We have a new look! Between the Lines, the Baylor Alumni Association's e-mail newsletter since July 2001, has an updated format with some quick, self-contained stories and some teasers that link to longer stories on our website. Old favorites--like Family Album and Response Button--are now located in the left-hand navigation bar. But whatever changes we make, we will continue to give you news from on campus and from alums around the world. Let us know what you think of the new format by e-mailing Between the Lines editor.

On Friday, January 11, the Baylor Alumni Association awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award--the university's highest honor--to five illustrious graduates. Pictured left to right are Abelardo Valdez, JD '70, international lawyer and former U.S. Ambassador and chief of protocol for the White House; Dr. James Shelhamer '69, deputy chief of the critical care medicine department at the National Institutes of Health; Virginia Cannaday DuPuy '56, MA '62, mayor of Waco; Steven Browning '71, U.S. Ambassador to Uganda; and Mark Hurd '79, chair, president and CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Click here for more details and a photo gallery of the gala evening: "Life Studies."

After thirty-six years on the Baylor campus, history professor Wallace Daniel, former dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will become the provost of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, in July. Daniel will join two prominent Baylor figures there: former interim president Bill Underwood--now Mercer's president--and former vice president of marketing and communications Larry Brumley '82--who is Underwood's chief of staff and a senior vice president. Find out more in "Georgia Rules."

A school-record 235 Baylor student-athletes were placed on the fall 2007 Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll, which recognizes students with a 3.0 GPA or better. Another Baylor record was broken when ten teams posted 3.0 or better.

In addition, a perfect 4.0 GPA was achieved by thirty student-athletes, representing football, women's basketball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's track, baseball, softball, men's and women's tennis, soccer, and volleyball. "I am extremely proud of the record-setting academic performance of our student-athletes this fall," said Baylor Director of Athletics Ian McCaw. "This success is a credit to the dedication of our student-athletes, academic commitment of our coaches, and the outstanding work of the student-athlete services staff."

The woman known as "Chief Doctor Mama" in Africa has retired after more than half a century of dedicated service. In December, the Southern Baptist Mission Board honored Alma Rohm '47 with the title "emeritus missionary," one of only thirty-seven veteran missionaries receiving the honor. During her fifty-four years in Nigeria, Rohm taught at a Baptist college in Iwo, where King S. O. Abimola II decreed she be given an African chief's title. Read more about Rohm in the Baptist Standard article.

During Christmas, Lane Atkins '93 (pictured, on the right) teamed up with a non-profit in the Dallas area to make the holidays a little brighter for senior citizens. Atkins is the owner of the Addison branch of Home Instead Senior Care, which provides non-medical home care and companionship for seniors. He and his office joined Senior Adult Services for the 2007 "Be a Santa to a Senior" program, a national effort that enables volunteers to spend time with or send gifts to seniors in their community. "This program is an annual holiday tradition that is changing the way many view the needs of seniors during the holidays," says Atkins. "Whether [seniors] are in a nursing home or in their own homes, where more are choosing to stay, it's important to reach out to those who are usually overlooked during this special time of the year." Pictured with Atkins are Jean McCormick (left), a seventy-seven-year resident of Carrollton, and Carrollton Mayor Becky Miller.