2013 Scholars Symposium Scheduled for April 17-19

WILSON, N.C. — Barton College announces the second annual Scholars Symposium scheduled for April 17-19. Barton Trustee Dr. Garnett B. Whitehurst of Brooks Whitehurst Associates Inc., will be the featured keynote speaker.  This annual symposium celebrates the collaboration of students and faculty as majors from across campus share their research projects and creative works. Initially envisioned to build a culture of scholarship on campus, the 2012 inaugural symposium’s success set the bar for an impressive agenda of research completed for the 2013 Scholars Symposium. This year’s presentations will reflect academic research in the areas of accounting, art and design, athletic training, gerontology, biology, business management, elementary education, fitness management, marketing, mathematics, psychology, sports management, and visual communications.

The symposium’s three-day schedule of events will include three sessions of Scholars Research Presentations in the Lauren Kennedy and Alan Campbell Theatre. The first session of research presentations will be held on Wed., April 17, from 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. The second session will be held on Thursday morning, April 18, from 9:30 a.m. – 11 a.m. Thursday afternoon’s schedule will begin with the Scholars Symposium keynote address delivered by Dr. Whitehurst at 1 p.m. Following the keynote address, the third session of research presentations will be held from 1 p.m. – 3 p.m.  On Friday, April 19, the Scholars’ Poster Exhibition will be on view in the Case Art Building from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. with a reception and student scholars’ poster presentations at 1 p.m. These events are open to the public at no charge, and the community is invited to attend.

During the symposium, Barton will also host two invitation-only luncheons for the Retired Faculty Society on Wednesday, with presentations by Barton College honors’ students, and for Scholars Symposium participants on Thursday.

About the Keynote Speaker —

Dr. Whitehurst has served on the Barton College Board of Trustees since 2011. He is a former professor of chemistry in the College’s science program. He completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences (biochemistry emphasis) from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Iowa State University. He also received an Executive Certificate in Management and Leadership from the Sloan School of Management at MIT.

As a co-owner, with his father, of Brooks Whitehurst Associates Inc., Dr. Whitehurst’s work for the company currently focuses on coated fertilizer products used to improve nitrogen use efficiency to prevent losses due to ammonia release as fertilizers are used in either forestry or agriculture. The patented technology is being marketed worldwide under the Weyerhaeuser trade name of Arborite®.

Dr. Whitehurst is a member of the American Chemical Society and has served as secretary, chair-elect and chair of the Eastern North Carolina section, Combined Crop and Soil Science Societies of America, Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Society for Chemical Hazard Communication and other scientific societies. He also is an avid fisherman and photographer of wildlife.

Dr. Whitehurst has endowed a scholarship in the Department of Science and Mathematics at Barton and has provided funding for equipment and student research activities in the College’s science program.

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