Summer 2024
CORNERSTONE MESSAGE FROM DEAN ALLISON S. DANELL Hello from Harriot College! Thank you for spending some time to reconnect with us via this newsletter. Here in Pirate Nation™, we are busy engaging in activities that support ECU’s 2023-2028 Strategic Plan: Future-focused. Innovation-driven. Across several strategies, our college strongly aligns with the university mission priorities of Student Success, Public Service and Regional Transformation, and vision priorities of Social and Economic Mobility, Workforce Success and Rural Health and Well-Being. A recurring theme is access and when we take actions that improve access, whether it be access to knowledge, experiences or advancement, our students and employees reap many rewards. This work helps us expand our positive impact on the region by welcoming new learners to ECU, like the many working adults able to access degree programs online (https://onlineprograms.ecu.edu). These tried-and-true majors at ECU, like Psychology and Criminal Justice, are now available in a flexible, fast-paced online setting for anyone ready to learn…yet another way we are making a major difference here in Harriot College at ECU!
In this issue, we feature several compelling profiles of people who make Harriot College special. You may particularly enjoy learning how physics research can transform the face of medicine or about the critical role communication plays in community-focused policing. I am especially proud of how well Harriot College performed in the 2024 Pirate Nation Gives campaign. This is, of course, squarely because of friends and supporters like you! You are one of the biggest reasons that #HarriotCollegeWorks!
Jason Sugg, Chief of ECU Police Doctoral student in Rhetoric, Writing, and Professional Communication “The most enjoyable academic experience I have had at ECU is the support I experience from fellow students, staff and faculty, especially in Foreign Languages and Literatures and the Department of English. They have always been welcoming environments.” Provides daily leadership as ECU’s Chief of Police Has worked at ECU for more than 25 years and cares about the university’s mission and its community Applies his doctoral work to his professional career by developing perspectives and providing insight into how law enforcement and communication overlap both culturally and rhetorically – plans to continue the conversation Shares his expertise with students and the general public by co-sponsoring the ECU Student Safety Committee, serving on ECU’s Master of Public Administration Advisory Committee, and maintaining memberships in local, state and national professional organizations
Dr. Adriana Heimann-Rios
Associate Professor, Department of Geological Sciences “I appreciate Dean Danell’s leadership and for providing funds to initiate new research. I also appreciate Harriot College and the Women and Gender Office for providing opportunities in leadership training for women, and faculty and staff from groups underrepresented in higher education.”
Expert in the chemistry of minerals and rocks, early marine environments, and the evolution of our planet explained through magma and crust formation Imparts students with the knowledge needed to become licensed professional geologists Leads a multi-institutional team on a $7.5 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to help community partners tackle issues that affect agriculture, drinking water, air quality, Serves the scientific community as creator and organizer of the Department of Geological Sciences’ Student Research Symposium and as past president of the eastern NC chapter of Graduate Women in Science