Harding University’s College of Sciences appointed two new department chairs on Dec. 19, 2012. Provost Larry Long named Dr. Ben Bruner, assistant professor of biology, and Dr. Ron Smith, assistant professor of mathematics, as the new chairs of their departments beginning June 1, 2013.
Bruner has taught at Harding since 2008. He is a graduate of Oklahoma Christian University and received his Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, where he studied pathology with an emphasis in autoimmune disease.
He currently teaches Human Anatomy & Physiology, Introduction to Cell Biology and assists senior level students preparing for senior seminar presentations.
Bruner will be replacing Dr. Michael Plummer, who began teaching at Harding in 1971.
Bruner said he is preparing for much department-wide advancement as part of Harding’s expanding programs.
“In our department we have a lot of room for growth,” Bruner said. “We have experienced a lot of new students coming in with the creation of the new graduate programs here at Harding and with the increasing prevalence of pre-health programs; we will continue to see increasing growth in the biology department in the upcoming years.”
As the new biology chair, Bruner said he is looking forward to the new outlook and experiences that will come in the future.
“I have enjoyed both my training in the sciences and my training in leadership positions, so this gives me the opportunity to mix both of my areas of interest,” Bruner said. “It’s a perfect mixture of the things I love to fill my life with. It will be great to see those things fit together more perfectly as this new position begins.”
Dr. Ron Smith has been a member of the mathematics department at Harding since 2007. He came to Harding in 2005 to work as a math specialist with the Cannon-Clary College of Education. He completed his Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Tennessee in 2012.
Smith will be replacing Dr. Steve Smith who has served as the chair of the mathematics department for 27 years and has been teaching at Harding since 1971.
Smith said he will focus on ways to expand and adapt to the growing number of students who are interested in mathematics classes and majors.
“One of the big things we really want to include would be technology,” Smith said. “We are beginning to move that direction. A big thing that is coming up is a lot more emphasis on assessment and accreditation.”
Smith said his focus for the upcoming year will be recruiting more students to pursue a career in math.
“We would really like to try to build on a larger number of majors,” Smith said. “Our numbers in engineering and computer science have really grown. We are trying to find ways to recruit students who would be interested in either double majoring in engineering, computer science or physics and mathematics.”
