Vol. 31 No. 7 - September 28, 2026

Truman Theatre’s first production of the year, “The Night Witches,” will run Oct. 1-4 in the James G. Severns Theatre in Ophelia Parrish.

“The Night Witches” tells the story of one night with the Russian 588th Night Bomber Aviation Regiment during World War II. They were an all-women unit that struck fear into the Nazi army every night — all night — with their bombing runs. Once near the German camp, the unit would cut their engines and glide over silently, dropping bombs and barely escaping with their lives. 

Cat Gleason, assistant professor of theatre, directs this play, leading a cast of 11 women and an all-student group of designers.

"The designers have been very hands-on, coming into rehearsals to collaborate with the cast and the rehearsal team for many nights," Gleason said.

Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 1-3 and 2 p.m. Oct. 4. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at boxoffice.truman.edu or at the theatre prior to each performance. For more information, contact boxoffice@truman.edu.

Alumnus Michael Taylor will be the next Raymond F. Bentele/Mallinckrodt Executive-In-Residence, visiting campus the week of Sept. 28.
 
Taylor is a hospitality executive, workplace strategist, researcher and entrepreneur whose work focuses on transforming culture, the employee experience and operational execution to drive measurable business performance. With more than 35 years of executive leadership experience, he serves as managing director and regional general manager for Pyramid Global Hospitality and as division lead for PyramidWorks, where he leads operations for hospitality and workplace experience across corporate, conference center and hospitality environments.
 
In addition to meeting with students and classes throughout the week, Taylor will participate in the fireside chat “Culture, Experience and Execution: The New Drivers of Business Performance” at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 29 in Violette Hall 1000. A reception will follow. 
 
Recognized for advancing the application of hospitality principles to organizational performance, Taylor has helped organizations reimagine the workplace as a human-centered performance system that drives engagement, execution and business outcomes. His published work and thought leadership on culture as a performance system, workplace strategy, leadership and employee experience have appeared in industry and academic publications serving hospitality, corporate real estate and management audiences.
 
In addition to his executive leadership responsibilities, Taylor founded VenueLoop, a hospitality technology venture dedicated to transforming event operations by replacing fragmented, document-driven processes with real-time workflow intelligence. 
 
An active scholar and educator, Taylor’s research examines ethical followership, leadership development, organizational culture, inclusion and career advancement in the hospitality industry. His doctoral work introduced the Resistance-Resilience-Renewal framework, which offers new insight into how leaders navigate and influence organizational systems.
 
Taylor graduated from the University in 1985 with a degree in business administration. He also earned a master’s degree in hospitality administration/management from New York University and an Ed.D. in interdisciplinary leadership from Creighton University. He has served as president of the New Jersey Hotel & Lodging Association, and in 2026, the International Association of Conference Centers honored him with the Lifetime Award of Excellence for his contributions to the meeting and events industry.
 
In recognition of the significant contribution that Truman alumnus Raymond F. Bentele made as president and CEO of Mallinckrodt, Inc., the Raymond F. Bentele/Mallinckrodt Executive-In-Residence Program was endowed in the School of Business and Professional Studies in 1993. This endowment enables the school to select one outstanding individual from business and industry to spend two to three days on campus each semester. The executive engages in discussions with Truman students, both in and out of the classroom.
 
For the Raymond F. Bentele/Mallinckrodt Executive-In-Residence Program, special emphasis is placed on examining how the executive handles the unique challenges inherent in a “real world” setting. As a result of these interactions, students get a better understanding of the pragmatic as well as the theoretical issues in business. Faculty gain insight from the visiting executive that enables them to remain current on significant issues in the rapidly changing global business environment.

Applications to become the next student representative to the Truman Board of Governors are now available.
 
The student representative plays a vital role in the protection and advancement of student interests, regularly consulting with the Board of Governors, the highest policy-making body for the University. The Board plays an important role in shaping different aspects of University policy. With students making up the majority of the community, it is important that the Board has a strong student member to further their constituency’s needs, interests and concerns. It is the responsibility of the student representative to communicate these ideas with the Board as well as with many other areas of the campus community.
 
Serving as the student representative to the Board provides the opportunity to represent the student body on issues such as tuition, student fees, University personnel, spending and policy. 
 
Initial applications can be found online here and should be submitted electronically to studentgovernment@truman.edu no later than 11:59 p.m. Nov. 1. Interested students should also fill out, print and submit the Disclosure and Authorization Regarding Investigation for employment release form and the Background Check Release Form to the Office of Student Engagement located in the Student Union Building Room 3100 by 5 p.m. Nov. 1. 
 
Students may direct any questions about the position to Adli Jacobs, the current Student Representative to the Board of Governors, at nf36768@truman.edu.

Dr. Kevin Guzzo, research fellow at the City University of New York (CUNY) Developmental Neurolinguistics Lab, will host "Silence: The Role of Ellipsis in Linguistics" at 5 p.m. Sept. 30 in the Baldwin Little Theatre as part of the Ofstad Visiting Scholar Program.

Guzzo’s presentation will discuss ellipsis; the linguistic phenomenon in which the ordinary correspondence between sound and meaning breaks down, as words that are expected to be heard go silently missing while meaning stays intact. His research investigates the relationship between formal syntactic theory and the neurobiological mechanisms that support real-time language processing. Guzzo also contributes to a funded project on phonetic variation in English in his position at CUNY, investigating how speakers perceive and produce plosive consonants across dialects, and how social and linguistic factors interact to shape pronunciation patterns and listener judgments.

Hosted by the Department of English, the Ofstad Visiting Scholar Program is available thanks to the generosity and vision of Odessa Ofstad in creating Truman’s first-ever endowed chair. The Ofstad Visiting Scholar Program brings renowned guest writers and scholars from around the world to the Truman campus. During their stay, these talented scholars offer a range of workshops, lectures and readings. 

Additional information can be found on the School of Arts and Humanities Instagram or on their website.

The Serve Center will host a pop-up food pantry from 2-4:30 p.m. Sept. 29 in the Student Union Building Down Under. 

The Truman Food Pantry will host various pop-up pantry events throughout the semester. Students are encouraged to check out the types of food available and build their own free food pack. The Truman Food Pantry is available to all Truman students.

The Office of Community Enrichment will honor Hispanic Heritage Month with a Talavera-inspired event from 2:30-5 p.m. Sept. 29 on the Quad. Students are invited to stop by, learn about the Mexican Talavera art style and try their hand at painting their own drink coaster.

Students from ECON 486: Readings in Economics, taught by Yasemin Akcan Barto, will showcase various world currencies in Pickler Memorial Library, Sept. 30-Oct. 5. 

The exhibit will showcase currencies and vintage coins from around the world, including the U.S., Great Britain, East Asia, South America and more.

An opening reception for the Money Museum Exhibit will take place from 3:30-5 p.m. Sept. 30 in Pickler Memorial Library. All students, faculty and staff are all invited to attend. Snacks and light refreshments will be provided.

Pickler Memorial Library will offer Zotero workshops for students and faculty from 3-4:15 p.m. Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 in the Innovation Lab. Registration is available here. Questions should be directed to Matt Sharp, research and instruction librarian, at msharp@truman.edu.

In her virtual chat, Riggle will present readings from her book and lead a question-and-answer session. Attendees can expect conversations about what it was like to write from fragmented childhood memories, how Riggle involved her mother and siblings as she crafted the private family stories included in her book, and much more.

Questions should be directed to Matthew Freitag, Homecoming coordinator, at homecoming@truman.edu.

The Office of Community Enrichment will host a First-Gen Café from 3-5 p.m. Oct. 1 in the Pickler Memorial Library Café. Event staff will be giving away drink coupons, as well as having discussions and building community among first-generation students on campus.

Students enrolled in 12-16 credit hours can take CML 200 at no additional cost. For more information or an override to enroll in this course, contact Zhijun “David” Wen, assistant professor of Chinese, at zwen@truman.edu or in McClain Hall 313.

The Chinese Language and Cultural Association will host the annual Mid-Autumn Moon Festival at 5 p.m. Oct. 3 in the Student Union Building Georgian Rooms. The event will feature live performances, mooncakes, a raffle and dinner at no cost. Tickets are required and can be obtained here.

Truman’s heritage is built upon fascinating, inspiring, wacky and even bizarre tales throughout its history. Join Zac Burden, director of citizenship and conduct, as he leads a night tour of campus to share many of these stories while developing a greater connection to Truman. The tour will take place at 7 p.m. Oct. 5, meeting at the Bell Wall.

For more information about dining options at Truman, and to see what vendors are open at any given time, visit truman.sodexomyway.com.

These events are sponsored by the School of Arts and Humanities at Truman State University.

Clubs, organizations or individuals interested in volunteering should contact Tyana Lange, vice president for student engagement and marketing, at tyana@truman.edu.

Most students will be asked to complete a survey on experiences with student organizations, teams and activities Sept. 21-Oct. 11. Students living on campus will then be asked to complete a different survey beginning Oct. 12 about their experiences living in the residence halls and University apartments. Completing each of these surveys helps to improve Truman and enters participants into drawings for rewards.

Meal swipes will now be accepted at Mein Bowl, allowing students to extend the use of their meal plans. Dining services will also continue to offer a weekly rotation of assorted dining options — such as barbecue, wings and burgers — every Wednesday at Tres Habaneros, with the addition of free drink refills within Mainstreet Food Court. Drinks can be refilled at any soft drink fountain, excluding specialty drinks such as lemonades and teas from Chick-fil-A.

The 12th Annual Missouri-Southern Iowa Art Guild (MOSI) Fall Art Exhibit is on display now through Dec. 14 in the Pickler Memorial Library café and is free to view for all Truman students, faculty and staff, as well as the community.

MOSI is a group of working visual artists formed in 2013. The guild sponsors local art exhibitions, provides recognition and networking opportunities for members, and conducts art workshops for the community. For more information visit mosiartguild.org or MOSI Art Guild on Facebook.

Six McNair Scholars, joined by Charlotte Klimovich, program specialist, and John Quinn, program director, attended the 2026 MO-KAN-NE Heartland McNair Conference with attendees from programs in many different states, Sept. 18-20, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Five of the six scholars presented their original research to other scholars during one of the three oral presentation sections, and three acted as a moderator for their peers. The conference also featured a pre-conference presentation on publishing in the National McNair Journal, a networking dinner, a graduate school fair with more than 30 programs represented and three keynote speakers. 

Applications for the McNair Program are open now with a priority deadline of Nov. 1. First-generation college students interested in conducting research, presenting at conferences and preparing for graduate school are encouraged to apply. For more information, visit mcnair.truman.edu, email mcnair@truman.edu or call 660.785.5393.

Many health-related majors participated in the A.T. Still University Healthcare Expo, Sept. 12. The majors and programs represented include military science, exercise science, health science, communication disorders, music therapy and psychology, along with representatives from the Greenwood Autism Center. The groups interacted with many members of the community, providing various free screenings.

Amy Norgard, associate professor of classics, and Joshua Nudell, assistant professor of history, were interviewed by Eric Molinsky for his podcast, “Imaginary Worlds.” 

On the podcast, Norgard and Nudell speak about their collaborative research on the intersection of AI and the ancient stories of Pygmalion and Pandora. They talk about how ancient mythology unexpectedly reflects our cultural moment with the rise of AI chatbots and human interactions with fabricated beings. The conversation ranges from the language of Ovid’s story of Pygmalion, to Pandora’s role as Greek myth’s first woman who is also manufactured, as well as examples in modern media of these tropes of eroticized artificial women, such as “The Twilight Zone,” “Lars and the Real Girl” and “The Stepford Wives.” 

The interview is featured in episode 312, entitled, “Is Mythology the Key to Understand AI?” To listen, visit imaginaryworldspodcast.org or listen via popular streaming services, including Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Gayathri Sadanala, assistant professor of computer science, led a team of Truman students in publishing “Advances in Machine Learning for Drug Repurposing: From Methodologies to Precision Medicine with Case Studies in COVID-19, Parkinson’s Disease, and Cancer,” in the Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics.
 
Their paper outlines a machine learning tool that can examine existing drugs to try to identify ways they might help with conditions other than the original treatment. What makes this paper especially unique is that it was done collaboratively with a team from A.T. Still University, and the co-authors include a Kirksville High School student, several Truman undergraduates – including as the first author – and a graduate student at the Yale University School of Public Health. The paper is available for early access here.

Contributors include: Betel Gurara, Truman; Saron Gebremichael, Truman; Hana Sheto, Truman; Varsha Manikandan, Kirksville Senior High School; Frank Martin, Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, A.T. Still University; Bemnet Kinfe, Yale University; and Sumitra Miriyala, Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, A.T. Still University.

Xin Gao, associate professor of music, was invited to perform and teach at the 2026 Singapore Saxophone Symposium, June 19-21 at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts. Gao performed on the symposium’s gala concert, presenting “Images of Tibet” by Singaporean composer Zechariah Goh with pianist Cecilia Ratna, and taught a masterclass for participating saxophonists. Gao was also invited to the 2026 Yantai Saxophone Arts Festival, July 21-28 in Yantai, China. During the festival, he presented a recital featuring contemporary works for saxophone, performed in the festival’s opening concert, taught a masterclass and served as an adjudicator for the festival’s saxophone competition. The week-long event brought together saxophonists, students and educators for performances, instruction and exchange.

Ruoyang Xiang, coordinator of collaborative piano, performed in a recital with Yue Yin, assistant professor of voice at the University of North Georgia. The recital took place Aug. 5 at Baby Mozart Concert Hall in Qingdao, China.

Applications are now open for Spring 2027 Foundation Scholarships available through the Truman State University Foundation.

Recipients must be enrolled full-time during the term of the scholarship to receive scholarship funds. Applications can be submitted and revised at any time prior to the Oct. 16 deadline. To apply, log in to TruView, go to the Student Tab, Scholarships, Financial Aid & Loans then Foundation Scholarship Application. 

These scholarships are available thanks to the private gifts of alumni and friends of the University.