2002 Assembly of Delegates:
Nominees for Committee on Nominations - Comprehensive Colleges & Universities Constituency Group Representative

November 15-17, 2002
Moody Gardens Hotel
Galveston Island, Texas

In conjunction with the Sigma Xi Forum, November 14-15, Changing the Face of Science and Engineering

Name: Leon Lamar Combs

Present Position: Professor and Chair, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Professor and Head Emeritus, Mississippi State University
Organization: Kennesaw State University

Address: MailStop 1203
1000 Chastain Road
Kennesaw, GA 30144
USA

Telephone: 770-423-6159
FAX: 770-423-6744
E-mail: lcombs@kennesaw.edu

Chapter Affiliation: Kennesaw State University

Candidate's Statement: I view the Comprehensive Colleges and Universities Constituency Committee on Nominations to be a very important committee and promise to give it my full attention when action is required. I have been active in academics for 25 years at the research university level and now starting my 11th year at the PUI level. During that time I have made many friends throughout the country and world and have served on many committees for various organizations. I have always been active in Sigma Xi and believe that I could impartially choose candidates for positions based solely on qualifications and the desire to serve.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: Sigma Xi member for 32 years, originally at Miss. State University (MSU). Local chapter officer duties. Founder of Sigma Xi chapter at Kennesaw State University and national representative at 2001 national meeting. Chapter President and national representative of local chapter of Phi Kappa Phi at MSU. Active member of American Chemical Society (recipient of Chemist of Year award in Mississippi in 1982). Member of American Physical Society and American Association of Computers in Education.

Biographical Information: My B.S. degree was obtained at MSU (1961) and I was employed full-time as a polymer chemist at Devoe and Reynolds in Louisville, KY (1961-1964). I went to LSU the fall of 1964 to start my graduate program in chemical physics. I finished the Ph.D. degree requirements at LSU the fall of 1967 and began a 25 year career at MSU where I was Professor of Chemistry and Physics and Head of Chemistry from 1982-1990. I was Visiting Professor of Quantum Chemistry at the University of Uppsala (1977-78). I came to Kennesaw State University the fall of 1992 as Chair of Chemistry and have been here ever since. I have over 100 publications in refereed publications and papers presented. The last few years I have spent mainly on developing web-based educational sites for teaching science online or in a hybrid environment (web-assisted) during which time I continue to contribute to publications and international meetings on the topic.

Name: Shirley Raps

Present Position: Professor and Chair, Department of Biological Sciences
Organization: Hunter College, CUNY

Address: Department of Biological Sciences
Hunter College, CUNY
695 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10021
USA

Telephone: 212-772-5281
FAX: 212-772-5227
E-mail: raps@genectr.hunter.cuny.edu

Chapter Affiliation: Hunter College, CUNY

Candidate's Statement: I am interested in being considered to serve on the Committee on Nominations to help find candidates for national/international Sigma Xi Offices who have strong backgrounds of success in higher education innovation, both in teaching and research. We need well-known, respected scientists who have demonstrated leadership roles in their research and in educating diverse groups of students to want to become scientists and future leaders in scientific research and education. Sigma Xi should be at the forefront of such efforts.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: As President of the Hunter College Chapter of Sigma Xi, I organized a major seminar held each year at Hunter College and co-sponsored with the New York Academy of Sciences. The speakers included Drs. Stanley Prusiner (1999), Maclyn McCarty (2000), Arnold Levine (2001) and Harold Varmus (2002).

Biographical Information: Degrees: Brooklyn College (B.S. Biology), 1956; University of Illinois (Ph.D. Microbiology), 1962; Harvard University (Postdoctoral Fellow), 11/61 - 9/64. Professional Activities: NSF Instrumentation and Laboratory Improvement Program Review Panel (1989,'90,'91); President of the Hunter College Chapter of Sigma Xi (Sept. 1997-present, Sept. 1991 ? Aug.1993), Vice President (1990-1991); Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Microbiology Section of the New York Academy of Sciences 2000-, Vice Chair 1998-2000, Member of Advisory Council since 1991; Fellow of the NYAS as of 2002; Chair, Department of Biological Sciences, Hunter College, CUNY since 1990. Funding for Students, Gender Equity Issues, Renovation Grants: ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Award, NSF Gender Equity Project, $3,750,000 June, 2002- five years; V. Valian PI, V. Rabinowitz, S. Raps, Co-Pis. Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program Sept.2000- four years $1.3 million; CUNY Workforce Development Initiative, with Dr. Regina Linder, Medical Lab Sciences "Completion of the Development of an Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Program at Hunter College" 9/99 - 9/00, $90,000,9/98 - 9/99, $97,000, 9/97 - 8/98, $83,500; Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Biological Sciences Education Program, Sept.1993 - June 1999, $650,000; NSF-ARI Renovation of a Research Facility, $385,824, 10/1/96-3/31/99; NIH-NCRR Renovation of a Research Facility and Research Laboratories $1,044,000, funded under RCMI Program.

Name: Kimberlyn Williams

Present Position: Assistant Professor
Organization: California State University at San Bernardino

Address: Department of Biology, CSUSB
5500 University Parkway
San Bernardino, CA 92407-2397
USA

Telephone: 909-880-7656
FAX: 909-880-7038
E-mail: williams@csusb.edu

Chapter Affiliation: California State University at San Bernardino

Candidate's Statement: I would be honored to serve as the representative from the Comprehensive Colleges and Universities Constituency Group to the Committee on Nominations. My recent experience as Program Director at the National Science Foundation has given me both a broad view of science in the United States and an appreciation of the role of Comprehensive Colleges and Universities that, I hope, could be useful in serving Sigma Xi and my constituents.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: I am new to Sigma Xi, but I am a long-time admirer of undergraduate research and admirer of Sigma Xi's Grants-in-Aid to students. I am currently faculty mentor for the Biology Club on campus, and I am involved in activities to try to boost student research and student diversity in environmental sciences at my institution.

Biographical Information: Education: B.S. (1979) from University of California, Davis and Ph.D. (1987) from Stanford University. Area of research: Physiological Plant Ecology. Positions: Research Associate, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Department of Plant Biology, 1986-1987; Postdoctoral Fellow, Ecology Center, Utah State University, 1987 - 1990; Assistant Professor, Botany Department, University of Florida, 1990 - 1998; concurrently a member of the affiliate faculty, College of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Florida, 1993 - 1998; Program Director, Ecological and Evolutionary Physiology Program, National Science Foundation, 1998 -2001; Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, California State University, 2001 - present. Honors and fellowships include: National Science Foundation predoctoral fellowship, 1981-1984, National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, 1993-1998. Memberships include: Sigma Xi, the Ecological Society of America, AIBS, AAAS, and the Botanical Society of America.