Dear Colleagues,

I trust everyone has enjoyed a bit of sunshine this week. Remarkably, we’re just a week away from Spring Break – the sands appear to be running through the hourglass a lot faster this term.

I had the pleasure of attending some events at the end of last week that I’d like to share. In quick succession, we had our annual Stewardship Luncheon where we connect scholarship donors and scholarship recipients. This was followed by the annual Le Gourmet event put on by the Hart School of Sport and Recreation Management (a tip of the Provost’s cap to our Hart School colleagues!), and the weekend was topped off by our Alumni Awards dinner. The throughline for me was seeing how the great student work on display ultimately translates to lives of purpose and meaning on the part of our alumni. Our work every day helps to make that happen, and we often only get to see just a small part of a much bigger canvas. It was cool to see the bigger picture.

In the meantime, you and your colleagues have really been making an impression!

• Congratulations to Dr. Sara Finney, professor of Graduate Psychology, who has been selected as a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science (APS). This honor reflects her sustained and outstanding contributions to the advancement of psychological science and places her in the company of prominent scientists in the discipline. Based on her excellent reputation in the field, she was also invited to deliver the keynote address at the 2026 Elevated Education Exchange (EEE), a campus professional development event where more than 250 Auburn University faculty and staff focused on sharing innovative practices, strengthening collaboration and advancing student success across campus.
• JMU’s streak of appearances on “With Good Reason” continues! Just in time for Women’s History Month, tune in this week to hear Dr. Maura Hametz, Department of History professor, discuss how “resistance took surprising forms” in the segment “Taking a Stand.”
  
  
• Professor of Philosophy Dr. Andrea Veltman recently published her latest book, Awareness of Suffering. The text was published by Bloomsbury Academic Publishing, where Andrea also serves as co-anthology editor of Evil, Political Violence, and Forgiveness: Essays in Honor of Claudia Card.
  
  
• Think you had a busy February? Last month, Dr. Lindsey Harvell-Bowman, professor in the School of Communication Studies and affiliate faculty in the Department of Psychology, presented four papers focusing on wellbeing and mental health. She gave presentations alongside undergraduate students in the Department of Psychology at JMU and Hiroshima University as well as faculty at the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at Yeshiva University at the Existential Psychology Preconference at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality & Social Psychology. Additionally, one of those students won the preconference's undergraduate research award.
  
  
• Congratulations are due to Dr. William Lukens, who was awarded a fellowship through the President's International Fellowship Initiative of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) is a program that fosters international collaboration in the sciences. He will travel to Beijing, China, this month and will give two research presentations and collaborate with their paleoclimate researchers. 

I hope the weather holds and you enjoy a lovely weekend. Use some of your time outside to think about the accomplishments you can submit to provost@jmu.edu.

Send news for you and your colleagues to provost@jmu.edu.

Sincerely,

Bob

Academic Affairs faculty and staff can use the options below to contact the provost directly.

This is an open line of communication allowing faculty and staff to ask questions, but it is not a substitute from the crucial interactions they have with their academic unit head, department head and dean.

• Submit a Question to the Provost
• Email the Provost

Students should contact AcademicQuestions@jmu.edu with questions.