• Dr. Reena Nanjireddy has joined Dr. Gurleen Sikand at Willis- Knighton Tri-State Neurology, 2551 Greenwood Road, Suite 240, in the Medical Arts Building on the campus of Willis-Knighton Medical Center. Nanjireddy joins the Willis- Knighton Physician Network after completing a fellowship in Clinical Neurophysiology – Epilepsy at Detroit Medical Center, Wayne State University in Detroit, Mich. Prior to her fellowship she was a resident specialist in neurology at the same institution.
• This summer, Centenary English Professor Dr. David Havird and his wife, Ashley Havird, served as poets in residencerom June 15-22 for the Steelville Arts Council in Missouri. The couple was invited by Centenary alumnus Chris Chase, one of the Council’s founding board members. Chase majored in English at Centenary. He is currently the editor of the Cuba Free Press, a weekly independent newspaper in Cuba, Mo. The Steelville Arts Council is comprised of community volunteers dedicated to promoting the arts in Steelville and its surrounding area. The Council provides working space for performing artists, public gallery space for artists to display and sell their work, and areas where the public may share in art exhibitions or educational workshops.
• Tierra Range, a student at Centenary College, was selected as one of 10 semifinalists in the American Chemical Society’s ChemChamps contest this summer. The contest required scientists to explain their research to the general public in a fun, two- to three-minute video. Ten semifinalists were selected from contestants ranging from undergraduate students to pre-tenured professors and flown to San Francisco for science communications training in stage performance and visuals presentation.The semifinalists were then judged on their presentations, and five advanced to the finals.
• Kean Miller LLP announced William H. Priestley Jr. has joined the firm as an associate attorney in the Shreveport office. The full-service firm now has nine attorneys in North Louisiana and over 150 across Louisiana. Priestley will practice in the commercial litigation group, primarily in the area of civil and commercial litigation and premises liability.
• Centenary College Alumna Jackie Burns Shemwell published her first novel, “The Devil in Canaan Parish,” a southern gothic mystery novel with Francophone influences set in 1957 south Louisiana.“The Devil in Canaan Parish” tells the story of a middle class couple trying to keep up with the Joneses. One night a tropical storm hits their small town, and a stranger, Melee Mouton, arrives in town. The young Cajun girl goes to work as a maid for the couple and quickly becomes a prisoner in the their bitter, covetous household. Soon an evil presence begins to haunt Melee and the couple. The local sheriff gets involved to try to rid Canaan Parish of the devil that has taken up residence.
• Dr. April Patton has joined Family Medical and Geriatric Center in the WK Portico Center, 7813 Youree Dr., in Shreveport. The practice includes Dr. David T. Henry, Dr. Robert L. Savory and Dr. Jack L. Berg. Patton emphasizes spending time with her patients and getting to know them individually, focusing on preventive medicine whenever possible for all of her patients, ages 18 and older.
