Andrea Allen, executive director, Delta Center for Economic Development, is one of four individuals appointed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to the Arkansas Rural Development Commission. She will serve a three-year term on the commission. Allen joined the university staff in 2016 and was elevated to her current position in 2018. More details are in the Governor’s Office appointments announcement.

Dr. Rick Stripling, program director and associate professor of educational leadership, has published a retrospective about his higher education experience at A-State in a volume written to help young professionals headed into student service careers. In Legacy of Change, Stripling emphasizes the behaviors leaders use to transform values into action, and obstacles and risks into innovation and rewards. The book is available online.

Dr. Tanja McKay, professor of entomology, and department chair, is co-author of a paper recently published in the Journal of Applied Entomology. She and her colleagues analyze how combining long-lasting insecticide-treated nets (LLIN) with common insecticides can better control pest insects in food facilities. The results show that while the nets alone effectively reduce pest numbers, combining them with insecticides like pyrethrins or deltamethrin increased their effectiveness. The article is online.

Dr. Charles Hartwig, emeritus professor of political science, was honored by Pi Gamma Mu, the International Honor Society in Social Sciences, at its Centennial Convention in Philadelphia. Hartwig was inducted into the Pi Gamma Mu Hall of Fame in recognition of his longtime work chairing the committee that selected student social science research contest winners and his service, as one of the society’s four regional chancellors and as governor for Arkansas Province of the organization.

Dr. Gregory Hansen, professor of folklore and English, recently made a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Folklore Society in Albuquerque. In “Illustrating Intersections Between Intangible Cultural Heritage and Historic Preservation through Arkansas Folklife,” Hansen focused on cultural conservation as safeguarded through the work of Patricia Johnson at the Eddie Mae Herron Center, KASU’s “Bluegrass Monday,” and the Lepanto Terrapin Derby.