Provost Nancy Brickhouse Announces Step Down
Baylor University Provost Nancy Brickhouse, Ph.D., announced that she plans to step down as chief academic officer on July 31, 2026. Brickhouse will take a year-long sabbatical before returning to Baylor to focus on teaching. Outgoing Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, Lee Nordt, Ph.D., will serve as Interim Vice President and Provost.
“I’ve known since my appointment in 2019 that I would make Baylor my final stop,” Brickhouse said, according to a Baylor press release. “I also knew that I would want my final years to be engaged in the work that attracted me to the professoriate at the beginning: teaching and writing. Like my return to Baylor as an ‘alumna Provost,’ there is something beautiful and meaningful about coming full circle.”
Remembering Judith Henderson Prather
Judith Jane Henderson Prather passed away on March 29th at age 74. She graduated from Baylor University with her Master’s in English in 1973. She later returned to the university to earn her Doctor of Ministry in spiritual formation from Truett Theological Seminary, graduating in 2002.
She married her husband Floyd (Buddy) Williams Prather, Jr. on June 6, 1975, and the two lived in Dallas before settling in Waco. After they retired in 2016, they moved to Lawrence, Kansas, to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
Prather began her writing career at the Baylor Alumni Association, where she served as the Communications Coordinator for The Baylor Line Alumni Magazine. After receiving her Doctor of Ministry from Truett, she served as a Chaplain and Bereavement Care Coordinator with Bluebonnet Healthcare. She and her family attended Lake Shore Baptist Church.
She is survived by her husband of 50 years, her sons Kevin Henderson Prather and wife, Jessi Asmussen, and Keith Williams Prather and wife, Kelly; two brothers, Mike Henderson and wife, Sue, and Jerry Don Henderson and wife, Mary Jane. She has three grandsons: Elliot Asmussen Prather, Samuel James Prather, and Benjamin Michael Prather.
Brrr, it’s Cold in here
The ARKTOS Research Center at Baylor University is conducting exciting testing that will help military service members better adapt to extreme cold.
The center has developed an arctic simulation chamber. The chamber will be used to monitor how service members respond to temperatures as low as negative 31 degrees during sleep, small-arms training, and emergency medical simulations.
“This will be first chamber of its kind, that we could do repeated nights of research within a cold simulated environment because we even have a bathroom facility within it,” Jason R. Carter, dean and professor at Baylor University’s Robbins College of Health and Human Sciences, told KWTX.
This research will help determine how medical equipment responds to extreme cold, what individuals perform best in extreme conditions, and better prepare service members for arctic deployment.
Centennial Professor Awards
Each year, two tenured faculty members at Baylor University are awarded the Centennial Professor award, providing them with $5,000 to fund their research projects. This year, Kelly C. Johnston, Ed.D., associate professor of curriculum and instruction in the Moody School of Education, and Alexander J. McNair, Ph.D., associate professor of Spanish in the College of Arts & Sciences, have been selected to receive the 2026 Centennial Professor Awards.
“Being selected feels like a significant milestone in my time at Baylor,” Johnston said, according to a Baylor Press Release. “This recognition affirms that the University values faculty whose scholarship and practice are in meaningful conversation with each other…”
“I look at all the professors who have received this award before me and am a little overwhelmed to be following in their footsteps,” McNair said, according to the press release. “They are true Baylor legends all, and I am so honored to take my place among them. It’s humbling to try to live up to that standard.”
S3E Takes 3rd
Baylor finished third nationally, competing against 250 students from 50 schools at The National Collegiate Sports Sales Championship (NCSSC).
Baylor’s Center for Sales Strategy in Sports and Entertainment (S3E) is one of the lead organizers behind the National Collegiate Business Championships. The recent NSCCS competition, held at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, gave students the opportunity to pitch to industry professionals.
“Impact on the industry we’re involved in and a closer relationship with employers — those are important,” Lane Wakefield, Ph.D., clinical associate professor and S3E director, told Baylor Proud. “And when our students compete, whether they win or advance or not, it’s helping prepare them. There’s pressure on them to get it done, and they come out of the experience improved and better from where they started.”
A Win for Baylor Rocket League
Baylor’s Esports team, Rocket League, took home its first-ever conference championship at the Power Esports Conference (PEC) Grand Finals.
The team defeated Boise State, 4-1, capping off a perfect 20-0 run through the competition.
“We are grateful to compete alongside programs who continue to raise the bar for all of us in collegiate esports,” said Adam Stanley, Baylor’s director of esports and head coach, according to an article from Baylor. “This championship reflects the vision and support of our administration and institution and above all, the hard work and commitment of our players who made it possible. We couldn’t ask for a better result from our collective efforts as a program in our Year Zero.”
Spring Sports Roundup
Acrobatics and Tumbling
Baylor acrobatics and tumbling will compete at the 2026 NCATA Championship on the campus of Azusa Pacific from April 23-26. They are chasing their 11th consecutive title. The No.1 seed Bears will face Duquesne in the final quarterfinal matchup.
The eight-team, single-elimination tournament will begin on Thursday. The semifinals will commence Friday evening, and the National Championship meet will be contested on Saturday. National individual event finals are Sunday morning.
Equestrian
Fifth-year equestrian senior Lauren Stebbins has been named a finalist for the National Collegiate Equestrian Association’s Yeti Workhorse Award. The award is given to a rider who lives out their team’s mission and contributes to a positive environment.
Stebbins is president of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. She has won the equestrian team’s Sic’Em Award for the past three years in honor of her dedication to Baylor and Baylor equestrian.
Men’s Tennis
Baylor men’s tennis finished out its regular season on Sunday at the Hawkins Indoor Tennis Center.
The team split the day with a 4-1 loss to TCU, followed by a 4-0 victory over UTRGV. Following the TCU match, the team honored its four seniors, Alexandru Chiritia, Luc Koenig, Zsombor Velcz, and Arman Zamani.
The Bears will travel to Florida for the Big 12 Championship on April 16.
Women’s Basketball
During the 2025 WNBA draft on Monday Night, Baylor player Darianna Littlepage-Buggs was selected by the Washington Mystics as the 30th overall selection. This is head coach Nicki Collen’s fifth player picked for the WNBA during her tenure.
Littlepage-Buggs is a two-time WBCA All-America Honorable Mention selection, four-time All-Big 12 honoree, 2026 All-Big 12 Defensive Team member, and 2023 unanimous Big 12 Freshman of the Year.
Softball
Baylor softball fell to one of its most common rivals, Texas A&M, on Tuesday.
“I’m not disappointed in the way we played, with the exception of that six spot that we put up,” Baylor head coach Glenn Moore said, according to Baylor athletics. “You can’t put up six against anybody and expect to win. We did some good things throughout the game, but that [six-run first inning] is probably the difference in the game, to be honest with you.”
Men’s Golf
At the Mountaineer Invitational at Pete Dye Golf Club, Junior David Ovard recorded four birdies in a round of 1-under-par 71. The Bears finished near the middle of the leaderboard.
“Pete Dye Golf Club was a terrific golf course and test… extremely challenging,” interim head coach Ryan Murphy said, according to Baylor athletics. “We had some nice rounds this week, although our finish was not what we had in mind. We will get some rest once back in Waco, and then our preparation for Prairie Dunes will begin.”
