Daniel Pulliam

Pulliam’s thesis "Effect of Student Classroom Cell Phone Usage on Teachers" was completed in fulfillment of requirements for a Specialist in Education degree in Department of Psychology in the Spring of 2017. It has been downloaded over 50,000 times since it was posted to TopSCHOLAR®.   He is from Crestwood, Kentucky and currently serves as a school psychologist in the Perry Township School District in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Dr. Mary Bennett

Mary Bennett is Director of the WKU School of Nursing. Dr. Bennett has 18 items in TopSCHOLAR® and Selected Works® which have been downloaded more than 31,000 from 131 different countries.  “The Effect of Mirthful Laughter on Stress and Natural Killer Cell Activity,” is her most downloaded article with 17,444 downloads since 2009. She is currently serving as a member on the Kentucky Board of Nursing and belongs to numerous other local and regional professional organizations.

Dr.  Bennett holds a Doctor of Nursing Science (DNSc) from Rush University in Chicago, and MSN, BSN and ASN from Indiana State University School of Nursing. Her research interests are the effects of various complementary and alternative therapies on stress and natural killer (NK) cell activity, decision making in end of life care, and workforce development and socialization of health care professionals.

Dr. Aaron Hughey

Dr. Hughey is a professor of Counseling and Student Affairs, and consults on management, team dynamics, and process controls. He has published more than 50 journal articles and book chapters, and his works on TopSCHOLAR® have been downloaded more than 27,000 times from 143 different countries. His most requested article, "Leadership in Higher Education – Its Evolution and Potential: A Unique Role Facing Critical Challenges," has been downloaded nearly 5,000 times since 2007.

Dr. Hughey completed his EdD in Educational Administration from Northern Illinois University in 1988 and joined the faculty of WKU in 1988.

Cortney Basham

Thesis: “Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth and the Rise of Popular Premillennialism in the 1970s”

Advisors Dr. Anthony Harkins, Dr. Patricia Minter, & Dr. Lawrence Snyder

Cortney Basham teaches in WKU’s Interdisciplinary Studies program. His thesis, on popular American “end times” theology and the social climate of the 1970s, was completed in fulfillment for a Master of Arts in History in 2012. It was the most downloaded thesis on TopSCHOLAR® in 2015, and has been downloaded more than 9,000 times since 2012.

Dr. Scott Lyons

Current director of the WKU School of Kinesiology, Recreation & Sport, Dr. Scott Lyons has exemplified the spirit of Open Access through his founding and editorship of the International Journal of Exercise Science which debuted on TopSCHOLAR® in 2007. This quarterly journal is dedicated to the dissemination of undergraduate and graduate student research in the areas of Exercise Science, Exercise Physiology, Human Performance, Kinesiology and related disciplines. It benefits not only WKU student researchers by providing a peer reviewed journal for their work, but all students in these fields who may submit their work for consideration. It is delivered for free to all users through the TopSCHOLAR® platform.

The International Journal of Exercise Science is now in its 8th volume. It is truly the invention of the necessity to provide a niche for researchers in these fields and additionally provides students the opportunity to learn while reviewing and assessing the work of their peers.

Dr. Lyons completed his Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology from the University of Alabama in 2003 and joined the faculty of WKU in 2004.

Ann Epperson

"Internet GIS as a Historic Place-Making Tool for Mammoth Cave National Park"

Advisors: Dr. Katie Algeo, Dr. Jun Yan, Dr. Fred Siewers & Dr. Kevin Cary

This project laid the groundwork for an Internet-delivered Public Participation Geographic Information System to facilitate exploration and discovery of the past communities of the Mammoth Cave Park area. The emergence of Internet Web 2.0 design along with distributed GIS services allows for anyone to interact with and add to the information found on central Internet sites.

Epperson’s thesis was completed in fulfillment of requirements for a Master of Science degree in Geography / Geology in December 2010. It has been downloaded nearly 15,000 times since it was posted to TopSCHOLAR®.