Forming a More Perfect Union: Applying Rotary’s 4-Way Test to Fort Worth’s Past, Present, and Future
Video of program here - https://youtu.be/kxDTIZm1_yQ
Dr. John L. Barnett, Jr. began his practice of Pediatric Dentistry in 1978 in New Orleans, Louisiana. While in New Orleans, Dr. Barnett was very active in organized dentistry as a member of the American Dental Association, National Dental Association, and the Academy of Pediatric Dentistry. Dr. Barnett has served as President of the Pelican State Dental Association, President of the Louisiana Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and Chairman of the Medicaid Task Force for the Louisiana Dental Association. Dr. Barnett also worked at the LSU School of Dentistry, for over ten years, as an Associate Professor.
After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans in 2005, Dr. Barnett moved back to his childhood home of Fort Worth, Texas and opened Kids Stop Dental Care in 2007. Dr. Barnett’s love of art and music can be seen and heard throughout the colorful new dental facility. Dr. Barnett is committed to his health through jogging, weight training, nutrition and yoga. Dr. Barnett has completed six marathons in his running career. Dr. Barnett and his wife, Dr. Arlene Barnett, have three children, Airin, John III, and Nathaniel.
Dr. Jason E. Shelton is Associate Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center for African American Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington. His research interests concern the sociology of religion, as well as the intersections of race, class, and attitudes about various political and social issues in contemporary America. Dr. Shelton’s articles have appeared in Social Science Quarterly, Du Bois Review, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Sociological Perspectives, Journal of African American Studies, American Behavioral Scientist, and other respected publications. New York University Press published his first book, Blacks and Whites in Christian America: How Racial Discrimination Shapes Religious Convictions, which won a major award sponsored by the Southern Conference on African American Studies and an “honorable mention” from the American Sociological Association’s Section on the Sociology of Religion. He is currently working on his second book, which examines religious diversity among African Americans.
Dr. Shelton currently serves as Chair of the Arlington Unity Council, a major initiative sponsored by the Office of the Mayor that aims to “study equity strategies that the City could implement to promote and encourage greater equality, and report to the City Council on its findings and recommendations.” He has been interviewed by major media outlets for news stories relevant to his research such as the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, USA Today, National Public Radio (NPR), the British Broadcasting Company (BBC), Christianity Today, Houston Chronicle, and network television affiliates in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He earned his PhD and MA degrees in Sociology at the University of Miami (FL), and BA in Sociology at Kent State University. From 2006-2008, Dr. Shelton served as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Sociology at Rice University, where he worked on the first wave of the Portraits of American Life Study (PALS).