Newsmakers

Accounting

Southwest Baptist University Accounting Department Chairman Wayne Clark was named to the 2009-10 Missouri Society of Certified Public Accountants Board of Directors. Clark has been a member of the MSCPA since 1979 and served on several of its committees.

Davis, Lynn & Moots PC hired Hugo Huacuz, a Missouri State University graduate who will perform government and nonprofit audit services for the firm.

Communications

SBU communication arts faculty members Bob Derryberry and Jordan Compton presented papers at the 94th-annual Convention of the National Communication Association meeting in San Diego.

Derryberry, a senior communication professor, presented as a part of a Pi-Kappa-Delta-sponsored panel on intercollegiate forensics, focused on seizing opportunities such as local speech and debate programs.

Compton, SBU's assistant director of forensics and communication arts instructor, presented "Mixing Friends with Politics: A Functional Analysis of the '08 Presidential Candidates Social Networking Websites."

Community

MSU was named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll by the Corporation for National and Community Service.

MSU was chosen for projects including its collaboration with the Springfield Community Center to develop the Family Literacy Center and its help with the Every One Counts Unsheltered Homeless Count Campaign.

Education

The research of Evangel University associate education professor Matt Stringer was presented at the seventh annual Hawaiian International Conference on Education. "Department Head Leadership and the Use of Faculty Credit Hours as a Measure of Faculty Workload" was presented by Cynthia MacGregor and Robert Watson of MSU at the conference, which had more than 1,200 participants representing more than 40 countries.

Robert Kitchin, a professor and chairman of chemistry and physics at SBU, was selected for the 2009 edition of Who's Who in America. The honor goes to individuals and innovators from fields including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment.

Alina Lehnert, assistant professor of organizational leadership and the associate director of leadership and strengths development at Evangel University, spoke at leadership conferences in Los Angeles and Springfield.

In Los Angeles, Lehnert was part of a panel discussion that focused on ethnographic case studies and strengths-based development learning modules. At Missouri State University, she presented a session on maximizing strengths-based development for staff, students and self.

Nixa School Board member Peggy Taylor was named president of the Missouri School Boards' Association. Taylor was MSBA's president-elect and occupies the office after the unexpected death last month of Paul Morris of Federal Protection Inc. Taylor, a 24-year MSBA board member, will serve the remaining five months of Morris' term and another year as president.

SBU mathematics professor Bob Glasgow presented two sessions on using free geometry software GeoGebra at the Interface Conference in Osage Beach. Interface is an annual conference hosted by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education that focuses on mathematics and science.

Engineering

The America Council of Engineering Companies of Missouri honored two Springfield firms.

GeoEngineers Inc. received the Grand Award for its horizontal directional drilling design and construction services for the BP Trinidad & Tobago New Oil Export Line project.

Anderson Engineering Inc. received a Distinguished Service Award for 55 years of outstanding service to clients, the public and the engineering profession.

Technology

JMark Business Solutions Inc. promoted Jeffery Bendure to service manager. Bendure, a former client-care representative, has been with JMark since 2005 and was a network consultant at Dairy Farmers of America for more than three years prior. The MSU graduate - with a double major in computer information systems and business management - manages 15 client-care representatives and two service coordinators.