Update from the Dean College of Science

1
Update from the DeanCollege of Science

• External Advisory Development Council
• October 5, 2007
• H. Joseph Newton, Dean
• College of Science

2
University News

• Football
• Chancellor, President and Provost
• Legislative session
• Qatar

3
Faculty Reinvestment Update

• The following represents some of the more notable
  results to date
• Harvard University Nobel Prize winner Dr. Dudley
  R. Herschbach (half-time appointment in physics),
  only the third Nobel laureate in Texas AMs
  130-year history
• Dr. Simon J. Sheather, one of the top 200 cited
  mathematical scientists worldwide, as head of the
  Department of Statistics
• Dr. Nicholas B. Suntzeff, co-discoverer of dark
  energy, as head of Texas AM efforts to build an
  elite astronomy program four additional faculty
  hired since

4
Faculty Reinvestment Updates

• Five international experts hired into five
  endowed positions, including four established
  under reinvestment
• - Dr. John A. Gladysz (organic chemistry), Dow
  Chair in Chemical Invention
• - Dr. Paul E. Hardin (biological clocks), John W.
  Lyons 59 Endowed Chair in Biology
• - Dr. Alexei V. Sokolov (lasers/molecular
  modulation), Stephen E. Harris Professorship in
  Quantum Optics
• - Dr. Nicholas B. Suntzeff (supernovae/cosmology),
  Mitchell-Heep-Munnerlyn Endowed Chair in
  Observational Astronomy
• - Dr. Lifan Wang (supernovae/cosmology),
  Mitchell-Heep-Munnerlyn Endowed Career
  Enhancement Professorship in Physics

5
Faculty Reinvestment Update

• One-quarter of the Colleges hires thus far are
  women, nearly doubling the Colleges number of
  female tenured/tenure-track faculty numbers prior
  to reinvestment. The Departments of Statistics
  and Biology are leading the charge, each
  attracting women to roughly one-third of their
  positions and combining to account for just over
  half of the Colleges overall gender gains.

6
Faculty Reinvestment Update

• Multiple openings across the Colleges five
  departments have allowed Science to hire at least
  one husband-wife team in each department, led by
  two apiece in Biology, Chemistry, and
  Mathematics.
• Outstanding young faculty hires to date include 1
  National Science Foundation CAREER awardee, 1
  Searle Scholar, 1 Sloan Fellow, 2 Dreyfus New
  Faculty awardees, 1 Humboldt Research Foundation
  Fellow, 2 Radcliffe Institute Fellows, 1 Lomb
  Medal recipient, 1 Department of Energy
  Outstanding Junior Investigator awardee, and 1
  International Union of Pure and Applied Physics
  (IUPAP) Young Scientist Prize in Nuclear Physics
  winner

7
Department of Biology
Charles Criscione Assistant Professor (9/1/2008)

• Ecology and Evolution

Postdoc Southwest Foundation for Biomedical
Research Ph.D. Oregon State
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Department of Biology
Xiairong Lin Assistant Professor (1/1/2008)

• Ecology and Evolution

Postdoc Duke University Medical Center Ph.D.
University of Georgia
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Department of Chemistry
Wenshe Liu Assistant Professor

• Bioorganic Chemistry
• Chemical Biology
• Enzyme Kinetics
• Molecular Biology
• Protein Crystallography
• Protein Engineering

Postdoc The Scripps Research Institute Ph.D.
UC Davis
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Department of Chemistry
Jiong Yang Assistant Professor

• Total synthesis and mechanistic studies of
  biologically active natural products
• Enantioselective organocatalysis, transition
  metal catalysis, and domino reactions Inorganic
  Chemistry
• Identification of small molecule probes for
  biological studies

Postdoc Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT Ph.D.
Ohio State University
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Department of Mathematics
Ioan Bejenaru Assistant Professor

• Partial Differential Equations

Assistant Professor UCLA Ph.D. UC Berkeley
12
Department of Mathematics
Dmitry Panchenko Assistant Professor

• Probability Theory
• Mathematical Physics

Assistant Professor MIT Ph.D. University of
New Mexico
13
Department of Mathematics
Matthew Young Assistant Professor

• Analytic Number Theory
• L-functions
• Elliptic Curves
• Random Matrix Theory

Assistant Professor Stanford University Ph.D.
Rutgers University
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Department of Physics
Alexander Finkelstein Professor (1/16/2008)

• Disordered Conductors
• Low-Dimensional and Strongly Correlated Electron
  Systems
• Fundamentals of Spintronic Device

Professor Weizmann Institute of Science,
Israel Ph.D. Landau Institute for Theoretical
Physics
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Department of Physics
Lucas Macri Assistant Professor (7/1/2008)

• Extragalactic Distance Scale
• Resolved Stellar Populations
• Large-scale structure and flows

Postdoc National Optical Astronomy
Observatory Ph.D. Harvard-Smithsonian Center
for Astrophysics
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Department of Physics
Dan Melconian Assistant Professor (1/16/2008)

• Nuclear structure
• Nuclear astrophysics
• Nuclear physics

Postdoc University of Arizona Ph.D. Centre for
Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics
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Department of Physics
Casey Papovich Assistant Professor (4/1/2008)

• Studying Galaxy Evolution from Multiwavelength
  Surveys
• The Stellar-Mass Assembly and Growth of Galaxies
  and Supermassive Blackholes

Spitzer Fellow University of Arizona Ph.D. The
Johns Hopkins University
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Department of Physics
Igor Roschin Assistant Professor

• Condensed Matter Physics
• Thin-Film and Multi-Layer Growth
• Physical, Chemical, and Biological Sensors

Research Scientist UC San Diego Ph.D.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Department of Physics
Kym-Vy Tran Assistant Professor (1/1/2009)

• Astronomy

SNF Advanced Fellow University of Zurich Ph.D.
UC Santa Cruz
20
Federal Agency Funding 2005
21
Texas Academies of Medicine, Engineeering,
Science, and Technology

• Education Steering Committee
• William R. Brinkley (Co-Chair) Dean, Graduate
  School of Biomedical Sciences Baylor College of
  Medicine
• Mary Ann Rankin (Co-Chair) Dean, College of
  Natural Sciences UT
• Michael S. Brown Regental Professor University
  of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Francisco Cigarroa President, UT Health Science
  Center- San Antonio
• Ernest H. Cockrell Chairman, Cockrell Interests
• Tom Engibous Chairman of the Board, Texas
  Instruments Incorporated
• Larry Faulkner President, Houston Endowment,
  Inc.

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Texas Academies of Medicine, Engineeering,
Science, and Technology

• Education Steering Committee (cont.)
• Neal Lane University Professor, Rice Sr.
  Fellow, Baker Institute
• Bettie Sue Masters Welch Distinguished
  Professor, UT Health Science Center San Antonio
• H. Joseph Newton, Dean, College of Science, Texas
  AM University
• Peter O Donnell President, ODonnell
  Foundation
• Kenneth I. Shine Executive Vice Chancellor for
  Health Affairs, UT System
• Richard Tapia - Noah Harding Professor of
  Computational and Applied Mathematics and
  Director, Center for Excellence and Equity in
  Education, Rice

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Contact Us

• For more information about the Texas AM College
  of Science and its activities, please
  contact Office of the Dean College of
  Science Texas AM University 3257 TAMU College
  Station, TX 77843-3257 Telephone (979)
  845-7361 Web www.science.tamu.edu