From the Dean

Welcome to the new edition of Science@Purdue. We have revamped our monthly e-newsletter, and we hope you’ll enjoy the new, easier to read format.

Summer at Purdue is not a quiet time. Our faculty members are continuing the vital work of discovery, the campus is alive with junior high and high school students attending various camps, and we are busy planning for the coming year. Be sure to check the Science and Purdue calendar links for all the information on upcoming events.

These are exciting times at Science, and I look forward to sharing the excitement with you as we continue to progress toward our goals of excellence and leadership in discovery, learning, and engagement.

Best regards,
Jeff Vitter

 

SCIENCE NEWS AND RESEARCH

Purdue Center to probe climate changes

While the recent movie The Day After Tomorrow magnifies the effects of global warming to absurd proportions, the underlying theory that the Earth's climate will get dangerously warmer unless mitigating steps are taken is based on sound science, according to Purdue researchers. So sound, in fact, that Purdue is launching a new, multidisciplinary Climate Change Research Center. The goal is to make Purdue a leader in understanding how and why the Earth's climate is changing, what the regional impacts will be, and what can be done to predict and mitigate those changes. Full story.

Dark days doomed dinosaurs, say Purdue scientists

Though the catastrophe that destroyed the dinosaurs' world may have begun with blazing fire, it probably ended with icy darkness, according to a Purdue University research group.

By analyzing fossil records, a team of scientists including Purdue's Matthew Huber has found evidence that the Earth underwent a sudden cooling 65 million years ago that may have taken millennia to abate completely. The fossil rock samples, taken from a well-known archaeological site in Tunisia, show that tiny, cold-loving ocean organisms called dinoflagellates and benthic formanifera appeared suddenly in an ancient sea that had previously been very warm. While some scientists have long theorized that a meteorite's fiery collision with Earth was in some way responsible for the mass extinction of many dinosaur species, the discovery provides the first physical evidence of the global cooling that likely followed the impact. Full story.

Summer camps bring excitement of science to K-12 students

The Motivation and Momentum to Strive and Succeed in Science Program (M2S3P) is a one-week residential camp for seventh and eighth grade students. Students are exposed to science-oriented careers as they work side by side with science professionals from industry, faculty, students, and staff. They participate in hands-on activities that integrate several science disciplines around a central theme. This year’s camp, “From Kitty Hawk to Mars: The Science of Flight” celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ first flight. Activities included presentations from Purdue staff and industry professionals, group projects and presentations, and a field trip to the Challenger Learning Center in Brownsburg, Indiana.

The Computer Science building was the chosen campground for many sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth graders. From June 20th through June 26th the 2004 CS Summer Camps made the Purdue CS building a hot spot for any 10-14 year old. The department offered 2 different camps, one for beginners and another for advanced students. Each camp was a 4-day camp in which campers were introduced to computer science and computer programming. It is so much better than those chigger-infested, scary-story-telling camps, it’s computer camp! Full story.

New Biology course is H.O.T.

The Department of Biological Sciences has announced four new first-year biology core laboratory courses for the 2004/2005 academic year. Focused on the practical skills that biologists use, the courses have been nicknamed “Hands On Training in Biology” or H.O.T. Biology. They catch the excitement about new ideas and technologies in the biological sciences at Purdue University, where research capacity is growing and students' learning experiences are constantly being enhanced. Full story.

Structural Biology makes a fashion statement

Now you can order a necktie depicting Biology Professor Richard Kuhn and his structural biology group’s latest discovery: the structure of the West Nile virus. These West Nile ties are sold by Infectious Awareables, and a portion of the profits will go directly to the Purdue Structural Biology group. Be creative in your own fight against disease and take pride in knowing that a portion of all sale proceeds goes to research and education. See the ties (in Purdue gold as well as other colors).

 

SCIENCE PEOPLE

Associate Dean Joann Otto to become department chair at Western Washington University

Dean Jeff Vitter announced recently that Associate Dean Joann Otto will be leaving Purdue at the end of the summer to become Chair of the Department of Biology at Western Washington University, effective September 1. Joann has done an outstanding job for the School, and we will miss her greatly. We wish her the best on her new opportunity.

Professor George McCabe of the Statistics Department will replace Joann as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. George has been on the Purdue faculty since 1970 and has served as the Director of the Statistical Consulting Service since that time. His research interests are centered in applied statistics, both in developing new methodologies and in adapting existing methodologies to solve real problems, primarily for biological applications.

Mathematics Professor elected to Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Professor Laszlo Lempert, Mathematics, was elected a foreign member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences at its 173rd General Assembly in May.

Professor Lempert was recognized for his research in complex analysis in several variables. He was also cited for his discovery of the first genuine generalization of the Cartan—Oka theorem, the most important theorem in the theory of finitely many variables.

Physics Instructor Emerita Anna Akeley dies at 100

Anna Mandler Akeley, 100, died on June 26, 2004. Born May 5, 1904, in Vienna, Austria, she performed graduate work in physics at Vienna University.

In 1943, she was appointed assistant instructor of physics atPurdue University and retired in 1971. She was named instructor emerita at Purdue University upon her retirement.
She was honored in 1966 with the School of Science Instructor of the Year Award and in 1969 with Purdue University’s first Helen B. Schlemen Gold Medal Award for contributions to women students. Earlier this year, she was awarded the Order of the Griffin by Purdue University President Martin C. Jischke.

Her husband, Edward Akeley, preceded her in death. He was a professor of physics at Purdue University.

Along with her husband, Anna collected more than $1 million worth of artwork. In 1995, she donated the collection to various museums, including Purdue Galleries and the Art Museum of Greater Lafayette. Read an interview with Anna Akeley on her years at Purdue.

Former Biology professor wins neuroscience award

An alumnus and former faculty member of Purdue Science has won an international neuroscience prize.

Biologist Seymour Benzer, whose career has transformed the understanding of the brain and influenced generations of scientists, has been selected by an international panel of experts in neuroscience to receive the inaugural 2004 Neuroscience Prize of the Peter Gruber Foundation.

Each year the foundation will present a gold medal and a $200,000 unrestricted cash award to an outstanding scientist who has contributed to fundamental advances in the field of neuroscience. This year’s prize will be presented on October 23 at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego. Full story.

Spring Fling fun

The staff of Science Administration and Counseling took a welcome break from the year’s hard work at Purdue’s Spring Fling in May. The day is set aside by the University each year to thank all staff members for their service, and provide an afternoon of fun, food, and relaxation.

The Purdue Science softball team took on a team from Liberal Arts, and though we lost the game, we had a great time out on the field and away from our desks.

Here, Dean Jeff Vitter does his best A-Rod imitation at third base.

 

PURDUE NEWS

Purdue to use Lilly Endowment grant to attract top faculty

Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded Purdue $17.5 million to recruit new top-caliber faculty members. President Martin Jischke announced June 4 to the Board of Trustees that the grant will fund the establishment of as many as 20 endowed faculty positions through matching gifts. Ten positions will be created at Purdue's West Lafayette campus, and an additional 10 positions will be created at three statewide campuses. Full story.

Alumni services ready to roll out online

Web-based “e-services” for Purdue alumni are expanding and soon will include e-mail forwarding and a way to look up friends and classmates through an online directory. Purdue-alumni, sponsored by the Purdue Alumni Association and University Advancement, is set to be rolled out in full late this summer or early in the fall. Between now and then, alumni are asked to go online, find their personal record, update their information and, through the “my options” facility, let the University know what information they want made visible in the online directory. Read more here.

Purdue, Shell work to diversify talent pipeline

Gifted students from Chicago elementary and middle schools were at Purdue as part of a project to find ways to attract a more diverse group of students to math and science careers. Thanks to a $51,000 grant from the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, the first group of 22 Shell Scholars participated in summer camps offered by the Purdue School of Education's Gifted Education Resource Institute. The students also will be a part of a project headed by Kwong-Liem Karl Kwan and Deborah E. Bennett, both associate professors of educational studies, who are providing guidance to female and minority students interested in engineering, science and technology. Full story.

 

RESEARCH FUNDING REPORT

Science researchers received funding totaling more than $3 million in June 2004. Complete list of funded proposals.

 

CALENDAR

Purdue Day at the Indiana State Fair: August 18

School of Science Alumni Association Board meeting: October 15

Homecoming: October 16

School of Science Dean's Leadership Council Fall meeting: October 21-22

President's Council Annual Weekend: October 22-23

Science Events

Purdue Events