Collge of Science: Insights Fall 2010

Purdue College of Science|fall 2010

Ei-ichi Negishi 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry inside:

:: Combining Art + Science :: Field Notes From Haiti

production & media Julie Rosa, director of publications Linda Thomas Terhune, editor Mike Esposito, designer Eric Nelson, production coordinator Mark Simons and Andrew Hancock, photographers Dan Howell, copy editor Kim Medaris Delker, marketing consultant Contributing writers: Eric Calais, Kim Medaris Delker, Andy Freed, William Meiners, Robert Sabol, Linda Thomas Terhune; research briefs drawn from Purdue External Relations

administration Jeffrey Roberts Frederick L. Hovde Dean of Science Joseph S. Francisco Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education George P. McCabe Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Dennis Minchella Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education

department heads Richard J. Kuhn Biological Sciences Paul B. Shepson Chemistry Sunil Prabhakar (interim) Computer Science Jon Harbor Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Rodrigo BaĂąuelos Mathematics

Fun with fractals This psychedelic image is a fractal, a term used to describe fragmented geometric shapes that can be split into parts, each a reduced-sized copy of the whole. The term was coined by Benoit Mandelbrot in 1975, dervied from the Latin word fractus, which means fractured. Fractals exist at the boundary of art and science; as mathematical visualization that stands on its own as art. This fractal was created by Insights magazine desginer Mike Esposito.

Nicholas J. Giordano Physics Rebecca W. Doerge Statistics

Š 2010 by the Purdue University College of Science.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or duplicated without the prior written permission of the publisher. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information included in this publication at the time of printing, the publisher shall not be liable for damages arising from errors or omissions.

An equal access/equal opportunity university COS.10.232

Contents / Fall 2010

FEATURES Greetings, When Purdue chemistry professor Mahdi Abu-Omar was an undergraduate at Hampden-Sydney College in the early 1990s, he encountered a visiting lecturer who discoursed on science and art. The speaker was Nobel laureate Roald Hoffmann, a Cornell faculty member, chemist, poet, playwright, and philosopher. He produced a television course in introductory chemistry titled “The World of Chemistry” and hosted a monthly cabaret in Manhattan featuring scientists crossing over with their disciplines to dance, magic, literature, film, and more where discussion ranged from pure science to the far reaches of art.

Science, it turns out, has direct ties to art — from the chemistry that creates paint hues to the physics underlying the vibrations of piano wires that lead to soaring symphonies. In this issue of Insights magazine, we introduce faculty, students, and alumni who not only make discoveries in the classroom and laboratory, but also use the same curiosity and drive in pure acts of creativity. We also celebrate our new Nobel Laureate, Ei-Ichi Negishi, the Herbert C. Brown Distinguished Professor of Chemistry.

I, myself, have an affinity for chemistry in the kitchen. Mathematician Greg Buzzard, whom you’ll meet as one of the faculty profiled in “Art+Science,” has studied the violin since childhood and plays in the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra. Physicist Nick Giordano not only plays piano, he also recently published a book on the physics of the instrument. The College of Science can also proudly claim two of the three drum majors in Purdue’s “All-American” Marching Band.

I am also pleased to include in this issue two articles written by faculty members who traveled to Haiti not long after the January 2010 earthquake.

Eric Calais and Andy Freed were able to mine valuable data from the disaster, and learned a lot personally from this life-changing experience. Their personal essays on research and reflections on life in Haiti offer a truly valuable perspective.

Minchella 05 Dennis Leading undergraduate education

07 ART+SCIENCE When you hear a symphony, does discrete math come to mind? Meet faculty members who can most definitely make that connection.

Leaders 16 Band Science’s drum majors notes 26 Field Faculty write about Haiti

departments 20 Breakthroughs 23 Awards & Honors 30 Class Notes 32 Last Word

Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science

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world of chemistry have had lasting effect in disciplines ranging from medicine to material development with the potential to impact lives on a global scale.

Letter to the Editor icon means more information is available online.

CoS logo Jeffrey T. Roberts

Nobel Laureate Ei-Ichi Negishi’s contributions to the

(Photography by Andrew Hancock)

Last, but not least, I’m proud to welcome Dennis Minchella into the role of associate dean for undergraduate education, whom we introduce on page 4.

Dennis, a longtime Purdue researcher in biological sciences, is a passionate teacher and advocate for science education.

Read on, enjoy, and join us in celebrating the creativity, whether through science or personal pursuit, that leads to profound discovery.

cover story | 4

Represented in each of the radiating arms of this logo are the seven departments of the College of Science. The stability of the inner sphere symbolizes the knowledge and objectivity of science, while the implied movement of the outer configuration suggests the exploratory and interdisciplinary nature of the field.

Dear editor, I enjoyed reading your article “Great Issues: Lessons on the inextricable ties between science and society” in the spring 2010 issue of Insights, which told readers about Professor Andy Hirsch’s efforts to teach a course on this topic. It’s a great idea. In fact, my favorite course at Purdue was very similar to this and taught by J. Alfred Chiscon, a professor of biological sciences honored in Purdue’s Book of Great Teachers. He captivated a huge lecture hall of students with his timely research of current events tied to the life sciences. He challenged us with thought-provoking questions and helped prepare me for my career as a member of the National Association of Science Writers and as an editor of science news. The class, which welcomed nonmajors for many decades, was fundamental in preparing us as informed, voting citizens in this complex world. I’m glad that Al’s legacy will continue with Professor Hirsch’s efforts.

Jeanne Phillippi Norberg CLA 1974

Biologist to Lead Undergraduate Education

Chemistry Professor

Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry “Catalysts are not lost as they spur a chemical reaction, they are recycled and can be used over and over again,” he says.

“These transition metals are very expensive, but when they can be used millions to billions of times, it dramatically reduces the cost and makes the mass manufacturing of special, complex materials practical.”

Francis S. Collins. “It has already allowed chemists to synthesize compounds to fight the herpes virus, HIV and colon cancer.”

Negishi grew up in Japan and received a bachelor’s degree in organic chemistry from the University of Tokyo in 1958.

He moved to the United States in 1960 to attend graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania as a FulbrightSmith-Mundt scholar, earning a doctorate in organic chemistry in 1963. Negishi went to Syracuse University in 1972, where he was an assistant professor and then an associate professor before returning to Purdue in 1979.

Negishi likened the innovation to playing with a LEGO game.

Negishi likened the innovation to playing with a LEGO game, altering the building blocks of molecules and using transition metals as catalysts to promote the reactions needed for the synthesis.

Ei-ichi Negishi, the Herbert C. Brown Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, has received the 2010 Nobel Prize in chemistry for creating a method to build complex organic molecules necessary for numerous purposes, from pharmaceutical manufacturing to electronics.

Negishi developed metalbased reactions, called palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling, that allow for easy and efficient synthesis of complex organic compounds. Examples of applications include drug

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“We found catalysts and created reactions that allow complex organic compounds to, in effect, snap together with other compounds to more economically and efficiently build desired materials,” he says. “LEGOs can manufacturing, fluorescent be combined to make things of marking that has been essential any shape, size and color, and for DNA sequencing and creating our reactions make this a posmaterials for thin LED displays. sibility for organic compounds.”

He discovered catalytic reactions using a number of transition metals that allow various organic compounds to be synthesized widely, efficiently and selectively for use in fields ranging from medicine to materials development. His work has resulted in dramatically reducing the cost of using such metals, like palladium, in the synthesis.

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), which is part of the National Institutes of Health, has supported Negishi’s work since 1979.

The Nobel Prize was bestowed primarily on the strength of 10 seminal papers published from 1976 to 1978, according to Negishi, who came to Purdue in 1966 as a postdoctoral researcher under the late Herbert C. Brown, who won the Nobel Prize in 1979.

Negishi was a co-recipient of the prize with scientists Richard Heck of the University of Delaware in Newark and Akira Suzuki of Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan. He is the third Purdue professor to share in a Nobel Prize and one of two of Brown’s students to win the prize this year. Co-recipient Suzuki also studied under Brown.

“This methodology has vastly improved the possibilities to create sophisticated chemicals and has broad implications for the Elizabeth K. Gardner medical, electronic and agricul- and Emil Venere tural fields,” says NIH director

Photos by / Andrew Hancock

For 35 years, Dennis Minchella has in some way been associated with Purdue.

For 35 years, Dennis Minchella has in one way or another been associated with Purdue. He began his graduate studies in biological sciences at Purdue in 1975, received a PhD in 1981, and has been here ever since.

where it needs to be for students to excel after graduation. Part of this goal will likely include improving foundational courses in math and science that the college offers to students in every discipline, not just science.

This Rochester, N.Y., native and professor of biological sciences says that what has kept him at Purdue all these years is constant change and opportunity.

“Our college plays a critical role in building an academic foundation for many majors and we need to find ways to increase student success in these early courses.” he says.

Other priorities for Minchella include improving the recruitment and retention of underrepresented students and creating new ways of engaging with students, such as partnerships with residence halls or other innovative programs that take And true to his timeline, place outside the classroom.

Minchella has yet a new opporMinchella feels strongly about tunity in front of him. In July, providing a solid learning expehe became associate dean rience to students. In his own for undergraduate education. teaching experience, he strives Minchella is now responsible to ensure that every class has for the college’s core curriculum an interactive element, and he and oversees undergraduate would like to see that type of advising, recruiting and reten- teaching implemented throughtion efforts. out the college.

“Every five or six years, I am presented with a new challenge,” he says, noting his evolution from graduate student to administrator. “Purdue has provided me with so much opportunity, there has been no need to move,” he says.

As associate dean, Minchella has a variety of goals for the college. One focus is on increasing what he terms the “value” of a science degree.

“It’s important that our majors are special in some way, possibly through a unique experience such as research, an internship, or study abroad,” he says.

Another priority is ensuring that the curriculum, which was revamped a few years ago, is

Photos by / Mark Simons

few hundred students, he makes the class as personal as possible. For instance, the first week of class, he takes a snapshot of every student in the class to help him remember each student’s name and face.

he will lead a help session at any place, at any time. This can place him in some interesting settings.

“The most memorable one was in the kitchen of a student’s grandmother’s home,” he says.

“She even baked homemade Since a large classroom chocolate chip cookies for us.” format limits what he can do to Minchella’s plate won’t hold make the experience special, cookies this fall, but it will be Minchella doesn’t let the lec- piled full of new duties. And ture-room walls hold him back. he does plan to keep teaching Instead, he creates memorable Biology 121. The course holds experiences outside the time and a special place for him, and Minchella, whose outstanding place of class. helping students learn is a big teaching efforts have landed Don’t be surprised to find reason why he decided to be a him in the Purdue Book of Great Teachers, is passionate about Minchella among a group of professor. teaching and believes that when students having lunch in a “I was a first generation cola professor cares about the residence hall. And you just lege student and struggled in my development of each student, might find him among a group first year,” he says. “I had a lot great things can happen, even of students in an even less- of trouble juggling studying with when teaching a large class. He conventional space. During the the social life, so I understand has taught Biology 121 — the toughest few weeks of Bio 121, what many of my students are entry-level biology course for Minchella vows this to his stu- going through. It’s a great feeling biology majors — for years. Even dents: If students can get a group to help a student succeed.” though classes usually contain a of 10 or more students together, Kim Medaris Delker

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GregBuzzard Math+Violin

“It combined my interests in computer science and modeling,” he says of the project. “There are still a lot of questions about what goes on when a heart fails. You can couple the model with experiments and it could have a big impact on a lot of people.”

As a mathematician, Greg Buzzard works with complex variables and dynamical systems. As a violinist and member of the Lafayette Symphony Orchestra he traverses the world of complex musical scores. These two activities form the libretto of his professional life.

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Art + Science

By Linda Thomas Terhune Photography by Andrew Hancock

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Though Buzzard is no longer concentrating on cardiac electrophysiology, he remains in the health arena. He has partnered with Ann Rundell of Purdue’s Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering to model signaling events in the T-cell system and develop Buzzard, who joined the College of Science faculty ways to produce an immune system response. And he in 2002, began playing violin at the age of nine, and works with David Umulis of agricultural and biological engineering on signaling mechanisms for drosophila hasn’t stopped since. embryo development.

He played in his high school orchestra in Fort The unknown — the variables — intrigue him.

Wayne, Indiana; with the All-City Orchestra there; and “Biology is so mysterious,” he says. “There is a lot we in the strings section of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic. don’t know.

How do the dynamics change when you He continued at Michigan State University, where change part of the system?” he enrolled as a computer science major and joined the orchestra. The pull of his musical roots was too From grade school through graduate school and at strong, though, and he soon transferred to the St. post-graduate stops at Indiana University and Cornell Louis Conservatory of Music, only to find that although along the way, Buzzard has carried his music with him. the program was great, job prospects weren’t.

He played in the Ithaca Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the “I got worried about making money,” he recalls. So Indiana University student orchestra, and the Lansing he returned to Michigan State, where he earned two Symphony. It made perfect sense, then, for him to open bachelor’s degrees — one in computer science, the the phone book when he landed in West Lafayette and place a call to the local symphony. other in music.

As a researcher, Buzzard focuses on dynamical systems, or, systems that change over time with an evolution influenced by any number of variables. His current work is in physiology, a thrust begun during a three-year postdoctoral study at Cornell University.

While in Ithaca, he worked with Gene Network Sciences, a biotech startup devoted to computational modeling of biological systems. He joined scientist Jeff Fox, who focused on creating models of heart cells and electrical activity in the heart. The topic suited Buzzard’s interests.

“I like the social aspects of making music with other people. Violin combines the solo and the group, and it’s sort of meditative to me to practice. Music resonates with me in a physical and metaphysical way,” Buzzard says.

Buzzard plays seven or eight concerts a year, rehearsing on the evenings in the week leading up to each concert. For those in the concert audience, his work as a musician no doubt fulfills one of his personal goals as a mathematician. “I hope,” he says, “that my work will impact people’s lives in a positive way.”

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NickGiordano Physics+Piano

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Nicholas Giordano plays the piano — all 19 of the There is no note-to-note control of the sound dynampianos that fill his recreation room. ics. Musicians wanted a more diverse sound, which Grand, square, upright, some with felt hammers, led in the 18th century to the development of the first some with leather, each one carefully collected for pianos, which introduced hammers and more varied its place in piano history and its unique acoustic sound. Pianos evolved over time to be made of different materials, grow from four octaves to more than attributes. seven, contain wire made of new materials, and so on.

For Giordano, the Hubert James Distinguished “As I was restoring, I got interested in how the Professor of Physics and head of the physics departtechnology changed and problems were solved and ment, the piano is both a musical hobby and the re-solved in different ways as the instrument evolved,” focus of professional study. As a researcher, he has explored the physics of why the piano sounds like a Giordano says. piano, using Newton’s laws to calculate the motion of He was intrigued, for example, by the evolution of the individual parts and sound pressure produced. piano wire from brass and iron mixed with elements In July, the fruit of years of exploration was pub- such as carbon to modern-day steel. It was a topic lished in Giordano’s book “The Physics of the Piano” he could study applying physics to examine how the (Oxford University Press). The book examines the material affected the vibration of the strings. His goal science of acoustics, and also contains a history of was to create a physical model of the piano by applyhow and why the piano came to be invented. A con- ing computational physics to each part of the piano. versation with the author on this subject reveals his The dimensions of the soundboard, the lengths of deep knowledge of the history of the instrument and the strings, the compression characteristics of the its place in the world. Little wonder, then, that his hammers, combined with Newton’s laws to calculate the motion of each when a note is played and create house is full of pianos. a composite of the sound produced: Giordano’s scientific fascination with the piano “The question was: Can we take all we know about emerged some 15 years ago when he began taking lesthe piano, the physics of the hammers, the flexibility sons and got curious about the inner workings of the instrument. Using his background as an experimental of felt or leather hammers, the construction of the physicist, he applied some simple measurements to soundboard and calculate what the sound will be satisfy this curiosity. When Giordano’s piano teacher when it reaches your ear?” suggested he broaden his repertoire beyond Bach, Giordano has now moved on to other topics includthe research project blossomed. Giordano agreed to ing computational neuroscience, with a focus on the branch out, but not beyond Bach. Instead, he would physics, biophysics and neuroscience of how signals play the music on an instrument of its time period, a are generated and propagate in the brain and how harpsichord, and — with the help of a master builder the brain processes them. He nonetheless remains — Giordano built one. He was hooked. musically inclined.

“I realized I really enjoyed the building process,” he recalls. And he wanted to do it again, so he found and bought an early Steinway piano (1857 or so), which he restored. The reverse engineering involved in the project fascinated him, as did the way in which sound is produced.

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So is another project: the restoration of the rarest of his pianos, a recent acquisition that Giordano says is perhaps the earliest piano ever made in the United States.

“I love sitting down and playing in the evening. It’s relaxing. But so is working on the pianos. I could easily Harpsichords, for example, are plucked string spend hours and hours rebuilding a single hammer.” instruments and produce a uniform sound amplitude. Or, perhaps, just thinking about its physics.

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MinouBina

Chemistry+Painting

As a child in Iran, Minou Bina was told she had no artistic talent. None. The art teacher literally wanted to refund her class fee. That experience didn’t break her spirit. Instead, now working as a world-renowned scientist on the human genome, she has returned to art for art’s sake.

Bina, who has been on the Purdue faculty since 1979, has a background in theoretical chemistry and a passion for DNA that began during graduate work at Yale University on stability of nucleic acids. For many years, her research focused on experimental work, but for the last decade the professor of biochemistry has concentrated on bioinformatics. She collects and analyzes sequences from promoter regions of human genes to discover the codes in DNA that regulate gene expression.

“I thought, if I love art, why not do it? I don’t have to be a Picasso or Rembrandt. Why not do it? Before, I was afraid to try,” she says.

Bina began by giving a modern interpretation to traditional Persian motifs on vases and decorative textiles, such as horses and imaginary birds. She now works in acrylic on canvas, favoring any subject that is in motion; horses remain a favorite.

Bina is fascinated by the similarity of the thought process in designing an experiment and composing Raised in Tehran, Iran, Bina moved to the United a painting.

States at the age of 20. She left behind a group Bina, who says she paints mostly in the winter to of friends who were painters and artists. She also beat the blues, keeps her art for herself or gives it to left behind the memory of a not-so-encouraging art friends and family members. “I question my talent, but teacher. In 1990, when she began work on the Human I’m fascinated by art,” she says, then laughs, “if you like my art, check out my science!”

Genome Project, she started to paint again.

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ChipKillian

Computer Science+Vocals

Chip Killian’s life as a computer science professor might seem a stretch from the days he donned tights and a cap to perform in North Carolina State’s annual madrigal dinner, but “have voice, will travel.”

Killian, who joined the Purdue computer science faculty in 2008, has juggled music, math and science throughout his life. He excelled in math and science as a child, attending North Carolina’s rigorous public residential math and science high school. By senior year, he was taking calculus III, discrete math and math modeling. In college at North Carolina State University, he studied computer systems and networking and discrete math. His doctorate came from the University of California, San Diego.

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a really joyous occasion, so if you’re picking one event at which to sing, it’s a good one.” Among the sacred music the baritone performed at the July wedding were pieces like “To Believe in Love.”

As a researcher, Killian focuses on ways to make it easier to build large-scale high-performance distributed systems. This is software that runs across He also excelled musically. Young Chip began piano multiple systems, such as that used by businesses lessons in first grade, dabbled in banjo for a year, and with a large number of clients and numerous beds of graduated to trumpet in sixth grade, vying to compete computers. with his older sisters, who were in the high school “The kind of person I am lends itself to both music marching band. and the kind of research I do,” he says. “Both music It was in college that Killian made the decision to and computer systems are composed and designed, focus on his voice, which, he explains, was easier to then performed/executed according to instruction. transport and keep in tune than a trumpet. It was also Performing music well requires understanding how familiar territory; his father sang barbershop. Killian the various parts, lines, and harmonies work together, minored in vocal performance at North Carolina State just as building complex distributed systems requires and joined the university’s glee club, concert choir, understanding how independent processes and comand 15-member co-ed a capella group. His goal with puters interact and coordinate with each other. In the music minor, he says, was to sing in weddings. both cases, there are formulas and patterns which He realized that dream in July, with his first profes- tend to lead to good outputs, but clever design also sional paying gig as a wedding singer — no, not the finds exceptions to the rules to produce exciting and Hollywood kind. “Weddings are fun,” he explains. “It’s new compositions.”

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How to

Computing magic maker

Succeed in Med School

Ahmed Elmagarmid

has taken his show on the road – to Qatar.

(without really stressing) For Henry Chou (BS ’07, biological sciences), the trick to surviving the trials and tribulations of medical school is to somehow keep all that serious business light. Now in his fourth year in the Indiana University School of Medicine, Chou settles his nerves through music, exercise, and the steady belief that things will work out for the best.

Outside the rounds and coursework, Chou tries his hand at guitar, teaching himself to play via tablature. Some alternative and metal, he says, but Eric Clapton may top his list of guitar gods. Regular exercise seems to soothe his soul as well; he lifts weights and The very nature of a healing profession plays badminton. makes it difficult to keep things as carefree And though Purdue’s tough science curas he would like. The 25-year-old spent part riculum prepared him for medical school of his summer working in an emergency challenges, Chou says it’s the ability to keep room, getting his hands bloody in a trauma things in perspective that leads to success. setting. But is emergency medicine and “You have to remember to have fun and step hospital life anything like it’s portrayed on away from books to spend time with friends and family,” he says. “Undoubtedly, patient television?

Chou claims this part of his real life is not care comes first in medicine. But the better as epic as shows like “ER”, and maybe not you can take care of yourself, the better you as whacky as “Scrubs.” “But we do have our can take care of your patients.”

The Lilly Purdue Alumni Scholar and College of Science responder at commencement was unsure of his career path when he enrolled at Purdue. In high school he thought he might like to be an architect. He entertained serious thoughts of becoming a doctor during a medical service trip to Ecuador. “I got to see firsthand the difference you can make in a community through medicine,” Chou says of his undergraduate experience funny moments,” he says. with the Timmy Foundation.

William Meiners

“I got to see firsthand the difference you can make in a community through medicine.”

Science graduate Henry Chou — now a fourthyear medical student at the Indiana University School of Medicine — interacts with a child at a rural health clinic in Mbale, Kenya. Chou traveled to Africa after his first year in medical school and worked alongside Kenyan medical students.

(Courtesy photos)

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Under Elmagarmid’s watch as founding director, the center developed a strong core of researchers with a broad swath of interests: database systems, information retrieval, machine learning, database security and data mining.

Now in the home stretch of medical school — with residency on the horizon — Chou aspires to diagnose and treat disease as a future radiologist. He says the opportunity to work with a variety of patients is most appealing to him.

As he packed his bag to go to Quatar this summer, Ahmed Elmagarmid made sure to include his role as a faculty member in the nation’s oldest computer science department, researcher in the world’s largest database faculty group, and solid track record for founding and directing leading computing and cyberinfrastructure centers.

Elmagarmid headed to Qatar in August for two years to work with the Qatar Foundation — a private organization established by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, emir of Qatar. His assignment? To establish a top-tier computing research center in the oil-rich Middle East nation.

computing centers — that drew the attention of the Qatar Foundation. In 2005, Elmagarmid began working with the foundation as it developed research institutes, including the Sidra Medical and Research Center — one of the world’s first totally digital hospitals — “The vision that you grow a center by not set to open in 2012. only growing the core, but also the interThe new Qatar Computing Research faces, is a key to its visibility and success,” Institute, with Elmagarmid at the helm as executive director, will be located in he says.

In 2003, Elmagarmid put this philosophy Qatar’s Education City, a unique collection to work once again as the founding director of satellite campuses from six international of the Cyber Center at Discovery Park, an institutions designed to offer undergraduate organization designed to focus on appli- and graduate opportunities to the Middle cations and create a cross-disciplinary East region. Among the universities repreresearch team drawn from the sciences, sented are Carnegie Mellon, Weill Cornell engineering, agriculture, nanotechnology, Medical College, Texas A&M, Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, and, eventually, the social sciences.

Virginia Commonwealth University, and Projects that have emerged from the Cyber Northwestern.

Center include an information managing sysInitially, the new institute will be housed tem created with Purdue horticulturist David on the Carnegie Mellon campus and will Salt, who focuses on ionomics (study of how include six centers: Arabic language techplants take up, transport and store nutrient (Courtesy photo) and toxic elements). The Purdue Ionomic nologies, Internet computing, databases, Information Managing System has become bioinformatics, high-performance computing the primary conduit of information exchange and cyberinfrastructure. It will liaison with for the international ionomics community other Qatar research institutes in biomediand has brought high visibility to Purdue’s cal research and sustainability. Elmagarmid plant sciences research, Elmagarmid says. will continue to serve as an IT advisor to the Sidra Medical and Research Center.

The Cyber Center also drew on its cross“Qatar is investing the wealth from its disciplinary framework to help Purdue win natural resources in advancing society,” in November 2009 its largest grant ever: a Elmagarmid says. “They are putting a huge $105 million National Science Foundation emphasis on education, healthcare and grant supporting the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering research. There is a realization that you Simulation. As part of the effort, research- need to develop society through innovation ers at the Cyber Center will build a network and not reliance on natural resources. I was connecting earthquake engineering centers so impressed with the vision that they had that I thought it was something I could be a around the globe. part of.”

It was these cumulative successes — from building an outstanding database group Linda Thomas Terhune

Elmagarmid has long been committed to building prestigious learning and research centers. In 1988, when he joined the Purdue faculty, he set immediately to work with the State of Indiana to create the Indiana Center for Database Systems, designed to promote leading-edge research in database technolto dreaming of and realizing high-visibility ogy and applications.

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Q&A

Q&A with science’s drum majors With a name like Cherrie Lemon, were you fated to be a drum major?

I was in concert band in eighth grade. One day I asked the director if I could conduct. She told me I should be a drum major in marching band.

What does a drum major do?

We cue the drum line so they can start the band. We have conducting responsibilities using whistles.

We carry maces for flash. I’m 5’ 0”; my mace is 4’ 9”. We also teach the drill show and come up with our own drum major formation for each game, like dancing to “Sweet Georgia Brown.”

Name:

Cherrie Lemon Hometown:

St. Louis, Missouri Major:

Chemistry, junior

You seem pretty high energy. Is that why you like being in the band?

My favorite part of marching band is getting up and doing the show. I love the crowd, the action. I love seeing how my hard work from the week has paid off.

Years as drum major:

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Or maybe it’s your love of structure?

Years in band:

I’m really big on structure and order and how things are supposed to be.

I love order, and, apparently, I love being in charge. I thought about being a criminal defense lawyer,

2 (in clarinet section last year) Height:

5’0”

then a neurosurgeon, then returned to my interest in law: It’s all about the rules. This is how it’s going to be.

There is no changing them.

You also love pep band. Is that because you’re peppy?

I love it when women do traditionally male roles. I told people I was going to be the first woman in the NFL. Life can’t be all band, can it?

I LOVE chemistry. I’m a firstgeneration college student. I started chemistry in eighth grade and loved it, and said, ‘This is what I want to do for the rest of my life.’ I like to analyze things. I plan to go into the Navy after graduation and use chemistry or forensics. I did research this summer on gunshot powder residue.

As the University’s first African American drum major and only the sixth female drum major — what will be going through your mind on game day of the season opener?

There’s a moment when we march on the field and have to stand still. I may cry during that time. I’ll be thinking to myself, ‘I REALLY did this. This is my spot, my time. I’m making history.’ To see African Americans and young girls watching the game and watching a female drum major. It will really mean a lot.

Why marching band?

Notre Dame got me involved. My cousin was a piccolo player in its band and we went to visit her when I was little. It was big, it was loud, and everyone seemed to have a good time doing it. I was a drum major in high school.

Your first time on the field was in 2007 during the Purdue–Eastern Illinois game. What was it like?

It was one of those Top 10 moments in life. Like a dream come true. You spend all your time working on the pregame and halftime show, then to get out there in front of thousands of people is amazing.

we have a practice canceled or the day off on a Monday, we twiddle our thumbs, like, “Now what do we do?”

There’s more to life than band, isn’t there?

I like the research aspect of biology and biochemistry. Two summers ago, I worked at Estee Lauder in the research and development labs. I saw how much of what I had learned in basic labs carried over into industry. Last summer and this summer I worked at Memorial-Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City doing pre-surgical patient procedures.

Tight community, isn’t it?

What’s the best part of being a drum major?

Once you join the marching band, your section becomes your family.

All the saxophones hang out, all the trumpets hang out. You automatically have 30 or 40 best friends. I live with one of the alto sax players. I have about 350 best friends.

“Hail Purdue!” It’s always fun being up on the ladder in the end zone.

When there’s a touchdown, everyone goes crazy, and you count off “Hail Purdue!” It’s really exciting. That’s what it’s all about.

Then it’s true what they say about marching band members being fanatics?

My freshman year, when we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Block P, we had close to a 1,000 people between the alumni marching band and the marching band on the field for one formation. It’s amazing.

Old band members came out of the woodwork.

Without band, I don’t know what I would be doing with myself. When

How about those big bear fur hats you wear? Hot?

They’re pretty toasty, but they have a wicker frame so there not as heavy as they look.

Name:

Rich Marzullo Hometown:

Stamford, Connecticut Major:

Biochemistry, senior

Notre Dame got you started in band. When Purdue plays the Fighting Irish this fall, what will you be thinking?

Years as drum major:

I found a photo recently from when I visited Notre Dame way back when.

It’s like coming full circle but in the opposite direction.

4 (in alto saxophone section freshman year)

3 Years in band:

Height:

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And the Band Played On Computer science and math grads still marching after all these years Oh, the trials and tribulations of living next door to “At some point, it became impossible to avoid each Steve and Janet Tolopka. other,” Steve says. As graduate students at Purdue, You have to endure weekly marching band practices band dropped to a lower priority. The spark never fully on the street, with 50 or 60 gen-somethings practicing died, though, and in 1992 — 11 years after moving to tunes like Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs’ “Wooly Oregon — the fire blazed again.

Bully” and K.C. and the Sunshine Band’s “That’s The “We were at the Rose Festival Parade in Portland Way (I Like It).” and this thing rolled down the street,” Steve recalls.

In exchange, you get a coveted invite to the couple’s “It was the biggest band we had ever seen: bright annual Margarita Madness driveway party, an olive yellow, Mickey Mouse ears on gleaming tubas; the branch extended as thanks to tolerant neighbors. band members were having more fun than anyone Entertainment is provided by another Tolopka ven- should ever have. We looked at each other and said, ‘We HAVE to do that.’ ” ture, an 18-piece Big Band Ensemble.

The ‘that’ was Portland’s One More Time Around Marching Band, a 500-member corps of former high school and college marching band alums ranging in age from 20 to 85. The band, perhaps the largest permanent marching band in the world, was, indeed awe-inspiring — the average college marching band, in comparison, has about 200 members. By 1994, the Tolopkas were marching with the group, but the short The couple met as undergraduates at Western season left them hungering for more, so they joined Kentucky University, where they were both math a smaller side group, the Get a Life Marching Band. majors and played saxophone in the marching band.

Unusual? Not if you know the Tolopkas. By day, Steve (MS ’76 and PhD ’81, computer science) is a senior principal engineer at Intel; Janet (MS ’78, mathematics) is a senior management analyst for Metro, Portland’s regional government. By night, they are band fanatics — marching band, rock band, jazz band, big band.

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Steve now directs the Get a Life Marching Band, a 100-or-so member group that marched in President Barack Obama’s inauguration parade in 2009, and in February will march in New Orleans’s Mardi Gras celebrations. In addition to his responsibilities for choosing most of the music the band performs, running rehearsals, and overseeing logistics, Steve choreographs the marchers. “It’s not a very big responsibility,” he jokes. “Getting down the street in a straight line is about all we can do.”

The band’s credo, in fact, is well aligned with the upcoming Mardi Gras parade: Let the good times roll. Casual, spirited, the Get A Life Marching Band is all about fun. When faced with the presidential inauguration parade’s 47-page rule book, which mandated strict formation details and behavior, “the band was scared straight,” Steve says. The musicians faced a challenge of a different sort this summer.

“I got an e-mail from someone who said they wanted a marching band for their wedding. I said, ‘I bet you don’t.’ Turns out they do,” he says. The result? A processional with bride, groom and wedding guests to the tune of the 1970s Commodores funk hit “Brick House.”

In his day job at Intel, Steve focuses on trusted platform architecture. He’s developing better security technologies that will combine the flexibility of PCs with the security of set-top boxes and smart phones.

Play, Steve says, is informed by work: “The inauguration experience convinced me that a lot of what I’ve done at Intel has been a perfect warm-up for what it takes to run the bands: organization, people and decision-making skills,” he says.

And work is informed by play.

“The sense of joy I derive from the marching band is hard to get in other ways. There are not so many things that really bring such deep fulfillment. It’s not only entertaining, but also comes with a deep sense of emotion. When we marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in the inauguration parade, playing ‘We’re an American Band,’ I almost clutched,” he says. “Plus, it really turns your brain off. You have to flush the daily junk out of your head and that, alone, is worth it.”

“The result?

A processional with bride, groom and wedding guests to the tune of the 1970s Commodores funk hit ‘Brick House.’”

Linda Thomas Terhune

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breakthroughs

Purdue, school districts get $6.7 million grant to improve science education Purdue and four Indiana school districts have received the first three years of a five-year, $6.7 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to improve science learning in third through sixth grades.

Researcher cracks secret of oysters’ ability to stick together A Purdue-led research team has uncovered the chemical components of the adhesive produced by oysters, providing information that could be useful for fisheries, boating and medicine.

A better understanding of oysters’ ability to stick together to form complex reefs would help those trying to boost the dwindling oyster population, aid in the creation of materials to keep boat hulls clean without harming the environment, and bring researchers one step closer to creating wet-setting adhesives for use in medicine and construction.

it would be great to have a surgical adhesive that could replace staples and sutures, which puncture healthy tissue and create potential Jonathan Wilker, professor of chemistry sites for infection.” and materials engineering, led the team that By comparing oyster shells with the mateanalyzed the most common oyster in the rial that connects the animals to each other, United States, Crassostrea virginica, known the researchers were able to determine its as the common Eastern oyster. chemical composition. The results showed “With a description of the oyster cement in that the adhesive had almost five times the hand, we may gain strategies for developing amount of protein and more water than what synthetic materials that mimic the shellis found in the shell. fish’s ability to set and hold in wet environWilker and his team will next investigate ments,” says Wilker, who has worked on the design of synthetic bioadhesives for more the interaction of the different components than 10 years. “Dentistry and medicine may within oyster cement and use this informabenefit from such a material. For instance, tion for developing new synthetic materials.

www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2010/100920WilkerOysters.html

The work will focus on the use of engineering design-based teaching. The concept teaches problem solving in math and science through design projects. Over the five years, engineering, science, technology and education faculty will interact with 200 elementary and intermediate school teachers, 100 student-teachers and 5,000 students. In the final year, the project will be expanded to additional school districts.

Goals of the project are to improve science learning in grades 3-6 through implementation of engineering design, prepare practicing and prospective teachers to use a design-based curriculum, adapt existing materials and tasks and develop new ones where necessary, and provide an understanding of how engineering design is used by teachers to teach science and students to learn science.

Partnering in the effort are Purdue’s colleges of Education, Engineering, Science and Technology; the Discovery Learning Research Center; regional industries; and the Lafayette, Tippecanoe, Taylor Community and Plymouth school corporations. www.purdue.edu/newsroom/general/ 2010/100922BowmanGrant.html

Chemists aim to treat drug-resistant malaria Chemists may have found a way to combat drug-resistant malaria strains, a discovery that could greatly improve life for nearly half of the world’s population, which is at risk for malaria.

Chemistry professors Christine Hrycyna and Jean Chmielewski are investigating a technique that could lead to inexpensive and readily available antimalarial drugs.

Malaria is an often-fatal disease caused by plasmodium parasites that multiply in red blood cells and are spread from person to person through the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the past century the parasite has developed widespread resistance to the drugs available to treat the disease. The resistance is due to reduced accumulation of the drugs in the digestive system of the parasite through an adaptation that allows the parasite to push the drugs out of its system, according to Chmielewski.

“By finding a new way to use previously successful drugs that are known to be safe and effective, we have a head start that reduces the cost and lets us get the treatment to people faster,” she says.

(Courtesy photos)

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Purdue-IU team uncovers potential prostate cancer marker Collaboration between a chemist, the Purdue Center for Cancer Research, and researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine has resulted in the discovery of a potential marker for prostate cancer that could be the starting point for less invasive testing and improved diagnosis of the disease.

The team used a new analysis technique to create a profile of the lipids, or fats, found in prostate tissue and discovered a molecular compound that appears to be useful in identifying cancerous and precancerous tissue. The profile revealed that cholesterol sulfate is a compound that is absent in healthy prostate tissue, but is a major fat found in prostate cancer tumors.

Graduate students Allison Dill and Livia Eberlin use desorption electrospray ionization to examine samples as part of research examining prostate cancer markers. The research team is led by Graham Cooks, the Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Chemistry. (Courtesy photo)

Graham Cooks, the Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, and Timothy Ratliff, the Robert Wallace Miller Director of the Purdue Center for Cancer Research, led the team.

“It was surprising to find a single compound that is distinctly present in cancerous tissue and not present in healthy tissue,” says Cooks, who is co-director of Purdue’s Center for Analytical Instrumentation Development. “We’ve been able to differentiate cancerous from healthy tissue using this new method in the past, but the difference was in the amounts of the same chemical compounds found in healthy tissue. There was no single differentiator of which one could say if it was present there was cancerous tissue.”

Ratliff says this characteristic makes the compound a potential marker for the disease, which could lead to new blood or urine tests to screen for prostate cancer.

The team used a mass spectrometry analysis technique developed

by Cooks and co-workers called desorption electrospray ionization, or DESI, to measure and compare the chemical characteristics of 68 samples of normal and cancerous prostate tissue. www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2010/ 100802CooksRatliffProstat.html

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breakthroughs

awards & honors

Hurricane study may lead to earlier warnings, saved lives

Grant Supports Student Learning Dennis Minchella, associate dean for undergraduate education, is leading a $1.5 million grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that will enrich undergraduate science education.

The grant will support an innovative, multidisciplinary project to integrate statistical reasoning and data evaluation into the undergraduate biology curriculum.

Minchella believes that life science students who will be responsible for solving the global challenges of tomorrow need an innovative educational experience to keep pace with advancing technology that can generate massive amounts of data.

“Through this project, we will equip students with these quantitative skills early in their academic careers and will enrich the biology curriculum at all levels with statistics and experimental analysis,” he says.

Jennifer Haase, assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, works at a bank of measurement equipment onboard a research aircraft. Haase leads a Purdue team that is part of a National Science Foundation project to better understand the conditions that promote or hinder the formation of hurricanes. (Courtesy photo)

As heavy rains and winds from Hurricane Earl pummeled their operations base in St. Croix, Virgin Islands, in late August, three Purdue students collected data that may lead to a better understanding of the conditions that promote or hinder hurricane development.

determine the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere.

“If the moistening process is understood, then we may be able to identify which storm systems are the most critical to track and improve forecasting,” Haase says. “We hope to make it possible to forecast hurricanes Graduate students Alexandria Johnson, further in advance, for example five days Brian Murphy and Paytsar Muradyan rather than the current two or three.” worked with Jennifer Haase, assistant The scientists hope that results from the professor of earth and atmospheric sci- project eventually will be able to give people ences, and James Garrison, professor of more time to prepare or evacuate to save aeronautics and astronautics. The team lives and reduce the destruction when a is studying the moisture-uptake process hurricane makes landfall. to find early characteristics that drive a The instrument has been installed on a storm to form a hurricane, and developed Gulfstream V research aircraft owned by the the GPS Instrument System for Multistatic National Science Foundation and run by the and Occultation Sensing (GISMOS) to meaNational Center for Atmospheric Research. sure satellite signals as they travel through the atmosphere. The signals’ speed varies The jet can reach an altitude of about 43,000 depending on atmospheric conditions, and, feet, enabling scientists to take observations through small signal delays, the team can near the tops of storms that form thousands of miles off the coast. www.purdue.edu/newsroom/research/2010/100903HaaseHurricanes.html

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Minchella is partnering with other Purdue faculty members to develop “plug and play” modules that instructors can work into existing courses to introduce statistical techniques.

The four-year grant also will provide summer research opportunities for life science students at Purdue and throughout Indiana and will support training for the state’s high school biology teachers.

The project, called “Deviating from the Standard: Integrating Statistical Analysis and Experimental Design into Life Science Education,” builds on a strategy developed through a 2002 Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant to integrate mathematics and life science.

Members of the project team are Edward Bartlett, assistant professor of biological sciences and biomedical engineering; James Forney, professor of biochemistry; George McCabe, professor of statistics; Nancy Pelaez, associate professor of biological sciences; and Ann Rundell, associate professor of biomedical engineering. In addition, Purdue’s Center for Instructional Excellence and the Discovery Learning Research Center will support the program.

Saugata Basu,

professor of mathematics, was named a University Faculty Scholar by Purdue’s Office of the Provost.

Eric Calais,

professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, is taking a leave of absence during the 2010-11 academic year to serve a oneyear term as science adviser for the United Nations Development Program under its Disaster Risk Reduction Program in Haiti.

Jean Chmielewski,

the Alice Watson Kramer Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, was honored for teaching excellence in April as a 2010 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award given in memory of Charles B. Murphy.

Kyoung-Shin Choi,

structure-based design of HIV-1 protease inhibitors using his novel concept of “backbone binding” to withstand drug resistance.

Jurgen Honig,

professor emeritus of physical chemistry, received an honorary doctorate for distinguished productivity in research from the Technical University in Krakow, Poland.

Ralph Martin Kaufmann,

associate professor of mathematics, has received a Humboldt Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers. The fellowship supports long-term research projects conducted in cooperation with research institutions in Germany. His project is titled “Stringy Structures in Geometry and Topology and their Symmetries,” and will be conducted at the University of Hamburg with Bernd Siebert.

associate professor of chemistry, has been honored with the 2010 Iota Sigma Pi Agnes Fay Morgan Research Award. This award is given for research achievement by a female chemist or biochemist who is 40 or under.

Jeff Lucas

Rebecca Doerge,

assistant professor of mathematics, has received a 2010 Sloan Research Fellowship.

professor of statistics and agronomy and director of the Statistical Bioinformatics Center, has been named head of the Department of Statistics, succeeding longtime department head Mary Ellen Bock.

Joseph Francisco,

the William E. Moore Distinguished Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Chemistry, has been nominated by President Barack Obama as a member of the President’s Committee on the National Medal of Science.

Clark Gedney,

director of the Bio Media Center for Instructional Computing, has been selected as an associate fellow of the Purdue Teaching Academy.

Arun Ghosh,

the Ian P. Rothwell Distinguished Professor of Organic Chemistry/Medicinal Chemistry, has received the 2010 IUPAC-Richter Prize in recognition of his outstanding use of

has been named associate head for undergraduate studies in the Department of Biological Sciences.

Svitlana Mayboroda,

Freydoon Shahidi,

Distinguished Professor of Mathematics, has been elected to the 2010 Class of Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Jie Shen,

professor of mathematics, has won a 2010 Chang Jiang Chair Professorship by the Ministry of Education of China. The award will support visits by Shen to Xiamen University, where he will conduct collaborative research in numerical analysis and scientific computing.

Mark Daniel Ward,

assistant professor of statistics, received a Teaching for Tomorrow Award for 2010-11.

Every year, the Office of the Provost selects a new group of up to 12 assistant professors and three senior faculty members as mentors. The program allows faculty to share common experiences and helps them to further improve student learning.

Qianlai Zhuang,

professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and agronomy, has been named a William F. and Patty J. Miller Associate Professor in the College of Science.

Maureen McCann,

professor of biological sciences, has been named director of the Energy Center, the University’s center in Discovery Park leading interdisciplinary research efforts in advancing alternative energy sources and approaches.

Dennis Minchella,

professor of biological sciences, has been named associate dean for undergraduate education. He will oversee undergraduate advising and recruiting, the College of Science Honors Program and coordination with departmental and University-wide programs.

Ken Ridgway, Jim Ogg and John Cushman

of the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences have been named Fellows of the Geological Society of America.

American Academy of Arts & Sciences The following professors have been elected members of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences: R. Graham Cooks

the Henry Bohn Hass Distinguished Professor of Chemistry Joseph Francisco

the William E. Moore Distinguished Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and Chemistry Freydoon Shahidi

Distinguished Professor of Mathematics

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of Medicine & Michelangelo Distinguished alum showcases global perspectives in his art gallery David Himmelberger’s westward ho began at a small liberal arts university in Pennsylvania, took him through graduate school at Purdue, and ultimately settled him in theSan Francisco Bay area.

There, in the land of both Google and the Golden Gate Bridge, he has managed to merge his scientific expertise with his tremendous passion for art. He’s a bio-statistical scientist by day and the owner of the Himmelberger Art Gallery — full time.

often more interested in the latest iPod rather than work of an abstract artist from Switzerland. Still, his doors are open for exhibitions and by appointment, and just happen to be close to his Health Outcomes Group office.

What type of art does he represent? “It has to have some sort of personal significance to me. I’m not just looking for something that sells,” Himmelberger says.

“I wanted to create an atmosphere to see if people can Above: Gallery owner David Himmelberger (left) is picHimmelberger (MS ’72 statistics, Distinguished slow down, step into my world and have a dialogue tured with artist Leo Holub, Science Alum ’10) is president of Health Outcomes with the artist.” who founded the department of photography at Group, working primarily with people who have That world currently exhibits several Italian artStanford University and was chronic diseases. These conditions, including asthma, ists, perhaps reflecting, or echoing, the Renaissance a pioneer in helping establish photography as fine art. arthritis and migraine headaches, may not be life painters of an “older-world” setting. Patrons will also Holub’s wife, Florence, is threatening, but certainly are debilitating. Through find black and white photography, sculptures, and also shown. statistical analysis, Himmelberger’s group measures more. And since he’s not a broker, Himmelberger only treatment and pain from a patient’s perspective to works with contemporary artists, getting to know each At right: the Himmelberger Gallery (Courtesy photos) evaluate their effects on the daily quality of life. one of them personally. A cinematographer recently But it’s a worldwide artistic perspective that com- helped him complete a series of short films (eight to pelled him to open the Bay Area art gallery in his 15 minutes) on some of the artists he’s showcased. name. Traveling to up to 25 countries to obtain statistical data from patients afforded him the opportunity to explore galleries galore.

“People don’t understand what they’re doing until a masterpiece is created.”

The crossover balance between technology and art isn’t as difficult as many would think. “People sometimes ask if it was a choice between medicine or Michelangelo,” says Himmelberger, who thinks scientists and artisans share more similarities than differences.

“I saw a lot of great art,” Himmelberger says. “It reflected people in their environment and their culture, but mostly how each artist sees the world and himself. Most Americans have never had the perspec“In this country, neither the scientist nor the arttive I had, so that’s something I wanted to integrate ist is really valued in society,” Himmelberger says. from my travels.

“They’re sort of sitting in the background. People don’t “I brought that back in the form of an art gallery. understand what they’re doing until a masterpiece is You don’t need to speak Finnish, or Spanish or Hindi. created.”

You can just look at something, and by that visual experience come to understand quite a bit about the artist’s culture and background.”

Himmelberger first opened a gallery in 1987 in Palo Alto. The location today, in the heart of Silicon Valley, is a “good and difficult place to have something like an art gallery,” he says. The technophile neighbors are

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But for Himmelberger, whether it’s gaining a greater understanding of the pain of a patient with gastrointestinal problems, or somehow connecting with a Polish artist who has survived many horrors, both become a matter of a perspective shared.

William Meiners

www.himmelbergergallery.com

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s_from_Haiti _Field_Notes Andrew Freed, associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, reflects on his experience in Haiti following the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake:

Eric Calais, professor of earth and atmospheric sciences: My first encounter with Haiti dates from 1988, as a graduate student. I was tracking the fault that marks the contact where the Caribbean and North American tectonic plates rub against each other, locus of very large earthquakes and first-class natural laboratory for geophysics. We found the fault, mapped it on land and offshore — this became part of the PhD thesis I defended a few years later. I also found a rich and intriguing island, people and culture. I knew I would be back.

event today.” Both times the information was passed to the Haitian government and its international partners.

On Jan. 12, 2010, at 4:53 p.m., a magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Enriquillo fault, killing more than 200,000 people, leaving more than 1.5 million homeless, and destroying most governmental, technical, and educational infrastructure in the Port-au-Prince region of Haiti. This single event caused an estimated $8 billion in damage — about 120 percent of the country’s GDP, five times more than the seven cat-5 hurricanes that The opportunity came in 2001 with an invitation struck the country over the past decade. In the field two from Dr. Y. Surena, then head weeks after the event, witnessing of the Haitian Civil Protection incredible destruction and suffering Agency, who wanted seismic — but also respect and resilience — hazard to be included in disaster it became clear to me that I needed to do more than collect data. risk management. I provided the scientific arguments needed to make the case, explained the Purdue recently granted me a major seismic faults, and the leave of absence to work in Haiti tools at disposal to quantify their for the next 12 months as science threat. advisor to the U.N. disaster risk

it became clear to me that I needed to do more than collect data.

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Agency in support of the Civil Protection Agency, then funded a brief field visit to Haiti in 2003. Professor Ken Ridgway, Professor Darryl Granger and myself investigated the so-called “Enriquillo fault,” a major break that runs within a few kilometers of the capital, Port-au-Prince, home to 3 million people. It is assumed to have caused two magnitude ~7.5 earthquakes in 1751 and 1770 that destroyed the city both times. We confirmed the seismic nature of the fault and my group initiated its monitoring with geodetic techniques.

We eventually received a National Science Foundation grant under which we augmented the fault monitoring in collaboration with the Bureau of Mines and Energy in Haiti. First results came out in 2006 — the Enriquillo fault was indeed building up elastic energy, to be released in earthquakes to come. Additional measurements led to a more certain conclusion, published in 2008: “The Enriquillo fault in Haiti is currently capable of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake if the entire elastic strain accumulated since the last major earthquake was released in a single

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management program. We know that an earthquake similar to — or larger than — the Jan. 12 event will occur in Haiti. My ambition is to ensure that a culture of seismic safety is built into the country’s reconstruction. It means building better, but also educating the population, training local scientists, and effectively informing the land-use planning process. This will be my “drop in the bucket” of the long-term development of this wonderful people and culture. █

“I knew I would be back”

“perhaps only a drop in the bucket, we reached many more people than we could have imagined

Haitians need to understand that the January 2010 earthquake was not an isolated event, that more and potentially larger events are on the horizon. They need to prepare in terms of better construction practices and how to react when shaking begins. This will require a cultural shift that will take decades, made all the more difficult because of abject poverty. But this As a geophysicist who spends most of his can be accomplished. It can begin with a concerted time staring at a computer screen, I do not generally effort to educate the Haitian people about seismic conduct fieldwork, let alone in a country that has just hazards. been devastated by an earthquake. But following the During our fieldwork into the Haitian countryside January 2010 earthquake that killed over 200,000 people in Haiti, several colleagues, including gradu- only weeks after the earthquake, Sarah and I made ate student D. Sarah Stamps, and I took part in a GPS it our mission to educate Haitians about seismic hazsurvey of Haiti, the objective of which was to measure ards. Whenever our instruments were collecting data how much the earth moved during the earthquake. we looked for opportunities. We visited high schools, This helps us understand how seismic hazards in sat down with displaced university students, talked live on Haitian radio three times, and even went live Haiti have been altered. on Haitian television. Though perhaps only a drop The fieldwork, however, turned into something in the bucket, we reached many more people than more. It became an outreach mission to inform a we could have imagined, in no small part because poorly educated population about the tectonics and the Haitians are eager to learn. We learned, too, that seismic hazards of their country, and how to prepare Haitians are a remarkable, resilient, hospitable, and for the inevitable next earthquake. most unexpectedly, optimistic people.

Though no major earthquakes had occurred in Though I am back now in front of my computer Haiti for 150 years, the potential for such events is screen, my thoughts never wander far from the plight well-known within our research group. We briefed the of our Haitian neighbors. I plan to return soon to conHaitian government as recently as 2008 that a magnitinue our research and seek new opportunities to help tude 7+ earthquake was expected to occur in the PortHaitians learn to live in earthquake territory. █ au-Prince area, though we could not say when. With no major earthquakes within several lifetimes, there was little awareness of seismic hazards by most of the population. This would prove deadly for many.

One of the things we learned in talking with many Haitians is that they grew up with two primary hazards, hurricanes and civil unrest, and through these experiences developed an instinct to seek shelter whenever peril strikes. Thus, a significant number of Haitians who were outside when the earthquake hit followed their instincts and ran indoors, only to perish when the building collapsed. Earthquake education could have helped.

orators local collab irt) trains ey ground motion sh w llo ye (in surv Eric Calais a GPS antenna to hoto) all (Courtesy p st . in ke a to qu w h o rt h a e i it a the H caused by

Andy Freed tests a GPS receiver under the watchful eye of a curious child in a tent city in Port-au-P rince, Haiti.

(Courtesy photo)

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Women collaborate to support science

Never underestimate the power of inspired women of science. Their creativity, genius and dedication have changed the world. In the College of Science, a special group of women is helping ensure the future of programs that nurture the next generation of science leaders.

Singing the Praises of Art and Science

With a passion for science and research, it is no wonder that Kathryn Lorenz (BS ’58, biology) gives annually to Purdue’s College of Science.

She finds it equally important to support the arts.

“All the arts, especially music, are mathematical and repetitious just like the sciences,” she says. “All of the sciences have a connection to music.”

two of whom attended Purdue. Their daughter, Kathy (BS ’82, animal sciences), sang in the Choral Club and their son, Joe (BS ’85, industrial engineering) joined the Varsity Glee Club. After witnessing the growth and joy their kids experienced in those activities, the Lorenzes began actively supporting Purdue Musical Organizations (PMO).

Although one of Lorenz’s only direct connections to music was playing the French horn in her high school band, she says a love of music was one thing that brought her and “PMO was a wonderful, invaluable prohusband Art (BS ’56, mechanical engineergram for our children,” Lorenz says. “We ing) together.

“We have different interests, different decided to give to the musical part of the ways of thinking about things, different University because of what we had experimindsets, but music has been there since enced as parents and audience members.”

PMO firsthand, understand that PMO not only inspires those in the program, but many others around the world as well. Wanting to help PMO traditions live on, Lorenz says their contributions are a way of saying thank you to PMO. The Lorenzes began their regular contribution to the University in 1977. Their support has expanded over the years to include the College of Science, PMO, the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Veterinary Medicine.

“We’ve gotten to know people in each of The Lorenzes, who traveled to Europe these areas, and that’s all the encourageThe family ties to music and Purdue grew with Purdue’s Varsity Glee Club and have ment we need to continue contributing from even stronger when the couple had children, seen the ambassadorship and impact of year to year,” Lorenz says. “The standard of the beginning,” Lorenz says.

Kathryn and Art Lorenz with members of the Purdue Glee Club. The couple’s ties to music led them to support Purdue Musical Organizations.

(Courtesy Photo)

excellence and the sense of pride in Purdue keep us wanting to give.”

Lorenz, along with other Science Women for Purdue members, sponsored the electron microscopy laboratory in Hockmeyer Hall of Structural Biology. She also endowed the Josef Ruzicka Undergraduate Fellowship in the College of Science in honor of her father.

“Our contribution to Purdue is small in comparison to all the joy the University has brought us through meeting people,” Lorenz says. “It’s not so much about writing a check. Sometimes the greater gift is finding the right people to move you in the right direction, whether it be in support of the arts or sciences.”

Science Women for Purdue has formed a charitable Giving Circle, a philanthropic organization in which women network, collaborate and promote sciences at the University. Members include Purdue Science alumnae, parents and friends who recognize that women as donors have the capability of making a tremendous impact on the College of Science, its students, faculty and staff.

“The Giving Circle is a great opportunity for a meaningful gift with its impact magnified using a collective voice,” says Lauren Reising, associate director of development in the College of Science. “Women give for different reasons; this gives them a unique outlet.”

The central activity of the Science Women for Purdue Giving Circle is the annual distribution of funds to selected science programs through a voting process. Each member is entitled to one vote to select the projects and programs to which grants are awarded.

Following the first funding cycle, which ended spring 2010, grant proposals were funded for the Science Diversity Office, Women in Physics, and the Women in Mathematics student groups.

“I encourage everyone to look at the amazing opportunity the Giving Circle gives to influence science and students at Purdue and seriously consider being a part of this dynamic organization,” says Giving Circle member Katerina Damjanoska, (BS ’99, biology), now a project manager for Abbott Diagnostics.

For more information, please contact Bente Weitekamp at 765-496-3525 or by email at bente@purdue.edu.

www.science.purdue.edu/sciencewomenforpurdue

Mackenzie Greenwell

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fall 2010

| 29

class notes

1940

1980

Joel Spira (BS ’48, Physics), chairman, founder and director of research of lighting control manufacturer Lutron Electronics, recently donated items related to Lutron’s 50-year history to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC.

Roberto Feliberti (BS ’85, Mathematics), San Juan, PR, was appointed by the governor of Puerto Rico to serve as an appeals judge before the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals.

1950 Robert L. Payne (EE’48, MS EE’50) and wife, Virginia (BS ’54, Science), Laguna Woods, CA, celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on Feb. 26.

1960 Ann L. Onton (BS ’65, Science), Woodbridge, CT, is a senior scientist for NanoViricides Inc., which specializes in synthesizing materials for therapeutic antiviral drug-delivery agents.

She also competes on the national and world level in swimming.

1970 Terry R. Orr (BS ’73, Science), Reno, NV, served as the team physician for the U.S. Men’s Alpine Ski Team at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Jane A. Hamblin (BS ’74, Mathematics), Knox, IN, was recently named executive director of Mortar Board National College Senior Honor Society.

Roger K. Quillen (MS ’77, Mathematics), Decatur, GA, was reelected chairman of the Management Committee at the national labor and employment law firm Fisher & Phillips LLP. Roger was also named to “The Top 100 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys” by Human Resources Executive magazine.

David A. Smith (BS ’77, Computer Science), Highland, IN, celebrated his 25th anniversary of ordination as a Maryknoll priest on Sunday, June 27, 2010.

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1990 William W. Metcalf (PhD ’91, Biology), Savoy, IL, was elected to Fellowship in the American Academy of Microbiology.

Michael D. Love (PhD ’92, Chemistry), Augusta, NJ, was named a 2010 NISOD winner at Sussex County Community College’s faculty and staff annual recognition awards ceremony in January.

Christine A. (Bell) Heim (BS ’94, Actuarial Science), Glen Ellyn, IL, completed the requirements to become a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries. She is currently a principal at Mercer.

Ann T. Taylor (PhD ’98, Chemistry), Crawfordsville, IN, was named the first William J. and Wilma M. Haines Professor in Biochemistry at Wabash College.

Matthew M. Sears (BS ’02, Mathematics), Boyne City, MI, was selected to receive $175,000 through the Career Awards for Science and Mathematics Teachers grant program.

The award recognizes Sears’ demonstrated knowledge in mathematics and his outstanding performance in educating children.

Todd W. Geders (BS ’01, Biology, PhD ’07, Biology) and Abigail A. (Nesbitt) Geders (NRS’04) of Minneapolis, MN, welcomed daughter, Jilian, on Sept.

8, 2009.

Eric R. Tkaczyk (BS ’03, Mathematics), Ann Arbor, MI, received both a Fulbright Fellowship and a Whitaker Scholarship. Having graduated with MD and PhD (electrical engineering) degrees in May, he plans to work in Estonia on developing portable and affordable cataract assessment technology.

Brad D. Tucci (BS ’06, Mathematics) of Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, and his wife, Maria, welcomed son Matthew David on Aug. 28, 2009.

Jessica J. Baumetz (BS ’05, Biology), Hutchinson, MN, graduated in December with a doctorate of physical therapy from Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine. She will begin her career as a physical therapist at St. Elizabeth Regional Hospital in Lafayette, IN. Eleanor (Ellie) E. Hattery (BS ’06, Chemistry), Cincinnati, OH, climbed the Koko Crater Railway Trail on the island of Oahu in February over her spring break from the University of Cincinnati Medical School.

2000

Births

Stephen Parker (BS ’01, Biology), a senior resident in the Duke University Neurosurgery Training Program, was the winner of this year’s Holt Young Physician Leadership Award from the Southern Medical Association. This award is presented to a senior or chief resident who has exhibited excellent leadership traits early in their career and shows the promise of a future career of outstanding leadership in healthcare.

Steven J. Gruneisen (BS ’89, Physics) and wife Lynn (Perrone) Gruneisen (P’ 91) of Prospect, KY, welcomed daughter, Kayla Rose, on Aug. 14, 2009. Kayla joins older sister, Hannah, and brother, Ethan.

Jeffrey A. Dubois (BS ’96, Mathematics) and Melinda A. (Ashcraft) Dubois (BS ’96, Actuarial Science), Dayton, OH, welcomed the birth of their daughter, Anna Sophia, on March 16.

Scott E. Freeman (BS ’00, Computer Science) and Courtney A. (Faint) Freeman (A’98) of Hillsborough, NJ, welcomed daughter, Robin Katherine, on July 29, 2009.

Erin (Lakin) Hensley (BS ’04, Biology) of Arvada, CO, and her husband, Jesse, welcomed their first child Jonathon Wyatt on Oct. 17, 2009.

Marriages Ryan B. Helms (BS ’05, Biology), Indianapolis, IN, married Megan P. (Sliger) Helms on June 6 in Lafayette, IN. Ryan F. Shartle (BS ’05, Biology), Dublin, OH, married Charise L. PettitShartle (S’05) on Oct. 3, 2009, in the Hocking Hills region of Ohio.

Morgan R. Barron (BS ’09, Biology), Valparaiso, IN, married his high school sweetheart, Amanda J. (Banasiak) Barron (LA’09) on Aug.15.

In Memoriam

1940 Bernard J. Freedman (BS ’41, Science), Los Angeles, CA, May 25.

Mary Ann (Adrian) Signward (BS ’50, Science), Indianapolis, IN, May 1. She is survived by her husband, William.

Nell M. (Morris) Krantz (MS ’41, Chemistry), Davis, CA, Nov. 15.

Jack N. Sparks (BS ’50, Science), Eagle River, AK, Feb. 8.

Mary E. (Irwin) Bacharach (BS ’42, Biology), Fair Oaks, CA, Mar. 6.

Louis P. Doyle (BS ’52, Biology), Flemington, NJ, Dec. 18.

Laura E. (Gregory) Bowman (BS ’42, Science), Urbana, IL, Aug. 22.

Stanley J. Kazeniac (MS ’52, Chemistry, PhD ’56, Science), Narberth, PA, Jan. 22.

Robert L. Britt (BS ’42, Science), West Lafayette, IN, Jan. 9.

Charles E. Keene (BS ’42, Science), Fairfax, VA, Jan. 12.

Mary K. (Gee) Melzer (BS ’43, Science), Kalamazoo, MI, Feb. 5.

M. Janet (Glatz) Rush (BS ’43, Science), West Lafayette, IN, June 14.

Elvin H. Seaton (BS ’43, Science), Surprise, AZ, Feb. 22.

Mary F. (Doty) Strain (BS ’44, Science), Heltonville, IN, June 3.

Frank J. Eurs (BS ’47, Science), Grosse Pointe Woods, MI, Mar. 20.

Betty Lou Kinnett (BS ’47, Chemistry), Northbrook, IL, Jan. 7.

Jack F. Rettberg (BS ’47, Statistics), Baton Rouge, LA, Dec. 8, 2009.

1930

Arthur G. Zupko (MS ’48, Chemistry, PhD ’49, Pharmacology/Toxicology), North Fort Myers, FL, Jan. 21.

Thomas J. Davis (BS ’34, Science), Albany, GA, Mar. 6, 2009.

Andrew R. DeVolder (BS ’49, Science), Kalamazoo, MI, Sept. 24.

Charles M. Campbell (BS ’35, Science), Naples, FL, May 14. He is survived by his wife, Cynthia.

Stanley M. Pier (MS ’49, Chemistry, PhD ’52, Chemistry), Federal Way, WA, Apr. 20.

Georgianna (VanHoese) Carter (BS ’36, Science), Carmel, IN, Jan. 25 Martha J. (Spring) Mueller (BS ’37, Science), Indianapolis, IN, Jan. 1, 2009.

Robert T. Reid (BS ’38, Science), Indianapolis, IN, Apr. 2.

Clinton H. Hobbs II (MS ’39, Biology, PhD ’42, Science), Kent, OH, Oct. 26, 2009.

Marjorie J. Brines (MS ’53, Chemistry), Plymouth, MI, Jan. 22.

N. Ann (Letsinger) Collings (BS ’54, Biology), Sun City West, AZ, Nov. 11.

She is survived by her husband, Dale (A’51).

David G. Mehrtens (MS ’54, Chemistry, PhD ’57, Chemistry), Thornton, PA, Jan. 11. He is survived by his children, Russell and Emilie.

Sadie (Garrett) Curtis (MS ’55, Chemistry), Severna Park, MD, Apr. 28. She is survived by her husband, William (MS ’55, Chemistry).

Louis D. Fatta (BS ’56, Science), Ingleside, IL, Oct. 28, 2009. He is survived by his wife, Barbara.

Banadakoppa T. Lingappa (PhD ’57, Biology), Worchester, MA, Feb. 20.

He is survived by his wife, Yamuna.

Lee Pelty (BS ’57, Science), Chicago, IL, Nov. 29.

Joseph T. Krzys Jr. (MS ’66, Computer Science), Naples, FL, Mar. 10.

Alvin Bryant (MS ’67, Biology), Hampton, VA, Feb. 5.

James H. Owen (BS ’69, Science), Plainfield, IN, May 20. He is survived by his wife, Kathryn (BS ’69, Science).

1970 Richard G. Miller (BS’73), Carmel, IN, Nov. 9.

J. David Girard (BS ’74, Interdisciplinary Science), Remington, IN, Mar. 17.

Lawrence E. Magee (BS ’74, Mathematics), San Jose, CA, Nov. 18.

Harold P. Hooper (BS ’74, Biology), Lafayette, IN, Jan. 1.

Jennifer J. Wilson (BS ’74, Mathematics), Saint Louis, MO, Nov. 13. She is survived by her husband, John.

James D. Kiefner Jr. (BS’77), Elizabethtown, IN, Jan. 22.

Dennis Leonard Berent (BS’78), Hillsboro, OR, Sept. 11.

1990

Michael P. Britton (PhD ’58, Chemistry), Kalispell, MT, Sept. 2.

Robert D. Chapman (BS ’91, Interdisciplinary Science), Georgetown, MA, Feb. 26.

1960

Harold E. Vollmer Jr.(BS’91, Actuarial Science),Gumee, IL, June 17.

1950

John C. Guyon (PhD ’61, Chemistry), Carbondale, IL, Mar. 17.

2000

Ruth A. (Davidson) Farkas (BS ’50, Biology, MS ’51, Biology), Indianapolis, IN, Jan. 4. She is survived by her husband, Eugene.

Nancy J. (Buhler) Buczynski (BS ’62, Biology), Hilton Head Island, SC, Sept. 29.

Jennifer A. Berke (BS ’00, Mathematics), Fairport Harbor, OH, Jan. 23.

Oliver W. Kaufmann (PhD ’50, Biology), Bradenton, FL, May 6. He is survived by his wife, Katherine (MS CFS’49).

Edward J. Kusel Jr. (MS ’65, Physics), Denver, CO, Mar. 3, 2009.

Ellen L. Daniels-Anson (MS ’66, Biology), Livermore, CA, Aug. 4.

Vincent M. Joly (BS ’66, Chemistry), Gary, IN, Jan. 20.

fall 2010

| 31

last word

I am a maker.

I am Morgan Nicole Banks from Fort Wayne, Indiana, and I want to study biology at Purdue.

between what’s known and what’s not. I tinker. I toil.

I write poetically in an abundance of languages (including code). I hack. I dissect. I have an insatiable

program thinking it would have hard classes, but that they couldn’t be that much different from the AP classes I had taken in high school.

I was wrong … I underestimated the academic rigor of the program. I was frustrated and mentally exhausted. During the second week, I began to question my decision to attend Purdue and major in biology.

My confidence was shaken, and the academic results at the time were less than stellar. In a conversation with my mom about quitting the program, though, she encouraged me to reach beyond the limits and set higher expectations.

Before STEM ABC, my typical response when asked, “Who are you?,” was giving my name and perhaps my hometown: I am Morgan Nicole Banks from Fort To continue in STEM ABC, I Wayne, Indiana, and I want to had to make changes; I had to study biology at Purdue. do better than my best. During This response changed how- my five weeks at Purdue over ever, after attending STEM ABC. the summer, I learned a lot about The program was not at all what myself. I realized that when it I expected. I knew it would be comes to academics, there are rigorous, but just how hard could no limits. I realized that anything it be, I wondered? I entered the that is set in front of you, CAN BE

3 2 | insights

Better. Faster. Smaller. Smarter. So I build bridges

desire to un-complicate the complicated. I am easily inspired. I believe that just because it hasn’t been thought of doesn’t mean it won’t be. Potential is ACCOMPLISHED, no matter how difficult! I realized my body can function on six hours of sleep or less (before I arrived at STEM ABC, six hours was a catnap).

I also realized you can bond and create a family with people from all over the country as you embark on an academic journey together. I’m so grateful for this experience, made possible by contributions from the College of Science, Lilly, Abbott and LSAMP (Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation).

And I’m especially grateful for the encouragement offered by

Zenephia Evans, director of Multicultural Programs I am ready to begin the year as an incoming student in the College of Science at Purdue University and continue to create lifelong friendships, cherished memories, and earn a prestigious degree in biology.

STEM ABC provided contacts, connections, and a glimpse at what it will take for me to be successful as a Boilermaker. I am outgoing, I more than a name.

I am determined, and I am a survivor of STEM Academic Boot Camp 2010!

“

“

Although I did not have to a travel a long distance to join the College of Science family at Purdue, the thought of leaving the familiarity of home and entering the unknown of the university experience was a bit overwhelming. That all changed in July, when I attended the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Academic Boot Camp (STEM ABC), an intensive summer transitional program for incoming students sponsored by the Multicultural Science Programs Office.

I think work should be about making things work.

my thrill ride. Imagination is my most-used tool.

I am a maker. And I am what moves the world forward.

We are Purdue.

Makers, all. purdue.edu/makers

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage

PAID

College of Science

Purdue University

150 N. University Street West Lafayette, IN 47907-2067 (765) 494-1729 ScienceNews@purdue.edu www.science.purdue.edu

High school students who attended the World Institute in Science and Engineering (WISE) in July got an introduction to fuel cells when they built and test fuel cell cars. The two-week camp, for those entering 12th grade, is sponsored by Purdue’s Women in Science and Women in Engineering programs.

(Photo by Andrew Hancock)