September 2008
Sigma Xi Life Member Newsletter
Welcome to your Life Member eBlast. This communiqué depends on your news and views. So e-mail us now at development@sigmaxi.org. We always welcome your contributions.
N.B.: Dates in parenthesis after Members' names denotes their year of induction into Sigma Xi.
IN THIS ISSUE
DAVID SCHOONMAKER NAMED EDITOR OF AMERICAN SCIENTIST
After a year at the helm as acting editor of American Scientist magazine, DAVID R. SCHOONMAKER has been named editor of Sigma Xi's flagship publication. His appointment follows a 15-year tenure as managing editor of the magazine. In all, Schoonmaker has 35 years of experience in magazine production that includes serving as executive editor of Rodale's Men's Health Newsletter and technical editor for Mother Earth News. He has also written or edited seven books.
"I am not a scientist," Schoonmaker said, "but I have a deep and abiding love for and interest in science. Growing up with a geologist father, I could tell a syncline from an anticline by age six. Working for American Scientist is the best job any editor could hope for. I am privileged to work with talented colleagues and the world's best scientists to produce a magazine I'm passionate about-one that I believe is the best of its kind."
In making the announcement, Sigma Xi Executive Director JERRY BAKER said: "We believe that David Schoonmaker has the leadership skills and vision necessary to keep American Scientist at the forefront in scientific publishing. He has demonstrated through his extensive experiences his ability and devotion to scientific writing which will enhance our efforts to serve our members and the public with informative feature articles and coverage of emerging technologies." Visit www.americanscientist.org for more about the magazine.
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SIGN-UP ON THE NEW AMERICAN SCIENTIST ONLINE
A reminder that you must register to take advantage of all the new features and options offered by American Scientist's new Web site, even if you were registered formerly. Visit the Welcome area to get started: http://www.americanscientist.org/about/page/welcome It only takes a minute. To assist you through the sign-up and subsequent login procedures, here's a PDF that we hope will be helpful: http://www.sigmaxi.org/amscionline/login.pdf
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ANNUAL MEETING ONLINE REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
The 2008 Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference in Washington, D.C., will feature talks by Jet Propulsion Laboratory Director CHARLES ELACHI (1975), Inforex President ROBERT BOILY (2005), General Motors engineer PATRICK USORO (1979) and University of Oxford mathematician MASON PORTER (1997). The meeting will be held November 20-23 at the Marriott Renaissance Hotel. For more information: http://www.sigmaxi.org/meetings/annual/index.shtml
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SCIENCE IN THE NEWS CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Science in the News, Sigma Xi's free daily and weekly e-newsletters that provide concise roundups of science and technology news from the mainstream media. Each weekday, we survey more than 30 media outlets to select 10 top news items for the daily e-mail bulletin. The weekly version presents highlights from the previous week. Subscribers say both are time-savers, helping them to keep up with the fast-paced world of discovery. Help us celebrate this 10-year milestone by spreading the word! Teachers say Science in the News is especially useful in the classroom. Anyone can sign up by creating a free account here: http://snipurl.com/2yi1l
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SIGMA XI FORMS ALLIANCE WITH UTEK's TEKSCOUT SERVICES
Sigma Xi and UTEK Corporation, a leading innovation services company, have entered into an alliance to bring together UTEK's TekScout service and Sigma Xi's membership. TekScout is an online open innovation network, which brings together independent scientists and engineers from across the world to solve R&D challenges focused in the areas of life science, physical science, chemistry, engineering and design, math and computer science, and renewable energy and sustainable product design.
These challenges are posted in an online forum by large corporations who seek outside expertise. Through this open innovation process, companies are able to drive product development faster, less expensively and more effectively than they might be able to do using only internal resources. Sigma Xi scientists and engineers who solve these challenges earn financial rewards and industry recognition.
More information about how active (dues-paid) Sigma Xi members can sign up to be a TekExpert is available in the Members Only section of our Web site: www.sigmaxi.org/member/membersonly/UTEK.php
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HELP CELEBRATE THE NATIONAL YEAR OF SCIENCE 2009
"How are you celebrating?" That's the question scientists are being asked around the country. And it's the slogan for the Year of Science 2009, a year-long celebration of science and its role in society. Initiated by the American Institute of Biological Sciences and managed by its Coalition for the Public Understanding of Science (COPUS), the Year of Science 2009 is beginning to catch on.
Why 2009? The year coincides with a number of important science-related anniversaries including the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln. Among his other claims to fame, Lincoln founded the National Academy of Sciences and signed the Morrill Act which created the land grant system of agricultural colleges.
Sigma Xi is one of more than 250 participating organizations that have signed on to COPUS, a grassroots organization that includes universities, museums, corporations and non-profits. Organizers have allocated a specific discipline to each month, to represent the full range of scientific endeavor. Review the COPUS Web site at www.copusproject.org for more information on how you can get involved in the coalition and the Year of Science 2009. Then you'll have an answer when someone asks, "How are you celebrating?"
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SIGMA XI AWARD NOMINATIONS DUE OCTOBER 1
Just a reminder that October 1 is the nomination deadline for prestigious annual Sigma Xi awards that recognize excellence in research and communication. For award guidelines, a list of past recipients and other information, visit: http://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/prizes/index.shtml.
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SIGMA XI'S WATER BLOG-A CALL FOR PAPERS
If you have a background in water research, please share your expertise by writing a white paper (1,000 words max) that can be posted on the Sigma Xi Web site and possibly disseminated to other audiences. A list of suggested topics, author guidelines and deadline information is available online: http://water.sigmaxi.org/?page_id=68
And while you're on the water blog site, listen to our fourth podcast for Sigma Xi's Year of Water, an interview with PETER GLEICK, founder and president of the Pacific Institute (http://water.sigmaxi.org). Gleick will be a guest panelist Saturday, November 22, at the 2008 Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference in Washington, D.C.
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MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
WILLIAM A. TRAMONTANO (1979) has been named Brooklyn College's new provost and vice-president for academic affairs.
WILLIAM "BUD" BAESLACK (1999) has been appointed provost at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He currently serves as dean of engineering at Ohio State University.
ALLEN SESSOMS (1968) has been named president of the University of the District of Columbia. He currently serves as the president of Delaware State University.
JAN YARRISON-RICE (1991), professor of physics, has been named Miami University's Sigma Xi Researcher of the Year for 2008. Her research focuses on the physics of nanostructures, investigating the fabrication and optical characterization of nanostructures and devices.
MICHAEL P. TOGLIA (1977) retired August 31 after 30 years on the faculty of SUNY Cortland. He is considered to be at the forefront of research in the fields of human cognition and information processing. Toglia will earn the designation of professor emeritus of psychology. He plans to move to Jacksonville, Florida, where he will chair the Psychology Department at the University of North Florida.
JEFFREY SCOTT VITTER (1983) has been named provost and executive vice president for academics at Texas A&M University.
Robotic pioneer YOKY MATSUOKA (2001) at the University of Washington in Seattle was the subject of a recent NOVA episode on public television. She is a leading researcher in neurobotics, an emerging field that combines neuroscience with building robots. Her lab is working to develop advanced artificial hands and other body parts that will one day use signals directly from the brain to enhance the motor skills of those who have suffered amputation, spinal cord damage and other traumatic injuries. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/0304/03.html
In the July/August issue of the Columbia Journalism Review, veteran science reporter CRISTINE RUSSELL (1987) lays out a strategy for deciphering the exceedingly complex subject of global climate change, in terms of what is happening, what will happen and what to do about it. Her feature is accompanied by a Web-only sidebar with links to "all the climate sites journalists need to know." http://www.cjr.org/feature/climate_change_now_what.php
CHRISTOPHER J. ROURK (1992) has been elected president of the Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth. It's mission is to strengthen U.S.-Japan relations and encourage international understanding in the region.
STEPHEN H. COBB (1988) has been named dean of the College of Science, Engineering & Technology at Murray State University.
GEORGE T. FLOWERS (1987) has been named dean of the Graduate School at Auburn University.
JOSEPH M. DESIMONE (1986) has won the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's 2008 Lemelson Prize. DeSimone is a chemistry professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and also teaches chemical engineering at N.C. State University. In the past five years, most of his work in the field of polymers has focused on medical devices. That includes a stent that keeps blocked arteries open and then dissolves to prevent scarring, and bacteria-shaped vessels that can slip inside tumor cells to deliver therapeutic drugs.
DAVID MORTON (2008), professor of integrative biosciences, recently received the "Outstanding Researcher Award" in the biological sciences from the Columbia-Willamette Chapter of Sigma Xi. He also just received a one-year, $40,000 grant from the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association to study a fruit fly gene that is related to a human gene associated with ALS. Morton and his team have discovered how to alter the fruit fly gene so that it suffers from neurodegeneration.
MARY ELIZABETH SAVINA (1972) has been named the Charles L. Denison Professor of Geology at Carleton College. She joined the faculty there in 1978, after receiving her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. Savina has served as a Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer.
Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine, Nursing and Allied Health honored and bid farewell to long-time faculty member IRTAZA SIDDIQUE (1975) with a retirement reception on May 29, his official last day. Siddique is a former professor of microbiology and public health and spent more than half a century serving the veterinary medical profession.
VICKIE S. BASELSKI (SX 1981) and JAMES T. STALEY (1997) have been awarded 2008 American Society for Microbiology Scientific Achievement Awards. A professor at the University of Tennessee, Baselski received the ASM's TREK Diagnostic ABMM/ABMLI Professional Recognition Award. Staley received the ASM's Roger Porter Award; he is founding director of the Astrobiology Program and a professor of microbiology at the University of Washington, Seattle.
JACK P. STRONG (1984), Boyd Professor and chairman of pathology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, is one of five foreign nationals in the U.S. and 15 worldwide chosen to receive the Order of the Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon from His Majesty the Emperor of Japan. The decoration recognizes Strong's outstanding contributions to academic and cultural exchanges between Japan and the U.S.
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SOCIAL NETWORKING VIA FACEBOOK AND LINKEDIN
Sigma Xi now has its own Facebook and LinkedIn sites. The aim of the Facebook group is to inform, educate and even entertain our fellow Sigma Xi members and science enthusiasts. The group is open, so non-members can participate. This provides a broader exposure for Sigma Xi, and helps connect all of us who are interested in science. If you join, please invite your friends and colleagues who are interested in science to join the group. LinkedIn is a professional networking site that enables Sigma Xi members to build their online network of colleagues, coworkers and others sharing professional interests. Both online network groups can be accessed at: www.sigmaxi.org/member/benefits/networking.shtml.
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SEND US YOUR SPARK?
Keep those Sparks coming! We continue to receive anecdotes about what initially sparked your interest in science or engineering. We plan to share these stories and perhaps create some new sparks for the next generation of researchers. The Sparks collection will be updated again later this fall. So it's not too late to submit yours. Please send your stories, to: development@sigmaxi.org
The third version of What Was Your Spark? is now available at:
http://www.sigmaxi.org/member/newsletters/spark-ver3.pdf
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WHAT'S YOUR NEWS?
We always welcome your contributions to the monthly eNewsletters. Send your newsletter contributions to: development@sigmaxi.org
Interim Editor: Charles Blackburn
cblackburn@sigmaxi.org
919-547-5212, or 800-243-6534, ext. 212
Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
PO Box 13975
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709
www.sigmaxi.org
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