From the Dean

As our guiding theme in the College of Science, we like to say, “the shape of Science is changing.” Such dynamism is especially apparent now at the start of an academic year, as we continue our positive momentum and look forward to exciting new activities and experiences!

We welcome 25 stellar new faculty members to the College of Science:

• Mike Baldwin, assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences;
• Edward Bartlett, assistant professor of biological sciences and biomedical engineering;
• Erik Barton, Assistant professor of biological sciences;
• Brenda Beitler Bowen, assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences;
• Gabor Csathy, assistant professor of physics;
• Brian Dian, assistant professor of chemistry;
• Steven Dong, assistant professor of mathematics;
• Joseph Fargione, assistant professor of forestry and natural resources and biological sciences;
• Giulio Gaviglia, assistant professor of mathematics;
• Hersh Gilbert, assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences;
• Martin Kruczenski, assistant professor of physics;
• Melvin Leok, assistant professor of mathematics;
• Jose Figueroa Lopez, assistant professor of statistics;
• Maxim Lyutikov, assistant professor of physics;
• Jennifer Neville, assistant professor of computer science and statistics;
• John Peterson, assistant professor of physics;
• Eric Riggs, associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and curriculum and instruction;
• Luo Si, assistant professor of computer science;
• John Staver, professor of curriculum and instruction and chemistry;
• Daniel Szeto, assistant professor of biological sciences;
• Marcy Hamby Towns, associate professor of chemistry;
• Olga Vitek, assistant professor of statistics and computer science;
• Chen Yang, assistant professor of chemistry and physics;
• Jian Zhang, assistant professor of statistics;
• Xiangyu Zhang, assistant professor of computer science

Thirteen of our new faculty were hired as part of our COALESCE areas of multidisciplinary research and will help us build on our strong presence in Discovery Park. We’ll be introducing all 25 to you during the course of this year’s issues of Science@Purdue, including the three we profile in this issue.

This year’s freshman class of students—roughly 1,000 in number—is our largest in several years. Some of them will take part in the revised undergrad curriculum being piloted this year in actuarial science and earth and atmospheric sciences. The revamped and modernized curriculum is the product of more than a year of work and input from our faculty, students, and alumni.

Our most highly achieving students are enjoying the benefits of an enhanced honors program, where they’re introduced to all the benefits of a large, vibrant research university within a small, dedicated community of scholars and future scientists.

Students are seeing a new addition to their campus maps with this month’s opening of the Richard and Patricia Lawson Computer Science Building. It’s a spectacular facility for our world-class computer science department. Please join us for the formal building dedication on Friday, September 15, kicking off Purdue’s gala celebration week leading up to the Homecoming festivities.

We’re moving forward in our corporate relations efforts with the launch of our Science Business Partners Program (SBPP). Its goal is to build resources for research in the College of Science by positioning the college as a top-quality resource to meet the needs of industry. We focus on providing key research expertise, exchange of scientific information through close faculty interaction, a pool of student interns, and recruiting opportunities. The popularity of SBPP owes in large part to the program’s mission to provide multidisciplinary solutions—facilitating interactions with the faculty, staff, and students of the seven departments in the College of Science and, when appropriate, with researchers from other colleges and centers.

The College of Science will also be collaborating with Purdue’s Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering and several major corporations on the pilot of alternative healthcare systems centered on informed consumers. The pilot is the first action item coming out of our successful May summit, where we brought 24 CEOs to campus to work together to design elements of a healthcare system for the next generation. We purposefully restricted media and publicity at the summit so as to encourage serious discussions among the CEOs. The results exceeded our expectations and will be shared soon in an upcoming white paper that lays out the group’s recommendations. Stay tuned!

As we accomplish more and more, it’s also important to convey what we do to our peers and public. Our magazine Insights, that we started in 2005, is a good example. Next month we’re spearheading a particularly exciting new effort, in partnership with several other colleges at Purdue, called the “Science Laureates Program.” Dr. Moira Gunn—host of NPR’s Tech Nation, computer science alumna, and a member of our Dean’s Leadership Council—is bringing a dozen of her fellow world-class science journalists to campus on October 4-6. There they will experience for themselves the extraordinary things happening at Purdue, and by their writings they will provide Purdue faculty, students, and staff a wonderful venue to reach a worldwide audience.

These exciting new beginnings are the fruits of much planning and hard work. And we’re not done yet! You can read about more new beginnings in Science in future issues of Science@Purdue.

Have a happy and safe Labor Day weekend,
Jeff Vitter

 SPOTLIGHT ON NEW FACULTY

Eric Riggs, associate professor in earth and atmospheric sciences and curriculum and instruction, joins us from San Diego State University. He is the co-director of Purdue's new Center for Research and Engagement in Science and Mathematics Education (CRESME). Eric studies many related aspects of field-based teaching and learning in the geosciences. At the national level, Eric is a member of the Executive Committee of the National Association of Geoscience Teachers. He is the co-founder and director of the Indigenous Earth Sciences Project, a research and outreach effort that works to make geoscience education accessible and useful to Native American students and their home communities across North America.

Jennifer Neville, assistant professor of computer science and statistics, focuses her work on data mining and machine learning techniques in domains including bioinformatics, epidemiology, fraud detection, and web analytics. She looks for connections in those areas among entities that are of crucial importance to pattern discovery, She is interested in developing and analyzing relational learning algorithms and applying them to real-world tasks. Jennifer received a DARPA Young Investigator Award in 2003 and was part of the 2003 Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining Competition winning team. She received her doctorate in computer science from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in August 2006.

Brian Dian, assistant professor of chemistry, started his career as an analytical chemist in the automotive finishes division of the Sherwin Williams Coating Corp. before deciding to come to Purdue to pursue his doctorate in chemistry. Before coming to Purdue, Brian was a post-doctoral research assistant at the University of Virginia. Brian helped develop broadband microwave pulses using digital electronics that have revolutionized the field of microwave spectroscopy by reducing analysis times from hours to seconds. He plans to use the technique in experimental applications of quantum information theory and combustion chemistry.

 SCIENCE PEOPLE

Science faculty named University Faculty Scholars

Five Science faculty members are among 17 Purdue faculty recognized as 2006 University Faculty Scholars. The distinction is awarded in recognition of their scholarship, and each person receives additional funding to support their research. The Science faculty are: Bruce Craig, statistics; Wei Cui, physics; Donna Fekete, biological sciences; Daniel Raftery, chemistry; and David Thompson, chemistry. A total of 25 Science faculty have been named University Faculty Scholars since the program began in 1998.

Stan Gelvin named Fellow of national society

Biological sciences professor Stanton Gelvin has been elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM), a leadership group within the American Society for Microbiology. Members of the AAM are elected based on their records of scientific achievement and original contributions that have advanced microbiology.

 

It's official: Ahmed Elmagarmid named Cyber Center leader

Computer science professor Ahmed Elmagarmid was named director of Discovery Park's Cyber Center, making official the leadership position he has held on an interim basis since the center was launched in August 2005. The Cyber Center brings together Purdue's information technology network of powerful computers, software, facilities and large information repositories, as well as the people and services that make the system work. The center is also an incubator for new technologies that help the economy. Full story.

Chemistry professor earns kudos for boron chemistry work

P. V. Ramachandran, professor of chemistry, received the Boron in the Americas Award for 2006 at the Biennial Boron Americas Meeting in Puerto Rico. The award—the highest in the field—is given once every two years for excellence in boron chemistry .

Science women honored as Purdue Pioneers

Purdue's Council on the Status of Women honored 15 Women Pioneers of Purdue at a luncheon on August 30. Mary Ellen Bock, professor and head of statistics and Martha Chiscon, professor emerita of biological sciences, were among those recognized for their contributions to Purdue's excellence. Bios of all honorees.

President Bush pays a visit to alum John Parker (and a few others)

President George W. Bush stopped by Cabot Microelectronic Corp. in Aurora, Illinois recently to discuss the American Competitiveness Initiative. While he was there, he took a moment to pose for a photo with a group of Cabot researchers, including Science alum and Dean's Leadership Council member John Parker (back row, left)

Science staffers go the extra mile

The Science undergraduate education team opened the semester by surprising three people with "Unsung Heroes" awards for their critical behind-the-scenes work during Day On Campus, when some one thousand new Science students registered for their first semester. Honored were: (left to right) Becky Fulk, administrative assistant, and Yun Shen, data administrator. Not pictured but also honored was Pat Giordano, computer science academic advisor.

 

SCIENCE NEWS AND RESEARCH

Chemistry researcher brings new hope to AIDS patients

Doctors have their first FDA-approved tool to treat drug-resistant HIV thanks to a new molecule created by chemistry professor Arun Ghosh. This is the first treatment that is effective against the growing number of drug-resistant strains of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The molecule Ghosh created is expected to be available to physicians this year. Full story.

Structural biologist hits bulls-eye for antibiotic target

A research breakthrough by structural biologist David Sanders has opened the door to possible antibiotic treatments for a variety of diseases—from food poisoning to leprosy, whooping cough to meningitis and stomach cancer—by determining the structure of a protein that controls the starvation response of E. coli. Full story

Ancient Arctic water cycles are red flags to future global warming

Earth and atmospheric sciences professor Matt Huber has been a regular contributor to Nature over the summer. His work based on data gathered in a 2004 Arctic drilling expedition generated two articles in the June 1 issue of the magazine. He appeared again on August 10 as co-author of a paper reporting more connections between past global warming and future threats. Full story.

Chemistry to host distinguished lectures and international symposium

Scientists from around the world will gather at Purdue on September 14, 15, and 16 for the inaugural Negishi-Brown Distinguished Lectures and the Second CRC International Symposium on Cross-Couplings. The event is organized and sponsored by the Catalysis Research Center at Hokkaido University, Japan;. the Department of Chemistry, and Sigma-Aldrich Corporation. Symposium program.

Microscope will give up close and personal look at viruses

Purdue's structural biology group received a $2 million grant to purchase a state-of-the-art electron microscope to enhance the study of complex biological specimens, including viruses. The grant was provided by the National Institute of Health's National Center for Research Resources. "This new equipment offers the possibility of doing things not possible before, and it allows us to maintain our position as leaders in this field," says Michael Rossmann, Hanley Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences. Full story.

On the road again: Science Express

With new vans sporting a brand new look, the College of Science K-12 Outreach team continues its highly successful program to deliver research grade instruments to high schools and middle schools throughout central Indiana through the Scientific Instrumentation Van Project—better known as Science Express. Full story.

Research Funding Report

Science researchers received funding totaling more than $5 million in July 2006. Complete list of funded proposals.

 

PURDUE NEWS

President Jischke to step down in 2007

Martin Jischke, whose visionary strategic plan and dynamic leadership took Purdue to new levels of excellence, will step down as the university's president on June 30, 2007. Jischke says he believes the time will be right for both him and Purdue to move in new directions with the scheduled completion next June of both the strategic plan and the largest fund-raising campaign in Purdue history. Full story.

International Technology Center opens in Purdue Research Park

A ribbon-cutting ceremony on August 28 at the Purdue Research Park marked the completion of construction on the International Technology Center, a facility that includes space for high-tech companies and a full-scale health club. The center was built in a partnership of Purdue, the Purdue Research Foundation, and the city of West Lafayette, and has become a model for technology centers throughout the state. Full story.

Purdue enrollment tops 39 thousand, diversity at an all-time high

Purdue University's total enrollment increased by slightly more than 500, which includes both its largest freshman class and its most diverse student population ever. Full story.

Lugar says imported oil makes U.S. vulnerable; outlines energy program

In the keynote address to the Richard G. Lugar-Purdue University Summit on Energy Security, U. S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar called for dramatic and immediate action to address U.S. energy vulnerability. The summit drew more than 600 leaders to the Purdue campus to discuss national energy issues and policy. Full story.

SCIENCE ALUMNI NEWS

Science alumni: We want to hear from you! Update your information and share your professional news as well as your personal and family milestones with your classmates and the Science community. Click here.

Click here for this month’s Alumni News.

Science Kids Club blasts off

The Science Kids Club is off and running! Since we launched the club in October, nearly 150 kids have joined! Enroll the special kids in your life in the Science Kids Club for Science fun for kids of all ages. More information.

Stay connected!

Join the Purdue Web Community and stay connected to your alma mater. This interactive site will help you keep in touch with your Purdue family—your friends, faculty and staff, and fellow alumni. Click here to sign up and get started.

Increase your reach: Support Science by joining the Purdue President’s Council!

The President's Council is a unique group of alumni and friends who contribute generously to the future of Purdue University. Working closely with the president, these leaders volunteer to support the University in ways that are very personal and meaningful to them. Through special events and programs, members build strong and lasting relationships with one another—relationships that enhance their experiences and change their lives. Click here to join online!

Make the most of your gift!

The newly passed Pension Protection Act of 2006 contains a two-year IRA Charitable Rollover provision that will allow people age 70½ or older to exclude up to $100,000 from their gross income for a taxable year for direct gifts from a traditional or Roth IRA to a qualified charity. To talk about how you can take advantage of this opportunity to increase your giving power, click here!

 

SCIENCE EVENTS AND CALENDAR

College of Science Scholarship Celebration, September 9, 9:30 a.m., Memorial Mall

Family Weekend, September 9-10

Computer Science Career Fair, September 11, 6:00-9:00 p.m., PMU South Ballroom

Conte Distinguished Lecture, Computer Science, September 11, 3:30 p.m.

CS Corporate Partners Meeting September 11-12

Negishi-Brown Lectures, Chemistry, September 14-15

Dean’s Leadership Council Meeting, September 14-15

Purdue Alumni Association Patio Party, September 15, 7:00 p.m., Dauch Alumni Center

Dedication of the Richard and Patricia Lawson Computer Science Building, September 15, 11:00 a.m.

Big 10+ Graduate School Exposition, September 25

Science Events

Science Seminars

Purdue Events

 

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