Shepherd University Faculty Senate

The McMurran Convocation "Last Lecture"
The McMurran Convocation "Last Lecture" was established by the Shepherd University Senate in 2008, to honor an esteemed retiring or retired professor who has served the University and its students through the quality of his or her teaching, scholarship, and service to the campus and community. The "Last Lecture" is a unique opportunity to share with McMurran Scholars the wit and wisdom of the best in the higher education teaching profession, as well as an occasion to honor an extraordinary group of young scholars who are just setting out on their journey in the learned professions.

2012 Last Lecture
Dr. Charlotte R. Anderson
Professor Emerita of Nursing Education
1975-2010
Dr. Charlotte R. Anderson is a native of Winchester, Virginia, and was educated at Shenandoah College (University) with her associate of arts in nursing degree. She received her bachelor of science in nursing from Eastern Mennonite College (University), a master of education in counseling from James Madison University, a master of science in Nursing from George Mason University, and a Ph.D. in nursing from George Mason University. Dr. Anderson has been a registered professional nurse for 40 years, working initially in the clinical area. For the past 37 years, she has worked extensively in nursing education at Shepherd University. She served as chair of the department of Nursing Education for 18 years, leading the program development of the current B.S.N. program. She continues serving the Department as a visiting professor since her retirement in May 2010, when she was named professor emerita of nursing education by Shepherd University. Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Anderson has received recognition for contribution to the establishment of the Association for Deans and Directors in Nursing Education (A.D.D.N.E) in the state of West Virginia; Outstanding Contribution to Community College Education in West Virginia for the West Virginia Community College Association; Distinguished Alumna Award from Shenandoah University; and Excellence in Nursing Education from the West Virginia Center for Nursing in 2009. Dr. Anderson has been actively involved in the Eastern Panhandle community, where she has served as board member to the Panhandle Home Health Care; Berkeley Senior Center; United Way Day of Caring; and the local Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. Her contributions to the community have impacted the lives of more than 800 young Girl Scouts of America interested in exploring nursing as a future profession. For 37 years, Dr. Anderson has been a teacher and colleague. Her love for Shepherd University, students, nursing, education, scholarship, and the state of West Virginia, are a few of the reasons her colleagues selected her as the Last Lecturer for the 2012 McMurran Convocation.

2011 Last Lecture
Dr. Jerry Bruce Thomas
Professor Emeritus of History
1972-2009
West Virginia and Appalachia have always been the inspiration for the award-winning scholarship and work of Dr. Jerry Bruce Thomas, professor emeritus of history at Shepherd University. Dr. Thomas came to Shepherd after completing his B.A. degree in political science at West Virginia University and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in American History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Thomas's dissertation, "Coal Country: The Rise of the Southern Smokeless Coal Industry and Its Effects on Area Development, 1872-1910," served as the seed for many related research projects, including his book, An Appalachian New Deal: West Virginia in the Great Depression, published in 1998, by the University of Kentucky Press and reprinted in a 2010 edition by West Virginia University Press. Over the years, Dr. Thomas has published a range of articles on West Virginia for the Encyclopedia of West Virginia, edited by Ken Sullivan, the American National Biography, the Encyclopedia of Southern History, and the Encyclopedia of the Confederacy. His journal articles have dealt with depression era West Virginia, the WPA Writers' Project in the state, and other historical topics. Dr. Thomas has been actively involved in the community, leading discussion groups, speaking on topics in his field, and involved in educational endeavors and activities including the film series, West Virginia: A Film History. His involvement in the University as teacher, scholar, and committee member over the years allowed him to make a significant contribution to the growth of Shepherd as it evolved from a regional college to a premier public liberal arts university. In 2007, he received the singular honor of being nominated by the University Dean's Council to represent the Shepherd in the West Virginia Professor of the Year statewide competition, becoming a finalist and again honoring both the University, the School of Arts and Humanities, and the Department of History. For thirty-seven years, Dr. Jerry Thomas was an extraordinary teacher and colleague. His generosity, love of learning, scholarship, and enthusiasm for higher education and the state of West Virginia are the reasons his colleagues have selected him as the Last Lecturer for the 2011 Fiftieth Anniversary McMurran Convocation.

2010 Last Lecture
Dr. Charles W. Carter
Professor of English
1972-2010
Dr. Charles W. Carter is a native of Georgetown, South Carolina, and he was educated at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he received his B. A., his M. A., and his Ph. D. Before coming to Shepherd in 1972, Dr. Carter was a member of the graduate faculty of Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, and the full-time faculty at his alma mater, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Carter's areas of expertise include 19th-Century American literature, American poetry, English literature of the Renaissance, especially Shakespeare and Milton, and Classical literature and mythology--and he has regularly taught advanced courses in each of these areas. By invitation, Dr. Carter has given a number of poetry readings for the campus and the community over the last decade. He has served on virtually every major standing committee of the University and as chair of a number of special administrative task forces. He was the first Moderator of the Shepherd College Assembly, the first Director of Academic Advisement (1997-2005), and has been involved with Promotion and Tenure decisions on the departmental, school, and university levels for a number of years. Dr. Carter has held the rank of Professor of English since 1985; he served as Chair of the Department of English and Modern Languages from 1990-1993 and from 2004 to the present. In April 2000, he was inducted into the Shepherd chapter of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and, at the end of the present academic year, Dr. Carter will complete his 38th year of service to the University

"In Praise of Science," 2009 Last Lecture
Dr. Donald L. Henry
Professor of Physics
1985-2009
Dr. Donald L. Henry came to Shepherd in 1981, from Wilson College in Pennsylvania, where he was Assistant Dean of the College. At Shepherd he has served and led the institution in a variety of ways--as Dean of the School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics and prior to that as division chair. Since 1984, Dr. Henry has been a member of the editorial board of Proteus. He was a founding member of the Board of the American Conservation Film Festival, board member of the Friends of the National Conservation Training Center, the Potomac Valley Master Naturalist Program, and Project director for a prestigious NSF Academic Research Infrastructure grant, which funded renovation and replacement of science research laboratories at Shepherd. Dr. Henry has served on a variety of other boards, grant projects, and has been coordinator of Science Academy at Shepherd. His publications have appeared in Physical Review and the Journal of Chemical Physics, among others. Over the years, he has given much and served well Shepherd University--his colleagues, the institution, and most important his students have been inspired by his intellectual integrity and zest for learning. His words today are a fitting tribute for Shepherd University's highest academic honor.

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