SEC Symposium Program Includes Participants From Each SEC University

April 21, 2015

By: Bryant Welbourne
SECU (Twitter: @TheSECU)

The 2015 SEC Symposium, entitled Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Driving a 21st Century Economy, will feature participants from all 14 Conference universities as presenters, moderators and panelists. The SEC Symposium, in its third year, will take place Sept. 20-22 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

Established by SEC Presidents and Chancellors, the annual SEC Symposium showcases the academic excellence and underscores the educational and economic contributions of SEC member institutions to the vitality of the Southeast region, nation and world.

“When they voted to establish the SEC Symposium, the SEC Presidents and Chancellors made it clear that it should always include faculty and administrators from every league university,” said Torie Johnson, Executive Director of the SEC’s academic initiative. “In three years, we’ve met that expectation and showed that SEC schools have a powerful voice on these issues of global significance.”

The 2015 SEC Symposium will explore the university’s role in preparing individuals to be creative, innovative and entrepreneurial thinkers and will evaluate the ways universities serve as drivers of economic development.

Topics will range from building relationships in creativity, to the economic impact of university innovation, to building innovation partnerships across disciplines. The SEC Symposium will be divided into five sessions of formal presentations and will include informal breakout sessions intended to foster interaction and discussion among participants and attendees.

In addition to university participants, there will also be three keynote speakers. Sunday, Sept. 20, will feature a keynote address by Liz Lerman, the 2002 MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow and 2011 United States Artists Ford Fellow in Dance. Dr. Don Millard, Acting Division Director of Engineering Education and Centers at the National Science Foundation, will speak on Monday, Sept. 21. The final day of the SEC Symposium will include a keynote address by Dr. Tony Boccanfuso, Executive Director of University-Industry Demonstration Partnership at the National Academies.

The SEC Symposium is an academic conference-type event that also includes the SEC Presidents, Chancellors and Provosts Reception, student activities, and SEC University Showcase. To learn more about the SEC Symposium and to view the university presenters, visit www.secsymposium.com.

Below is a list of the participants and their universities.

Andrew Dewar, University of Alabama	Andrew Schwarz, Louisiana State University
Andrew Goodliffe, University of Alabama	Walter Chambliss, University of Mississippi
Jamey Grimes, University of Alabama	Alice Clark, University of Mississippi
Rob Morgan, University of Alabama	John Kiss, University of Mississippi
Dave Fredrick, University of Arkansas	David Rock, University of Mississippi
Ralph Henry, University of Arkansas	Lori Mann Bruce, Mississippi State University
Jonathan Johnson, University of Arkansas	Brent Funderburk, Mississippi State University
Peter MacKeith, University of Arkansas	Michael Seymour, Mississippi State University
Carol Reeves, University of Arkansas	Clay Walden, Mississippi State University
Bryan Chin, Auburn University	Jim West, Mississippi State University
Jim Corman, Auburn University	W.D. Allen, University of Missouri
Justin Patton, Auburn University	Suzanne Burgoyne, University of Missouri
Bruce Smith, Auburn University	Steven Devlin, University of Missouri
Lucinda Lavelli, University of Florida	Hank Foley, University of Missouri
Michael Morris, University of Florida	Dirk Brown, University of South Carolina
Margaret Portillo, University of Florida	Gerald McDermott, University of South Carolina
Erik Sander, University of Florida	Sherry Thatcher, University of South Carolina
Scott Wilson, University of Florida	Douglas Woodward, University of South Carolina
Melissa Hallow, University of Georgia	Ernest Brothers, University of Tennessee
Scott Nesbit, University of Georgia	Susan Martin, University of Tennessee
Usha Rodrigues, University of Georgia	Stacey Patterson, University of Tennessee
Edward Watson, University of Georgia	Rhonda Reger, University of Tennessee
Pamela Whitten, University of Georgia	Dave Schumann, University of Tennessee
Rodney Andrews, University of Kentucky	Gerald Cote’, Texas A&M University
David Biagi, University of Kentucky	Paulo Lima-Filho, Texas A&M University
Alison Davis, University of Kentucky	Duncan Maitland, Texas A&M University
Kathi Kern, University of Kentucky	Tim McLaughlin, Texas A&M University
Margaret Mohr-Schroeder, University of Kentucky	Karan Watson, Texas A&M University
Lynne Baggett, Louisiana State University	Alan Bentley, Vanderbilt University
Stuart Bell, Louisiana State University	Don Brunson, Vanderbilt University
Charles D’Agostino, Louisiana State University	Melissa Gresalfi, Vanderbilt University
Todd Queen, Louisiana State University	David Owens, Vanderbilt University