Andrea Allen, executive director, Delta Center for Economic Development, today was elected chair of the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Commission. The commission provides oversight and assessment of the seven programs funded by the Tobacco Settlement Proceeds Act of 2000, including Arkansas Biosciences Institute (ABI). A-State is one of the institutional members of ABI. Gov. Asa Hutchinson appointed Allen to the commission in 2017.

Dr. Jessica Camp, assistant professor of nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) program option coordinator, has been selected as the first holder of the Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield Endowed Nursing Professorship in Rural Health. Goals of the professorship include establishing a multi-year plan for development and mentorship of graduate nursing research, and starting projects specific to rural health disparities. Details are online.

Dr. John D. Hall, professor of psychology and counseling, and James and Wanda Lee Vaughn Professor in the College of Education and Behavioral Science, was invited to complete a test review for the Mental Measurements Yearbook (MMY) 2020, published by the Buros Center for Testing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The review, now published in the current MMY edition, was titled "Review of the Early Screening Inventory, Third Edition."

Dr. Claudia Benavides-Ambs, associate professor of sport management, has been selected through a competitive process to review grant applications for the National Science Foundation's Developmental Sciences Program. This program supports basic research to improve understanding of cognitive, linguistic, social, cultural and biological processes related to human development. She completed her first review in October, and will be asked to conduct others as needed.

Dr. Sidney Ornelas Sánchez, assistant professor of marketing and management, A-State Campus Queretaro, is co-author of an article published in British Food Journal. In the article, the researchers examine the potential association between a company's efforts on consumer education and consumer engagement, a correlation rarely studied before, and they address implications of that link in strategic decision making. The article is available online.