VCU College of Humanities and Sciences

The College presented its annual Faculty Awards at a breakfast this morning, and also honored retiring faculty for their years of service to VCU. Dean Jim Coleman made opening remarks, followed by the presentation of the awards by Dr. Alison Baski, Executive Associate Dean for the College.

The retiring faculty were congratulated and offered words of thanks by their department heads, and presented a gift for their service by Dr. Coleman.

The following is a complete list of the faculty award winners and retiring faculty:

Nelson Wikstrom
2012 Elske v. P. Smith Lecturer Award
The L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Alenka Luzar
2012 Distinguished Scholar
Department of Chemistry

Laura McLay
2012 Excellence in Scholarship Award, Math & Sciences
Statistical Sciences & Operations Research

Andrew Crislip
2012 Excellence in Scholarship Award, Humanities and Social Sciences
Department of History

Sally Hunnicutt
2012 Distinguished Teaching Award, Math & Sciences
Department of Chemistry

Daniel Perdue
2012 Distinguished Teaching Award, Humanities & Social Sciences
School of World Studies

Susan Gooden
2012 Distinguished Service Award
The L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Natasha Long
2012 Distinguished Advising Award
School of Mass Communications

Gay Cutchin
2012 Distinguished Adjunct Award
The L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Retiring Faculty:

John Berglund
Department of Mathematics & Applied Mathematics

Marilyn Gloyer
Department of Mathematics & Applied Mathematics

Charlotte Morse
Department of English

Ted Tunnell
Department of History

Nelson Wikstrom
The L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs

Congratulations again to all the winners and retirees. Your service to VCU and our students is inspiring!

Update: Pictures have been uploaded to our Facebook page!

The College of Humanities and Sciences congratulates Kathleen Graber, Assistant Professor of English, for being awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, one of the top awards available to artists in the United States and Canada.

From an article by VCU News:

Graber, who teaches in the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English … received the honor in the Poetry category. Graber is the author of two collections of poetry, “Correspondence,” which was published in 2006, and “The Eternal City,” which was published in 2010. “The Eternal City” was a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, and it was the winner of the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Poetry. She is currently working on a new collection of poems, tentatively titled “The River Twice.”

“We’re very proud of Professor Graber for earning this prestigious honor,” said VCU President Michael Rao, Ph.D. “Her poetry continues to attract attention from the highest ranks and represents the excellence of VCU’s faculty among their national and international peers.”

Read the complete article at the VCU News Center.

Pres. Rao and Ed Bowden

Every other year, the VCU and MCV Alumni Associations recognize university alumni for their achievements and the infinite possibilities they bring to the future. This year, Ed Bowden was one such Alumni Star.

Edmond F. Bowden (1982 Doctor of Philosophy, VCU College of Humanities and Sciences) came to Virginia Commonwealth University with the intention of earning a master’s degree so he could further his career in the chemical industry, where he worked as a mechanical engineer. He left with a passion to learn and to teach.

After earning his Ph.D., Bowden began a career as a professor in the Department of Chemistry at North Carolina State University, where he is in his 27th year. Under his direction as administrator from 1999-2008, the chemistry graduate program at NCSU increased in size by about 50 percent while also increasing its entrance standards. He credits VCU faculty members for his success, an effect that has come full circle, as many of his past students have successful careers in education as well.

 As a researcher, Bowden focuses on the electrochemistry of proteins and enzymes, a topic that he first explored at VCU. Twenty years ago, his research group at NCSU, in partnership with Michael Tarlov, Ph.D., at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, developed a means for immobilizing active proteins on electrode surfaces. The discovery fueled research and developments relating to biosensors — analytical measuring devices used to combat such things as disease and pollution. Since 1980, his research group has published approximately 50 journal articles, which have received, on average, 60-plus citations each.

 Bowden is a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Electrochemical Society and the Society of Electroanalytical Chemistry.

Photo by Jay Paul

News courtesy of Jeff Wing, National Scholarship Office,
Photos courtesy of VCU News Center:

Senior Margaret Cotter, Sophomore Bertrand (Yohannes) Mpigabahizi, and Junior Rachel Sine have been awarded Boren Scholarships to study abroad next year.

Margaret Cotter

Yohannes Mpigabahizi

Rachel Sine

With their selection, VCU students have now won twelve Boren Awards for International Study in the past five years. Senior Ben Cohen (Mass Comm) is studying Mandarin in Taiwan and junior Elisabeth Moore (English) is just about to complete a year of study of Mandarin in Beijing.  All five of these students are members of The Honors College.

Margaret Cotter is from Midlothian and was about to graduate summa cum laude with University Honorswith a double major in International Studies and Political Science and a minor in Italian.  She will now postpone her graduation until after she completes a year studying Turkish language and culture in Istanbul as a Boren Scholar.

Yohannes Mpigabahizi has just completed his first year at VCU.  From Bristow, Virginia, he is majoring in International Studies and Economics and planning to get a minor in Arabic.  He will spend the next year studying Arabic and Egyptian politics, history and culture in Cairo.

Rachel Sine is a sophomore from Roanoke majoring in International Studies with concentrations in International Relations and Southeast Asia Studies and a minor in Religious Studies.  She will spend the next year continuing her Hindi studies in India, while also studying Indian culture, history and politics.  Rachel was also selected for a Critical Language Scholarship earlier this spring and will undertake intensive Hindi language studies in India this summer before she begins her Boren studies in the fall.

In this year’s competition, approximately 140 Boren Scholarships were awarded from a field of more than 900 applicants.  While nationally only about one in six Boren applicants will be selected, three of VCU’s seven candidates were selected, a fact which speaks well of the quality of applicants, the education they are receiving as undergraduates at VCU, and the support that they receive from faculty mentors and recommenders as well as the review panels.  Over the past five years, just over a third of VCU’s Boren candidates have been successful.

VCU National Scholarship Office

Boren Awards for International Study

VCU News Center Article: “Three VCU Students Receive Boren Scholarships”

Reposted from VCU News Center, article by Tom Gresham:

Two [VCU College of Humanities and Sciences] students have been awarded the Goldwater Scholarship, the premier national scholarship for undergraduate math, science and engineering students.

Anjali Hari, a junior, and Grant Day, a sophomore, will receive scholarships to cover the cost of tuition, fees, books and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year. Both are enrolled in the VCU Honors College. Nine VCU students have been awarded Goldwater Scholarships over the past five years.

“We are very proud of Anjali and Grant for earning an award as prestigious as the Goldwater Scholarship,” said Michael Rao, Ph.D., president of VCU. “They have excelled academically while pursuing the type of challenging research projects that we encourage our students to tackle. Their achievement is a well-deserved one.”

Hari, who is majoring in biology and Spanish, is from Diamond Bar, Calif., and attended Diamond Bar High School. Since her first year at VCU, Hari has worked in the lab of Babette Fuss, Ph.D., professor of anatomy and neurobiology, helping conduct research on the changes in protein levels involved in myelination that might eventually lead to new treatments for multiple sclerosis. She also founded an organization that collected donations of used medical equipment to equip labs in rural areas in Guatemala. Following graduation, Hari plans to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. in neurobiology and conduct clinical research at an academic medical center.

Day, who is majoring in biology, is from Virginia Beach and attended Ocean Lakes High School. He has conducted research with Ronald Smeltz, Ph.D., assistant professor of microbiology and immunology at VCU, examining the proteins and mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of Chagas disease. Day also has assumed leadership of a summer research program for high school students at VCU. After graduating from VCU, Day plans to pursue a Ph.D. in microbiology or immunology and to conduct research on the pathophysiology and vaccinology of neglected diseases.

The Goldwater Scholarship Program, which honors the late Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, was designed to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering. In this year’s competition, 275 Goldwater Scholars were selected from a field of more than 1,095 applicants who were nominated by their college or university.

Hari and Day applied for the Goldwater Scholarship through the Honors College’s National Scholarship Office, which assists VCU students and alumni who wish to compete for prestigious national and international scholarships.

VCU News Center article link: Two_VCU_Students_Earn_Goldwater_Scholarships

VCU Biology Department

VCU Honors College

Donald K. Hawkins is the first recipient of the Dennis-Weathers Award in African American Studies.  He will be recognized at the 28th Annual Black History in the Making Award Ceremony on Thursday, Feb 24, at the Grace Street Theater.

The Dennis-Weathers Award was created in honor of Dr. Rutledge M. Dennis’s parents David and Ora Porcher-Dennis and his godparents, Joseph and Rebecca Rutledge Weathers.  The award will be given annually to an African American Studies student for outstanding leadership and community service.

Dr. Rutledge M. Dennis is Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at George Mason University. He received a B.A. in Social Science and Sociology from South Carolina State University, and the M.A. and Ph.D in sociology from Washington State University.

Prior to joining the George Mason faculty he was the first Director of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University where he taught for twenty-one years, three of which were spent as Associate Chair of the Department of Sociology/Anthropology.

While in Richmond he was involved in a number of social action programs and activities, among these were Commissioner, The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority; Executive Board, Housing Opportunities Made Equal(HOME), and Advisory Board, Virginia Human Relations Council.

His teaching and research interests include the sociology of ideas, theoretical sociology, political sociology, race and ethnic studies, urban communities, and the sociology of W.E.B. Du Bois.   A native of Charleston, SC, Dr. Dennis is father of four adult children and grandfather of five grandchildren.

VCU African American Studies

Dr. Alenka Luzar, VCU Professor of Physical Chemistry, was elected an American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow in December.

Dr. Luzar is being honored by the AAAS for her distinguished contributions to the field of computational and theoretical chemistry, particularly for theoretical modeling and new applications of modern condensed matter science to confined liquids.

Each year the Council elects members whose “efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished.” The honor of being elected a Fellow of AAAS began in 1874 and is acknowledged with a certificate and rosette. 

Dr. Luzar will be presented her certificate and rosette on Saturday, February 19, during the AAAS Fellows Forum at the Association’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

The deadline for most College of Humanities and Sciences scholarships and fellowships is February 1.  Don’t delay.  Many scholarships require an application and letters of recommendation.   Go to the College’s Scholarship Page for application information and links to application forms.