2002 Assembly of Delegates:
Nominees for Southwest Region Associate Director

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: Alan R. Miller

Present Position: Emeritus Professor of Engineering
Organization: New Mexico Tech

Address: New Mexico Tech
Mechanical Engineering
801 Leroy Place
Socorro, New Mexico 87801-4796 USA

Telephone: 505-835-5619
FAX: 505-835-5209
E-mail: armiller@nmt.edu

Chapter Affiliation: New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

Candidate's Statement: Having attended all the national meetings as a delegate over the past nineteen years, I have learned how the system operates and have helped change a few things. Several of my suggestions over the years have been adopted. According to the Bylaws, the Associate Director shall assist the Director for the region and, at the request of the Director, may attend and vote at a meeting of the Board of Directors in place of the Director. I believe that I can effectively work with Jim Baur, the director of our Region.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: A member of Sigma Xi since 1961, National Delegate (permanent) since 1983, chapter secretary since 1983, regional nominating committee several times. Principal chapter advisor for Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society for many years.

Biographical Information: Ph.D. in materials engineering, Univ. Calif., Berkeley, 1964; Professor of Engineering 1967-2000; department chair 1997-2000; Emeritus Professor of Engineering 2000--; published 26 books on computing and engineering; fields of interest are finite-element analysis and explosive-shock synthesis of materials.

Name: Dele Abiola Ogunseitan

Present Position: Associate Professor
Organization: University of California, Irvine

Address: Dept Environmental Analysis and Design
University of California
Irvine, CA 92697-7070
USA

Telephone: 949-824-6250
FAX: 949-824-2056
E-mail: oaogunse@uci.edu

Chapter Affiliation: University of California - Irvine

Candidate's Statement: There are more scientists per capita in every corner of the world today than ever before. At the same time, the research questions being pursued by practicing scientists are increasingly more sophisticated and narrower in scope. Thus, the effective community of scientists has become more fragmented despite the increase in overall research productivity. However, numerous social studies of science have demonstrated the importance of participation in a broad scientific community to creativity, which is nurtured by the cultivation of interdisciplinary perspectives. For me, this has been the crowning achievement of Sigma Xi, and the reason for my membership. I will work hard to make sure that this unique aspect of Sigma Xi is not eroded in my chapter and in the Southwest region.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: Delegate to the National Meeting, 2000. President of the Irvine Chapter (2000-2001). Secretary (2001-2002).

Biographical Information: Dele Ogunseitan earned a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He also earned a Master of Public Health (Environmental Health Science) and Certificate in International Health from the University of California, Berkeley. He has been a Global Environmental Assessment Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. He served as a Macy Foundation Fellow at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and he is currently an AT&T Industrial Ecology Faculty Fellow. His research is at the nexus of molecular determinants of ecosystem integrity and the implications for human health.

Name: Virginia L. Trimble

Present Position: Prof. of Physics, Univ.of Calfornia Irvine and Visiting Prof. Astronomy, Univ Maryland, College Park Organizations: Univ of California, Irvine and Univ Maryland, College Park

Address: (Jan-June) Physics Dept., FRH 4129
University of California
Irvine, CA 92697-4575
Telephone: 949-824-6948
FAX: 949-824-2174
E-mail: vtrimble@uci.edu

(June-Jan) Astronomy Dept., CSS 1204
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742-2421
Telephone: 301-405-5822
FAX: 301-314-9067
E-mail: vtrimble@astro.umd.edu\

Chapter Affiliation: University of California, Irvine

Candidate's Statement: We all know what Sigma Xi's problems are, including (a) the gentle decline in membership, as stalwarts move into emeritus status and beyond, while newly-elected associate members frequently drop out; (b) more rapid decline of the population of industrial research scientists, as companies focus on short-term productivity, (c) lack of recognition of our name and mission on the part of both students and colleagues, and (d) some uncertainly about what we can/should be doing within the R&D (and other!) chapters. I do not have a solution, though I have some tentative ideas, like, (1) consider electing graduating seniors who do not plan going on to graduate school (at least immediately) but into industrial/technological firms that have historically had research arms, (2) make sure we get permanent addresses for graduating seniors and PhDs who are new assoc. and full members, so that we do not lose them when their college addresses self-destruct in a few months; (3) give prizes (803 invented a couple of new ones this year), co-sponsor talks and research exhibits, and generally remember that there is some truth in the Hollywood dictum that "there is no such thing as bad publicity." Anyhow, I still have the membership pin that my father received more than half a century ago and am willing to try to make it continue to mean something in the scientific community.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: Sigma Xi: Director-at-large 1996-99; Committee on Awards 1996-99; Committee on Meetings 1997-2003; Committee on Qualifications and Membership, 1996-97. President, Secretary-Treasurer UCI Chapter (various terms). Other: President, Division of Galaxies and the Universe of the International Astronomical Union 2000-2003; Vice-President, American Astronomical Society 1997-2000; Member, Executive Board, American Physical Society 1998-2001.

Biographical Information: VIRGINIA L. TRIMBLE. BA UCLA 1964 (physics and astronomy); MS Caltech 1965 (physics and astronomy); PhD Caltech 1968 (astronomy); MA Cambridge University 1969 (honorary). Recent publications: "The Quest for the Edge of the Universe" in Historical Development of Modern Cosmology (ASP Conf. Ser. 252, 375); "Astrophysics in 2001" PASP 114, 475-528 (2002 with M. Aschwanden), "Origin of Stars and Planets: the View from 2021" (ESO conf. ser. 2002, 493-511), "Looking Broadly Backward: the Development of X-ray Surveys" (ASP conf. ser. 262, 77-92, 2002); "Cosmology: Man's Place in the Universe (a Deconstruction" American Journal of Physics, in press, 2003. Research interests: The structure and evolution of stars, galaxies, and the universe, and of the communities of scientists who study them.