[164] October 31 EYH at MTSU Expanding in New Direction

Release date: Oct. 27, 2009


News & Public Affairs contact: Randy Weiler, 615-898-2919 or jweiler@mtsu.edu
Expanding Your Horizons contact: Dr. Judith Iriarte-Gross,
615-904-8253 or jiriarte@mtsu.edu


Oct. 31 EYH at MTSU Expanding in New Direction


(MURFREESBORO) — The combination of Dr. Leslie Wisner-Lynch as keynote speaker, the support of Smyrna-based Schneider Electric and the first-time presence of the Jennings A. Jones College of Business will make the 13th annual Expanding Your Horizons in Math and Science even more special for girls and young women attending.
Wisner-Lynch will be the keynote speaker for EYH, which will be held from 8 a.m. until 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, across the MTSU campus. EYH is for girls in grades five through eight with up to 300 participating, and GRITS EYH will see up to 60 high-school girls in grades nine to 12 participate.
Wisner-Lynch is a founding member and serves as executive director for BioTN Foundation Inc., a not-for-profit foundation whose mission is to advance science and technology in Tennessee through the collaboration of industry, PK12 education and higher ed.
Before dedicating herself full-time to the BioTN Foundation, Wisner-Lynch was director of applied research at BioMimetic Therapeutics Inc. in Franklin, which developed and commercialized combination device products for the repair/regeneration of orthopedic injuries including cartilage, tendon, ligament and bone.
“I believe Dr. Wisner-Lynch will make quite an impression on the girls,” EYH director and MTSU chemistry professor Judith Iriarte-Gross said. “Our (College of Basic and Applied Sciences) dean, Tom Cheatham, recommended her. I have heard her talk and she is a dynamic speaker, and very passionate about STEM education and careers.”
Iriarte-Gross said Schneider Electric will be sending three teams of engineers to EYH with workshops on “Windmill Energy,” “Lighting Up the Future” and “Let ’er Rip.”
Maria Edlin, assistant director for the Center for Economic Education, and junior economics major Jessy Richter will lead workshops on “My Dream Car and Me.”
“We’re excited to have the College of Business on board,” Iriarte-Gross said. “The girls will find the workshops very beneficial when it comes time to buy that first car.”
Numerous MTSU faculty members have volunteered to lead workshops, and a number of students also are lending a hand, Iriarte-Gross said.
For more information, call 615-904-8253 or visit the EYH Web site: http//www.mtsu.edu/eyh/.



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With three Nobel Prize winners among its alumni and former faculty, Middle Tennessee State University confers master’s degrees in 10 areas, the Specialist in Education degree, the Doctor of Arts degree and the Doctor of Philosophy degree. MTSU is ranked among the top 100 public universities in the nation in the Forbes “America’s Best Colleges” 2009 survey.
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