Our Highlanders are using their education to do extraordinary things. Every other week, we鈥檒l highlight some notable mentions from local, regional, national and international news media. Whether our students, alumni, faculty and staff are featured as subject matter experts in high-profile stories or simply helping make the world a better place, we鈥檒l feature their stories.
Stage direction
After a hiring search that spanned nearly a year and involved more than five dozen candidates, a Radford graduate 鈥� Matt Shields 鈥� has been chosen to serve as the next managing director of Roanoke鈥檚 Mill Mountain Theatre.
Shields鈥� term begins Jan. 1, following the retirement of current director Ginger Poole, who鈥檚 helmed the Star City stage since 2008.
Shields, from Loudon County, has already worked at Mill Mountain in a variety of roles, most recently as its current director of production.
According to a Dec. 10 article in the Roanoke Times, he was chosen after an 11-month selection process that considered more than 65 candidates.
The head of the search committee, Cynthia Lawrence, noted that 鈥淢att鈥檚 unique blend of strategic thinking and production expertise makes him the ideal leader for this next chapter at Mill Mountain Theatre.鈥�
Poole, in a statement, said of her successor: 鈥淗is business insight has been instrumental in optimizing budgets, fostering community partnerships, and ensuring Mill Mountain Theatre remains a vibrant cultural hub for and beyond.鈥�
Shields鈥� promotion was also , and the stage publication noted that Mill Mountain, which was founded in 1964 as the Mill Mountain Playhouse, last year operated on $1.42 million budget.
War and peace
Synthetic rubber.
Duct tape.
And a rugged little general-purpose vehicle that came to be known as the jeep.
Those are just a few of the American innovations that were spawned by the advent of the Second War, according to .
But in , 澳门老奇人论坛 Associate Professor of Music Dave Rivers said the conflict also helped drive such popular Christmas carols as 鈥淲hite Christmas鈥� and 鈥淟et it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow!鈥� into classic status.
He said the tunes helped boost morale for troops overseas.
鈥淚t really was the fact that they were played on armed forces radio during World War II that gained their initial popularity, and perhaps had they not been released when they were, they wouldn鈥檛 have been as popular and may not have endured,鈥� Rivers told the Roanoke news station.
The proof is in the polling 鈥� WSLS used Rivers鈥� report as a springboard to quiz viewers on their favorite of a half-dozen holiday favorites and 鈥淲hite Christmas鈥� ran the board, drawing 76% of the votes, putting it way ahead of the second runner-up, 鈥淛ingle Bell Rock鈥� (a 1957 release), which took 16%. Wham!鈥檚 鈥淟ast Christmas鈥� was third with 8% of the ballots.
First tee
Marty Smith 鈥�98 is about to pull a hat trick and settle into his third ongoing broadcasting gig, besides being an ESPN reporter and a host for the SEC Network.
In , it was announced Smith will also be part of a three-man team providing coverage for Tiger Woods鈥� upcoming first season.
TGL is a venture formed by pro golfers Woods and Rory McIlroy alongside sports executive Mike McCarley.
Sportscaster Scott Van Pelt will host pre- and post-match shows with an intermission in between.
ESPN鈥檚 Sportscenter鈥檚 Matt Barrie will cover the games鈥� play-by-play.
And Smith will be reporting from the scene, interviewing golfers, team owners and celebrity guests at the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where, as of this writing, one week before Christmas Day, the temperature is a shorts-and-T-shirt-friendly 82-degrees.
Smith will appear in a season preview broadcast, airing Jan. 5 on ABC, and the first TGL telecast premieres on Jan. 7 at 9 p.m.