Newsmakers

Springfield-photographer Gayle Harper, who operates In-Sight Photography, had two photographs included in the North American Nature Photography Association juried exhibition. The showcase, unveiled at the NANPA Annual Summit in Charlotte, N.C., is a collection of the top 100 members’ photographs.

One of Harper’s winning works is taken at Dogwood Canyon Nature Park, south of Branson. The photos can be viewed at http://www.nanpa.org/showcase.html.

Springfield Regional Arts Council named three Ozzie Award winners at the April 28 Salute to Travel & Tourism banquet.

Byrne Blackwood won the individual award for his 45 years of service to arts agencies, including Springfield Little Theatre, Springfield Regional Opera and Southwest Missouri State University department of theatre and dance.

Springfield-Greene County Parks Board and staff received the group award for involving arts in its recreational programming through a “sports model for the arts” campaign.

The Legacy Award was given posthumously to Grady Affolter in recognition of his contributions as an accompanist and performer.

Evangel University music education major and pianist Amy Case received the Ruby McClure Special Musician Award. The award, which includes a cash gift from the Ruby McClure Endowment Fund of the Missouri Federation of Music Clubs, is given to encourage Missouri college music students.

Chamber

Three area businesspeople were chosen to participate in Leadership Missouri, a seven-month leadership enhancement program sponsored by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Todd Murren, director of SpringNet for City Utilities, Fred Marty, SMSU associate vice president for administrative services, and Jill Duncan, SMSU associate director of admissions, were chosen for the program, which is designed to help business, government and civic leaders better understand the issues facing Missouri business and government.

Education

Evangel University mathematics professor Don Tosh was installed as the president of Kappa Mu Epsilon, a national mathematics honor society. The ceremony took place at the KME national convention at Schreiner University in Kerrville, Texas. He will serve as president for four years and previously served as national historian from 1997–2001.

Ten Evangel students attended the Kappa Mu Epsilon national convention in Texas. There, Kevin Reed, a Bolivar native with a double major in mathematics and computer science, received a cash award for his paper, “Optimal Strategies for the Dice Game.”

Evangel biology professor Michael Tenneson was presented with the 2005 E.M. and Estella Clark Award for Excellence in Teaching, Scholarship and Service during the university’s May 6 graduation ceremonies. Tenneson, who has been a member of the Evangel faculty since 1987, is also chair of the Evangel Premedical Advisory Committee.

Kathryn Hope, head of the Southwest Missouri State University department of nursing, received a $21, 858 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration for advanced education nursing traineeships. The grant funds tuition and fees for full-time Master of Science in nursing students.

SMSU received a $10,000 grant from Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Gen. Joan Wang of the Taiwan consulate in Kansas City presented the centennial gift, which will bolster book holdings related to Taiwan.

SMSU is one of the nation’s best colleges in fostering social responsibility and public service according to The Princeton Review and Campus Compact.

SMSU is one of 81 institutions in 33 states that The Princeton Review commends and features in its forthcoming book, “Colleges with a Conscience: 81 Great Schools with Outstanding Community Involvement.”

Springfield Public Schools teachers Maria Thomas, Jennifer Webb, Julie West and Cathy Carleton received the Foundation for Springfield Public Schools’ 2005 Kids’ Choice awards.

The four teachers – Thomas, Horace Mann fourth-grade; Webb, Pershing sixth-grade academic recovery; West, Parkview foreign language; and Carleton, Bailey Alternative sciences – received a framed certificate, $100 gift card and the student essay nominating them for the award.

Environment

John Havel, SMSU professor of biology, received $170,000 from the University of Illinois for his study: Analyses of Zooplankton Samples from the Missouri River and its Mainstream Reservoirs. Havel will use the grant to examine zooplankton as bioindicators of disturbance in large rivers.

Government

Carla Woolfe-Woods was named employee of the quarter for the Missouri Office of the Attorney General by Attorney General Jay Nixon. Woolfe-Woods is executive secretary in the Springfield regional office and has worked for the attorney general’s office for nearly 20 years, as a legal secretary and paralegal, primarily for the Consumer Protection Division.

Health care

Family practice physician Randall T. Qualls joined Cox Medical Associates of Lebanon. Qualls, certified by the American Board of Family Practice, has cared for patients of all ages in Lebanon for 12 years, performing general care, minor surgeries, Pap smears, physicals and preventive screenings.

Mercy Regional Health Foundation at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin awarded $14,389 in grants for health service equipment and nursing education for area residents. The grants were allocated to the Duenweg Volunteer Fire Department, the Civil Air Patrol in Lamar, and St. John’s trauma and emergency, patient care services and human resources departments.

Fifty-three hospital managers graduated from the Missouri Hospital Association Center for Education’s Health Care Leadership Series. The program, in its second year, consists of comprehensive, leadership training courses designed to enhance hospital staff’s managerial skills. Area graduates include Jean Morrow and Michelle Noblitt of Citizens Memorial Healthcare; Jamelia Anderson and Debbie McKee of Cox Medical Center South; and Shawn Harris of St. John’s Hospital.

Maintenance

Cal Wittenberger of LCS Kleen-Aire passed the National Air Duct Cleaners Association certification examination to become an air systems cleaning specialist. The NADCA examination was given March 7–11 in Las Vegas to professional ventilation system cleaning contractors.

Marketing

Ruth Hunter was named marketing manager at Indian Summer Pool & Spa LLC. Hunter is responsible for developing and implementing marketing concepts for the company’s monthly e-newsletter and for growing its database. Hunter formerly worked as a graphic artist for Tracker Marine.

Jessica Harrell joined Jack Ball Architects PC as marketing director. Harrell, a Drury Univer-sity graduate with degrees in advertising and public relations, is responsible for maintaining client relationships.

Tourism

Gov. Matt Blunt appointed James A. Divincen to Missouri’s tourism commission. Divincen, a 1975 SMSU graduate with nearly 30 years of travel industry experience, is executive vice president of the Lake of the Ozarks Tri-County Lodging Association.