QU Professor receives Missouri Ambassador Award

Cindy Lovell & Mo. Gov. Jay NixonQU associate professor of education, Cindy Lovell, Ph.D., received the Ambassador Award at the 2012 Missouri Governor's Conference on Tourism. The Ambassador Award is presented to an individual who has supported the state's tourism efforts by cooperating with Division of Tourism projects and promoting the state's attractions.

Lovell, who also serves as the executive director of the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum, was lauded for several projects, including writing and co-producing Mark Twain: Words & Music with Grammy award-winning musician, Carl Jackson. The double-CD tells Twain's life in spoken word and song, and features Clint Eastwood, Jimmy Buffett, Garrison Keillor, Brad Paisley, Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs and Rhonda Vincent, among others. Educational projects at the museum include "Mark Twain's Retreat," in collaboration with the Missouri Civil War Sesquicentennial, and educator and writer workshops in partnership with the Missouri Humanities Council and Quincy University. Outreach workshops and keynote addresses are performed around the country, including The Big Read, a program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts.