News FlashPartners form minority business accelerator Akron Urban League, Akron SCORE and Kent State University have formed a collaboration to propel minority business growth in Northeast Ohio. The Partnership for the Minority Business Accelerator, a consortium of these three organizations, will provide the education, training, mentoring, intensive support, networking and cultural understanding required to significantly increase the success and growth of minority-owned businesses. The GAR Foundation awarded $345,580 for two years of operation. The accelerator will provide intensive support to African-American and Hispanic owners of small- to medium-sized businesses with growth potential in Medina, Portage and Summit counties. The accelerator dovetails into the region’s Advance Northeast Ohio economic action plan, which has identified urban assimilation and racial inclusion as attributes that positively impact the growth of regional economies. For more information, contact the program manager, Veronica Cook-Euell, at 234-542-4145 or aulvcookeuell@aol.com or visit www.pmba1.org.  Dr. Timothy S. Moerland Kent State University’s College of Arts and Sciences will be led by an administrator, scientist, scholar and teacher from Florida State University. Dr. Timothy S. Moerland, chair of FSU’s Department of Biological Sciences, will become dean of Kent State’s largest college on May 15, 2008. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to assume this post at Kent State, a major national research institution,” Moerland said. “I firmly believe in the core mission of public universities, and in their value to the nation and the local community.” At Florida State, Moerland also served as associate dean of research for the College of Arts and Sciences, primarily responsible for development and coordination of new research initiatives and oversight of contract and grant activity. Both grant and contract funding increased significantly during his tenure, with a large measure of growth coming in collaborative projects between departments and colleges. Moerland’s research interests include biochemical and physiological mechanisms of temperature compensation; muscular physiology and the energetics of muscular contraction; and intracellular diffusion and molecular transport. He received an FSU Developing Scholar Award and a University Teaching Award. He co-holds a U.S. patent, “Biomolecular-based Actuator.” He holds a bachelor’s degree in biological science (High Honors) from Michigan State University, and master’s and doctorate degrees in zoology from the University of Maine. Read more about Moerland's appointment in e-Inside at http://einside.kent.edu/?type=art&id=85586&  Ground was broken in October 2007 for the new Hillel Jewish Student Center, to be located at 613 Summit Street at the intersection with Terrace Drive. Pictured (left to right): Joe Kanfer, honorary capital campaign chair; Vic Cohn, Building Committee; Jennifer Chestnut, Hillel executive director; Gary Shamis, president, Hillel Board of Trustees; Joel Abramson, student chair, Groundbreaking Ceremony; Keith Mirman, ‘73, chair, Building Committee; Kent State President Lester Lefton. The facility, which will be funded entirely through private donations, is expected to open in January 2009. For more information, visit www.613Summit.org. Photo by Gary Harwood, ’83 Representatives from Hillel, Kent State, the city of Kent, the state of Ohio and other supporters celebrated the beginning of construction on an 11,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility to be located at Lincoln and Summit streets. The new building will be close to campus and will include a student lounge, sanctuary, café, computer lab and Jewish library. Hillel at Kent State is the foundation of Jewish collegiate life for Kent State University and the University of Akron. The organization serves more than 1,500 students annually with social, religious, cultural and leadership development programming. Read more about the Hillel groundbreaking at http://www.kenthillel.org/.  DEVO founder and prolific composer Mark Mothersbaugh will receive an honorary degree from Kent State, where he was an art student. Trivia question: When and where did the innovative and iconic musical group DEVO give its first concert? Answer: On April 1973 in the Recital Hall at Kent State University, where group founder Mark Mothersbaugh was an art student. Nearly 35 years later, the university’s Board of Trustees conferred an honorary doctor of humane letters degree upon Mothersbaugh for his numerous path-breaking contributions to the fields of music and the visual arts. Mothersbaugh, a pioneer in synthesized music, was a Kent State art major who studied printmaking and painting from 1968 to 1973. His artistic sensibilities were evident in DEVO, which developed a visual and musical style that was different from anything during the 1970s “new wave” music scene. DEVO became a favorite on MTV, and will always be remembered for the red “flower pot” hats in their hit video “Whip It.” For the last two decades, Mothersbaugh has established himself as a respected and prolific composer in popular and commercial music, writing music for more than 70 feature films and countless television projects, commercials and video games through his production company Mutato Muzika. The Emmy-winning composer’s work has also been recognized with an Academy Award nomination, the Clio award and the prestigious Richard Kirk Lifetime Achievement Award from Broadcast Music Inc. Read more about Mark Mothersbaugh at http://www.markmothersbaugh.com. Press acquires Ohio History The Kent State University Press recently added Ohio History, an annual, peer-reviewed journal, to its already renowned list of regional publications. For more than 100 years, Ohio History has offered scholarly essays, research notes, edited primary documents and book reviews spanning the political, military, social, economic, ethnic, archaeological, architectural and cultural history of Ohio and the Midwest. Originally published by the Ohio Historical Society, the journal also includes essays on subjects concerning the nation and the Midwest with an Ohio focus. Kent State’s inaugural issue was released in spring 2007, with the next issue due in May 2008. It is available through Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, as well as by subscription. | |||||
