November 25, 2024

EagleEye

A Newsletter for UMW Faculty and Staff

Students Present at Summer Institute

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Twenty-three students in UMW’s Summer Science Institute presented their work at an all-day symposium Wednesday, July 21 at the Jepson Science Center. Oral presentations and posters were presented from six disciplines:  biology, chemistry, environmental science, physics, mathematics and computer science. Topics ranged from the mathematical analysis of option pricing and iPhone game development for elementary school students to the study of environmental impacts of trace metal accumulation and gene expression. Students also gave poster presentations with such topics as the study of acousto-optical modulation, cloning of a human gene promoter, novel chemical reactions and analysis of the environmental evolution of two lakes in Virginia.

The summer institute, co-directed by Chemistry Professor Raymond Scott and Mathematics Professor Deborah Hydorn, is a 10-week program which allows both students and faculty to devote themselves to full time to their research efforts.  Results are frequently shared at professional meetings across the country.

Political Analyst Farnsworth to Open Media Studies Center

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Author, political analyst and professor Stephen Farnsworth will rejoin the UMW faculty in January to open the Center for Leadership and Media Studies on the Fredericksburg campus. He also will teach in the Department of Political Science and International Affairs.

The center will engage students in conducting research and political opinion surveys that study the role media plays in state and national politics, including the presidential election.

“So much of how we follow our government depends on what the media chooses to write or broadcast or post online,” according to Farnsworth, who currently is associate professor of communications at George Mason University. “We will examine news content, conduct opinion surveys of citizens and evaluate how they view government officials, government policies and media sources.” Read news release.

Political Analyst Farnsworth to Open Media Studies Center

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Author, political analyst and professor Stephen Farnsworth will rejoin the UMW faculty in January to open the Center for Leadership and Media Studies on the Fredericksburg campus. He also will teach in the Department of Political Science and International Affairs.

The center will engage students in conducting research and political opinion surveys that study the role media plays in state and national politics, including the presidential election.

“So much of how we follow our government depends on what the media chooses to write or broadcast or post online,” according to Farnsworth, who currently is associate professor of communications at George Mason University. “We will examine news content, conduct opinion surveys of citizens and evaluate how they view government officials, government policies and media sources.” Read news release.

Leanna Giancarlo Discusses ‘Mad Scientists’ Stereotypes

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Associate Professor of Chemistry Leanna Giancarlo will discuss stereotypical portrayals of scientists during an interview on the “With Good Reason” public radio program beginning Saturday, July 23. The interview can be heard on July 23 at 4:30 p.m. on WCVE 88.9 FM and on Monday, July 25 at 12:30 a.m. on WAMU 88.5 FM. The segment, “Selling the Silver Bullet,” is expected to be available online at http://withgoodreasonradio.org/2011/07/selling-the-silver-bullet.
Read the news release.

Leanna Giancarlo Discusses ‘Mad Scientists’ Stereotypes

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Associate Professor of Chemistry Leanna Giancarlo will discuss stereotypical portrayals of scientists during an interview on the “With Good Reason” public radio program beginning Saturday, July 23. The interview can be heard on July 23 at 4:30 p.m. on WCVE 88.9 FM and on Monday, July 25 at 12:30 a.m. on WAMU 88.5 FM. The segment, “Selling the Silver Bullet,” is expected to be available online at http://withgoodreasonradio.org/2011/07/selling-the-silver-bullet.
Read the news release.

Vice President Dana German to Leave UMW

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Dana German, vice president for information technologies and chief information officer at the University of Mary Washington, has announced her resignation, effective August 12. This move will permit German, who previously was employed
at UMW, to devote more time to her family.

“We had recently established our home in Pennsylvania, where my husband is working, when President Hurley asked me last year to return to UMW to help him and his Cabinet set a new course for the future,” German said. “It was both an honor and an opportunity I couldn’t refuse, but it hasn’t been an ideal model for family life.”

German added, “The University and the IT division have both come a long way in the past year. Both are in excellent health, so I leave feeling very good about the progress we’ve made as well as the future of the University under President Hurley’s leadership.”

Hurley said that while German’s departure is a loss for the University, “I completely support the family-centered decision that Dana has made, and we all wish her the very best.”

He noted that a national search will begin soon and that Justin Webb, UMW’s executive director of enterprise application services, will serve after German’s departure as interim vice president for information technologies and chief information officer. Webb is a member of the Mary Washington Class of 2000.

Debra Hydorn To Attend Statistics Workshop

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Debra Hydorn, professor of mathematics, is  one of 25 faculty members in the nation selected to attend the Inquiry-Based Statistics Education Workshop at Wesleyan University in July. The workshop is hosted by the Quantitative Analysis Center at Wesleyan, which provides support for quantitative analysis across the curriculum as well as quantitative teaching and research activities.  Attendance at the workshop is funded by a National Science Foundation grant.

Charles Sharpless to Present Research in Prague

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Charles Sharpless, Associate Professor of Chemistry, will present the results of his Jepson Fellowship research in a talk titled “Organic Matter Photochemistry: Singlet Oxygen Precursor Lifetimes” at the 2011 Goldschmidt Conference in Prague, Czech Republic, August 14-19.  The Goldschmidt Conference is the annual joint conference of the Geochemical Society and the European Association of Geochemistry.