2005 Assembly of Delegates:
Comprehensive Colleges & Universities Representative to the Committee on Nominations

2005 Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference
November 3-6, 2005
Westin Seattle Hotel
Seattle, Washington

Name: Alok Kumar

Present Position: Professor of Physics
Organization: State University of New York at Oswego

Address: Department of Physics
State University of New York
Oswego, NY 13126
USA

Telephone: 315-312-2695
E-mail: kumar@oswego.edu

Chapter Affiliation: State University of New York at Oswego

Candidate's Statement: Most cultures have found intellectual satisfaction and material benefits from their attempts to understand physical and biological phenomena. Is this the sense we get in studying science? A new role that Sigma Xi can take is to fill gaps in the unfinished work of racial, cultural and gender equality. It can depict the ways humans are alike. Sigma Xi is uniquely equipped in making science as a unifying experience to all humans. I would like to work in making Sigma Xi a truly international organization with international perspectives and roots.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: I have served as President of the SUNY Oswego chapter of Sigma Xi. During this period, I tried to start a conversation between natural sciences, humanities, and social sciences. I was lucky to invite Noble Laureate Roald Hoffman of Cornell University, Ithaca and George Bugliarello, Chancellor, Polytechnic University, New York to our campus. In my view, these lectures contributed to reforms in general education on our campus.

Biographical Information: I am a professor and interim chair of physics at the State University of New York, Oswego. I have coauthored one reference book, Science in the Medieval World, on the history of science. This book is based on an eleventh-century manuscript from Muslim Spain. I have about 50-refereed publications in a wide variety of science related fields: atomic physics, history of science, chemical physics, and science education. Popular media (e.g., The Washington Post, Family Life, The Scientist, and World & I) have published about 60 articles where my activities or views are shared on a variety of issues: immigration and science, nuclear policies, safety of nuclear power plants, science education for children, reforms in higher education; minorities in the sciences, and the history of science. Most of my research activities deal with the world view of science.

I am a recipient of the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching from the State University of New York (SUNY), a NOVA/NASA Fellow from NASA, the President's Award for Creative and Scholarly Activity or Research from SUNY Oswego, a Meritorious Performance and Professional Promise Award for excellence in teaching and research from California State University at Long Beach, and a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany). I have also served as President of the American Chapter of Indian Physics Association.

Name: Bertis ("Bert") Britt Little

Present Position: Associate VP Research and Prof of Computer Science and Math
Organization: Tarleton State University - Texas A&M University System

Address: Box T-0010
Stephenville, Texas 76402-0010
USA

Telephone: 254-968-9463
FAX: 254-968-9509
E-mail: Little@tarleton.edu

Chapter Affiliation: Tarleton State University

Candidate's Statement: I have a different perspective on the Comprehensive University than some because I came from a research university setting (medical school) to be Associate VP for Research at a Comprehensive. I have found that while it is expected for faculty to do research, it is an activity of passion for Comprehensive University faculty to do research. They are not compelled by university administration as are those in research institutions. My major thrust for the Comprehensive Constituency will be to identify and promote the unique and important characteristics of the Comprehensive University chapters. From the 2003 Membership Survey we know that Comprehensive University Sigma Xi chapters are (1) more likely to participate in chapter activities, and (2) comprised of researchers who belong to the Society for reasons OTHER than peer pressure (probably passion for research). Therefore, I will be a strong advocate for chapter activities that promote research and collegiality because this is a main driver for interest in Sigma Xi among Comprehensive Constituency. Through further analysis using the upcoming membership survey, we will learn more about the needs of the Comprehensive Constituency, and what fuels their faculty and student members' passion for research. By advocating for the components which drive interest in Sigma Xi among the Comprehensive Constituency, it will be possible to strengthen and grow this important, large group of chapters.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: I helped found Sigma Xi Chapter 833 in 2002 at Tarleton State University. Fostering research and education is my self-assigned role in the society. I serve on the Sigma Xi Strategic Planning Committee (2007), and was a delegate to 2003 and 2004 meetings. I use indirect costs from my grants to support the local chapter's annual student science symposium, the Tarleton Sigma Xi Research Journal, student travel to meetings, and to pay the society dues for interested students.

Biographical Information: I am a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Society and other professional societies (e.g., IEEE, ACM, SIAM, ACFE, HBC and SSHB). I serve on editorial boards and review panels. I was a Boy Scouts Scoutmaster for 15 years and a mentor for gifted high school students. My Ph.D. concentrated in human genetics of a genetically isolated Zapotec Indian community in the Valley of Oaxaca, southern Mexico, and I continue that research today. Education and Professional Experience: B.A., Appalachian State University; M.A., Ball State University; Ph.D., The University of Texas-Austin; Lecturer, UT-Austin, 1979-1983; Assoc Prof, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Clinical genetics, 1983-1999; Assoc VP Research and Prof of Computer Science and Math, Tarleton State University, 1999 to present. Publications: More than 100 peer reviewed scientific and medical publications; four medical textbooks on human teratology, drugs in pregnancy, and psychiatric treatment during pregnancy.

Name: Michael Patrick McCann

Present Position: Professor of Biology and Associate Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
Organization: Saint Joseph's University

Address: Saint Joseph's University
5600 City Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19131
USA

Telephone: 610-660-1823
FAX: 610-660-1832
E-mail: mmccann@sju.edu

Chapter Affiliation: Saint Joseph's University

Candidate's Statement: I am pleased to be considered for membership on the Committee on Nominations for Sigma Xi. The Society is faced with the continuing challenge of retaining and increasing membership, while at the same time the need for science advocacy within the public and government sectors is at its highest point in decades. Addressing these and other compelling issues facing Sigma Xi in the short and long term will require continued strong and effective leadership. I would be honored to be elected to the committee on nominations to help in the election of future Presidents-elect and Treasurers for the Society.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: I have served as secretary of the Saint Joseph's University Chapter since 1999 and, prior to that, as its president. The chapter has hosted an annual student research symposium that have grown in size such that the 2005 conference had some 165 posters presented by more than 250 students and faculty from 39 colleges and universities. The SJU chapter has also hosted three major public panel discussions, and the chapter has received awards for excellence, outstanding program and new member initiation, during that period.

Biographical Information: I received my B.S. in Biology from Saint Joseph's University in 1987 and a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from Stanford University in 1993. I returned to Saint Joseph's as a faculty member in 1992. In 2005 I was appointed to the position of Associate Dean for the College of Arts & Sciences following a two-year term as President of the Faculty Senate. Prior to that I had served in various faculty governance positions and as assistant chair of the Department of Biology. My research has always involved developmental mechanisms in microorganisms. As an undergraduate student I was very fortunate to work with Dr. John Tudor studying the mechanisms used by the predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus to penetrate the outer membrane of its prey cells. My graduate work, under the direction of Dr. Abdul Matin, focused on the genetic basis of the carbon starvation and stress response in Escherichia coli. Since returning to Saint Joseph's, I have returned to work with bdellovibrios as well as working in collaboration with my with, Dr. Karen Snetselaar, on the fungus Ustilago maydis, a pathogen of corn plants. Most recently our group worked as part of a large international collaboration to annotate the genome sequence of U. maydis.

Name: Sanjay Sesodia

Present Position: Associate Professor of Anatomy
Organization: Barry University

Address: School of Graduate Medical Sciences
WIEGAND 229
Barry University
11300 NE 2nd Avenue
Miami Shores, FL 33161
USA

Telephone: 305-899-3684
FAX: 305-899-3383
E-mail: ssesodia@mail.barry.edu

Chapter Affiliation: Barry University

Candidate's Statement: The Sigma Xi President should be a person who clearly understands the mission of Sigma Xi in society with respect to promoting inclusive education and research opportunities. He/She also needs to be mindful of the role that science and science education plays in continuing the technological progress to which our society has become accustomed and to which it owes much. Consequently, the President should be at the forefront of promoting a variety of initiatives at Sigma Xi that advance the training of excellent scientists at all institutes of higher learning. As the representative of the Comprehensive Colleges & Universities Constituency Group I shall seek to put forward to the Committee on Nominations the names of those candidates whose life, work and ethos appear to be most congruent with the ideals above.

Sigma Xi and Other Activities: My association with Sigma Xi started when Barry University first sought membership to the Society. I became an inaugural member of the Barry Chapter of Sigma Xi and have maintained my membership. I am currently in the second year of my Presidency of the Barry University Chapter of Sigma Xi.

Biographical Information: I was educated in the UK and completed a Joint Honors B.S degree in 1980 in Physiology & Zoology from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Thereafter I completed the M.Sc. in Experimental Histopathology from the University of London, England in 1981. This led me to return to my alma mater to study for and obtain a Ph.D. in Medicine in 1986. I carried out post-doctoral work at the Pasteur Institute during 1986 and 1987 on myosin expression in skeletal muscle. I traversed the Atlantic Ocean in 1987 to sample the scientific method in the USA at Washington University in St. Louis and liked it so much that I settled in the United States. Since 1995 I have taught in graduate programs at Barry University: Doctoral program in Podiatric Medicine, MS in Anatomy, MS in Clinical Medical Science and MS in Biomedical Sciences. My research initiatives have involved students at the undergraduate and graduate level and I am currently the thesis advisor and mentor to a MS in Anatomy student.