July 2, 2021 // Posted In Academics
When one thinks about the fashion industry, it’s easy to picture well-lit runways and shopping malls. But to Dr. Lorynn Divita, associate professor of human sciences and design, clothing is so much more than that. In addition to being a basic need, it’s a resource for self-expression, reflection and communication.
Divita came to Baylor in 2002 as an associate professor of apparel merchandising. Since then, she’s taught a multitude of courses on fashion, each of which speak to the evolution and impact of style.
“Clothing has always been of interest to me, because as an old saying goes, ‘You can be standing silently in a corner, but your clothes are screaming who you are, ” says Divita. “Clothing really is communication, and we reveal so much about our lives just depending on how we are dressed.”
April 30, 2021 // Posted In Academics, Research
For more than a decade, Baylor’s entrepreneurship program has been anchored among the nation’s top 10 so it’s no surprise that Baylor entrepreneurship faculty are well-regarded for their business acumen far beyond campus borders.
Dr. Peter Klein, the W. W. Caruth Chair and Professor of Entrepreneurship at Baylor, has been sought out by outlets such as
Atlanta Journal-Constitution for his insights into management, trends in entrepreneurship, innovation, business strategy, digital transformation and more. (He also regularly talks entrepreneurship with his nearly 12,000 followers on Twitter, and earlier this year, he assumed the role as co-editor of
April 1, 2021 // Posted In Academics, Alumni, Research
We’re used to doctors prescribing medicine when patients need it but what about prescriptions for exercise, or fresh vegetables?
That’s just one of the areas being studied by Dr. Kelly Ylitalo (BS ’04) a Baylor alumna, associate professor in BU’s Department of Public Health, and a rising star as a researcher and epidemiologist. Her work blends health, data science, sociology and more to help communities (and the organizations that serve them) better promote the health of the people who live there.
“My research is an opportunity to think globally and act locally,” says Ylitalo, who returned to her alma mater in 2013 after earning her doctorate in epidemiological science at Michigan. Given such an approach, it’s not surprising to find aspects of her research taking place at Waco Family Medicine, the World Hunger Relief farm, and other such Central Texas locations.
Dr. Devan Stahl’s call to bioethics began with her own experience as a patient. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis as a young woman, she recognized aspects of the healthcare system that could be improved most notably, the ways doctors and decision-makers communicated with (and considered) people with disabilities.
Stahl, an assistant professor of religion, joined Baylor’s Department of Religion in 2019 after serving on the clinical ethics faculty at Michigan State. Her focus is on bioethical issues as they relate to people with disabilities individuals whose quality of life is often undervalued by people without disabilities. Those biased judgements, she says, can impact treatment.
October 27, 2020 // Posted In Academics, Research
If you’re a sports fan, the best comparisons for Dr. John Wood coming to Baylor in 2013 might be a top free agent or recruit signing with your team. If fishing is your thing, he’s the “big fish” that didn’t get away.
In the academic world, no metaphor is needed he’s a nationally recognized leader in cancer research, a top scholar and mentor who chose to bring his research operation to Baylor in 2013 and has been leading students in groundbreaking natural product synthesis research from the Baylor Sciences Building ever since.
Wood, the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, applies his discipline in the fight against cancer through a process known as natural product synthesis. Most major brand-name drugs are the result of natural products, such as plants, that have a quality or mechanism that fights disease. Wood and his students re-create these molecules and put them together in different ways to fight