Contributed

Retired NASA astronaut Joan Higginbotham will address Pfeiffer University students, faculty and staff at 10 a.m. March 18 in the Henry Pfeiffer Chapel.

The event, which kicks off the institution’s third annual Arts and Sciences Week, is free and open to the public.
Higginbotham began her NASA career in 1987 as a Payload Electrical Engineer in the Electrical and Telecommunications Systems Division at Kennedy Space Center.

She was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1996 and began training at the Johnson Space Center. She was assigned to the STS-126 mission targeted for launch in 2008 but retired from NASA before the mission launched.

Arts and Sciences Week, which runs March 18-21, will offer the community many opportunities to see what Pfeiffer’s campus has to offer.

March 18 will also feature a performance from Pfeiffer’s music students at 3 p.m. in the chapel and a solo trombone performance by Charlotte Symphony trombonist Thomas Burge at 7 in the chapel.

The English program is hosting its “Read-a-Thon” from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 19 in the lobby of Pfeiffer’s library. Faculty and staff will read aloud John Green’s book “The Fault in Our Stars.”

Later that evening, the university will host the annual George Pfeiffer Symposium from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the Harris Hall foyer. Students will display the results of their science projects and be available to discuss the outcomes with participants.

Beginning at 7 p.m. at the Rowan Museum in Salisbury, senior students in the history program will offer presentations of their final research projects.
March 20 will feature the 14th annual Juried Student Art Exhibition and awards reception. It begins at 3 p.m. in the second floor Reading Room of the Pfeiffer library. Light refreshments will be provided.

At 1 p.m. March 21, Charlotte artist Ashley Knight will reveal a commissioned sculpture. Then at 2 p.m. in Jane Freeman 115, Stanly County attorney Jenny Reeves Furr, a Pfeiffer alumnus, and UNC-Chapel Hill Law School graduate, will offer a presentation about the process of applying for law school and her varied experiences in the legal field.

Any questions about these events can be fielded by Robin Morris, administrative assistant for Pfeiffer’s Arts and Sciences Division, at robin.morris@pfeiffer.edu or 704-463-3105.

— Pfeiffer University