APSU Faculty Members recognized for their years of service to the University

August 25, 2012 |

Austin Peay State University

Clarksville, TN – Many faculty at Austin Peay State University were recognized Wednesday, August 22nd for their years of service to the University.

Dr. Bert Randall, professor of philosophy, has been a fixture on the APSU faculty for 40 years, joining APSU when there was a separate department of philosophy.

He received the 2011 APSU National Alumni Association’s Distinguished Professor Award.

Dr. Bert Randall, professor of philosophy at APSU, was recognized Wednesday, August 22nd for his 40 years of service in teaching during the annual faculty meeting held in the Music/Mass Communication Building Concert Hall. (Photo by Rollow Welch, APSU)

Randall holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Oklahoma. He has a B.S. in mathematics from Maryville College, a Master of Divinity in theology from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary and a Master of Arts.

In the 40 years he has taught at APSU, he has authored four books and has had 29 articles published in professional journals.

Among the multiple awards he has received, Randall was named the recipient in 1993 of the APSU Hawkins Award for Excellence in Scholarship, nominated in 1996 and 1997 for the Carnegie Foundation Professor of the Year Award and nominated in 2009 for U.S. Professors of the Year. He also was awarded several grants for study and travel. On these grants, he has traveled to Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Since joining APSU’s psychology department in 1977, Dr. Charles Grah has taught students how to remember certain information through his expertise in mnemonics. His academic interests always have been in the areas of learning, memory and cognition, so mnemonics is simply an extension of his long-standing interest in memory.

Grah, a professor of psychology who had previously served as chair of the department from 1998-2002, earned his Bachelor of Arts in psychology in 1971 from San Diego State University and, later, both his master’s and doctoral degrees in psychology from the University of New Mexico.

Dr. David Kanervo, chair of the department of political science, joined APSU as an assistant professor in 1977. In the 35 years he has served at the University, he has come to be the region’s political expert, as he often is sought for comments from the news media when events with political context occur.

In 2006, he was honored with APSU’s National Alumni Association Distinguished Professor Award.

He earned his political science undergraduate degree from Millikin University, and his master’s and doctoral degrees in political science come from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Dr. Steven Ryan, professor of English, has taught American literature at APSU since 1977. His early publications focused on such writers as Herman Melville and Flannery O’Connor. Since 1989, his scholarly work has been on modern writers associated with the Clarksville region, including Evelyn Scott and Caroline Gordon.

In 1999, he received the University’s prestigious Richard M. Hawkins Award for his noteworthy contributions to scholarship and creative activity.

Ryan received his associate degree from Ellsworth Junior College, bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa, master’s from Iowa State University and his doctorate from the University of Utah.

For 35 years, Danielle White, associate professor of nursing, has educated hundreds of students in APSU’s highly esteemed School of Nursing, focusing on adult health and leadership and management in the nursing field.

She also has served on multiple committees since she began teaching at APSU, both within the School of Nursing and for the University, and she has worked tirelessly in the Hopkinsville, KY, community, volunteering for the Aaron McNeil House and Pennyroyal Hospice, among many others.

She received both her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Science in Nursing from the University of Evansville.

For 30 years, Susan Bryant has taught photography at APSU, taking her talent beyond the campus to the region and the country with her exhibitions and collections.

Her personal work includes gelatin silver prints, hand-colored silver prints, digital photographs, and most recently, the 19th century processes of daguerreotypes, tintypes and wet plate collodion negatives and positives (ambrotypes). Her work has been widely exhibited across the United States in solo and juried exhibitions.

She received her B.F.A. in painting in 1976 from Indiana University and her M.F.A. in photography in 1978 from Indiana State University.