Dean Jacque Fetrow (center) congratulates Dean Toby Hale (left) and Dean Paul Orser.

The heart of the Wake Forest experience has always been lasting relationships, fostered by our intimate setting and warm community.

In their combined service of more than 66 years at Wake Forest, Associate Deans Toby A. Hale (’65, P ’03) and Paul N. Orser (’69, P ’01) touched the lives of countless students, families, faculty members and staff. They worked tirelessly to assist wherever needed and whenever their skills matched the situation.

Dean Toby Hale provided wisdom and guidance in many capacities including Dean of the Summer Sessions, Chair of the Honor and Ethics Council, Secretary of the Committee on Academic Affairs, Coordinator of the Wake Forest Research Fellowship Program, and Chair of the Health Professions Committee.

Dean Paul Orser worked in the areas of admissions, public affairs, and student life.  As a member of the dean’s office, Orser served for 16 years as Dean of Freshmen, directed the London (Worrell House) Program, founded and directed the WAKE Washington (Internship) Program, coordinated the First Year Seminar and First Year Orientation Programs, and coordinated the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (URECA) Center and Richter Fellowship Program.

In recognition of their strong, personal friendship and dedication to Wake Forest, the Office of the Dean of the College, and its student and faculty constituents, the College has honored these remarkable men by establishing the “Toby A. Hale and Paul N. Orser Student-Faculty Engagement Fund.”

Dean Jacquelyn Fetrow announced the gift at Hale’s retirement reception on April 22. Economics professor Perry Patterson and his partner, Joel Leander (’90); Associate Dean Anne Boyle and her husband, Wake Forest Baptist Health biostatistics professor Mark Espeland; and Dean Fetrow and her husband, computer science lecturer Brian Kell, made leadership gifts to the fund, which will be endowed.

This fund will be distributed at the discretion of the Dean of the College to support student-faculty engagement. In keeping with Dean Hale’s and Dean Orser’s interests and commitments, priority will be given to using these funds to encourage first-generation students and/or students with financial need to collaborate with faculty members in summer research and scholarly inquiry; mentored, academic activities and courses, including WAKE Washington; and internships with rigorous academic components and faculty oversight.

James Kelly, a risk & portfolio strategist in the Office of Investments, was recently recognized as part of the “Forty Under Forty” list by Asset International’s Chief Investment Officer magazine. The list celebrates the most impressive, freshest, curious, vibrant, and innovative asset owners on earth who are under 40 years old.

Read Kelly’s profile in the magazine here »

The School of Business is very excited about the upcoming completion of Farrell Hall — a building that will not only provide a dynamic home to the undergraduate and graduate business programs, but also represent an exciting addition to the facilities portfolio of the  Wake Forest campus.

The school looks forward to welcoming students, faculty and staff into the space, and it is providing opportunities to tour the building. Currently, tours are scheduled for May 3, 10, 17 and 24 at 3:30 p.m.

Register for a tour on the PDC site »

At the invitation of the Faculty Senate, Hof Milam, senior vice president of finance and administration and chief financial officer, will be giving his annual address to the University on Thursday, May 2, at 4 p.m. in Pugh Auditorium, Benson University Center.

Milam will speak on the Wake Forest budget for the next year and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The Senate invites all students, staff and faculty to attend.

Louis Richard “Lou” Morrell, formerly vice president for investments and treasurer, died April 28 in Wilmington, N.C. He was 76.

Morrell served as vice president and treasurer from 1995 to 2007. In his last year as vice president, he was responsible for management and oversight of the University’s $1.1 billion endowment fund and approximately $340 million in other investments. After stepping down as vice president, he continued managing select investments and overseeing the University’s trust program in a new role, while remaining as treasurer until 2009.

Morrell wrote numerous articles and book chapters on higher education endowment and investment management and received two national awards for his contributions to the field. In 2006, Wake Forest was recognized for the management of its endowment and named the Savviest Nonprofit of the Year by Foundation and Endowment Money Management.

Morrell began his long career in higher education as controller and assistant treasurer at Smith College, before serving as chief financial officer at Rollins College and in a similar capacity at Radcliffe College.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth Ann; son Stephen; and two grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Wake Forest University, PO Box 7227, Winston-Salem, NC 27109, for scholarships, or to Wrightsville University Methodist Church, 4 Love Oak Drive, Wrightsville Beach, NC 28480.

Read Morrell’s obituary »

The Staff Advisory Council (SAC) is pleased to announce the results of the 2013 election. Please congratulate the seven new SAC representatives from across the university staff: Shana Atkins (Advancement), Shannon Badgett (Budget and Finance Planning), David Carlson (FACS: Warehouse), Matt Clifford (Residence Life and Housing), Susan Edwards (Office of Research and Sponsored Programs), Christy Hill (FACS: Project Management), and Kim Thore (University Stores).

In addition to newly-elected representatives, Karen Frekko (Schools of Business) and Jennifer Killingsworth (Financial & Accounting Services) have been re-elected to serve an additional term. Each SAC representative will serve a term of three years and may be re-elected to serve one additional term.

The SAC received nominations from March 1-22 and held the election from April 8 – April 22.  The SAC received a total of 26 unique nominations across the six staff divisions. The overall staff voting participation rate was 36 percent (566 of 1,560 eligible voters). Two divisions, Athletics and Other, did not have any open SAC positions and therefore did not participate in the 2013 election. Click here for a list of SAC divisions.

The SAC would like to thank the representatives whose terms are ending this year: Cathy Chinlund, Debbie Deheck, Teresa Earl, Tomma Guastaferro, Melvin Lee and Donna Thornton.

For more information about the SAC, please visit:  http://sac.wfu.edu

WFDD (88.5 FM), the public radio station licensed to Wake Forest, raised $262,902 during its spring fundraising campaign, exceeding its goal. The drive took place Thursday, April 18, through Thursday, April 25, with 2,524 listeners making donations to the station; 30% of that total were first-time gifts.

WFDD’s general manager, Tom Dollenmayer, said that meeting the goal this early in the fiscal year is an unprecedented success, and attributed the success to a number of factors, including the fact that WFDD is fortunate to have a truly dedicated and passionate audience, which has grown to twice the size it was a year ago.

On Earth Day, April 22, the stationed partnered with the National Forest Foundation to have a tree planted for every gift of $50 or higher. The trees will be planted in a single project in spring 2014 to help with a major reforestation effort. WFDD listeners generated more than 200 trees with their gifts.

According to membership manager Greg Keener, the goal for the spring campaign encompassed money received via direct mail, online giving, and telephone pledges called in during the on-air campaign. This year, the station continued its commitment to reducing the number of on-air fundraising days, with only 10 pledge drive days so far this fiscal year. Continue reading »

A reception in honor of Ken Zick, vice president and dean for student affairs, will be held on Monday, April 29, in Reynolda Hall’s Green Room. Students, faculty and staff are invited to the event scheduled from 3:30-5 p.m., with remarks and a short program at 4 p.m.

Vice President Zick will step down from administrative responsibilities this summer, but he will remain an active member of the University community. After a one-year leave of absence, Zick will be teaching and participating in other administrative assignments at Wake Forest

Dr. Cecil Price, director of the Student Health Service, recently received the Bohmann Award from The Southern College Health Association (SCHA). The award is the organization’s highest honor, and it recognizes outstanding leaders who have established impressive standards for excellence and service both in the field of college health as well as in SCHA.

Price was lauded for his years of service at Wake Forest and his work as the coordinator of the Sunbelt Directors Meeting, a networking meeting of directors of student health services held each summer.

Price said he was surprised by the award as the Board of Directors of the SCHA on which he serves had kept his nomination and selection a secret until the presentation banquet.

“It was an honor to be selected by my peers at other universities in the Southeast for this award,” Price said. “I’ve told those in attendance as well as those who’ve sent their congratulations that this award was a celebration of the good work of the great people who surround me at the Wake Forest Student Health Service.”

Price received the award from its namesake, Dr. Charles F. Bohmann, on April 18 at the SCHA annual meeting hosted by the University of Alabama.

Congratulations to Gary D. Miller, associate professor of health and exercise science, whose proposal entitled “Increased Plasma Nitrite, Tissue Oxygenation and Functional Changes in PAD” has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number 1560532138A1 and the Duke University (WFU funding agency).

Lawlor

Katula

Congratulations to Jeffrey Katula, assistant professor of health and exercise science, and Michael Lawlor, professor of economics, whose proposal entitled “HELP PD II” has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under award number RG0742 and RG0983 and the WFU Health Sciences (WFU funding agency).

Congratulations to David Carroll, professor of physics, whose proposal entitled “Organic Thermoelectrics: the matrix composite approach“ has been funded by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Texas A & M Engineering Experiment Station (WFU funding agency).