Science
M A G A Z I N E
O F
V I R G I N I A
T E C H
C O L L E G E
FALL ISSUE 2009
BALANCING
Science,
Technology,
and the
LAW
ALSO
Alumnus sets the bar for instruction in unique law program
Department of Statistics receives record donation
School of Medicine certified, new research funded
NIH funds new anti-Malaria research
CONTENTS
F E AT U R E S
Balancing Science,
2 Technology, and the Law
Alumnus sets the bar for instruction in unique law program
On the cover: 1969 College of Science alumnus Kimbley Muller
combines his education in science with his experience as an
attorney to help students learn about intellectual property law.
10 School of Medicine Certified
11 New medical research projects funded
11 Beating Malaria
National Institutes of Health funds research
to reduce malaria transmission
OTHER STORIES
5
Two COS alumni honored
6
Statistics receives record gift
8
VT-STEM inspires next generation
College of Science
Virginia Tech
Mail Code 0405
Blacksburg, VA 24061
540/231-5422
editor.cosmag@vt.edu
www.science.vt.edu
12
16
Former professor establishes
essay competition endowment
College of Science offers help to
parents with difficult children
Managing Editor/Writer Catherine Doss
Contributing Writers Alyssa Haak, Albert Raboteau,
Susan Trulove, Liz Crumbley, Cheryl Valentine
Copy Editor Richard Lovegrove
Photographers Michael Kiernan, John McCormick,
Jim Stroup
Designer Nathan Skreslet
Virginia Tech does not discriminate against
employees, students, or applicants for
admission or employment on the basis of
race, gender, disability, age, veteran status,
national origin, religion, sexual orientation,
or political affiliation. Anyone having
questions concerning discrimination should
contact the Office for Equity and Inclusion.
College of Science Magazine Fall 2009
Read past issues of the College of Science Magazine at www.science.vt.edu/news/magazine/index.html
1
MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN
I have been working closely with Rich Sorenson, dean of the university’s Pamplin College of Business, to develop ways to
foster sharing of science and business expertise among faculty and students in our two colleges.
Scientific breakthroughs happen when boundaries are pushed — boundaries of ideas, questions, hypotheses, investigation
techniques, and methods of exploration. The vast array of new products and inventions that are developed from pushing
these limits will be part of an extraordinary enterprise in the 21st century. We can be proud that the College of Science is
at the forefront of this adventure.
Lay Nam Chang
Dean, College of Science
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
Another example of bringing science to market is the partnership between researchers in the Department of Chemistry
and Molsoft LLC who are developing a new class of insecticides to reduce malaria transmission (see article, page 11).
Once again, this is an excellent example of products developed through scientific research that meet critical world needs.
M A G A Z I N E
Our college proudly includes many strong examples of discoveries that will ultimately lead to global benefits once they
are fully developed and can interface with society’s marketplace. Several such examples are featured in this issue of the
College of Science Magazine. The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute supports researchers
focusing on some of today’s toughest medical challenges: cancer, obesity, falling risks, and treatment and prevention of
infectious diseases to name a few (see article page 10). This research is underway by faculty members in several colleges
within the university. Discoveries in these areas will ultimately lead to better health around the globe once they are
available on the market.
S C I E N C E
In this issue, the College of Science Magazine features our unique joint degree program in intellectual property law.
This endeavor will be educating some of the best and brightest young minds who will eventually help bring science to
market by offering expert counsel on such issues as patents, trademarks, copyrights, and industrial design rights. Our
enhanced joint degree program is a brainchild of Rodney Smolla, dean of the Washington and Lee School of Law and
former dean of the law school at the University of Richmond, and enables science majors to pursue a law degree at one
of two partnering universities for a J.D. with a specialty in intellectual property (see cover story, page 2). We are pleased
and honored to have Kimbley Muller, senior counsel for Shell Oil Company and 1969 alumnus of the college, as one of our
first instructors for the program.
O F
Our society is becoming increasingly dependent on discoveries as well as forward-thinking individuals who combine their
knowledge of science and business to bring new technologies to market. Science entrepreneurs are agents of change.
Their “business” is to predict critical societal needs, recognize marketable ideas, and build businesses based on scientific
breakthroughs on demand.
C O L L E G E
The Business of Science
BALANCING
Science,
Technology,
and the
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
C O L L E G E
O F
S C I E N C E
M A G A Z I N E
2
ALUMNUS SETS THE BAR FOR INSTRUCTION IN UNIQUE LAW PROGRAM
When Kimbley “Kim” Muller (general sciences ’69) was approached in
2002 about teaching an introductory law class as part of a new, joint science/
law degree program in the College of Science, his first thought was, “I don’t
know a thing about teaching college students!” But having spent most of his
40-year career as a patent and trademark attorney, he did know intellectual
property (IP) law.
In true Hokie Spirit, Muller, senior counsel and manager of trademarks
and intellectual property for Shell Oil Company, took on the challenge and
has continually demonstrated teaching excellence within this innovative
program, which prepares students to study law and learn about intellectual
property law.
“In 2003, I was surprised at how hard it was to be a really good professor,”
Muller humbly acknowledged. “But faculty and staff from the College of
Science patiently helped me become a good professor.” His teaching
skills have consistently improved. In fact his most recent class, IP Law for
Scientists and Engineers, has had a waiting list, and he regularly receives
excellent student reviews. “I’ve changed as a teacher, and it has made a big
difference in my life,” Muller said.
MAKING A GOOD THING EVEN BETTER
The IP law program originally was a joint effort between the College of
Science and the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond
(UR). It was the brainchild of Rodney Smolla, then dean of the UR law school
and now dean of the law school at Washington and Lee (W&L), and Lay
Nam Chang, dean of the College of Science. The program enabled qualified
students majoring in science or engineering to enter law school after their
third or fourth year as an undergraduate and complete their J.D. in another
three years. Recently, the initiative expanded to include a similar partnership
with the W&L School of Law. Three professors from the school will be teaching a new course on the Virginia Tech campus in spring semester 2010 (see
inset page 3).
“The College of Science is proud to be involved in one of only a handful of
joint degree programs offered at Virginia Tech,” Chang said. “All three schools
will benefit, as will society, from well-educated students who have a strong
academic grounding in the intersection of science and law.”
Upon completion of law school, students will have both a B.S. and a J.D.
degree with a certificate of specialization in intellectual property law.
“We anticipate this joint collaboration will enhance the quality of
Washington and Lee law school’s intellectual property program by
bringing a critical number of highly qualified science students with
a keen interest in intellectual property issues,” Smolla, a First Amendment scholar, said.
Rodney Smolla
University School of Law
First Amendment Scholar
Associate Professor of Law;
Director, Frances Lewis Law
Center
Regulation of e-commerce and
videogames expert
Partner in Latimer, Mayberry,
and Matthews IP Law, LLP
Blacksburg, Va.
Kimbley “Kim” Muller
Senior Counsel and Manager
of Trademarks and Intellectual
Property
“Whether our science students pursue careers in law after graduating
from Virginia Tech or they enter professions in the sciences, Professor
Muller is preparing them to become engaged citizens who will ensure
that scientific advances work for the betterment of society,” said Jill
Sible, associate dean for curriculum, instruction, and advising in the
College of Science.
Shell Oil Company
UT PROSIM…THAT I MAY SERVE
Sean Seymore
Assistant Professor of Law and
Alumni Faculty Fellow
Now in his sixth year of bi-monthly commuting from his home in
Houston, Texas, to Blacksburg to teach, Muller says he has high regard
for the caliber of students who enroll in his course, which is offered
each spring semester. A remote distance-learning classroom allows
Muller to teach some of the classes from Houston.
“These students are extremely dedicated and want to begin a career
Adjunct Professor, Virginia Tech
Balancing continued next page
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
Michele Mayberry
IP rights usually cover new products and ideas that can be used and
enjoyed by many consumers. Examples especially relevant in today’s
society include MP3 players, iPods, Blackberries, and cell phones.
Questions arise as to who can download music. What are the legal
considerations and consequences regarding replication of electronic
music and videos? Who owns copyrights for such property? How far
do royalties extend? These are among the many debatable questions
in an IP law classroom.
M A G A Z I N E
Joshua Fairfield
Holders of patents, for example, have exclusive rights to exclude all
others from the practice of their claimed invention and can reap large
financial rewards from licensing or assigning their patent rights. IP
rights also have an intrinsic economic value. It is estimated that twothirds of the value of large businesses in the U.S. can be traced to
intangible assets (Economic Effects of Intellectual Property-Intensive
Manufacturing in the United States, Robert Shapiro and Nam Pham,
July 2007).
S C I E N C E
Dean, Washington and Lee
Intellectual property law deals with product and property protection
for discoveries, scientists, and universities that conduct research and
development. It is the fastest growing field of law in today’s technology-driven society. Common types of intellectual property include
copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights, and trade
secrets.
O F
THE EXPLOSION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
3
C O L L E G E
The intellectual property law joint degree program
between the College of Science and the Washington and
Lee University School of Law offers pre-law classes for
undergraduates majoring in science or engineering. A distinguished group of instructors leads the way in ensuring
that bright students have the introductory knowledge and
skills to succeed in law school. Who are they?
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
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Balancing continued
and use their degree,” he said. “They are really nice kids with good intentions, and they are very smart.”
With technology developing at an explosive pace in today’s society, it is imperative that IP lawyers have strong knowledge about science and technology and how to monetize investments that are successful.
Will Frey, a junior physics and mathematics major from Fairfax, Va., has
taken both of the program’s two course offerings so far. (In addition to “You can’t be a patent attorney unless you have a science background,” Muller
Muller, Michele Mayberry, a partner with the firm Latimer, Mayberry, and said. “In fact, without this background, you would miss crucial facts in every
Matthews, teaches an introduction to IP law class, which is offered each fall.) case . You must have the ability to assimilate the law with a scientific mind.”
“The instruction is outstanding, and I’m really excited about the new class
to be offered in the spring,” he said. Frey became interested in the program
because he was looking for new and different ways to put his science
degree into practice. “I didn’t really want to pursue a career as a researcher
or teacher after graduation,” he said. “A law degree would allow me to
practice patent law, interact with people, and perhaps work for the federal
government at some point.”
Muller and his wife Shari live in Houston, where they enjoy the theater and
the symphony. Muller swims up to two miles every morning for relaxation.
He attends functions sponsored by the Houston-area Virginia Tech alumni
group and serves on the alumni roundtable advisory group for the College
of Science.
Muller encourages his students at Virginia Tech to consider how they might
make a difference with a degree in IP law while developing a good career
for themselves.
“I open up possibilities in the field of IP law to students and let them determine if it is a career they might wish to pursue,” Muller said. “I want them to
“I believe we have a much better society when inventions are protected and
see there are opportunities available that they might be unaware of at this
rewarded,” he said. “Patent protection offers fertile ground for even more
stage of their studies. I don’t consider myself a true college professor; I’m
inventions, and more inventions create more opportunities and ultimately
simply presenting opportunities, knowledge, and experience.”
more jobs. Your mind is the only thing that limits you in this profession. If
Muller entered Virginia Tech in 1964 as a chemistry major. He switched to you have an expansive and inquisitive mind, this field is right for you.”
general sciences in order to get a more rounded and diverse science education and pursued a minor in history. Graduating in 1969, he took his first job
at Universal Oil Products in Des Plaines, Ill., working in the company’s mass
spectrometer laboratory. He also started taking classes at John Marshall
Law School to earn his law degree, specializing in patent law.
In 1974 Muller graduated from law school, passed the Illinois bar, and transferred to his company’s Washington, D.C., office as a patent and trademark
attorney. After earning a master’s of law degree (LLM) at George Washington University, he went to work for Shell in 1985 and has been there ever
since. Muller has continually advanced his career within the oil giant and
now oversees more than a dozen staff lawyers at Shell’s Houston headquarters.
“It’s been a good career; Shell is a wonderful company to work for,” he said.
“I feel like I am adding something to society by capturing and rewarding
creative minds for their inventions and authorships. That is what I get out of
this profession personally, but teaching students to appreciate the basics of
IP law has also been very fulfilling.”
It is imperative that IP lawyers
have strong knowledge about
science and technology.
By Albert Raboteau
She also has held leadership roles with the Virginia State Bar, the Arlington
County Bar Association, Legal Services of Northern Virginia, the Virginia Women
Attorneys Association, and the VWAA Foundation. An active participant in her
community, Byrum serves on the board of Horizons Theatre of Equality Virginia
— a nonpartisan advocacy group that seeks equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender Virginians. She also is a former president of the Virginia 4-H
Foundation.
PATRICIA CALDWELL
Caldwell, of New York, N.Y., has more than 30
years experience in commercial and investment
banking. She founded Gordian Group LLC with
three other partners in 1988. With a nationwide
practice spanning across all industry lines, Gordian Group provides financial advisory services in
distressed and complicated situations. She was
formerly with Citibank, where she founded the Corporate Finance and Analysis
Department. During her 13 years at Citibank, Caldwell also spent nine years as
a lending officer, including several years as a senior member of the Petroleum
Caldwell serves as director and treasurer of the New York Service Program for
Older People, director of Friends and Relatives of the Institutionalized Aged,
and as a member of the State University of New York at Albany University
Council and School of Business Advisory Board.
Caldwell graduated from Virginia Tech with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics
in 1971 and holds an M.B.A. from the State University of New York at Albany.
This story can be found on the College of Science news
site www.science.vt.edu.
In Memorium
Irving John “Jack” Good
Dec. 9, 1916- April 5, 2009
Irving John “Jack” Good, 92, a retired Virginia
Tech statistician who helped break the Nazi
Enigma code for his native England during
World War II, died April 5, 2009, of natural
causes in Radford, Va.
Good had been a professor of statistics at
Virginia Tech since 1967 and one of the most
renowned statisticians worldwide.
Look for a tribute to Good in a future issue
of the College of Science Magazine.
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
Byrum has remained involved at her alma mater by serving on the Board of
Directors of the Virginia Tech Alumni Association, the President’s Advisory
Committee, and the Economic Development Advisory Board. She chaired the
Dean’s Roundtable for the former College of Arts and Sciences and received
the first Distinguished Alumni Award from the new College of Liberal Arts and
Human Sciences. She currently serves on the College of Science Roundtable.
Byrum is a member of the Northern Virginia Regional Campaign Committee
and the Pylon Society.
M A G A Z I N E
Byrum, of Alexandria, Va., earned her bachelor’s
in political science from Virginia Tech in 1976.
She is an attorney in private practice with
emphasis on labor, employment, and personnel
law, whose law degree is from Pepperdine
University. Byrum often lectures on labor and
employment issues and was an adjunct faculty
member at Washington College of Law at American University. She is a member
of the Boyd Graves Conference and a master of the George Mason Inns of Court.
Caldwell is a fourth generation Hokie. Her great grandfather, Daniel Franklin
Hale, was a member of the first class of Virginia Tech. She has maintained a
strong commitment to the university as a long-time member of the former
College of Arts and Sciences Alumni Roundtable and as past chair and current
member of the College of Science Roundtable. She has served on the Virginia
Tech Foundation board (currently chairing the Development Committee), the
Women in Leadership and Philanthropy Council, the Mathematics Department
Advisory Board, and the Quiet Phase Campaign Steering Committee, and is
currently a member of the university’s College of Science campaign steering
committee. Among other things, Caldwell endowed a scholarship that is
awarded to out-of-state female undergraduate students majoring in mathematics. In recognition of her exceptional service, she was the recipient of the
first-ever Distinguished Alumni Award from the college.
S C I E N C E
MARNI BYRUM
Metals and Mining Department. Prior to joining Citibank, she spent two years
as a financial analyst with AT&T Bell Labs.
O F
The Virginia Tech Alumni Association honored two prominent College of
Science supporters with Alumni Distinguished Service Awards for 2009 last
spring. Marni Byrum (PSCI ’76) and Patricia Caldwell (MATH ’71) were
recognized for outstanding service to the university and the Virginia Tech
Alumni Association. Also recognized was John Higgenbotham (ENG ’77).
5
C O L L E G E
TWO COLLEGE OF SCIENCE ALUMNI HONORED WITH
PRESTIGIOUS UNIVERSITY AWARD FOR SERVICE
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STATISTICIAN BLAZES TRAILS, PROVIDES
OPPORTUNITIES FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS
By Albert Raboteau
Jean Dickinson Gibbons has made the largest ever pledge to the Department of Statistics, which will name its graduate program for her when the $6
million bequest is realized.
Gibbons, a retired professor from the University of Alabama who now lives
in Florida, earned her Ph.D. in statistics from Virginia Tech in 1962. She says
she made the gift as an effort to enable the university to recruit the nation’s
best doctoral candidates in her field, and to help the United States remain the
global leader in the discipline.
“Statistics is my love,” Gibbons said. “It’s my vocation, as well as my avocation.
I was so delighted when I discovered statistics … and I think that it is a field
that will always be of utmost importance.”
The gift — which ultimately will come from the estate of Gibbons and her
husband, John Fielden — will establish a fellowship program for statistics
Ph.D. candidates who are U.S. citizens and have demonstrated outstanding
academic achievement.
Gibbons Fellows will be able to have up to $100,000 of non-tuition academic and living expenses reimbursed over a three-year period. This will allow them to undertake research, attend conferences, or purchase materials
related to their education that they might not otherwise be able to afford.
Tuition funding will come from other sources. The department will be able to
offer six Gibbons Fellowships at a time, a valuable asset in what can be fierce
competition for the best students in the country.
Jean Dickinson Gibbons with husband John Fielden.
“This gift basically will allow us to compete on a national level with universities like Stanford, Harvard, N.C. State, Iowa State, and Texas A&M for the top
American students in statistics,” said Department Chair Eric Smith.
She has published 10 scholarly books in statistics. Her first, entitled Nonparametric Statistical Inference, was published in 1970 and will soon be released
in its fifth edition. Since her retirement in 1995, she has also co-authored two
books with her husband.
Gibbons and Fielden already have given funds to establish the Jean Dickinson Gibbons Statistics Award, which is providing a $5,000 grant to a different
candidate each year for the next six years. Mark Seiss (mathematics ’03, M.S.
‘05) is the first recipient.
One book is on writing and is called Throw Me the Bottom Line – I’m Drowning in E-Mail. The other, a novel called Two Lives, One Love, is based on their
personal story and was recently given the 2008 President’s Award by the
Florida Publishers Association for best adult fiction.
Seiss, an Alpha, N.J., native said, “It’s a very generous gift.” The support has
created several opportunities for him, including buying a more powerful
computer for research and attending the annual Joint Statistical Meetings of
the American Statistical Association.
In addition to teaching and research, Gibbons has testified about statistical
evidence before congressional committees and served as a consultant and an
expert witness in multiple legal cases involving statistics.
Gibbons had a very active career and was elected a Fellow of the American
Statistical Association at age 34; she has served four terms on their board
of directors. Her primary field of expertise is nonparametric statistics,
which deals with small sample sizes and data that do not follow a normal
statistical curve.
“You can’t even imagine the various uses statistics has,” she said.
As a female statistician starting her career in the early 1960s, Gibbons was a
rarity in a predominantly male field. She had to push to be taken seriously at
times. She still recalls presenting a paper at Johns Hopkins University a few
years after graduating, while she was a faculty member at the University of
Pennsylvania.
Gibbons Bequest continued next page
7
Gibbons Bequest continued
Jean Dickinson Gibbons
engagement.
“We want to improve the statistical literacy of all members of the university
community,” said Eric Vance, director of LISA.
“The breadth and depth of what we offer is significant,” Vance said. “Our
collaborators are trained to help design experiments, analyze and plot data,
run statistical software, interpret results, and communicate statistical results
to non-statisticians.”
Those who use the service usually come away with a stronger research component to their project or grant.
LISA assists with designing experiments, using appropriate statistical terms
“I found the consultation eye opening to statistics overall,” said Courtney Culp,
and tests in grant proposals, and analyzing data. It also assists with preparagraduate student in biological sciences. “It enabled me to think more about my
tion of grant proposals, particularly by providing expert advice on the design
experiment and understand my data more in depth. It gave me great insight.”
of experiments and data collection, as well as suggesting proper tests and
analyses.
“We help clients learn about good statistical tools and assist in making research
results defensible,” Vance said. “It’s also an opportunity for our graduate
students to apply proper methods on real data and write better research
papers.”
LISA provides walk-in services as well as more in-depth collaborative assistance. The LISA walk-in service is staffed by graduate statistics students for two
hours every day that classes are in session. Here, clients can have quick statistical questions answered, or they may be referred to a faculty member for more
specialized assistance.
To learn more about LISA’s consulting services, see
www.lisa.stat.vt.edu or www.science.vt.edu/
department/index.html.
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
Created in 2008, the Laboratory for Interdisciplinary Statistical Analysis (LISA), “We collaborate with faculty from every college in the university and have
assists Virginia Tech faculty, staff, and graduate students with the statistical room to assist even more,” Vance said. “The best time to consult us is before a
components of their research and dissertations. Last year, the service was researcher starts collecting data so that we can advise them on sound methoffered to more than 300 clients, most of them within the Virginia Tech com- odologies.”
munity. LISA also provides consulting services to clients outside the university,
LISA also offers free statistical short courses designed to teach practical statistiacross the state, and even around the world for a nominal fee.
cal tools to graduate students and staff for use in their research.
M A G A Z I N E
LISA OFFERS STATISTICAL EXPERTISE ACROSS
CAMPUS … AND AROUND THE WORLD
S C I E N C E
“I’m proud that I’ve been able to serve as a role model for a lot of female
students in statistics — and women in other scientific professions,” she said.
LISA grew out of the Statistical Consulting Center, established by the university’s Department of Statistics in 1976. Most of its projects are supervised by
statistics faculty but led by graduate students, thus fostering learning through
O F
Gibbons said she was pleased that one of the biggest changes she had seen
in statistics over the decades was the increasing number and prominence of
women in the field.
“You can’t even
imagine the various
uses statistics has.”
C O L L E G E
“I went down there and presented the paper and we went to the faculty club
to have lunch afterward and, lo and behold, women weren’t allowed in the
faculty club. The situation had never arisen before. So my hosts had to sneak
me in.”
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VT-STEM HELPS INSPIRE
THE NEXT GENERATION OF
SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS
By Liz Crumbley
“Our national economic prosperity and security
require that we remain a world leader in science
and technology. Precollege education in science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics
(STEM) is the foundation of that leadership
and must be one of our highest priorities as
a nation.”
Steven C. Beering, chairman of the National Science
Board in a letter to newly elected President Barack
Obama, January 2009.
While STEM is championed by national science and political leaders, it also has become an
educational tool at Virginia Tech.
Faculty members in the College of Science currently hold more than $1.2 million in STEM
education grants from the National Science Foundation. The college continues to support
scholarship in the area of STEM education, with particular emphasis on serving underrepresented and financially needy students.
“VT-STEM is a collaborative project,” said Llyn Sharp, coordinator of Geosciences Outreach in
the College of Science. Sharp and Mike Rosenzweig, a research scientist in the Department
of Biological Sciences and director of the Science Outreach Program, served as co-coordinators of VT-STEM for the 2008-09 academic year.
Nearly a decade ago, John Dooley, then associate provost for outreach and now vice president of Outreach and International Affairs at Virginia Tech, convened a group of faculty and
researchers interested in promoting STEM education. Today, the VT-STEM K-12 Outreach
Initiative encompasses a network of more than 150 university faculty who, with countless
undergraduate and graduate students, reach out to schools across Virginia with more than
50 distinct educational programs in the areas of science, technology, engineering, or mathematics.
Faculty and students at the university who have developed kindergarten through 12thgrade (K-12) programs in STEM disciplines are invited to join a listserv and participate in
monthly meetings managed by Sharp and Rosenzweig. A frequent topic of discussions via
e-mail and at meetings involves how and where to engage K-12 teachers and their students.
One success story from the VT-STEM initiative is Kid’s Tech University, an educational
research series for children ages 8 to 12, which premiered in 2009. The VT-STEM program
attracted hundreds of children to the four days of lectures, hands-on learning activities, and
labs during the 2009 spring semester.
“A big part of this effort is the university’s land-grant mission, which, of course, connects
Virginia Tech to the community,” Sharp said. “The VT-STEM network acts as a pipeline that
helps funnel the conversation between the university and public schools. In addition to
VT-STEM continued next page
More than 150 faculty members and countless
students reach out to schools across Virginia to
foster interest in science, technology, engineering,
and math among school-age children.
9
University to present a full-day STEM conference for 600 to 800 sixth-grade
girls from area schools.
Virginia Tech Southwest Center in Abingdon, Va., for example, has become a
vital regional STEM education source. Each November, the Virginia Tech Southwest Center partners with the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center, businesses in Virginia and Tennessee, and faculty from Virginia Tech and Radford
WHY JOIN?
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• Connect with friends, classmates, alumni, and students.
Quick steps to register:
• Find Hokies by locality, career, interests, class year, or major,
and get involved with local Alumni Association chapters.
1. Go to www.alumni.vt.edu/hnn
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3. Create your profile and start networking!
2. Login with your VT PID and password
COS HOMECOMING '09
Virginia Tech vs University of North Carolina 7:30 p.m.
Mark your calendar for the College of Science Homecoming!
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009
Join alumni, family, and friends beginning at 4:30 before the
Hokies take on the Tarheels for a pre-game tailgate picnic,
college displays, entertainment, and kids’ games.
Tailgate Picnic is $15/per person.
Children ages 5-11: $10; Children ages 4 and under: Free
Current Virginia Tech Students: $10
Smith Career Center
Career Services Building (corner of Washington Street and
West Campus Drive near the stadium)
Game tickets per paid registrant are $48 each. Everyone
attending the game must have a ticket, including infants.
For more information, contact Robin Jackson at 540/231-8706 or rhjackson@vt.edu.
To register, go to www.alumni.vt.edu/reunion/cos.
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
GET CONNECTED WITH THE HOKIE NATION NETWORK!
M A G A Z I N E
Successful VT-STEM programs aren’t limited to the Blacksburg campus. The
“Teachers are hungry for professional development programs that provide
new content information and new methods and strategies for teaching STEM
subjects,” McCallum said. “Many of them have not taken a curriculum-specific
class since receiving their college degrees. The teachers know what they need,
and we try to deliver that.”
S C I E N C E
the Fralin Life Science Institute’s Biotech-in-a-Box program.
O F
One reason STEM programs are sought after is the need for teachers and “We adopted STEM as our signature program about four years ago,” said Penny
students to master the Standards of Learning (SOLs). “VT-STEM people know McCallum, the center’s director. For three years, the center has hosted the
the national and state SOLs, and most things taught in our programs can be Summer STEM Institute, a three-day program for pre-kindergarten to 12thgrade teachers who want to motivate students to consider careers in STEM
related to the standards,” Sharp said.
disciplines. Workshop topics for the 2009 institute range from using model
Some of the university’s STEM programs have been drawing K-12 fans for many
rockets in the classroom to conducting hands-on soil science experiments.
years, including the annual Wood Magic Show, presented by the College of
Natural Resources’ Department of Wood Science and Forest Products; the The Virginia Tech Southwest Center also collaborates on an annual STEM conferCollege of Engineering’s Imagination and C-Tech2 summer camps; the Physics ence for the region’s sixth-grade girls and hosts several one-day workshops for
Outreach Program; the 4-H State Congress; the Museum of Geosciences; and teachers throughout the year.
C O L L E G E
VT-STEM continued
educating K-12 students, STEM programs help teachers learn to stay current
in their fields.”
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
C O L L E G E
O F
S C I E N C E
M A G A Z I N E
10
SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AWARDED CRITICAL CERTIFICATION
11 NEW MEDICAL RESEARCH PROJECTS FUNDED By Cheryl Valentine and Susan Trulove
The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Research Institute (VTC)
received certification from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
(SCHEV) in the summer. Certification gives the planned school degree-granting
authority and makes it eligible to apply for scholarship and grant funding, such
as tuition assistance grants.
“We are bringing to bear assets from two top-notch organizations,” said Cynda
A. Johnson, president and dean of the school. “That is why this school is going
to be of such a high caliber.”
SCHEV certification means VTC complies with the requirements of the Virginia
Administrative Code in such areas as: maintenance of student records, faculty
qualifications, and student admission standards.
“This will be a truly
transformative project
for the region.”
Charles Steger
President, Virginia Tech
“This will be a truly transformative project for the region,” said Virginia Tech
President Charles W. Steger at a groundbreaking ceremony last year.
VTC is a public-private partnership that leverages Virginia Tech’s world-class
strength in basic sciences, bioinformatics, and engineering with Carilion Clinic’s
highly experienced medical staff and rich history in medical education.
The school is located on the Carilion Clinic campus in Roanoke, Va. It will be
housed in a 150,000-square-foot education and research facility currently
under construction. The school’s first class of 40 students will begin studies
in the fall of 2010. The unique curriculum combines research and medical
disciplines throughout the four-year educational experience. Students will
graduate with an M.D. degree.
“It’s going to be a great thing for the future of this region,” Virginia Gov.Timothy
M. Kaine said. “It’s an important step forward in health care in Roanoke and the
entire state of Virginia.”
EARLY RESEARCH GRANTS
Virginia Tech Carilion will improve human health and quality of life by providing
leadership in medical education and biomedical and clinical research.
The institute has awarded 11 seed grants, each valued at $30,000, to support
collaborative research between Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic researchers. The
Construction on the new medical school is proceeding
quickly. The architectural rendering above shows the
final appearance.
By Susan Trulove
These grants include several research projects involving the
College of Science. The project and researchers are:
• David Popham, professor, and Stephen Melville,
associate professor of biological sciences, will work
on a team that addresses the challenge of controlling
disease by improved decontamination of spores that
cause disease. This happens when antibiotics kill beneficial bacteria in the gut. The researchers will then learn if
adding their environmental conditions into established
hospital decontamination methods improves their
effectiveness.
“In 2005, we had a great multidisciplinary team and a promising new idea,” said Carlier.
The team combined chemists, entomologists, and biologists in the United States
with malaria mosquito control experts in Kenya. The focus was to develop insecticides
that strongly interfere with acetylcholinesterase (AChE), a key enzyme in the mosquito
brain, while leaving the related human enzyme untouched. The promising new idea
was that the malaria mosquito, Anopheles gambiae, would pick up two inactive
molecules from a bed net that would then bind to AChE within the mosquito and thus
disable it. “That initial concept has not yet been realized,” said Carlier.
However, the team made two important advances that form the basis for the NIAID
grant for “Development of vector-specific, resistance-breaking insecticides to reduce
malaria transmission.”
• David W. Harrison, associate professor of psychology and director of the Behavioral Neuroscience Lab, and
Joseph E. Carmona of Queens, N.Y., a doctoral student
in psychology, will conduct neuroscience research that
addresses how the body receives and processes information in order to maintain balance. The researchers hope to
determine methods for decreasing falls among the elderly.
“First, we discovered we could modify the chemical structures of existing AChE-targeting insecticides in a way that should significantly lower their toxicity to mammals,”
said Carlier. Since these compounds still retain significant insecticidal activity against
the malaria mosquito, they could prove ideal for deployment on ITNs. Two patent
applications have been filed, and commercial interest has been expressed in the
potentially safer compounds, he said.
Along with Carilion Clinic faculty and researchers, other colleges
involved in the initial grants are Agriculture and Life Sciences,
Engineering, Natural Resources, and the Virginia-Maryland
Regional College of Veterinary Medicine.
“Second, we figured out how to inhibit target site-resistant mosquito AChE and
demonstrated this effect in vitro,” said Carlier. “The challenge now is to modify these
inhibitors so that they can make their way into the mosquito’s brain and thus exert
the desired insecticidal action.”
For more, see www.vtc.vt.edu or
www.science.vt.edu/news/releases.
Malaria continued page 13
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
• J.R. Heflin, professor of physics, is involved in a collaborative project to develop nanoscale optical fiber
biosensor assays.
The NIAID award builds on results from three years (2005-08) of research funded by
the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health through the Grand Challenges in
Global Health initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This earlier project
was led by Jeffrey R. Bloomquist, professor of toxicology and pharmacology in the
entomology department of Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
M A G A Z I N E
funded projects include research about such medical challenges
as heart care, cancer, prevention and treatment of infectious
disease, obesity, use of technology, falling risks, and development of a patient simulator.
S C I E N C E
images courtesy of AECOM
At present, the first line of defense against the malaria mosquito in sub-Saharan
Africa is insecticide-treated nets (ITNs). However, growing resistance to the pyrethroid insecticides used on the nets threatens to render this protection ineffective. The
research team led by Paul Carlier, professor of chemistry in the College of Science,
is striving to develop a new class of insecticides that will be safe for use on nets and
effective against pyrethroid-resistant mosquitoes.
O F
Researchers from Virginia Tech and Molsoft LLC have received a five-year, $3.5
million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to
continue their promising work on a new class of resistance-breaking insecticides to
reduce malaria transmission.
11
C O L L E G E
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF
HEALTH FUNDS RESEARCH
TO REDUCE MALARIA
TRANSMISSION
NEWEST CLUSTER-HIRE FACULTY MEMBERS NAMED
ResearchCluster
Eric Bahel
Ph.D. Economics, Université de Montréal, Canada
Energy and the Environment
S C I E N C E
Bethany C. Bray
Ph.D. Human Development and Family Studies,
The Pennsylvania State University
Developmental Science
Yili Hong
Ph.D. Statistics, Iowa State University, Ames
Computational Science
Seong Ki Mun
Ph.D. Physics, State University of New York (SUNY)
Neuroscience
Vito Scarola
Ph.D. Physics, The Pennsylvania State University
Nanoscience
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
Name
O F
The College of Science is pleased to welcome five new faculty members who were hired as part of its innovative cluster-hire initiative whereby faculty
are recruited to work collaboratively across departments in specialized research groups. This enables diverse expertise from some of the best and
brightest minds to contribute to important research areas. The latest cluster-hires who joined the faculty in August 2009 are:
C O L L E G E
M A G A Z I N E
12
For more information about cluster-hire faculty in the College of Science and
specifics about their research, see: www.science.vt.edu/research/
research-clusters.html
Left to right: Bethany C. Bray,
Yili Hong, Seong Ki Mun, Vito
Scarola
Eric Bahel not pictured
FORMER PHYSICS
PROFESSOR ESTABLISHES
ESSAY COMPETITION
ENDOWMENT
By Albert Raboteau
In 1996, after 33 years as a member of the physics faculty at Virginia Tech,
Bob Bowden became an emeritus professor. But he has not let that small
fact stop him from helping students in science.
After his retirement, Bowden mentored high-school science teachers. He
wrote a computer program that makes it easier for high-school students
to visualize the special theory of relativity as it might be viewed by
Aristotle, Galileo, Newton, Maxwell, and Einstein. He taught occasional
physics classes at the university, most recently in 2005.
Now, Bowden and his family have ensured his legacy of service by making a
significant philanthropic commitment to the department to which he dedicated his career. They created an endowment to provide a generous prize to
winners of the new Robert Lee Bowden Jr. Physics Essay Competition.
Rising juniors and seniors who are majoring in physics can submit essays
on a physics topic of their choice, which are judged by a select jury on how
eloquently and clearly they make their points.
The inaugural prize was presented in April at the physics department’s
annual awards ceremony to Justin Bangerter, a native of Lynchburg, Va.,
Bowden Essay continued next page
Emeritus Professor of Physics Bob Bowden left, speaks
with Justin Bangerter, the first winner of the Robert Lee
Bowden Jr. Physics Essay Competition
Writers wanted
Entries for the second Robert Lee Bowden Jr. Physics Essay
Competition are expected to be due on or around Feb. 1.
Physics majors should e-mail schmittm@vt.edu to find out
how to participate. Along with the cash prize, winners have
their work published in Quanta, the Department of Physics
newsletter. The first winning essay, by recent physics graduate
Justin Bangerter, will appear in the fall 2009 issue.
Quanta is online at www.phys.vt.edu/Newsletters.
Malaria continued
Bowden Essay continued
who received his bachelor’s degree the following month. His essay
focused on how the variational principle of calculus applies to physics.
“Basically it was a rundown of the idea, broken down into more easily
digestible terms for the general public, and I presented a few simple
philosophical implications,” said Bangerter, who is considering becoming a teacher and plans to mention the prize when applying to
graduate schools.
Bangerter said the contest is a good opportunity for physics students
to “show something they don’t normally show to the department,
and maybe combine various skills that they’ve gained during their
education.”
Along with physics, writing is one of Bowden’s passions. He writes
essays on a wide variety of topics to share with friends and family.
Bowden believes physics students should be able to communicate
their ideas to the general public, not just to other physicists. By establishing an essay contest for physics majors, he said, “We’re trying
to encourage people to write well and, if they can, write beautifully.”
Bowden Essay continued page 16
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
www.science.vt.edu.
Carla Finkielstein, assistant professor of biological sciences (right)
and Seong K. Mun, professor of physics and research fellow at the
Institute for Advanced Study in the College of Science, accept a
$300,000 award to support research on an environmental risk of
breast cancer. The award was made possible by the Seventh Annual
Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Washington, D.C., earlier this year. The
walk drew more than 3,000 participants and raised more than $6.8
million for breast cancer care and research. Virginia Tech was one of
six organizations receiving research awards. The study will investigate
the mechanisms through which the circadian clock acts as a tumor
suppressor in the biology of estrogen-dependent breast cancer.
M A G A Z I N E
Read more about recent research
grants in the College of Science at
UNIVERSITY’S BREAST CANCER RESEARCH
SUPPORTED BY AVON WALK
S C I E N C E
Carlier, Bloomquist, and Li are members of the Vector-Borne Disease
Research Group at Virginia Tech, whose mission is to elucidate the
fundamental mechanisms involved in the transmission and pathogenesis of vector-borne infectious organisms, deepen the understanding of the nature of infectious disease, and lead the search for
novel approaches to disease mitigation.
Chemistry post-doctoral student Ming Ma
working on new insecticide compounds in
Paul Carlier’s lab.
O F
In addition to principal investigator Carlier and co-investigator
Bloomquist, other co-investigators
on the NIAID-funded research team
are Jianyong Li, associate professor of biochemistry in the College
of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech, and Maxim Totrov,
principal scientist at Molsoft LLC of La Jolla, Calif.
13
C O L L E G E
The new insecticides should also be
less likely to cause the emergence
of new target site-resistant strains,
he said. And the team has developed a number of other strategies
to ward against metabolic resistance mechanisms in the Anopheles
gambiae mosquito.
NEWS
For more news from the College of Science, visit
www.science.vt.edu/news
Anne McNabb
John Simonetti
Roger Chang
Ann Stevens
Barbara Bekken
Chris Thomas
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
C O L L E G E
O F
S C I E N C E
M A G A Z I N E
14
COLLEGE FACULTY MEMBERS RECOGNIZED FOR
DIVERSITY, OUTREACH, TEACHING
Anne McNabb, John Simonetti, Roger Chang, Ann Stevens, Barbara
Bekken, and Chris Thomas were among the many College of Science (COS)
faculty and staff members who were recognized for excellence last year.
Anne McNabb, professor of biological sciences and associate dean of the
Graduate School, was awarded the 2009 COS Diversity Award for outstanding
contributions to fostering and enhancing diversity awareness within her
department, the college, and the university.
John Simonetti, associate professor of physics, received two awards for
teaching excellence, the COS Certificate of Teaching Excellence and the
university’s prestigious Wine Award for his history of teaching excellence.
In addition, Simonetti received the 2009 College of Science Outreach Award
for his efforts in engaging the community in astronomy through the media,
community organizations, the university’s Martin Observatory, and the
public school system.
Barbara Bekken, assistant professor of geosciences, also received a COS
Certificate of Teaching Excellence.
Ann Stevens, associate professor of biological sciences, was recognized
for outstanding teaching with the 2009 Alumni Award for Excellence in
Teaching.
Roger Chang, instructor of physics, received the university’s Sporn Award
for Excellence in Teaching. Chang teaches introductory physics classes for
engineering majors.
Chris Thomas, graduate program coordinator for the Department of Physics,
was honored with a prestigious President’s Award for Excellence.
DESIMONE NAMED UNIVERSITY’S GRADUATE ALUMNI
ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER
COS alumnus Joseph DeSimone (Ph.D . Chemistry ’90) received the 2009
Graduate Alumni Achievement Award for his
accomplishments as a scholar and an innovator. He currently holds two chaired professorships: the Chancellor’s Eminent Professor of
Chemistry at the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill and the William R. Kenan Jr.
Professor of Chemical Engineering at North
Carolina State University.
Joseph DeSimone
ROSSO AND BERRY NAMED COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
OUTSTANDING RECENT ALUMNI
Each year, the Alumni Association honors recent alumni from each academic
college who have graduated in the past 10 years. The College of Science
recently selected Kevin M. Rosso (Geosciences ’98) and John F. Berry
(Chemistry ’00) as its Outstanding Recent Graduate Alumnus and Outstanding
Recent Undergraduate Alumnus, respectively.
STUDENTS EXCEL IN ACADEMICS AND LEADERSHIP
A number of COS undergraduate and graduate students were recognized for
excellence last year. The following are among some of the winners.
Laura Freeman, a graduate student in statistics, was selected as the
university’s 2009 Graduate Woman of the Year for her involvement in
professional organizations, campus activities, and contribution to
knowledge through research, teaching, and scholarship.
Two students from the College of Science will serve as student representatives on the board of visitors during the 2009-10 academic year. Rebecca
French, a graduate student in geosciences, was named as the graduate
student representative, and Kristina Hartman, a junior majoring in
biological sciences, will serve as the undergraduate representative. Each
year, two student representatives are appointed to one-year terms on the
board. Each sits on a committee of the governing board and serves as
ex-officio members on the Commission of Student Affairs. They are nonvoting members of the board.
Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships last spring. They were Shiv
Dutt Kale (biochemistry and biological sciences), Laura Hamm
(geosciences), Bradley Shapiro (mathematics and economics), and
David Abrams (physics and computer science).
Jessica Lu, a graduate student in chemistry, received a Fulbright Scholarship
to spend an academic year at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. She will
work closely with preeminent researchers in the study of aerosols and their
effect on the environment.
Yuriko Renardy, professor of mathematics
Pengtao Yue, assistant professor of mathematics
Edward Valeev, assistant professor of chemistry
John Hole, associate professor of geosciences
George Hagedorn, professor of mathematics
Alexander Elgart, assistant professor of mathematics
Daniela Cimini, assistant professor of biological sciences
Zhijian (Jake) Tu, professor of biochemistry and a member
of the Vector Borne Research Group
Carla Finkielstein, assistant professor of biological sciences
Judy Riffle, professor of chemistry
Michel Pleimling, associate professor of physics
Michal Kowalewski, professor of geosciences
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY PROGRAM
RANKED NATIONALLY
The Department of Psychology recently received a national ranking in the
U.S. News & World Report “America’s Best Graduate Schools 2010” survey.
The department was named the nation’s 33rd best in clinical psychology
and is consistently ranked among the best in the nation.
Chris Lawrence, associate professor of biological sciences
John E. Barrett, assistant professor of biological sciences
Giti Khodaparast, assistant professor of physics
Martha Ann Bell, associate professor of psychology
Dana Hawley, assistant professor of biological sciences
FACULTY AWARDED NUMEROUS RESEARCH GRANTS
Among the dozens of faculty members in the college who were awarded
competetive grant money last year were three from the Department of
Chemistry. Edward Valeev, Theresa Reineke, and Lou Madsen received
CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation. CAREER awards are
made to outstanding young faculty members who present career develop-
Camille Harris, graduate student in biological sciences
Michael Klemba, assistant professor of biochemistry
David G.I. Kingston, University Distinguished Professor of
Chemistry
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
Four students from the college were awarded prestigious National Science
Richard Turner, professor of chemistry and director,
Macromolecules and Interfaces Institute
M A G A Z I N E
Ashley Morgenstern and Kevin Finelli have been awarded the highly
competitive Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for the 2009-10 academic year.
Morgenstern is a junior majoring in human nutrition, foods, and exercise in
the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and biochemistry in the College
of Science as well as pursuing a minor in chemistry. Finelli, who received his
bachelor of science degree in physics and mathematics last spring, will be
attending graduate school at Duke University. Finelli was also named the
2009 COS Outstanding Senior.
S C I E N C E
Kristina Hartman, Bradley Shapiro, and David
Abrams not pictured
O F
Left to right: Laura Freeman, Rebecca French,
Ashley Morgenstern, Kevin Finelli, Shiv Dutt Kale,
Laura Hamm, Jessica Lu.
At press time, 21 COS faculty members and graduate students were among
more than two dozen across the university to be awarded a total of $21.3
million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The
economic stimulus aspect of these grants takes the form of providing dozens of people with summer-time, part-time, or full-time employment. The
support means opportunities for students to pursue their studies. A number
of postdoctoral researchers are also being employed. Among the COS ARRA
award winners were:
15
C O L L E G E
ment plans that effectively integrate research and education, with an
emphasis on combining the excitement of research with inspired teaching.
In addition, Valeev received an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship. One of only 23 chemists to receive this award in 2009, Valeev was
recognized for his research contributions and for exceptional promise of his
ongoing and future research activities.
ISSUE NO. 7 FALL 2009
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S C I E N C E
M A G A Z I N E
16
COLLEGE OF SCIENCE
OFFERS HELP FOR PARENTS
WHOSE CHILDREN ARE
HARD TO MANAGE
Oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) in children refers to a disorder characterized by a recurring pattern of negativity, defiance, disobedience, and
hostility toward authority figures, especially parents and teachers. ODD is
estimated to occur in 2 to 16 percent of children. The Child Study Center,
part of the Department of Psychology and the College of Science at Virginia
Tech, is offering free assessment and treatment for parents and children
who meet the following criteria, as specified by the American Psychiatric
Association:
frequent arguing
significant oppositional
behavior
irritability
temper outbursts
persistent stubbornness
aggressiveness
“To date, the predominant approach to the treatment of ODD has been
parent management training (PMT),” said Thomas Ollendick, University
Distinguished Professor of Psychology and director of the Child Study Center.
In recent years, experts in the field have proposed an alternative model of
the treatment of ODD. This model of intervention is called Collaborative
Problem-Solving (CPS).
“CPS emphasizes identification of the specific psychological and biological
factors underlying a child’s oppositional behavior and addressing these
factors through application of diverse psychosocial behavioral treatment
methods,” Ollendick said. “A critical feature of the CPS is the involvement of
parents in the training of children’s affective modulation and self-regulation
skills so as to better regulate and control their behavior.”
The study will be the first in the nation to compare the two types of treatment for ODD. Children must be between 8 and 12 years old and exhibit all
or most of the behavior characteristics listed above.
For more information or to determine if your family is eligible to participate,
please contact the Virginia Tech Child Study Center at 540/231-8276 or visit
www.psyc.vt.edu/centers/csc/.
Bowden Essay continued
Professor Beate Schmittmann, the physics department chair, agrees that
communication skills are essential even – and especially – in highly technical
disciplines like physics.
“As a physicist, no matter what role you have in your work life, you always have
to communicate with people from very different backgrounds,” she explained.
“Only part of your audience will be fellow physicists. The other part will be business partners, the general public, your co-workers, and your boss. You need to
be able to communicate with these people what it is that you are doing and
why it is important.”
Bowden spent much of his youth in Kentucky. He enrolled at what is now
Murray State University, in Murray, Ky., intending to become an architect or
engineer.
“When I took my first physics course I was hooked,” Bowden said. “It was just
one of those things I could do well. It was mathematical. It tickled my interest,
my curiosity. I love all those things physicists love. We love puzzles. We love
discovery. We love to learn.”
In 1956, Bowden moved to Blacksburg to get his master’s in physics. More than
a half-century later, he is still here. After completing his Ph.D. at Virginia Tech
in 1963, he got a postdoctoral appointment, which later converted to a tenure
track position.
Getting Virginia Tech degrees has become a tradition in Bowden’s family. His
sons Todd and Brent both have bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the
school. Brent returned to the university as a laboratory specialist in biological
sciences after spending some years at the National Institutes of Health. Todd
is expected to complete his doctorate in instructional design and technology
this year. He recently won Governor Tim Kaine’s Learning Apps Development
Challenge by creating an Apple iPhone app – called Number Line – to help
middle-schoool students learn about fractions, decimals, and percentages.
Bowden continues to attend weekly colloquia run by the physics department,
in which speakers present on topics in their fields. For a retired professor like
him, he said, it’s natural to stay involved with a university that has played such
a major role in one’s life.
“I would recommend it to any [emeritus professor] who thinks he or she has the
time,” Bowden said. “In fact, I would recommend taking the time. It’s just one
of those things that keeps you alive. The brain doesn’t stop just because you’re
retired.”
What’s Up in the
College of Science?
Visit www.science.vt.edu and find out!
VT/0930/23M/100157
Say hello to the future.
Professor of Geological Sciences Michael F. Hochella Jr.
Help explore tomorrow’s universe and improve life on earth.
Your future gift for the College of Science can help train tomorrow’s scientists and support research that will touch everything
from nanoparticles to the stars – and beyond. From the water we drink to the air we breathe to the galaxies we explore, you can
make a difference for generations to come.
Simply name the Virginia Tech Foundation, Inc. as a beneficiary of an estate gift in your will or trust or as a beneficiary of your
IRA or other retirement plan, and continue to fully enjoy your assets throughout your lifetime.
Or create a charitable gift annuity or charitable trust that will pay you lifetime income and provide tax and other benefits.
Either way, you will have the pleasure of knowing your gift to the future is already in place.
Invent the future. Begin today.
Learn more.
Contact Jenny Orzolek
Email: jorzolek@vt.edu
Phone: 540/231-2801 or 800/533-1144
Visit www.givingto.vt.edu
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Invent the Future
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ADMINISTRATION
Lay Nam Chang Dean
ADVANCEMENT
Catherine Doss Communications
Manager
Jack Finney Associate Dean for
Administrative and Faculty Affairs
Nancy Ross Associate Dean for Research,
Graduate Studies, and Outreach
Janet Sanders Director of Finance and
Business Affairs
Jill Sible Associate Dean for
Curriculum, Instruction, and Advising
Tim Howland Associate Director of
Corporate and Foundation Relations
DEPARTMENT HEADS
Biochemistry Peter Kennelly
Biological Sciences Robert Jones
Chemistry Joe Merola
Robin Jackson Director of Alumni
Relations
Economics Hans Haller
Jenny Orzolek Director of Development
Mathematics Peter Haskell
Geosciences Ken Eriksson
Physics Beate Schmittmann
Jerry Via Assistant Dean for Undergraduate
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Deborah Wilson Career Services
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