September 2004

From the Dean

As I write, we are about to begin a new academic year filled with potential and challenges. I am very pleased to welcome five new faculty members: Ashton Cropp, Barbara Gerratana and Daniel Kosov in Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Volker Briken and Lian-Yong Gao in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics. Norm Hansen, one of our most productive faculty members in the area of technology transfer and a strong contributor to our biochemistry program, has announced his retirement; however, fortunately for the college, he plans to continue his research and teaching activities.

Although ground for the new building has not yet been broken, Barton Mallow (the construction firm) is hard at work locating and rerouting utility lines. The emergency power supply has been tested, and additional pieces of equipment are being connected to the emergency power supply as needed. The groundbreaking ceremony at 10 a.m. on September 14 on the Hornbake Plaza will be a memorable event, and I encourage all to attend.

With the new building on the horizon, we will ramp up our faculty recruiting efforts. Chemistry and Biochemistry has already advertised for faculty at any level and in any subdiscipline of nanoscience or biomaterials, and searches in the other three departments will be underway soon. Since we will be hiring at all levels, I encourage everyone to work to identify colleagues with interests that fall within the College's strategic research initiatives who might be interested in relocating, with special emphasis on members of underrepresented groups.

I'm delighted that our four IGERT preproposals have led to requests for two full proposals. David Inouye and Larry Sita and their teams will be working hard to meet the October deadline.

During the summer, I met with Dr. Clifton Poodry, Director of the Division of Minority Opportunities in Research of the National Institutes of General Medical Sciences to discuss opportunities in this area for us. I am pleased that Dennis O' Connor plans to take the lead in developing a proposal, due October 1, requesting support for training and mentoring postdoctoral fellows from underrepresented groups. If you would like to participate in this effort, please contact Dr. O'Connor (joconno3@umd.edu). We will also be developing a proposal with a February 1 deadline for the Initiative for Minority Student Development (IMSD) within the MBRS (Minority Biomedical Research Support Program) to support undergraduate and graduate students from underrepresented groups. Please let Bob Infantino (infantino@umd.edu) know if you are interested in participating in this effort.

Renovating research facilities continues to be a top priority; at the top of the list are completing the build out of the shelled space in Chemistry and Biochemistry, upgrading our animal facilities and renovating labs for our new faculty members. Last year we worked hard with Facilities Management to develop strategies to reduce the cost of these projects and have succeeded in lowering them by 20% to 25%.

Our revamped specializations in the Biological Sciences major are now in place, which means that advisors will be dealing with new requirements. Please let Joelle Presson (jpresson@umd.edu) or Bob Infantino (infantino@umd.edu) know of any issues.

A paper ballot concerning the proposed name change of the College will be distributed within the next few weeks. Vote early and vote once!

Congratulations to Margaret Palmer for the much-deserved recognition she has received for her leadership in articulating the goals and challenges of ecological sustainability; to Ken Frauwirth, who has just received his first NIH research grant; and to June Kwak, who has received a major grant from the USDA. One's first major grant is a milestone for all of us.

I hope to see many of you at the 1st annual Life Sciences Alumni Day on Saturday, September 11. The College will host a BBQ before the Maryland Terrapins vs. Temple Owls football game. To register for the BBQ and for information about how to get discounted football tickets, contact Bobbi Donley (rdonley@umd.edu, 301-405-2908).

Lastly, please mark October 26 on your calendar; we are collaborating with TIGR on a joint research symposium to be held on that date. Faculty who wish to give a presentation should contact their chair and Bobbi Donley (rdonley@umd.edu). Stay tuned for details.

Norma Allewell
Dean

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Academic Calendar

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As reported in a July 25 Baltimore Sun article, recent graduates Lauren Drexel (BS'04 Biological Science) and Ben Schapiro (BS'04 Environmental Science and Policy) have entered the Peace Corps, Drexel to Tonga in the South Pacific and Schapiro to Central or South America. Drexel used a summer vacation while at UM to travel to Panama to tag sea turtles and studied environmental science in Australia. 

Dr. Richard L. Faircloth (PhD'73, MS'70, BS'68 Zoology), a Professor of Biology at Anne Arundel Community College in Maryland, has been elected a regional director on the board of directors of the International Human Anatomy and Physiology Society (HAPS). He represents the Eastern Region of HAPS, one of four international regions. The region includes 13 states as well as the District of Columbia and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Quebec.

Faircloth has been teaching biology at AACC for 31 years. Recognized as an outstanding professor, he won teaching excellence awards from the Student Association in 1994 as well as the Northern Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce in 2003. He received the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development medallion in 1995 and 1998, the only AACC faculty member to receive the award twice. A leader in establishing service learning as part of AACC instruction, he is an active participant in college organizations andregional and national professional associations.

Dr. Beverly Mock (PhD'83, MS'80 Zoology) is Laboratory Chief of the Laboratory of Genetics at the National Cancer Institute Center of Cancer Research in Bethesda, Maryland. After completing her PhD at the University of Maryland, she continued her studies on the genetics of susceptibility to parasitic diseases in the Department of Immunology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Since coming to the NIH, she has focused her research on complex genetic traits associated with cancer development. Her current work focuses on the genetics of susceptibility to mouse plasmacytomagenesis and combines classical and molecular genetic studies to fine-map, isolate and characterize disease-trait loci associated with multistep models of tumors. For additional information see her website.

Dr. Bassam Shakhashiri (PhD'68, MS'65 Chemistry), Professor of Chemistry at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the chemistry fraternity Alpha Chi Sigma. The fraternity, a national organization, has inducted only 30 people—living or dead—including Nobel Prize winners and distinguished scientists such as Linus Pauling and Glenn Seaborg, who discovered many chemical elements. The induction ceremony for Shakhashiri was held August 5 at Virginia Tech. A second honoree is the late Willard H. Dow, the former president of Dow Chemical.

Shakhashiri, who joined UW-Madison's chemistry faculty in 1970, is best known on campus and in state and local media for his unique and popular Christmas science shows. The presentations—blending basic chemistry, dry wit and pyrotechnics—have delighted thousands of people for more than 30 years. "It's part of the joy of doing chemistry to share it with others," Shakhashiri said. "All the science-is-fun presentations that I and my associates do are aimed at nurturing the curiosity that kids of all ages have, to get them to consider careers in science and teaching science, but more importantly, to promote science literacy."

An inorganic chemist by training, Shakhashiri was born in Lebanon and came to the United States with his parents and two younger sisters in 1957. Shakhashiri teaches first-year chemistry for 350 students every semester. As a researcher, Shakhashiri has focused on the communication of science. He also explores topics in science education policy. In the 1980s, he took a six-year leave of absence from UW-Madison to work for the National Science Foundation as assistant director for science and engineering education. Alarmed by funding cuts to science education, the foundation hired Shakhashiri and others to try to build up funding.

For information about the research of Dr. Brian Verrelli, a former postdoc, on women's color-recognition acuity, see Dr. Sarah Tishkoff under “Faculty Recognition and In the News.”  

In Memoriam

Retired Army Col. Donald Mitchell Boyd, PhD, MS (BS'43 Bacteriology), of Lynchburg, VA, and previously of Norbeck in Montgomery County, MD, died of cancer July 8, 2004. During World War II, he served with the Army's 69th Division, which met with the Russians near Berlin at the closing of the war. He was with a Mobile Army Military Hospital .

A biomedical research scientist, he worked for the Food and Drug Administration, the Booz Allen firm, the Research Analysis Corp. and 7-Up Co. in St. Louis, where he was vice president. He then worked for Luken's International and was vice president of Wills Corp. Col. Boyd and was active in veterans organizations. He was married to the former Verabell Klomparens, who died Feb. 19, 2002. Survivors include three sons, Brian S. Boyd (BA'72) of Villa Ridge, MO, Douglas A. Boyd (BA'74) of Annapolis, MD, and Gregory J. Boyd (BS'78) of Laurel, MD, all graduates of the University of Maryland at College Park.

Weddings

Robert Ian Pargament, MD (BS'97 Biological Sciences) and Mary Elizabeth Reid, both of Philadelphia, PA, were married July 24, 2004, in Richmond, VA. The groom received his Bachelor of Science and Medical degrees from the University of Maryland. He completed his residency at the hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and will be practicing Internal Medicine in York, PA. The bride is the Coordinator for the University of Pennsylvania 's Center for AIDS Research. The couple resides in York, PA.  

Jennifer Mary Barker (MS'02 Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences) and Keith Emory Fulton were married June 26, 2004 in Morgantown, WV. The bride is employed by West Virginia University in the forestry department. The groom is employed by the State University of Frostburg. They live in Friendsville, MD.

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Register for Bioscience Day!

Online registration is now available for this year's Bioscience Research and Technology Review Day, to be held November 4. The event features a keynote speech, research talks, a career fair, a poster session and a workshop for secondary school teachers.

As the keynote speaker, Nobel laureate Leon Cooper of Brown University will address the questions: “Theoretical Neuroscience: Is It Possible? Can It Be Useful?” Symposia on the following topics will include speakers from the corporate as well as academic arenas:

•  Bioinformatics/Computational Biology

•  Cellular Neuroscience

•  The Endless War: Pathogens vs. Hosts

•  Evolutionary Genomics: From Microbes to Mammals

•  Keeping Our Food Safe: Challenges and Responses

•  Moving Toward an Ecologically Sustainable Future

•  Nanotechnology for the Life Sciences

For example, the “Keeping Our Food Safe” session will include talks by Arthur Miller, a Senior Scientist at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN), as well as by University of Maryland and University of Georgia Researchers, and the “Evolutionary Genomics” symposium will feature lectures by TIGR's Jonathan Eisen and the National Cancer Institute's Stephen O'Brien, among others.

For more information, see www.bioscienceday.umd.edu or contact Gene Ferrick (gene@umd.edu).

College Committees Set for Fall

The College appreciates the service of the following faculty and staff on the College Advisory Council, the APT Committee and the Graduate Council:

College Advisory Council

• Biology: Dr. Gerald Borgia, Dr. Jerry Wilkinson
• CBMG: Dr. Jeff DeStefano, Dr. Anne Simon
• Chemistry and Biochemistry: Dr. Neil Blough, Dr. Catherine Fenselau
• Entomology: Dr. Leslie Pick

Appointment, Promotion and Tenure Committee (APT)

• Biology: Dr. Marco Colombini, Dr. David Inouye
• CBMG: Dr. Daniel Stein, Dr. Heven Sze
• Chemistry and Biochemistry: Dr. Phil DeShong, Dr. Steve Rokita
• Entomology: Dr. Galen Dively, Dr. Mike Raupp

Graduate Council

• Behavior, Evolution, Ecology and Systematics (BEES): Dr. Gerald Wilkinson
• Biology: Dr. Irwin Forseth, Jr.
• Chemistry and Biochemistry: Dr. Jason Kahn, Dr. Janice Reutt-Robey
• Entomology: Dr. David Hawthorne
• Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Sciences (MEES): Dr. Kennedy Paynter, Jr., Biology
• Microbiology and Plant Biology: Dr. Jeff DeStefano, CBMG
• Molecular and Cell Biology: Dr. Leslie Pick, Entomology
• Neuroscience and Cognitive Science (NACS): Dr. John Jeka, Kinesiology
• Sustainable Development and Conservation Biology (CONS): Dr. David Inouye, Biology

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ESA Meeting Notes

BEES and the College of Life Sciences were well represented at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America the first week of August in Portland, OR. Dr. Robert Denno and Dr. Margaret Palmer hosted an evening reunion of University of Maryland alumni, students, and faculty that packed the suite. Alumni from CONS, BEES, BIOL, ZOOL and BOTN were in attendance. Faculty and students also presented a high profile through the many posters, talks, presentations in organized oral sessions, participation on the Board of Governors, etc. The Governing Board's report on the Ecological Visions Project (in which Dr. Palmer played a leading role) also received much attention.

Workshop: Promoting Pollinators in Public Places

The U.S. National Arboretum joins the National Park Service and the University of Maryland to offer a free habitat conservation workshop, “Promoting Pollinators in Public Places,” for resource managers, public gardeners, educators and others interested in enhancing habitat for butterflies, bees and pollinators in public spaces. The workshop will be held at the U.S. National Arboretum on Wednesday, September 22 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Participants will receive useful information and resources on pollinators and their habitat to promote conservation efforts in gardens, parks, golf courses and utility properties. Click here for the complete program schedule and registration form.