years, must have ballet training and be no taller than 5 feet. Girls auditioning for the role of Clara should have some pointe training. Also needed is one young performer, no taller than 4 feet, with advanced tumbling skills (an aerial or back handspring minimum) to tumble on hard floor.

Dancers  are selected by size, age, and technical ability. No preparation of audition material is necessary.

Butler Ballet’s The Nutcracker will be performed Thursday, Dec. 5, through Sunday, Dec. 8.

For questions, call the Butler Ballet info line at (317) 940-6465.

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

Butler University will welcome 1,025 freshmen on move-in day Saturday, Aug. 24. Classes begin Wednesday, Aug. 28.

Butler’s class of 2017 continues the University’s track record of attracting high-quality, academically prepared students. Here’s a look at some numbers.

- Average GPA, 3.51-4.03.

- Average ACT, 25-30.

- Average SAT, 1580-1900.

- 16 Lilly Scholars.

- 5 National Merit/National Achievement Scholars.

The Class of 2017 comes from 32 states and 22 countries. Forty-three percent are from Indiana, and 57 percent are from out of state. This is Butler’s highest percentage of out-of-state students in history. Approximately 25 percent of the class comes from nearby Illinois.

In addition to being the most geographically diverse, this year’s incoming class is also the most ethnically diverse, with minority students representing 14.4 percent of the class.

As in years past, Butler’s largest area of study for new students is exploratory studies (or undecided). In this program, students explore possible majors through a series of courses, job shadows, interviews, and advising, and still go on to graduate in four years. 

For students who declare an area of study, pre-pharmacy remains the most popular, and is closely followed by business (marketing, accounting, and finance), biology, chemistry, dance, education, psychology, and strategic communication.

Media contact:
Courtney Tuell
ctuell@butler.edu
(317) 940-9807

Butler University is about to unveil its first mobile app, providing students and faculty with the ability to check their schedules, search the course catalog, read campus news, and more.

The Butler University app is available for free through the iPhone and Android stores.

“I love it,” said junior Rachel Skelton, who helped the University’s Information Technology (IT) department choose the features on the app. “Students like to pull out their phone and use it rather than walk to a computer or open a laptop.”

The idea for the app—which was a year in the making—came out of a meeting with President Jim Danko and the Student Government Association’s Council on President Affairs, an advisory group. After Skelton suggested creating a mobile app, Danko asked IT to develop one.

The job fell to David Alder, senior web systems analyst and lead developer. He worked with an app development company called Highpoint.

Last spring, the University quietly tested a mobile website. Skelton promoted the site in Starbucks, asking students to check out its features.

To a person, everybody seemed to like the features.

“No one had any idea about the mobile site,” she said. “With the addition of my.butler”—the University’s internal website—everyone was like, ‘I never knew I wanted this, but now that it’s here, it’s amazing.’”

Next came the mobile app, which includes icons labeled alerts, news, safety, course catalog, class search, academics, campus map, events, calendar, library, athletics, service, and admission. In the near future, students will be able to register for and change classes.

Alder said this is just the beginning. He expects the University to add a series of updates to the app to help students, faculty, and, eventually ,staff, access the information they need at their fingertips. One update now being worked on will allow users to sign up for classes and exchange information about classes offered at the Health & Recreation Complex.

“We want to try things out,” Alder said. “We’re going to be exploring this space and trying to find out what we can do with it as a university.”

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

A couple of decades before she would become Butler’s first sustainability coordinator, Mckenzie Beverage had already started obsessing about recycling.

“I thought as a child: ‘Recycling is the way to be! That’s what we’re going to do to save the world!’” said Beverage, who started at Butler in early August. “My brother would intentionally throw his stuff into the trash. So I would run around on recycling night and go into his room and grab all the stuff before it could go into the trash. It was this constant battle.”

Her enthusiasm continued through high school, when she started reading about climate change, and through undergraduate and graduate school at Indiana University-Bloomington, where she focused on sustainable development and policy analysis and interned at the Office of Sustainability. There, her work included the annual Energy Challenge, an energy and water savings competition designed to instill conversation habits in the participants.

After graduation, she took a job at the University of Illinois as program advisor for the Student Sustainability Committee, which oversees more than $1 million in funding for green projects around campus.

And now at Butler, her goal is to make the University “as green as it can possibly be.” (Read more about Butler’s sustainability efforts here.)

“We are lucky to have someone as talented and dynamic as Mckenzie to be Butler’s first sustainability coordinator,” said Tim Carter, director of Butler’s Center for Urban Ecology. “I know she will have an immediate impact advancing the sustainability initiatives that have been started here at Butler.”

Beverage said she wants to build on the work student groups such as the Environmental Concerns Organization and the Student Government Association are doing and help Butler fulfill the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment pledge to create a long-range plan to eliminate the campus’ net emissions of greenhouse gases.

President James Danko signed the pledge in April 2012.

Beverage said she would like to make the Athletic Department the greenest in the country, meaning everything from a more energy efficient Hinkle Fieldhouse to eliminating plastic water bottles from the concessions to running vehicles on alternative fuels.

“My job is to help the university become as environmentally friendly as possible,” she said. “Big dreams. We’ll do our best to get there.”

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

Freshmen Nichole Barnard and Olivia Cabanban spent part of Tuesday afternoon up to their ankles in silt, water, and mud. And they loved it.

Nichole Barnard and Olivia Cabanban work in Holliday Park as part of BITS.

The two were digging out a stream bed in Indianapolis’ Holliday Park as part of Bulldogs Into the Streets (BITS), the annual public-service program designed to inspire students to give back to the city where they’ll spend the next four years or more.

“I really enjoy volunteering, helping out the community around me, and learning about what needs to be done so that when I go back to Butler, I can find a connection to different places to volunteer,” said Barnard, a pharmacy major from Greenwood, Ind. “I think manual labor is good. Working up a sweat, it’s enjoyable.”

“I wanted to get involved with the community,” added Cabanban, a biology major from LaGrange, Ind., who’s interested in pre-med. “Since I’m from the Chicago area, it’s definitely a different setting being in Indianapolis. Instead of just getting involved in the Butler Bubble, I wanted to see what our community was about.”

Some 60 Butler students helped out at Holliday Park. Some dug out a stream bank that had been filling with silt. Water was jumping the banks and eroding nearby trails. Others picked up trash along the banks of the White River.

Park Manager Adam Barnes said the BITS volunteers are a huge help.

“There are only four of us who work here, so we rely heavily on volunteers to keep up with projects,” he said. “You figure 30 kids for a couple of hours, that’s 60 man-hours of work, which is more than a week’s worth of work for one of us. So it makes a big difference for the park, that’s for sure.”

Butler students worked at 17 locations, and the total number of volunteers—557—is the biggest group of participants in the program’s 19-year history, said Emily Svetanoff ’14, events coordinator for the Volunteer Center.

Jordan Galligan

About 160 of the volunteers were at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana. Some helped unload items from trucks into coolers—maybe one of the better jobs to have on a blistering hot day. Others packed up senior boxes that help supplement low-income senior citizens’ food supplies. Most put together backsacks—bags with 14 kid-friendly items that are given to children in low-income families so they’ll have enough food over the weekend.

Gleaners gives out about 10,000 backsacks each week, said Jessica Shive ’08, Gleaners’ volunteer coordinator. Shive, who was an elementary education major at Butler, taught for two years in a school where she saw how important the backsacks were to her students. When a job at Gleaners opened, she decided to join the organization, which serves more than 313,000 Hoosiers in 21 counties.

Jordan Galligan, a freshman communications major from Valparaiso, Ind., worked on the backsacks at Gleaners. He said he learned about BITS at the Activity Fair.

“One of the activity directors said, ‘Hey, you wanna come out for BITS? You get some free food, free T-shirt, and you’re helping out the community,’” Galligan said. “I said, ‘Hey, why not?’ I love to help out. It’s been a great experience.”

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

Associate Professor of Art Gautam Rao will exhibit his work in a show called Unblocked, Sept. 6-27 at Gallery 924, 924 N. Pennsylvania St., Indianapolis.

Wedding Painting by Gautam Rao

Admission is free. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday.

For more information, call (317) 631-3301.

The exhibit, which consists of a series of large-scale paintings, represents a journey of rediscovering the creative process. Rao’s previous paintings were figurative, but in 2011 he took a square canvas, divided it into a grid and filled each square with a unique color. This simple act marked the beginning of an exploration of color that has led to complex and unexpected destinations.

Over the past two years Rao has made large-scale paintings exploring color relationships, pattern, typography, and landscape. One painting in the exhibit is inspired by the sequential named colors in the novel The Great Gatsby, while another group of 26 paintings make up a typographic exploration—a painted alphabet.

The paintings rely on a grid of color squares. The squares of color in these paintings allude to pixels or fabric patterns. They play on the human tendency to recognize images in patterns everywhere- in the intervals of cracks on the sidewalk, faces found in the clouds. The paintings function like puzzles: each viewer sees something different, recognizing something new about themselves.

Increasingly, mathematical patterns play a role in the structure of the paintings. Rao alternates colors in syncopated patterns, grouping them by hue, color temperature and value. These paintings remind us of the color choices we make every day, from choosing which clothes to wear, to deciding to slow down or speed up for an amber traffic light. They highlight the joy to be found in color choices and the excitement of the creative process – of creativity rediscovered and unblocked.

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

Butler University has awarded $100,000 in grants to faculty members and a student to support their ideas for creative, collaborative academic programs.

A student-produced jazz CD, a video series on making financial decisions, and new Butler curricula focused on professional writing and critical listening are some of the projects to be developed under eight Butler Innovation Fund grants, ranging from $6,000 to $25,000.

Grants were awarded for:

• Development and integration of critical listening courses within Butler’s curriculum. $15,000. Proposed by Donald Braid (Academic Affairs).
  

• Establishment of the Butler Journal of Undergraduate Research. $25,000 (three-year grant). Proposed by Ken Colburn (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences).

• Establishment of the Center for the Study of Ethnic Relations, Xenophobia, and Diversity. $10,000. Proposed by Antonio Menendez (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences).

• Creation of a jazz CD featuring the Butler Jazz Ensemble and a notable guest artist. $8,000. Proposed by Matt Pivec (Jordan College of the Arts).

• Creation of “Students Making Financial Decisions,” a video series illustrating basic economic concepts and their application in everyday life. $8,000. Proposed by William Rieber (College of Business) and Christine Taylor (College of Communication).

• Development of a program aimed at recruiting top undergraduate students through new programming and scholarships. $6,000. Proposed by Doug Spaniol (Jordan College of the Arts), Donald Braid (Academic Affairs), and Judi Morrel (Center for High Achievement and Scholarly Engagement).

• Creation of Butler’s “Generation Rx,” an educational program for increasing public awareness of prescription medication misuse and abuse. $6,000. Proposed by Tracy Sprunger (College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences) and Samantha Christie (pharmacy student).

• Development of professional writing courses and establishment of a professional writing track within Butler’s Department of English. $22,000 (three-year grant). Proposed by William Watts (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences).

“The grant recipients and their projects’ novel approaches reflect Butler’s openness to new ideas, change, and creativity,” said Jason Range, director of the Innovation Fund.

University President James M. Danko conceived the Innovation Fund in 2011 as a “venture capital” source to foster campus creativity and academic excellence.

Representatives of all six of Butler’s colleges submitted more than 70 project proposals for the initial 2013 funding round. Ten projects received $300,000 in grant funding in February, during the round’s first phase.

Media contact: Mary Ellen Stephenson
(317) 940-6944
mestephe@butler.edu

Butler astronomy faculty and students, who already have remote access to telescopes in Chile and Arizona, will be able to view the stars from a telescope off the Canary Islands beginning in 2015.

The Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy (SARA), of which Butler is a member, will add the telescope located near the coast of Morocco once it is fitted for remote access.

“It’s one of the best sites in the world to observe from,” said Brian Murphy, professor of physics and astronomy. “The atmosphere is very stable there, which means your stars are almost pinpoint. And that’s an important aspect. Add the large aperture of the scope with the atmospheric stability and that leads to some very good data.”

The telescope, situated at an altitude of 2,360 meters at the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos, has sat idle since 2003. In late 2011, the Science and Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom announced the opportunity for interested parties to submit proposals to take over telescope operations.

SARA negotiated the rights to operate the telescope and secured funding from the National Science Foundation to convert the site to a remote observatory. In July 2013, the National Science Foundation gave SARA a $474,000 grant to complete the project.

Murphy said the telescope in the Canary Islands is slightly larger than the one in Butler’s Holcomb Observatory. Its location is at about the same latitude as the telescope in Arizona, but because it’s five hours later in the Canary Islands than it is in Indianapolis, Butler faculty and students will have access to the night sky while it’s relatively early at home.

Also, the Canary Islands site will be available year round to observe the Northern Hemisphere, while the Arizona facility shuts down for two months each summer during monsoon season.

Having remote access to telescopes on three different continents has paid dividends in scholarship, Murphy said. Five years into its partnership with SARA, Butler faculty and students have produced 35 publications in astronomy and astrophysics, with many of them listing students as first authors.

“So it’s been a success story for us,” he said.

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

Butler University Assistant Professor of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies Brooke Beloso has been awarded a 2013-2014 American Association of University Women (AAUW) American Fellowship.

The fellowships are given to women scholars who are completing doctoral dissertations, conducting postdoctoral research, or finishing research for publication.

“I am deeply honored by this award, which will afford me the research time to complete the manuscript for my first book, Feminism, Queer Theory, and the Class Politics of Sex Work,” Beloso said. “That AAUW has seen fit to invest in me and my scholarship means the world to me.”

Beloso’s general areas of interest are transnational feminism, neoliberalism, prefigurative politics, critical race studies, information and communications technology, and critical university studies. Her writing has appeared in Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society and Feminist Media Studies, among other venues.

For the 2013-2014 academic year, AAUW awarded a total of $3.7 million to 245 scholars, research projects, and programs promoting education and equity for women and girls through six fellowships and grants. AAUW is one of the world’s leading supporters of graduate women’s education, having awarded nearly $100 million in fellowships, grants, and awards to more than 12,000 women from more than 130 countries since 1888.

“The American Fellowship program affords scholars the ability to become leading thinkers in their fields and have an impact across multiple disciplines,” said Gloria Blackwell, AAUW vice president of fellowships, grants, and international programs. “It’s also a recognition of their great potential because they are receiving support from one of the nation’s most respected women’s organizations.”

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822

Students from the Butler University College of Communication will be producing 12 Butler fall sports webcasts in football, men’s and women’s soccer, and volleyball that will air free on ButlerSports.com.

The first production will be Saturday’s 6 p.m. home football opener vs. Wittenberg at the Butler Bowl with director Ian Smith, producer Mark Pearson, color analyst Matt Schumacker, and 2012 College of Communication graduate Mark Minner handling the play-by-play.

“It’s exciting to be able to provide a real world sports production environment that gives students throughout the College of Communication the opportunity to gain valuable experience and at the same time produce content for Butler sports fans around the globe,” said Multimedia Coordinator Eric Esterline.

Esterline,College of Communication instructor Scott Bridge, and Associate Professor Christine Taylor supervise BU students with all aspects of the fall sports productions. Gary Edgerton is dean of the College of Communication.

Butler’s College of Communications produced all home football and women’s basketball webcasts last season.

“We believe this is a great opportunity to partner with current students to provide great online content of our student-athletes in competition,” said Butler Associate Athletic Director/External Operations Mike Freeman. “Between the Dawg Pound, cheerleaders, bands, dance team and student workers, we have a great amount of student involvement at games and this takes it even further.”

The schedule is:

Date                            Sport, Opponent                                               Time

Sept. 7                         Football vs. Wittenberg                                    6 p.m.

Sept. 14                       Volleyball vs. #20 Michigan State                     7 p.m.

Sept. 15                       Women’s Soccer vs. #11 Michigan                   1 p.m.

Sept. 21                       Football vs. Dartmouth                                     6 p.m.

Sept. 25                       Men’s Soccer vs. #8 Indiana                            7:30 p.m.

Oct. 3                          Women’s Soccer vs. #13 Georgetown              7 p.m.

Oct. 5                          Football vs. Stetson                                          1 p.m.

Oct. 12                        Football vs. Campbell (Homecoming)              1 p.m.

Oct. 19                        Football vs. Drake                                            1 p.m.

Oct. 23                        Men’s Soccer vs. #2 Creighton                         7 p.m.

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Nov. 1                         Volleyball vs. Marquette                                    7 p.m.

Nov. 9                         Football vs. Valparaiso                                      1 p.m.

Butler has been granted reaccreditation by the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) of the North Central Association.

In a report recommending reaccreditation, commission reviewers affirmed that Butler provides a high-quality education through faculty who are committed teachers focused on student-centered learning and through staff who provide support services that enable students to succeed.

“Reaccreditation recognizes our collective dedication to realizing our mission of providing exceptional liberal arts and professional educational experiences to our students,” said President James M. Danko.

 The report also highlighted the obvious pride Butler community members display for the University, a clear commitment to public and community service, and a core curriculum characterized by “a number of distinctive features that reflect current national best practices for general education.”

“While we are pleased that the HLC noted many of Butler’s strengths, we strive for continual improvement,” Danko said. “In response to accreditation team recommendations, Butler will pursue focused institutional improvement initiatives in three areas: diversity, student outcomes assessment, and budgeting and planning. The University is in the process of developing these action plans, in conversation with faculty, staff, and students.”

Media contact: Courtney Tuell
(317) 940-9807
ctuell@butler.edu

Professor Emeritus Jackson Wiley, the beloved longtime conductor of the Butler Symphony Orchestra, died Sept. 3. He was 92.

Wiley, who taught at Butler and conducted the Butler Symphony Orchestra from 1969-1991, had an enormous impact on music both at Butler and in Indianapolis. He founded and directed the Greater Indianapolis Youth Symphony, was conductor and music director of the Indiana Opera Theater and Indianapolis Opera Company, was music director for Indianapolis Ballet Theatre, served as director of the Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis and the Athenaeum Orchestra, and was guest conductor for the Symphonic Praise Choir.

“Jackson Wiley was the in-house whirling dervish in music at Butler,” said James Briscoe, professor of historical musicology. “And yet, he whirled with a high purpose, not wildly but with an energy that took us all to high achievements. He led many romantic music festivals and the Butler Symphony with keen intelligence and artistry, and the students’ good was, without exception, his good. Before its articulation, Jackson gave life to the Butler Way—its downplay of ego and its purpose of selflessness.”

In 2007, Butler honored Wiley with a tribute concert and endowed a scholarship in his name. The Jackson Wiley Scholarship benefits underclassmen pursuing a degree in music, with first preference given to those participating in the Butler Symphony Orchestra.

Wiley was born April 15, 1921, the third of the five children of Joseph Burton Wiley and Katherine Pellet, both teachers. He attended Yale University on a full scholarship, where he produced what he once described as “a totally undistinguished record except in protest political activity.”

He spent four years in the Navy during World War II, with time in Australia, New Guinea, the Philippines, and Japan, where he interpreted for the Strategic Bombing Survey. He earned the Bronze Star for his service.

After the war, he studied at Juilliard and helped form the LaSalle String Quartet with other students. The string quartet achieved a residency position at Colorado College, where Wiley eloped with his first pupil, Jane, and returned to Juilliard.

“Some hard work on the piano made possible a student coaching position in the Juilliard Opera Theatre, where Leontyne (then Mary) Price was in preparation for her initial role as Mistress Ford in ‘Falstaff,’ ” Wiley recalled in 2007. “They were lean years of learning–with help from a willing wife, GI and parent money, and such jobs as cellist in Edith Piaf’s engagement at the Versailles Club, with Radio City Music Hall, and on Bernstein’s ‘Omnibus’ TV programs, great training under Leonard Rose, and playing in the New York City Opera Orchestra.”

After graduation, he freelanced through concerts and recordings under Leopold Stokowski and Thomas Beecham and in chamber music premieres by pianist Russell Sherman and violinist Isidore Cohen. He became involved in jazz as well, playing with Charles Mingus.

“None of the great jazz players we recorded with stayed very long, because Mingus was too determined to write all their improvisations for them,” he recalled. “But Charlie Parker would show up to visit, and John Lewis and Thelonious Monk came to play.”

At 36, Wiley achieved his first salaried position as a conductor with the Springfield Symphony in Ohio, “a feat accomplished seemingly by my turning down their offers of an audition date three times, thereby forcing the president to interview me in Woodstock, N.Y., where I was totally absorbed in a small summer opera troupe.”

The position expanded to include a new youth orchestra and civic chorus, an orchestra at Wittenberg University, a Wittenberg Trio, a column every Sunday in the local newspaper, and a weekly radio program.

Later in his 12 years at Springfield, Wiley made contact with Butler Ballet, which grew into annual visits by Butler’s dance program. When Butler needed a conductor, Jackson Ehlert, dean of what then was called the Jordan College of Fine Arts, called Wiley.

“There were many new possibilities at Butler,” Wiley said. “A Greater Indianapolis Youth Symphony to form, an opera workshop revived, and the Romantic Festival under Frank Cooper in full force, and extraordinarily unusual programs with the Butler Ballet under the guidance and genius of George Verdak.”

After retiring from Butler, Wiley conducted the Indianapolis Philharmonic Orchestra.

He is survived by his wife, Jane; his brothers, Joseph and Steven; his daughter Candida; his sons Scott, Hunt, and Bradford; and his grandchildren, Theodore, Nathaniel, Jackson, Elizabeth, Chloe, and Audree.

In lieu of flowers, charitable donations can be made to:

The Philharmonic Orchestra of Indianapolis
c/o Robin Andres 
32 E. Washington St., Symphony Center Suite 900
Indianapolis, IN 46204

“Jackson Wiley was a great teacher, with boundless energy, and he will be missed,” Director of Bands Robert Grechesky said. “He mounted, produced, and conducted some amazing performances, participation in which were some of my proudest moments at Butler.”

Media contact:
Marc Allan
mallan@butler.edu
(317) 940-9822