Carbondale Calendars and Events
Edwardsville Calendars and Events
East St. Louis Calendars and Events

A physics researcher at SIUC was among a handful of promising early career scientists honored by the White House on July 9 as winners of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.  María de las Mercedes Calbi, associate professor of physics in the College of Science at SIUC, was one of just 20 outstanding scholars nominated by the National Science Foundation and honored with the award in Washington D.C. The NSF selected Calbi from a pool of about 450 of its CAREER grant awardees, making her one of its most meritorious researchers.  The award, known as the PECASE, is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to outstanding scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers. Calbi is the first SIUC researcher in the University's history to receive such an award.  The government chooses winners based on their innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology, as well as the community service they demonstrate through scientific leadership, education and community outreach. Researchers do not apply for the awards. Instead, officials at federal agencies, such as the NSF, nominate individuals whom they feel are likely to become leaders in their fields.

The SIUE School of Education will hold an informational meeting for the Centralia area at 4 p.m. Monday, Aug. 10, at Kaskaskia College for anyone interested in pursuing a master's in curriculum and instruction. The meeting will take place in the Lifelong Learning Center, Room LC 124, 27210 College Road, Centralia. By attending the orientation, prospective students can have their questions answered, review courses that are required for program completion and learn about SIUE's administrative requirements. According to its catalogue, the program provides practicing teachers the opportunity to develop deeper and broader understandings of the challenges of teaching and learning in today's diverse schools. A $30 fee, payable by check or credit card, is required for entry into the program. Cooperating teacher tuition waivers may be used from both SIUE and SIU Carbondale. For more information, or if unable to attend the orientation program, but still interested in learning more about the program, contact Angie White, (618) 650-2433, or by e-mail: angewhi@siue.edu.

The SIU Black Alumni Group hosts its 11th biennial reunion in Carbondale Thursday-Sunday, July 9-12. The Black Alumni Group (BAG), established in 1988, helps maintain professional, social, and educational relationships developed at SIUC within the African-American community.  BAG is a constituent society of the SIU Alumni Association, and this reunion's theme is "Ole Skool Days," geared to helping African-American alumni relive their fun college days in Carbondale. Events at the reunion include a book donation service project, alumni tree dedication, cookout, talent show, banquet, campus tours, parties and an optional wine tour. The reunion will conclude with a Sunday brunch and installation of new officers.  A portion of the registration fee will support the Support Black Undergraduate Education scholarship. Scholarship winners will be announced during the banquet Saturday evening.  For more information regarding the reunion, call the SIU Alumni Association at (618)453-2417 or visit www.siublackalumni.org.

Close to half of the $550,000 grant awarded recently to the St. Patrick Center in St. Louis for its Project GO! Green job training initiative will go to SIUE’s National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) to train about 60 St. Patrick’s clients in biofuels operations. The group of skilled, displaced workers will receive training to obtain employment opportunities. The NCERC’s portion of the grant is $237,000. Some $170,000 will go to another St. Patrick’s program — The City Seeds Urban Farm — to be used to train the center’s homeless clients for horticulture-related jobs, and the remaining will go to the Center as facilitator of the programs. The GO! Green program also works in conjunction with Gateway Greening, a St. Louis city initiative to beautify neighborhoods. The U.S. Conference of Mayors awarded the grant to St. Patrick’s, 800 N. Tucker Blvd., on the near north side of St. Louis, as one of six national winners of the Green Jobs Training Initiative Grant, funded by the Wal-Mart Foundation. The mayors, including St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay, met in Providence, R.I. recently and selected the non-profit organizations to receive the grants, totaling $3.27 million to support and expand training programs for green jobs. NCERC Director John Caupert said the NCERC will conduct two, 4-week training sessions as part of the St. Patrick’s jobs initiative — one in September and one in March 2010 — to accommodate some 60 clients from St. Patrick’s.

The search for SIUC's next chancellor is now in full swing.  The Chancellor Search Committee placed an advertisement for the position in June in four national publications devoted to higher education: the Chronicle of Higher Education, Diverse Issues in Education, Women in Higher Education and The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education Magazine.  The advertisement will appear again in all four publications in August. It will remain on each publication's Web site for several months.  Thomas C. Britton, associate professor of law in the SIU School of Law, and Peggy Stockdale, professor of psychology, co-chair the 19-member committee, which includes a diverse group of faculty and staff as well as representatives from outside the campus.  Information about the search process, the position description, members of the committee, search timeline and other details is available at www.siuc.edu/chancellorsearch/searchcommittee.html.

Frank G. Houdek, associate dean of the SIU School of Law, has been appointed interim dean of the law school.  Interim SIUC Provost and Vice Chancellor Don S. Rice announced the appointment July 8.  Since July 2007, Houdek has served as associate dean for academic affairs. The former director of the law school library, Houdek has more than 24 years administrative experience at SIUC. He will also continue as a law professor.  Houdek replaces Peter C. Alexander, who announced last year he was resigning June 30. Alexander, who has been dean since 2003, will be a visiting professor at the Notre Dame Law School this fall, and then on sabbatical in the spring for research for a book he's writing on the financial dealings of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Assistant Professor Pamela Newland, a member of the Primary Care/Health Systems Nursing faculty in the SIUE School of Nursing, recently received the Outstanding Scholar Award from the St. Louis Veterans Administration Medical Center. The award recognizes outstanding professionals in the field of health care education who display a commitment to learning and scholarly activity, along with compassion and understanding of veteran issues. Nominees must possess the ability to serve as a role model and a resource; exhibit a high degree of proficiency and initiative in career patterns, and show a commitment to assisting and advising others on how to achieve potential, among other requirements. Additionally, Associate Professor Kathy Ketchum, another member of the Primary Care/Health Systems Nursing faculty, has been selected to participate in the American Association of Colleges of Nursing’s Leadership for Academic Nursing Program. The fellowship is designed to develop and enhance leadership skills in new and emerging administrators in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs, and to better prepare participants to accept academic leadership positions of increasing responsibility, including the role of dean or director of a nursing academic unit. The program includes a 5-day seminar in August; will be held in Kansas City, Mo.; and will address multiple executive leadership topics, numerous assessment experiences, and the opportunity to utilize an experienced mentor.

A former doctoral student's research on new, environmentally friendly refrigeration methods is the winner of this year's Richard and Donna Falvo Outstanding Dissertation Award at SIUC.  Mahmud Khan, who earned his doctorate in the Department of Physics at SIUC, won for his research titled, "Magnetic Entropy Changes and Exchanges Bias Effects Associated with Phase Transitions in Ferromagnetic Heusler Alloys." The research looked at materials that could potentially replace traditional refrigeration methods and gases, such as Freon.  The award, which carries a $1,000 prize, is named for Richard E. and Donna T. Falvo, both retired SIUC faculty members and sponsors of the competition for more than two decades.

SIUC and Northwest Frontier Province Agricultural University in Pakistan renewed an agreement in June that enhances faculty research projects and interests.  The renewed five-year memorandum of understanding is with the University's College of Agricultural Sciences, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Northwest Frontier Province Agricultural University in Peshawar, Pakistan. The collaboration began in 1984 with subsequent renewals in 1994 and 2004.  Oval Myers, professor emeritus in the Department of Plant, Soil Science and Agricultural Systems, said he is confident the agreement will continue to generate benefits. While student exchanges have occurred and will continue at the graduate level, Myers said another benefit will be faculty exchanges that will, in turn, also benefit students.

Starting this fall, the SIUE School of Education will offer students the opportunity to pursue a master's in education in instructional technology, or an Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) library information specialist endorsement. Teachers and other school personnel can learn how to plan, implement and evaluate library information-based activities in pre-school through grade-12 settings. The master's and endorsement programs also provide students the chance to become knowledgeable users of library information, as well as designers of curriculum and instruction that effectively use and integrate library information to improve student learning. The ISBE endorsement does not require as many classes or the completion of a final project and allows students to add to their existing list of credentials. Individuals interested in applying to either of the programs can visit www.siue.edu/apply. Cooperating teacher tuition waivers from both SIUE and SIU Carbondale can be used for these programs. For more information, contact Angie White, (618) 650-2433 or by e-mail: angewhi@siue.edu for additional information.

A research scientist at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield has been awarded a five-year federal grant from the National Institute of Aging, a division of the National Institutes of Health, for the study of aging associated with Alzheimer's disease.  The total budget for the grant is $1,478,692.  Gregory J. Brewer, professor of medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology, is the principal investigator for the project.  Brewer's research will use mice with a form of Alzheimer's disease to determine whether a reduction in cellular energy contributes to memory loss in the aging brain.  The study also will examine whether nerve cells in the brain use glucose, a metabolic fuel, differently as a result of aging.  The research may lead to the development of new ways of preventing and treating Alzheimer's disease.