Year: 2021

Piedmont, emergency services to hold disaster drill March 24

The Piedmont University of R.H. Daniel School of Nursing and Health Sciences along with area emergency agencies will hold a disaster drill on March 24 at the campus in Demorest. Associate Professor Karen Greilich said the drill will include about 80 junior nursing students from the Demorest and Athens campuses who will play the role…

Culture changer

According to some statistics, the average working adult will shift careers between five and seven times during a working life. That number is about right for Dr. Ed Taylor, who is retiring June 30 as Dean of the Walker College of Business. Taylor, a Kentucky native, has been a computer software engineer, military colonel, computer…

Legacy of Love

Alexandra Nicole Faerber ’15 was a kind soul with a free spirit who could be tough when she needed to be. She liked to help people in need and would not abide anyone being excluded. “She didn’t judge others,” said her father, Craig. “She accepted people and just assumed they were good.” Alexandra, who was…

Hatfield making her own history in the Nacoochee Valley

As a preteen, Madison Hatfield ’21 wanted to take a “fun family weekend trip” to Andersonville, a tiny Georgia town once home to a prisoner-of-war camp. Thousands of Union soldiers died of scurvy and dysentery in the 14 months the Confederacy operated the camp during the Civil War.            Dr. Beth Lovern, Associate Professor of anthropology…

With a little help from your friends

Last spring, Dr. Perry Rettig, Piedmont’s Vice President for Enrollment Management and Student Affairs, had just wrapped up a Board presentation when a Trustee pulled him aside. During his two-hour team talk, Rettig, who has a gift for breaking down difficult concepts into simple, easy-to-understand terms, had discussed the complexities of higher education admission and…

Murley found a mission helping homeless in Dublin

Bethany Murley ’13 has been in Dublin, Ireland, since October 2019 serving as a volunteer for the Dublin Simon Community. The 50-year-old organization battles homelessness with the attitude, “Until they can close their own door behind them, the most vulnerable members of our society will always be at their most vulnerable.” Murley’s father was a…

Astolfi wins teaching award

Piedmont University Artist-in-Residence and Pianist Dr. Jeri-Mae G. Astolfi has been awarded the 2020 Steinway & Sons Top Teacher Award. The accolade, established in 2011, recognizes music educators for excellence in teaching and inspiring young people to study piano. In a commendation letter, Steinway recognized Astolfi’s resilience “throughout a difficult and restrictive year.” “Your commitment…

MSMA to feature works of Toccoa artist

The Mason-Scharfenstein Museum of Art (MSMA) will open Marie T. Cochran: Notes of an Affrilachian daughter in the era of COVID-19 with a February 25 public reception that will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. The exhibition will be on display through March 25. Cochran is the Lehman Brady Visiting Professor at the Center for Documentary Studies…

The Art of Aiming High

Hayden Giovino’s grit, determination, focus, and passion, along with the help of art professor Rebecca Brantley, helped get him a coveted spot in a program with the High Museum in Atlanta….