General News

In 2011, Larry Mellichamp was working on a book about native plants, when he envisioned an addition to the UNC Charlotte Botanical Gardens that would showcase such specimens. That dream became reality when the campus and greater Charlotte communities gathered Sunday, May 31, to formally open the Mellichamp Natives Terrace Garden.

The wooden and brick terraces of the one-fifth-acre Mellichamp Garden provide examples of how homeowners can use native plants in their landscaping.

John Reeves, Blumenthal Professor of Judaic Studies in the Department of Religious Studies, has received a prestigious American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Fellowship for 2015-16 to work on the project “Illuminating the Afterlife of Ancient Apocryphal Jewish Literature.”

This year, ACLS made 70 awards to faculty of all ranks and independent scholars to support research in the humanities and humanistic social sciences. The organization received more than 1,000 applications in this cycle, making the program once again the most competitive in ACLS’s portfolio.

Tim Keane, who earned a bachelor’s degree in geography and a master’s degree in architecture from UNC Charlotte, has been named commissioner of planning and community development for the city of Atlanta.

Keane had served as director of planning, preservation and sustainability for the city of Charleston since 2009 and previously served as director of planning for the town of Davidson.

The Mecklenburg Soil and Water Conservation District has honored UNC Charlotte Urban Institute Associate Director Mary Newsom and the institute’s “KEEPING WATCH on WATER: City of Creeks” project with its Urban Conservation Award.

The Soil and Water Conservation District is a local organization that works with residents, agencies and business owners to plan and direct programs for the conservation and development of natural resources.

The North Carolina economy is in its sixth consecutive year of economic growth in 2015, UNC Charlotte economist John Connaughton reported in his quarterly forecast for the state.

Connaughton, in his Babson Capital Management/UNC Charlotte Economic Forecast, highlighted five areas of the economy to watch in the near term:

UNC Charlotte is hosting the 43rd Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC) and the 10th American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Manufacturing Science and Engineering Conference (MSEC 2015) from Monday, June 8, through Friday, June 12, at the Hilton Charlotte University Place. This combined event is the premier international forum for applied research and industrial applications in manufacturing and design.

Robin James, associate professor of philosophy, had the work “Resilience and Melancholy: Pop Music, Feminism and Neoliberalism” published by Zero Books. Recently, James was interviewed by Dave O’Brien for the New Books in Critical Theory website.

James notes in the podcast she uses music, particularly popular music, to “do philosophy.” She added music was a way for her to think through political questions related to gender/social inequality and value/philosophical concepts.

Charles Davis II, assistant professor of architectural history, was awarded a grant from the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts for his project “Building Character: The Racial Politics of Modern Architectural Style, 1860-1945.” 

Established in 1956, the Graham Foundation awards project-based grants to individuals and organizations to create public programs to foster the development of diverse and challenging ideas about architecture and the role it plays in arts, culture and society.

The Charlotte 49ers will have three of its home games broadcast on the FOX and CBS family of networks, according to the preliminary Conference USA TV package, released recently.

The 49ers non-conference home game vs. Temple, Friday, Oct. 2, will be broadcast at 7 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.  In addition, the 49ers home games vs. Marshall (Sat., Oct. 31) and UTSA (Sat., Nov. 14) will be broadcast on FOX network (to be determined).  Game times and networks for those games will be released 12 days prior to the game date.

Jeffrey Miller, associate director of bands/director of athletic bands, will be the guest on the June 4 edition of “The Live Wire,” Inside UNC Charlotte’s streaming webcast. The Pride of Niner Nation Marching Band will take the field this September for its inaugural season. Miller will  give an insider’s view of the band’s preparations and what home football game attendees can expect to see on the field.

Watch “The Live Wire” via computer or mobile devices starting at 2 p.m.