Around the State: DBU group journeys to Oxford; Baylor prof offers antipoverty agenda for public health

Adam Wright, Dallas Baptist University president, talks with students outside St. Martin’s Church in Bladon, the gravesite of Winston Churchill. (DBU Photo)Dallas Baptist University sent a 40-member group—including 27 doctoral students—to England for the 11th annual Oxford Institute through the Gary Cook School of Leadership.  As a part of DBU’s leadership studies program, organizers designed the trip to give students the opportunity to look at globalization and the future of leadership, particularly in the areas of power, geopolitics and cultural intelligence. In addition to spending time at Oxford and Cambridge, the group toured historic landmarks, including the Royal Castle at Windsor, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Winston Churchill War Rooms and the Bodleian Library. They also visited significant locations in the life of C.S. Lewis, John Newton and William Carey. DBU President Adam Wright led the group, along with Ozzie Ingram, director of the Ed.D. in educational leadership program; Blake Killingsworth, vice president for communications; and Mary Nelson, director of the Ph.D. program. “Trips such as these turn learning into a transformative life experience,” Wright said. “Our students not only discover the impact of incarnational leadership in the lives of so many notable, historic figures, but they also have the opportunity to more fully understand the necessity of lives consecrated to Christ.”

A Baylor University professor wants the nation’s next surgeon general to spread awareness about the harmful impact of poverty on health. Jeff Levin, who directs the program on religion and population health at Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, outlined his antipoverty agenda for public health in an article published recently in Public Health Reports, the official journal of the U.S. Public Health Service. His article summarizes the many recent studies supporting the relationship between socioeconomic status and health. Research shows people living in poverty have less access to preventive care, poorer nutrition, higher rates of mental and physical disabilities, and higher mortality and morbidity rates. To address the health disparities resulting from poverty, Levin recommends the surgeon general take the lead to strengthen the social and public health infrastructure, encourage the government to collaborate with civil-society and voluntary sector institutions, and promote partnerships with faith-based organizations.

Wayland Baptist University received a $500,000 grant from the Moody Foundation in Galveston to help renovate the Moody Science Building, named for the foundation and the Moody family. Renovation of the science building is part of Wayland’s ongoing Impact 2020 capital campaign. The Moody Foundation originally donated $250,000 toward construction of the building, which was dedicated in 1970. The grant is part of a $4 million project to renovate the existing science building, which includes updating the science labs and auditorium, as well as upgrading safety measures and infrastructure, and establishing an endowment to benefit science students.