College of Science and Technology
FAL L 2 018
WHAT’S NOW, WHAT’S NeW AND WHAT’S Next.
20 CST CELEBRATES
YEARS
GRADUATE FELLOWSHIPS SUPPORT TOMORROW’S SCIENCE LEADERS RESEARCH AT CST IS WORLD-CLASS. YET, THE COLLEGE’S FUNDING FOR PHD STUDENTS FALLS FAR SHORT OF OTHER RESEARCH 1 UNIVERSITIES. At CST, doctoral students work side by side with research faculty to push scientific inquiry in promising new directions. But PhD applicants often choose another university because CST can’t provide the same level of funding as other top research institutions. CST’s “top-up” graduate fellowships provide resources that are used to close the funding gap, making CST competitive with peer universities and ensuring the college attracts the most promising doctoral students. Learn how you can establish a “top-up” fellowship fund or contribute to an existing fund, by contacting Stephen Bergonzi, CST Major Gift Officer, at 215.204.8192 or stephen.bergonzi@temple.edu
CONTENTS O UTLOO K
News
Fall 2018
Research, accolades, awards and events
College of Science and Technology 400 Carnell Hall 1803 N. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19122 215-204-2888
External research grants in each CST department
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Funded Research
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CST at 20
Michael L. Klein, FRS Dean and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Science
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Robert J. Levis Senior Associate Dean Kathy McGady Assistant Dean of Development Greg Fornia, KLN ’92 Editor and Director of Communications
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Progress across each college department Alumni Board Message
Honor Roll
Class Notes
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Keep up with friends and former classmates
Onward to Berkeley, Penn and art school
cst.temple.edu Follow the College of Science and Technology:
Kelly & Massa
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Supporters of the College of Science and Technology
2018 Graduates Headed for Success
Cover photo: Biology major Kaitlyn Thomas in Assistant Professor Rachel Spigler’s lab, which focuses on plant evolutionary ecology.
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Advice from the Board’s new president
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CST BY THE NUMBERS $189,407,240
DEAN’S MESSAGE Discovery and innovation are at the heart of the College of Science and Technology. In the lab, in the classroom and at research locations around the world, CST’s extraordinary faculty and students are exploring our world and reaching further into the unknown. CST was formed by Temple University in 1998, and this issue of Outlook chronicles some of the remarkable changes within our college over the past 20 years. You can see some of our impressive metrics on this and the following page—rising research expenditures, growing undergraduate and graduate enrollments and expanding academic programs. For more details on how each of the college’s departments has evolved over the years and where they are going next, you can turn to the magazine’s feature article on page 16. Across disciplines, top CST scientists—National Academy members and authors of some of the most-cited scientific publications in history—are advancing research on materials, energy, genomics, molecular science, the environment, biodiversity and more. They powered Temple University’s rise to Carnegie R1 status and inclusion among the top research institutions measured by Google Scholar citations. Data can tell much of the story, but can’t express the pride we feel here at the college for our growing success. I want to thank today’s faculty and staff for their efforts at ensuring our researchers and students have the support and resources to excel. I also want to acknowledge the many achievements of my predecessors in the Dean’s Office and the continuing commitment of the university toward a strong CST. Our alumni have also strengthened the college in significant ways through their philanthropic support, the time they commit to mentoring undergraduates and their career success that inspires our students. Today’s CST, with six departments, a dozen research centers, growing technology transfer to the marketplace and powerful research partnerships across Philadelphia and around the world, remains a potent engine for discoveries that dramatically enhance all of our lives. Going forward, CST will continue to invest in recruiting top researchers and talented students, to fully supporting their work and education and to engaging alumni in the life of the college. In science—as in our lives—much has changed in two decades. CST’s commitment to advancing science and teaching—and to creating, exploring and innovating—remains steadfast.
TOTAL RESEARCH GRANT EXPENDITURES, FY09-FY18
RESEARCH EXPENDITURES FY09
10,560,751
FY10
14,296,997
FY11
16,708,898
FY12
15,547,526
FY13
15,125,059
FY14
15,944,253
FY15
20,407,431
FY16
23,263,772
FY17
28,144,808
FY18
29,407,745
0
5
10
15
20
25
Sincerely,
Michael L. Klein, FRS Dean and Laura H. Carnell Professor of Science
1 ,458
BIOLOGY UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS, CST’S LARGEST, 2017
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College of Science and Technology
30
3rd
65
419%
BACHELOR’S, MASTER’S, DOCTORAL AND CERTIFICATE ACADEMIC PROGRAMS, 2017
INCREASE IN COMPUTER SCIENCE UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS, 2008-2017
LARGEST TEMPLE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL/COLLEGE BASED ON UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE ENROLLMENT, 2017-2018
550
CST UNDERGRADUATES IN THE TEMPLE HONORS PROGRAM, LARGEST OF ANY TU SCHOOL OR COLLEGE, 2017
Top 25
87
RESEARCH INSTITUTION BASED ON GOOGLE SCHOLAR CITATIONS
TENURED AND TENURE-TRACK FACULTY HIRED SINCE 2007
GRADUATE ENROLLMENT
600
UNDERGRADUATE ENROLLMENT 524
500
447 412
400
362
300 228
260
291 290
4,000
380
320
3,253
3,417
3,743 3,807 3,583 3,698 3,647 3,685
3,988 4,055
3,000 2,000
200
1,000
100 0
5,000
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017
0
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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Photos this page: Kelly & Massa
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New research hub
Advancing autism therapy
Antarctic field campaign
NEWS
Sherry Gillespie (PhD ’75, Physics) (top left) spoke to more than 400 graduates earning bachelor’s, master’s, professional science master’s and doctoral degrees at the CST 2018 spring graduation ceremony at Temple University’s McGonigle Hall.
SPRING GRADUATION SHOWCASES EXCELLENCE
CST honored more than 400 graduates earning bachelor’s, master’s, professional science master’s and doctoral degrees at its 2018 spring graduation ceremony at Temple University’s McGonigle Hall. Dean Michael L. Klein, FRS welcomed the graduates and their families to the ceremony and commended their determination. Keynote speaker Sherry Gillespie (PhD ’75, Phys) a leader in the semiconductor industry and a former Congressional Fellow to the U.S. Senate on science and public policy, shared her impressions of an evolving CST. “It feels great knowing that today’s graduates have academic resources for both research and education that I could only have dreamed about,” said Gillespie.
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College of Science and Technology
The ceremony’s student speaker was Samuel Cook, a magna cum laude mathematics and computer science graduate. He served as ambassador for the Temple Honors Program and president of the Temple German Society. Cook accepted a position in Germany as a big-data engineer for SAP, the market leader in enterprise application software. Finally, then-president of the CST Alumni Board, Sina Adibi (BS ’84, CIS, FOX ’86), was the first to welcome the Class of 2018 into the Temple University Alumni Association. “Temple is now an integral part of you,” Adibi said. —Hannah Amadio, CLA ’18
Hannah Amadio
FAR-REACHING DELAWARE RIVER WATERSHED COLLABORATION
NEW HUB FOR INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
CST’s new Center for Computational Mathematics and Modeling (C2M2) aims to provide a home base for cross-disciplinary research between mathematics, engineering and other sciences, as well as to give students from across Temple opportunities to turn theoretical ideas into hands-on, practical learning. Associate Professor Benjamin Seibold, the center’s director, said, “sometimes studies in mathematics fall short of reality because of the lack of a connection to experimental or engineering practices. The center will provide hands-on resources, and a place where teams come together to solve real-world problems in a practical lab experience with a foundation in computational mathematics.” For example, students in C2M2, under the supervision of Associate Professor Gillian Queisser, are using virtual reality to immerse themselves in a visual world of neuroscience geometry, data and computation. Several students are using a combination of models, simulations and robotic experiments to understand how self-driving cars impact traffic flow. In addition to their own research, students can interact with peers and faculty from across disciplines. “One student builds a robot and controller,” Seibold explained, “and another student looks at real traffic data and develops a traffic model that can be incorporated on the robots. Collaboratively, they build a platform that can provide new insights into real traffic flow.”
The Department of Earth & Environmental Science is part of a wide-ranging effort to protect and restore clean water in the Delaware River watershed, the source of drinking water for 15 million people. Funded by the William Penn Foundation and known as the Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI), the $40m effort will support the work of 65 non-governmental organizations and researchers, including Professor Laura Toran through $1.1m in research funding for her lab. “The focus of our work is to provide monitoring of suburban Philadelphia stormwater improvement efforts,” says Toran, who noted that the foundation has been funding Temple’s watershed research efforts for nearly a decade. “Currently there are numerous regulations in place, but not enough understanding on what is truly effective.” In the 13,500-square-mile Delaware River watershed, population growth and sprawl are driving significant impacts to the watershed by shrinking and fragmenting forests that are critical to protecting clean water. Runoff from paved surfaces and agricultural fields carry pesticides, chemicals and other toxins into our streams and rivers. These growing problems will threaten drinking water for millions of people if left unaddressed. “Urban hydrology is a challenge and one way we tackle it is with collaborations like DRWI, that provide dedicated funding and talented researchers,” said Toran. “This project is attracting top-notch young researchers to Temple, the next generation of scientists who will move this important work forward.” —Greg Fornia, KLN ’92
—Hannah Amadio, CLA ’18
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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Temple University
NEWS
Marcus Forst
PHYSICS MAJOR MARCUS FORST WINS TEMPLE’S FIRST GOLDWATER SCHOLARSHIP
After years of hard work and adversity that included a serious illness, Marcus Forst has been selected as a 2018 Barry Goldwater Scholar, the first Temple student to ever win this honor. The Goldwater Scholarship is the most prestigious STEM award for undergraduates, and the competition is fierce—the average GPA of recipients stands at 3.95. Granting awardees up to $7,500 per year, this scholarship has been called “the Rhodes Scholarship of STEM.” “It feels good to have accomplished this at Temple, especially since I am the first one ever,” Forst said. “I am definitely honored.” In 2015, Forst was diagnosed with T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma often found in children and teens. Forst’s illness forced him to miss nearly a year of classes. Forst used one of his first physics research projects in his Goldwater application. He proposed a new way to study non-Joulian magnets using a scanning-tunneling microscope (STM) by coating them in a super-conductor to allow STM to gain magnetic resolution. By fall of sophomore year, Forst enrolled in CST’s Undergraduate Research Program (URP) and began working with Professor Maria Iavarone. “URP allowed me to learn the lab, learn theory and learn physics hands on,” Forst said. “It also prepared me for my independent research project—creating films of molybdenum disulfide, a material that acts like silicon which I hope will eventually be used to make atomically thin electronic devices. “The scholarship…will also help me stand out when I apply to graduate schools,” Forst said. “I am going to get a PhD in physics, and having a Goldwater will give me a little bit of a leg up in the application process.” —Hannah Amadio, CLA ’18
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College of Science and Technology
Photos this page: Kelly & Massa
More than 160 people attended the Awards, Scholarships and Student Recognition Luncheon, where more than 90 honors were presented.
STUDENTS AND ALUMNI GATHER FOR RECOGNITION LUNCHEON
CST alumni and friends returned to campus for the Scholarships, Awards and Student Recognition Luncheon, where more than 90 honors were presented. Held in the Science Education and Research Center lobby, the ceremony honored students from the departments of Biology; Chemistry; Computer & Information Sciences; Earth & Environmental Science; Mathematics; and Physics, as well as from TUTeach and the Undergraduate Research Program. This year, two new awards were announced: the Jay Novik Endowed Graduate Fellowship and the Joseph and Patricia Curcillo Undergraduate Research Program Scholars Fund. The luncheon drew a crowd of close to 160 people including awardees and CST alumni and friends who have made significant contributions to awards or scholarships. Attendees included Albert Brown (BA ’64, Chem) and Marie Koals, EDU ’63, Albert B. Brown Chemistry Scholarship; Professor Emeritus Theodore Burkhardt, Stanislav Kotsev (CST ’99) Memorial Award; Henry Harrison, James A. Harrison Memorial Award; Gerald Kean (BA ’65, Bio) and Marlene Chachkin, Chachkin-Kean Fund for Undergraduate Research; Professor Mia Luehrmann, Natan LuehrmannCowen Memorial Award; Steven Petchon, FOX ’80, Petchon Family CIS Endowed Scholarship; Rosemary Poole, J.A. Poole Award for Exceptional Department Service by an Undergraduate; David Tepper (BA ’64, Math; CLA ’66, ’69), David Tepper and Elaine Kowalewski Scholarship in Mathematics; and Seda Tarzian (BA ’48, Bio), Seda Tarzian Endowed Scholarship.
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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Temple University
NEWS
OWL’S NEST 2 TAKES FLIGHT
Backed by more than $2 million in funding from the National Science Foundation, Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement Program (CURE), U.S. Army Research Laboratory and CST, Professor Axel Kohlmeyer and Assistant Professor Richard Berger unveiled an improved Linux cluster for scientific computing: Owl’s Nest 2. Representing a monumental step forward in computational research capability, Owl’s Nest 2 enables Temple to compete with the world’s leading research institutions. The system has more than three times the computing power and more than 10 times the data-storage capacity of the original Owl’s Nest high-performance computing, or HPC, system, built more than six years ago. The new cluster features improved hardware that can process more information faster and run more advanced computations as it provides the combined computing power of about 1,500 typical desktop computers. “One of the most important initiatives of Dean Michael L. Klein here at Temple is boosting computational science,” said Kohlmeyer. “It is crucial that Temple has suitable high-performance computing resources for advanced research.” Any Temple University researcher with compatible HPC needs can apply for access. “Instead of having to rent computers elsewhere or writing a proposal and waiting to get a time slot at one of the national supercomputing centers, Temple faculty and students will now have 24/7, free access to the cluster,” Berger said. —Hannah Amadio, CLA ’18
Professor Emeritus John Nosek developed GAINS to advance early-intervention autism therapy.
GAINS SOFTWARE ADVANCES AUTISM THERAPY
A 10-year quest by John Nosek, professor emeritus of computer and information sciences, has resulted in new software that advances early-intervention autism therapy. Nosek’s solution: GAINS, the Guidance Assessment and Information System. GAINS incorporates knowledge of the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) process, instructor and student to provide real-time process and decision support for instructors. ABA treatment must be delivered early in life, and that process must be consistent and build on previous successes. This has been difficult to achieve, because ABA has been paper-based and solely human dependent, and ABA therapists have high turnover rates. GAINS acts as a virtual assistant for ABA therapists. Instead of having to look back through voluminous binders to determine a child’s progress or try to pick up on where another therapist left off, GAINS tells the therapist what skill to work on next and makes decisions in real time about the best therapy session sequence. Years of testing included user-experience research at a local autism treatment center that showed a 50 percent increase in performance with GAINS. GAINS launched last year by Guiding Technologies, a Temple spinoff company commercializing the technology. NSF funding for GAINS now stands at $1.4 million. Ben Franklin Partners, Independence Blue Cross and Safeguard Scientifics have together invested an additional $500,000. —Bruce E. Beans
Assistant Professor (Research) Richard Berger
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College of Science and Technology
Associate Professor Erik Cordes (far right) and his team defined—for the first time—the habitat zones of an underwater seamount.
HIDDEN DEEP-SEA CORAL REEF DISCOVERED OFF SOUTH CAROLINA COAST
Associate Professor of Biology Erik Cordes, as chief scientist, lead the expedition Deep Search 2018 and its discovery of a giant deep-sea coral reef system 160 miles off the South Carolina coast. The 15-day voyage aboard the research vessel Atlantis included scientists from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and US Geological Survey. Dives in the Alvin submersible confirmed the existence of the reef, and based on observations, researchers estimate it is at least 85 miles long. “This is a huge feature,” says Cordes, noting the ecosystem is unlike anything he has seen, with “mountains” of corals. “It’s incredible that it stayed hidden off the U.S. East Coast for so long.” Cordes was also part of an expedition to the Phoenix Islands Protected Area in the Pacific where his team defined—for the first time in history—habitat zones of a seamount from the deep-sea all the way to the surface. Once thought only to be marine hazards, undersea mountains are now understood to sustain a variety of marine life, including deep-sea coral gardens to shallow-water reefs. Cordes’s team also discovered at least two new species of coral and crab. The expedition, supported by NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, was aboard the R/V Falkor, owned by the Schmidt Ocean Institute. Using SuBastian, a remotely operated underwater vehicle, Cordes captured one of the deepest sightings of mantis shrimp, and filmed deep coral reefs, dumbo octopuses and six-gill sharks.
NEWS
NEI NAMED JOHN SCOTT AWARD WINNER
THREE CST FACULTY MEMBERS AND ONE BOV MEMBER HAVE EARNED THE JOHN SCOTT AWARD.
Masatoshi Nei, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Biology, has won the prestigious John Scott Award for contributing to the “comfort, welfare and happiness” of humankind. Past winners include Marie Curie, Thomas Edison, Jonas Salk and Nikola Tesla. Nei has been a major contributor to population and evolutionary genetics theory throughout his distinguished career. He is one of a select few to have a statistic named for him, and “Nei’s genetic distance” is a cornerstone of population genetic analyses. His many awards include the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences, in 2013, and the Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal, Genetics Society of America. Nei, the third CST faculty member to win the Scott Award, joins John Perdew, Laura H. Carnell Professor of Physics and Chemistry, and Franklin A. Davis, professor emeritus of chemistry. Madeleine Joullie, professor of chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania who currently serves on CST’s Board of Visitors, was also honored in 2015 for her research on the synthesis of natural products, which has led to the creation of antiviral and antibacterial compounds.
EVOLUTIONARY TIME EXPLAINS WHY SOME AREAS HAVE MORE SPECIES
Scientists have long debated why some regions of the Earth, such as the tropics, have more species than other regions. A CST-led international team has, for the first time, tested all of the major hypotheses simultaneously and come up with an answer—time. Groups of organisms that have occupied areas longer have more species because they have had more time to produce them. This conclusion goes against the prevailing thought in the fields of ecology and evolution that ecological factors—such as the interactions of species and their environment—primarily determine the diversity and distribution of species around the globe. “Previous studies usually focused on one or two explanations,” said Julie Marin, assistant professor (research) at CST’s Center for Biodiversity and lead author of the work published online in the Royal Society journal Proceedings B. “We found that the simplest explanation—time—was the winner when we evaluated the relative contribution of all of the previous suggested explanations, using data from 27,000 species of terrestrial vertebrates such as mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians.” Although time is a simple concept, it is difficult information to obtain because the vast majority of species have no fossil record. Instead, these researchers used ’timetrees,’ evolutionary trees scaled to geologic time, built from DNA sequence data. “Timetrees are accelerating research in many areas including this one,” said Laura H. Carnell Professor Blair Hedges, director of the Center for Biodiversity. “With these important data we could directly test the time hypothesis against the others.”
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College of Science and Technology
GLOBAL HACKATHON BRINGS PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE STUDENTS TOGETHER AT TEMPLE
Assistant Professor Atsuhiro Muto
More than 150 students gathered in the Howard Gittis Student Center to participate in CST’s annual Local Hack Day hackathon. The event brought together Temple University and Philadelphia area college students and allowed them free access to networking with representatives from SEI, CapTech, Elsevier, Guru, Vangaurd and Unisys all of which sponsored the event. Students also participated in a 12-hour day building relationships with other hackers in their community, troubleshooting and discussing new technology. “The employer representatives who came to Temple spent the day working alongside the students and were almost all Department of Computer & Information Sciences alumni,” said Rose McGinnis, director of CST’s Office of Student Professional Development. “These developers, designers and creators helped guide the hackathon participants in coding activities as well as offering advice on bringing students’ own innovative ideas to life. Without the support and dedication of these alumni, this hackathon would not have been such a success.”
CST JOINS LARGEST EVER US-UK ANTARCTIC SCIENTIFIC FIELD CAMPAIGN
Assistant Professor Atsuhiro Muto is part of the largest ever United States-United Kingdom collaborative scientific field campaign to investigate the forces that could eventually collapse the massive Thwaites Glacier in the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. The Thwaites already accounts for four percent of global sea-level rise, so scientists seek to understand how the glacier could potentially disappear in the next several decades or centuries. Muto is co-principal investigator on two of the eight projects in the initiative, bringing in more than $500,000 in research funding to the Department of Earth & Environmental Science. His work will help scientists understand the factors that could be causing ice at Thwaites to slide into the ocean more easily and, once it meets warm waters, melt and break away more quickly. Muto, a glaciologist, will conduct seismic and gravity measurements to determine two critically needed data points: the bathymetry, or ocean depth, beneath the Thwaites ice shelf, the portion that floats on the water, and the consistency of the ground beneath the ice sheet, the portion that sits on the land. “Both of these data points determine how quickly ice will move off of the land and how susceptible floating ice is to melting and thinning caused by warm oceans,” Muto said. “At Thwaites, we just don’t know the depth of the ocean beneath the shelf or if the land beneath the ice sheet is made of soft sediment or hard bedrock.” —Greg Fornia, KLN ’92
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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NEWS Greg Fornia
INVESTIGATING QCD DYNAMICS
Assistant Professor Martha Constantinou recently received her first National Science Foundation grant to research hadrons. More than 99 percent of the mass of the visible world resides in hadrons which are bound states of quarks and gluons, the fundamental constituents of Quantum Chromodynamics. QCD, which is the theory governing the strong force, successfully describes a wide range of complex processes from the sub-nuclear interactions, to macroscopic phenomena, such as the state of matter at the birth of the universe. The three-year, $240,000 grant enables Constantinou to investigate questions surrounding QCD dynamics that remain nearly a half century after QCDs were first explored. She will be using powerful computers to make ab initio calculations in Lattice QCD in order to study the protons that are at the heart of hadronic matter. “A better understanding of the proton structure will be valuable for the interpretation and guidance of experiments,” said Constantinou, “and might shed light on long-standing puzzles, such as the proton spin.”
Chemistry faculty (clockwise from l to r): Professor Ann Valentine; Associate Professor Kallie Willets; Assistant Professor Carol Manhart; Assistant Professor Sarah Wengryniuk; Professor Stephanie Wunder; and Professor Spiridoula Matsika
CHEMISTRY NATIONAL LEADER IN GENDER DIVERSITY
With the arrival of Assistant Professor Carol Manhart in 2018, seven of the Chemistry Department’s 24 tenure-track faculty, or 29 percent, are women. That’s a significant increase from just 11 percent in 2003—and one of the highest, if not the highest, female percentage at any Research 1 university in the country. The national average is 19 percent. The department now has female faculty at every stage of their careers and in every area: organic, inorganic, physical and analytical chemistry and biochemistry. “It totally normalizes the business of being a woman in chemistry, which is all you want,” said Professor Ann Valentine, who is also department vice chair. “It’s unremarkable, which is remarkable.” Two of the original seven members of the department—F. Elizabeth Rumrill (hired in 1927) and Hazel Tomlinson (1928)—were women. The next women hired, however, were Professor Stephanie Wunder (1985) and Professor Sue Jansen-Varnum (1987), currently the longest serving chemistry professors. With 51 percent of undergraduate majors and a third of PhD students now female, the faculty’s gender diversity is having a positive influence on students, both male and female.
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College of Science and Technology
CST’s New tenure-track faculty
Mihaela Ignatova
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
Mihaela Ignatova, a former Instructor at Princeton University, postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University and assistant professor at UC Riverside, earned her PhD in mathematics in 2011 from the University of Southern California. Ignatova brings nearly 15 years of teaching experience to her new role in the Mathematics Department. Her work has been published in the Nonlinearity Journal as well as the Archive for Rational Mechanics and Analysis, and she has been invited to lecture at more than 40 universities, including Princeton, UCLA, UC Riverside and Stanford University. A passionate educator, Ignatova has taught mathematics courses ranging from basic math to upper-level, multi-variable calculus courses. The Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE) Merit Award winner is tri-lingual, and her research interests include partial differential equations, mathematical fluid dynamics and harmonic analysis.
Carol Manhart
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY
Biochemist Carol Manhart joins the department faculty as an assistant professor after serving since 2013 as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell University. Funded by a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship award, her research at Cornell focused on DNA mismatch repair and genetic recombination in S. cerevisiae, or baker’s yeast. Manhart earned her BS degree from the University of Arizona and her PhD in biochemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder. While in Boulder, she won the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry’s Graduate Teaching Excellence Award three different years. “Teaching is a passion of mine,” says Manhart, who will be teaching both undergraduate and graduate students. Furthering her postdoctoral research, at Temple Manhart plans to “investigate how the proteins involved in the repair of DNA mismatches or mutations are activated in order to fix errors in the genetic code.”
Anna R. Moore
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY
Anna Moore earned her PhD in biomedical sciences with an emphasis on neuroscience from the University of Connecticut Health Center after earning her BS in biology from James Madison University. She comes to Temple after seven years as a postdoctoral fellow in Brandeis University’s Department of Biology. While there, an NIH Institutional Training Grant for Neuroscience laid the foundation for a three-year NIMH K01 Fellowship. While pursuing her doctoral degree, the ability to monitor neuronal activity in real time sparked Moore’s interest in her current area of research. At Temple, her laboratory will continue to explore the molecular mechanisms by which neuronal activity instructs circuit formation and function in the mammalian brain. A major goal of this research is to uncover how the interplay between genes and activity works to shape the pathways of the nervous system. The Moore lab addresses these questions using mouse models and a variety of approaches including electrophysiology, molecular biology and genetics.
Atilla Yilmaz
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS
After graduating summa cum laude from Bogazici University, Turkey, with a BS in mathematics and a BS in electrical and electronics engineering, Atilla Yilmaz earned his MS and PhD in mathematics at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University. Bringing more than 15 years of teaching experience to CST, Yilmaz was a postdoc at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and then a Morrey Assistant Professor at UC Berkeley. He spent four years rising through the ranks at Bogazici University, served as an associate professor at Koc University, Turkey, and most recently was a visiting associate professor at the Courant Institute. The Istanbul native has authored 15 publications in mathematics, has been invited to speak at more than 30 universities, including Temple and has recently been awarded the Young Scientist Award by the Science Academy of Turkey. At Temple, Yilmaz will pursue his research interests in probability theory and stochastic processes, statistical mechanics, partial differential equations, stochastic optimal control and population dynamics.
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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FUNDED RESEARCH AT CST NEW EXTERNAL GRANTS: JULY 1, 2017 TO JUNE 30, 2018 (PARTIAL LISTING)
Biology Vincenzo Carnevale • Regulation of the intestinal Ca2+ channels TRPV6, NIH Erik Cordes • Atlantic Deepwater Habitats, US Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Ananias A. Escalante • Amazonian Center of Excellence in Malaria Research, NIAID • Defining the Inflammation and Immunity Transcriptome in Severe Malaria Anemia for Immunotherapeutic Discovery, NIAID Mark A. Feitelson • Development of Potent Anti-HBV Capsid Effectors, NIAID/NIH Antonio Giordano • Sbarro Health Research, Pennsylvania Department of Health Sudhir Kumar • ABI Development: Open-source, Extensible, and Cross-platform MEGA, NSF • Inferring Molecular Evolutionary Rates and Divergence Dates, NIH Sayaka Miura • Bayesian Evolution-Aware Methods for Tumor Single Cell Sequences, NIH Sergei L. Pond • HYPHY: Comprehensive, Fast and User-Friendly Software for Evolutionary Analysis, NIH
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• Modeling Epidemic Infectious Diseases Using Sequence Analysis, NIH Joshua G. Schraiber • Population Genomic Methodology for Analysis of Ancient DNA: Assessing Population Relationships and the Temporal Dynamics of Natural Selection, NIH Brent Sewall • Determining the Effectiveness of PEG8000 (Fungal Drought Inducer) as Method to Inhibit Growth of the Fungus Causing White-Nose Syndrome in Bat Hibernacula, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Rachel Spigler • Effects of Mating System Change on Population Dynamics: An Experimental Test Across Competitive Contexts, NSF • Plant-pollinator Survey of Grasslands at Fort Indiantown Gap, PA Department Military & Veterans Affairs Weidong Yang • Super-resolution Microscopy Study of Molecular Transport Mechanisms, National Institute of General Medical Sciences/ NIH/DHHS
Chemistry Eric U. Borguet • Investigating Complex SolidLiquid Interfaces Using the Vibrational Spectroscopy and Dynamics of Molecular Ions, American Chemical Society • Use of SFG Spectrometer, ExxonMobil Research & Engineering Company Hai-Lung Dai • Collaborative Research: Photoactivator Chemistry in Atmospheric Aerosols, NSF Alex J. Krotulski • A More-timely Process for Identifying and Analyzing Trends of Emerging Novel Psychoactive Substances in the United States, U. S. Department of Justice Robert J. Levis • Detection of Explosive Signature Molecules Using
College of Science and Technology
Rotational Raman Spectroscopy, Office of Naval Research • Effects of Environmental Variables on Ultrashort Laser Pulse Filamentation, Office of Naval Research Ronald M. Levy • CDS&E: Adaptive Biomolecular Free Energy Simulations on Massive Computational Grids, NSF • HIV Macromolecular Interactions and Impact on Viral Evolution of Drug Resistance, Scripps Research Institute Spiridoula Matsika • Combining High Level Ab Initio Calculations with Laser Control of Molecular Dynamics, DOE Christian Schafmeister • Development of a Robust, Mini-Sleb Mimic Based on Molecular Lego as a Countermeasure Against Anthrax, Department of the Army Robert Stanley • DNA Repair under Extreme Conditions—Extended Studies, NASA Ann Valentine • Interactions of Biomolecules and Bacteria with Titanium at the Mineral Microbe Frontier, NSF Vincent Voelz • Markov State Model Approaches for Folding, Binding and Design, NIH/DHHS Rongsheng Wang • Development of Chemical Probes to Study PostTranslational Modifications Key to Human Diseases, Fox Chase Cancer Center • Novel Protein Agents for Image-Guided Cancer Immunotherapy, American Cancer Society Sarah E. Wengryniuk • CAREER: Novel Synthetic Applications of Poly(cationic) Lambda-3 Iodanes, NSF • Simplified Approaches to Medium-Sized Heterocycles for the Synthesis of Bioactive Small Molecules, NIH/DHHS
Katherine A. Willets • DMREF: Collaborative Research: Nanoscale Temperature Manipulation via Plasmonic Fano Interferences, NSF Stephanie Wunder • Development of Hybrid Inorganic-Polymer Separators for Li Metal Batteries, PolyCeramX Michael Zdilla • Conformationally-flexible, Reactive Manganese Clusters to Probe Possible Mechanisms of O-O Bond Formation in Photosystem II, NSF
Computer & Information Sciences Xubin He • SHF: Small: Collaborative Research: Tailoring Memory Systems for Data-Intensive HPC Applications, NSF Bo Ji • CRII: CIF: Models, Theories and Algorithms for Timeliness Optimization in Informationupdate Systems, NSF Krishna Kant • I/UCRC Phase II Center on Intelligent Storage, HP Enterprise, Dell and Huawei Zoran Obradovic • Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) for Multiple Choice Ranking in Cancer Comorbidity, King Abdullah University of Science & Technology • Pilot to Assess Cognitive Computing to Analyze
Immunization Program Data, Abt Associates • US-Serbia and West Balkan Data Science Workshop, NSF Jamie Payton • Collaborative Research: BRIDGES 2.0: Improved Engagement, Retention and Rigor within the Undergraduate Major in Computer Science, NSF • HATCH: Staying Healthy After Childbirth, Cancer Research UK • REU Site: Research Experiences in Pervasive Computing for Smart Health, Safety and Well-being, NSF Anduo Wang • CRII: NeTS: Towards a Databasedefined Network, NSF • Student Travel Support for ACM SOSR 2017 Conference, NSF Pei Wang • AUDREY: Artificial General Intelligence Technology Development, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Jie Wu • Cyber Forensic Tool Kit for Machinery Control, TDI-Brooks International • Experiences in Pervasive Computing for Smart Health, Safety and Well-being, NSF • Principles of Moving Target Defense, U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command • REU Site: Research Experiences in Pervasive Computing for Smart Health, Safety and Well-being, NSF
CIS, MATH AND PHYSICS RISE
Three College of Science and Technology programs made significant gains in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings, with mathematics jumping 13 spots since it was last ranked in 2015. Computer science and physics also ascended on their lists by 10 and three spots, respectively.
CRISTIAN E. GUTIÉRREZ ELECTED 2018 AMS FELLOW
Professor Cristian E. Gutiérrez has been elected to the 2018 Class of the American Mathematical Society (AMS). The honor recognizes his research contributions to the areas of partial differential equations and harmonic analysis and his exemplary service to the community. Along with professors Shiferaw Berhanu, department chair Irina Mitrea, Igor Rivin and Daniel Szyld, Gutiérrez is the fifth CST mathematics professor to become an AMS fellow in the past four years.
Maria Lorenz and Irina Mitrea • Mathematical Confluences: Partnership Between Temple and Philadelphia High School for Girls, Mathematical Association of America Brian Rider • Operator Limits of Random Matrices, NSF Benjamin Seibold • Collaborative Research: Overcoming Order Reduction and Stability Restrictions in High-Order Time-Stepping, Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences/NSF
Detector, Brookhaven National Laboratory
• Search for Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter with K-Capture Nuclear Decay in an Atom Trap, W. M. Keck Foundation
Jianmin Tao • Adsorption of Molecules, Clusters, and Layered Materials on Surfaces, U.S. Department of Energy
Zein-Eddine Meziani • Nuclear Research Using the Electromagnetic Probe, DOE Adrienn Ruzsinszky • FLO-SIC: Efficient Density Functional Theory Calculations without Self-Interaction, DOE Bernd Surrow • Design and Assembly of Fast and Light-Weight Barrel Forward Prototype Tracking
Rongia Tao • Mass Spectroscopy Measurement for Ionized Air by Various Isotopes and Other Gas Ionizers, Naval Research Laboratory Xiaoxing Xi • Metamaterial Superconductors, Towson University
Matthew Stover • Discrete Groups and Character Varieties, Simons Foundation
Dean’s Office Susan A. Varnum • 2017-18 Carver HSES Stem Scholars Program at Temple U., Jack Kent Cooke Fdn. • 2017 STEM-UP Pre-College Leadership Experience Support, Naval Surface Warfare Center • Compute-STEM, Office of Naval Research • Early Grades Instructional Leadership (EGIL) Project, Pa. Dept. of Education • Frances Velay Women’s Science Research Fellowship Program, Panaphil/Uphill Fdn. • Greater Philadelphia Region LSAMP-Philadelphia AMP Initiative, NSF • REU Site: Research Experience for Undergraduates Temple Materials Institute, NSF
Earth & Environmental Science Nicholas Davatzes • Geothermal Play-Fairway Analysis of Washington State Prospects, Washington State Department of Natural Resources
• Thwaites-Amundsen Regional Survey and Network (TARSAN) Integrating Atmosphere-Ice-Ocean Processes affecting the SubIce-Shelf Environment, NSF Jonathan Nyquist • A geoscience pathway field experience in near-surface geophysics to promote recruitment and retention of transitional students in quantitative geosciences, NSF Laura Toran • Evaluating Urban Stream Stressors and Mitigation Strategies in the Upstream Suburban Philadelphia Cluster, William Penn Foundation
Mathematics David Futer and Matthew Stover • Graduate Student Conference in Algebra, Geometry and Topology, Directorate for Mathematical and Physical Sciences/NSF
Samuel J. Taylor • Negative Curvature in Fiber Bundles and Counting Problems, NSF
Physics Martha Constantinou • A New Era for Lattice QCD: Unveiling the Mysteries of a Proton, NSF Maria Iavarone • Scanning Tunneling Spectroscopy and RF Investigations of Effect of Strong Currents on Superconducting Properties and Surface Resistance of High Performance Materials for Accelerator Cavities, NSF • Spectroscopic Study of the Coupling Effect between the Two Gaps of Magnesium Diboride on its RF Properties, Office of Science/DOE
Yury Grabovsky • Instabilities in Materials Science, NSF
Svetlana Kotochigova • Effect of Conical Intersections on Chemical Reactivity of Ultra-cold Molecules in Optical Potentials, Department of the Army
Isaac Klapper • Linking Microbial Metabolism to Host-Microbe Environment, Burroughs Wellcome Fund
C. J. Martoff • Direct Search for Dark Matter with Underground Argon at LNGS, NSF
SCIENCE SCHOLARS PROGRAM SUCCESS
The goal of CST’s Science Scholars Program is to identify exceptionally prepared, academically strong incoming freshman who have a passion in science and technology and provide them with opportunities to begin advanced research experiences in their first year. Each Science Scholar receives $4,000 in summer funding for three years to complete research projects within the college, at Temple or at another institution. Their first summer research project, however, must be completed with a CST faculty member. Other benefits include: special seminars, workshops, conferences and colloquia; access to faculty, graduate student and professional mentors; and preparation for awards, scholarships and external research opportunities. Launched in 2013, more than 80 Science Scholars have been selected and 24 have graduated. This past May, eleven Science Scholars graduated—the college’s largest cohort to date. Graduates are going to top medical schools, doctoral study at Duke University, University of California Berkeley, University of Maryland and Rutgers University, and research work at the Scripps Institute and an internship at the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab.
Atsuhiro Muto • Geophysical Habitat of Subglacial Thwaites (GHOST), NSF
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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NOW NEW NEXT WHAT'S
WHAT'S
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Department by department, the College of Science and Technology has reached many milestones in 20 years while continuing to advance exceptional teaching and scientific discovery.
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College of Science and Technology
When the university proposed separating the College of Arts and Sciences—into two distinct colleges—more than two decades ago, some Chemistry Department faculty members, according to Professor and Chair Daniel Strongin, opposed the creation of the College of Science and Technology (CST). They feared their students would lose touch with a liberal arts education or they worried the newly formed CST would suffer from a reduction in resources.
“In my mind,” says Strongin, “these and other hesitations have turned out not to be true. It’s really paid a lot of dividends.” Indeed, led by deans with stellar scientific backgrounds, including Chris D. Platsoucas, Hai-Lung Dai, currently Laura H. Carnell Professor of Chemistry, and Michael L. Klein, FRS, Carnell Professor of Science and dean since 2013, the quality of CST’s students, its focus on high-quality teaching and its research stature have never been higher. From appropriate start-up laboratory funding for young professors to the recruitment of world-class professors, record amounts of outside funding and a well-funded Undergraduate Research Program, the support for research, teaching and state-of-the-art facilities and equipment is outstanding. And with 12 research centers and institutes, many established in the past few years, collaborative, interdisciplinary research at CST is thriving. Here’s a look at how each of the six departments have fared since CST was established in 1998:
BIOLOGY
Robert Sanders, Chair
When Professor Robert Sanders, the current chair, arrived 22 years ago, relatively few faculty had outside research funding. Since 2002, however, the department’s total external research funding has grown from $500,000 to $10 million in total active grants. The undergraduate program has also exploded, growing in the past 20 years from between 500 to 700 undergraduate biology majors to more than 1,900 (including 100 of the 200 biochemistry majors). Spurred by increased research, the graduate programs have also grown significantly, with doctoral students more than doubling since the early 2000s to about 50 PhD students. Likewise, since 2005 tenure-track faculty have increased nearly 60 percent, to 30 researchers. The department now houses six research institutes and centers, including the Institute for Genomics and Evolutionary Medicine directed by Carnell Professor Sudhir Kumar, the Center for Computational Genetics and Genomics directed by Professor Jody Hey, the Center for Biodiversity directed by Carnell Professor S. Blair Hedges and the Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine, directed by Antonio Giordano. These research entities reflect how the faculty’s expertise has widened to include additional emphases on ecology and evolution/genomics, as well as cell and molecular biology, and CST students are benefiting. “With the greater breadth of our undergraduate offerings,” explains Sanders, “we’re hoping to allow students to focus in a more formalized way in any of several concentrations.” Adds Associate Professor Rob Kulathinal, “We’ve had the most amazing transformation in the past four years, with the department’s focus significantly expanding into the fields of ecology, evolution
and computational biology. We’re considered one of the East Coast’s top evolutionary genomics schools.” “The diversity here, both in terms of the people and the breadth of research really allows for a freedom of thinking and possible collaborations,” says biology PhD student Chris Carnivale (BS ’15, EES). The department was one of the first at Temple to create a professional science master’s degree (PSM) program, in biotechnology, in 2012—and since has added PSMs in bioinformatics, bioinnovation and scientific writing. “We’ve become a model template for the rest of the university,” says Kulathinal, who also is the director of the new interdisciplinary bioinformatics PhD program.
CHEMISTRY
Daniel Strongin, Chair
“When I first came to Temple, people at national chemistry meetings did not know that much about what was happening here,” says Strongin, the department chair. “Now everyone knows about Temple and the advanced, groundbreaking research happening here. It’s been an amazing change.” Since 2005, total chemistry grant expenditures on a per annum basis have tripled to $9.3 million in 2017; graduate students have increased from 60 to about 105; and undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry majors have increased by one quarter to 622. In addition, tenure-track faculty members have increased from 16 to 24. “To illustrate how superb our faculty is now, in 2004 we averaged about two published articles per faculty member per year,” says Strongin. “By 2017, that figure had more than doubled to an annual average of 4.5 articles per faculty member.” The department is also home to three research institutes/centers: Institute for Computational Molecular Science directed by Dean Michael L. Klein, FRS; Center for Biophysics & Computational Biology directed by Professor Ronald M. Levy; and Center for Advanced Photonics Research directed by Professor Robert L. Levis, who is also CST’s senior associate dean. “These are all world-class researchers who really show how Temple has arrived,” says Strongin. Professor Frank Spano agrees: “In the past 20 years we have developed into a high-powered research institution in ways that I couldn’t have imagined when I started here in 1990. From infrastructure to improvement in the quality of the faculty, there’s much more attention on the value of research—and the college’s Undergraduate Research Program is also flourishing.” The hiring this year of Assistant Professor Carol Manhart underscores two other trends: a push into biochemistry and the department’s gender diversity—29 percent of core faculty members are female, significantly above the national average. OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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C OM P U T E R & I N F ORMAT ION SC IE NC E S
E A RT H & E N VI RONM E N TA L S CI E NCE
Jamie Payton, Chair
Nicholas Davatzes, Chair
During the last seven years, the undergraduate enrollment of the CIS Department has nearly tripled, to approximately 1,200 students. Meanwhile, in a dramatic improvement, several new metrics indicate that, based on research output, the department is now among the country’s top 80 CIS departments. The growing student enrollment and enhanced research activity are related, according to Professor Slobodan Vucetic, the CIS chair until July 2018: “Under the vision of the college leadership, we’ve been transformed into a very research active department, with our faculty publishing frequently while advising both graduate and undergraduate students—all while maintaining the high-quality education we offer our students.” “It’s been really exciting to have been here the past five years,” says Jelena Stojanovic who, along with her husband Djordje Gligorijevic, earned a PhD earlier this year. “In terms of research and teaching, the growth has been amazing.” Both are now research scientists with Yahoo Research Labs. CIS recently revamped its undergraduate programs to provide students a stronger computer science foundation and to offer more opportunities to specialize in one or more specific subareas. It also revised its MS in information science and technology program to allow graduates from non-CS fields. Meanwhile, the 2014 opening of the Science Education and Research Center, which allowed the department to consolidate its teaching labs, laboratories and offices primarily on the third floor, has also been a boon. “It’s encouraged more collaboration and communication between faculty and students,” says Professor Gene Kwatny, the department’s vice chair. Looking forward, the recently appointed chair, Associate Professor Jamie Payton, says: “Computer science and informatics have far-reaching impacts on our society and are incredibly important to staying competitive in the future economy. As a department, we’re excited to explore new opportunities in training students and expanding our research strengths in promising areas like data science, large-scale networked computing and machine learning to support future visions of computing.”
In 2018, EES reached a record high of approximately 20 graduate and postdoctoral students, including seven in the recently launched geosciences PhD program—all fueled by the department’s growing grant-funded research. Undergraduate enrollment in geology and environmental science also remains strong, with many students taking part in research and new programs such as the Certificate in Environmental Professional Training. The department is also one of CST’s leaders in offering general education courses to non-science majors, exposing such students to science and Earth-systems topics that will continue to impact their lives. “At CST, we’re rewarded and recognized for the research that we do and we’re strongly encouraged, thanks to the funding provided by the Undergraduate Research Program, to get undergraduate students involved,” says Professor Laura Toran, an urban hydrologist who arrived in 1997. “Over the past 20 years the department has undergone a dramatic change,” adds Nicholas C. Davatzes, chair and associate professor. With the core faculty, which now stands at 11, roughly doubling during the past 12 years, faculty and both graduate and undergraduate students are expanding the research portfolio. Looking at the interface between Earth systems and humans, EES is delving into hydrology, geochemistry and the food-energywater nexus, as well as the ancient and modern processes that have shaped the Earth and other planets. “Our investigations range from using the Philadelphia region as a natural laboratory to research projects on every continent as well as other planets such as Mars,” says Davatzes. Assistant Professor Steven M. Chemtob came to Temple in 2015 attracted by the diversity of EES’s research. “I’ve been really impressed with the opportunities to collaborate with both colleagues from within the department who have different but overlapping research interests as well as researchers in the Chemistry and Physics departments,” he says.
"At CST, we’re rewarded and recognized for the research that we do and we’re strongly encouraged, thanks to the funding provided by the Undergraduate Research Program, to get undergraduate students involved." 18
College of Science and Technology
– P ROF E S S OR L AU R A T OR A N
M AT H E M AT IC S
P H Y S IC S
Irina Mitrea, Chair
James Napolitano, Chair
In the past four years, five mathematics professors—Cristian E. Gutierrez, Shiferaw S. Berhanu, Irina Mitrea, Daniel Szyld and Igor Rivin—have all been elected Fellows of the American Mathematical Society. Berhanu, an Ethiopian native, recently also was named a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, and Szyld was elected a fellow and recently served as vice president at-large of the Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics. “These national and international recognitions are indicative of the quality and far reaching impact of the mathematical research that our faculty conducts,” says Mitrea, the departmental chair. “Many of our researchers are household names in the international mathematical community and elicit immediate recognition for the department and Temple.” Outside grants are on the rise, including recent awards from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and the National Institute of Health. Newer emphases and areas of growth include geometry and topology, probability studies, and applied mathematics. This past academic year, the department launched the Center for Computational and Mathematics and Modeling (C2M2). It channels cross-disciplinary research in applied and computational mathematics to foster the involvement of mathematics in science and engineering, from robotic cars and virtual reality data visualization to student projects in pharmaceutical research and the mathematical modeling of sourdough bread. “I’ve studied and worked at a university in Germany, and I’ve been an instructor at MIT,” says Associate Professor Benjamin Seibold, the C2M2 director, “but I haven’t seen this kind of momentum at other institutions.” In addition, the mathematics PhD program jumped 13 spots in the latest U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings, and over the past 20 years the department’s undergraduate program has grown and expanded. “The strength of our outstanding research faculty allows our students to be actively engaged in undergraduate research in many exciting areas,” adds Maria Lorenz, the director of undergraduate studies.
The U.S. quest to build a new electron ion collider illustrates the growing stature of the Physics Department. This year, Professor Zein-Eddine Meziani is spending his year-long sabbatical at the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois helping build the scientific case for building a new collider. Four years ago, Professor Bernd Surrow, the department’s vice chair, co-chaired a meeting of 250 national and international physicists at Temple that kickstarted the new collider concept. He now chairs the Steering Committee of the Electron Ion Collider User Board, an international group of physicists who expect to use the new accelerator. “To me, the hiring of good, strong young faculty, such as Bernd, is the best thing that has happened to the department,” says James Napolitano. “They are doing great and different kinds of science.” Since 2007, the full-time faculty have increased nearly 50 percent, to 22. Thanks to the opening of SERC in 2014, they are using world-class equipment and facilities. For example, the scanning tunneling microscopy lab of Professor Maria Iavarone, who investigates complex materials and mesoscopic superconductors, is isolated from vibrations, thermal changes and radio frequencies. Both physics and chemistry professors take advantage of the Temple Materials Institute’s cutting-edge instrumentation. Other highlights have included the founding of the Center for the Computational Design of Functional Layered Materials, one of just 10 new federal Energy Frontier Research Centers. It is directed by the Laura H. Carnell Professor of Physics and Chemistry, John Perdew, one of the world’s most cited physics professors. Recently the W.M. Keck Foundation also awarded a prestigious $1.2 million grant to Professor C. Jeff Martoff to investigate dark matter. All this is attracting more and better students, with undergraduate majors increasing four-fold since 2003, to more than 100 today, and graduate students (almost all PhDs) increasing 144 percent since the early 2000s to 63. Says Chris Cocuzza, a PhD student focusing on theoretical physics: “The atmosphere is terrific. Dr. Napolitano is a great teacher, I am enjoying my research and, with so many of the faculty really strong in nuclear physics, there are lots of people to talk to. I love the Physics Department.” —Bruce E. Beans
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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ALUMNI
Message from the CST Alumni Board president As the new president of the CST Alumni Board, I will have the opportunity to address graduating students at both the spring and fall CST graduation ceremonies. I can imagine standing before members of the graduating class and seeing the pride and excitement each of them feels as they celebrate success and begin a life’s journey. Though graduation is the end of one journey, it also marks the beginning of a new one.
Learn more about how you can get involved at cst.temple.edu/alumni or email cstalum@temple.edu
Part of the journey is continuing to learn and grow, whether with an employer or in graduate school. Equally important is acknowledging those who helped you along the way as you worked toward your goals. Parents, spouses and friends are all important parts of our continuing growth and evolution. For me (and many other CST graduates), Temple University was an intrinsic part of my career success. Supporting Temple students, either financially or by becoming an undergraduate mentor (or both!) are two incredible rewarding ways to give back to CST.
I want to thank the CST Alumni Board past president, Sina Adibi (BA ’84, CIS; FOX ’86) for his leadership. He is a wonderful example of committed Temple alumni willing to lend an ear or lend a hand to today’s students. When I speak to the next group of CST graduates, I, too, will urge them to stay connected to classmates, to reach out to new Temple people and to know that they will always be welcomed here, at their home on North Broad Street. It’s the same message—and challenge—for all of us, really. Sincerely,
Steven Szczepanski (BA ’80, PhD ’85, Chem) President CST Alumni Board
Liang Du (PhD ’15, CIS): Leading Microsoft’s workplace safety product Liang Du, a principal applied scientist manager with Microsoft, is leading a team of researchers that have developed a new artificial intelligence (AI) product that utilizes surveillance cameras and computers to enhance workplace safety. According to Du, the product drew the praise of Microsoft founder Bill Gates. “He said, ’The work is amazing’,” recalls Du. “To work on something that you feel is important, and then to have the founder of this great company praise your work, was magical.” While earning his doctorate in computer science under his advisor, Associate Professor Haibin Ling, Du focused on computer vision. “Any artificial intelligence system needs computer vision to allow computers to make sense of the visual, physical world, to know what is happening there, who is there and what objects are there,” explains Du. Du credits his work with Ling for elevating his Temple experience. “The research we were doing was state of the art. We published our research on the best facial recognition system in the world at that time,” says Du. “That experience helped me get
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College of Science and Technology
my Microsoft job and gave me the foundation to succeed with the workplace safety project I’m still working on.” The AI project utilizes a new concept that combines the analytical power of both Microsoft’s Cloud and local computers to interpret, in real time, what surveillance cameras see. For example, if the cameras detect a top-heavy jackhammer precariously leaning against a workbench, the system can use facial recognition to immediately notify, via smartphone, a worker in the room. Similarly, if a heart surgery patient is detected walking too far in a hospital hallway, a nurse would be alerted, and informed where the nearest wheelchair for the patient is located. “We’re working on something that may change the way people work,” says Du. “Many disasters or accidents will be prevented, or at least be mitigated, with this kind of system, which can be installed anywhere.” —Bruce E. Beans
Greg Fornia
ROBERT FIGLIN (BA ’70, CHEM) NAMED TO TEMPLE’S GALLERY OF SUCCESS
Laura Dassama (BS ’07, Biochem): From Liberia and Temple to a Stanford professorship When Laura Dassama arrived at Temple as a sophomore in fall 2004, the Liberian native and daughter of a nurse wanted to become a medical doctor. She is now, however, an assistant professor of chemistry and a faculty fellow of Stanford University’s ChEM-H (Chemistry, Engineering & Medicine for Human Health) institute. Why the change in career direction? Dassama credits two Temple chemistry professors: David Dalton, now professor emeritus, and Professor Robert Stanley. When Dalton, her organic chemistry professor, asked her what she wanted to do with her life, she said, “I’m interested in finding cures for different diseases, so I think I need to go to medical school.” “No, you don’t, you need to do research in a laboratory,” he replied, and introduced her to Stanley, a biophysical chemist who immediately put her to work in his lab. “After spending a summer working with a DNA repair enzyme, I realized that I did not want to do anything else,” says Dassama, who remained in Stanley’s lab until she graduated. “It completely changed my career trajectory.” Subsequently, Dassama: earned a PhD in biochemistry, microbiology and molecular biology from Pennsylvania State University and served briefly as a postdoctoral fellow there; was a postdoctoral fellow for four years at Northwestern University; and served as a research associate investigating sickle-cell disease at Harvard Medical School, the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital. At Stanford, her research concentrates on multi-drug resistance by bacteria: “I want to understand how some bacteria acquire multi-drug resistance, and also work on designing new drugs that can be used to target these bacteria. “For me, chemistry is the easiest way to explain the world,” says Dassama, who returned to the Temple Chemistry Department in early 2018 to lecture. “When I learned ChEM-H was looking for someone trained as a chemist and structural biologist but is interested in human health problems, it seemed like the perfect place for me.”
A self-described “Philly boy,” a physician board-certified in medical oncology and internal medicine, and prolific cancer researcher, Robert Figlin has been named to Temple University’s Gallery of Success. A collaboration of the Office of Alumni Relations and Career Center, the honor recognizes outstanding alumni for their inspiring success. Figlin is Steven Spielberg Family Chair in HematologyOncology, director of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, and deputy director of the Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in chemistry and training in inorganic chemistry at Temple, Figlin earned his medical degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. A nationally recognized leader in genitourinary and thoracic oncology, Figlin’s research focuses on renal cell carcinoma and thoracic malignancies. He established and directs the Kidney Cancer Program at Cedars-Sinai, which aims to understand the biology of kidney cancer and translate that knowledge into novel treatment approaches. He was also a scientific founder of Agensys, an early-stage biotechnology company that develops novel cancer therapeutics. In 2013, Figlin, with an initial gift of $50,000, established the Robert A. Figlin Family Research Award which supports CST scholarships for undergraduate juniors and seniors majoring in chemistry, physics, math or computer and information sciences. To date, six students have earned the award. Figlin also funds stipends for students in the college’s Science Scholars Program, which provides additional academic, research and career opportunities.
—Bruce E. Beans
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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Greg Fornia
ALUMNI
RANDY SHOCHET (BS ’81, CHEM): FROM CHEMISTRY TO DENTISTRY TO LAW
Randy Shochet believes that his Temple education prepared him for everything that followed—even when his career plans changed along the way. Shochet enrolled at Temple as a transfer student his sophomore year. “Even though I was living in Florida at the time, my whole family was from Philadelphia and my father went to Temple. I’d always wanted to go there, too,” he says. Shochet chose to major in chemistry and hoped to become a career scientist. He studied in the Temple Honors Program and assisted Professor David Dalton in his lab. “My memory of Temple is like The Big Bang Theory,” he says. “There was a whole hall of science majors in my dorm, I had access to top professors and it was just a great experience all around.” While Shochet hoped to work for a company like Dow Chemical, he turned down a job offer because his grandparents strongly urged him to become a dentist. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his heart wasn’t in the work and after eight years in dental practice he decided to go back to law school. Today, his firm, Shochet Law Group, focuses on insurance claims, particularly those associated with natural disasters. He draws on his chemistry education daily, both in medical cases and beyond. “Chemistry taught me about logic and you can’t work in law without thinking logically,” he says. In 2010, Shochet came back to campus and was impressed by how Temple had evolved in the 30 years since he’d last seen it. He was also surprised to find Professor Dalton still working in the same office. Another visit in 2018 offered an opportunity to tour CST’s Science Education and Research Center, and learn that Dalton was now professor emeritus. Recently, they had lunch with Shochet’s 12-yearold son, who is, like his father once was, an aspiring scientist. “I told him no one will pressure him, and he has to follow his instincts,” Shochet says. “If he’s lucky enough to get an education like I did, he’ll be able to do anything.” —Elisa Ludwig
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College of Science and Technology
Terrence Dougherty (BA ’74, Chem): Making a difference for CST students As a junior, Terrence Dougherty questioned whether he would even graduate from Temple. Today, the retired Merck chemist not only serves on the CST Alumni Board, he mentors students to help them get through their more challenging moments. As the first member of his family to go to college, Dougherty came to Temple because it was convenient and inexpensive. Once he selected chemistry as his major, however, Dougherty realized how rigorous his education was. “By the time I was in my third year, I worried that I’d bit off more than I could chew,” he says. “This was my big chance, and there was no way I could lose out on the opportunity.” Humbled, Dougherty put his head down and completed his study, meeting his future wife Lydia (BA ’74, Chem) along the way. Grateful that he actually received his diploma, he started giving back to Temple immediately after graduation. Years later, when he donated more substantial sums to the school, he put his parents’ name on the donor wall of the Science Education and Research Center, posting a photo on social media labeled “Mom and Dad in college.” “My brother saw it and started to cry; it would have meant so much to them,” he says. Dougherty spent his career as a production chemist working in quality control. He eventually went back to pharmacy school to bolster his work in pharmaceutical manufacturing and enjoyed a long and successful run at Merck. “Temple really got me started with the fundamental education I needed,” he says. He continues to look for new ways Temple alumni can support students. As an Owl to Owl Mentor—a CST program he helped launch—Dougherty encounters many first-generation college students with their own doubts. “Students write to me that their grades are not quite as good as they’d hoped and I’m there to say ’it’s okay,’” he says. “What I tell them is that not everyone is a genius—I certainly wasn’t—but it’s amazing what you can accomplish if you work hard and keep pushing.” —Elisa Ludwig
Photos: Kelly & Massa and Temple University
CST ALUMNI WEEKEND 2018
The College of Science and Technology hosted two exciting Alumni Weekend events, attracting dozens of alumni and their families as well as Temple faculty and staff. On Friday, the college screened “Acid Horizon,” a documentary film featuring Associate Professor of Biology Erik Cordes as he and his team track down the “supercoral,” a strain of deep-water coral that seems to possess the unique genetic ability to thrive in a low-pH ocean. Saturday morning, the college welcomed parents and kids to the CST STEM Carnival, which introduced important concepts in basic science, engineering, robotics, computer science and applied mathematics. Kids worked directly with Temple undergraduates to learn how real scientists work, and earned prizes for each challenge conquered. Temple University’s signature Alumni Weekend event, Díner en Cherry, was held in the soaring lobby of the college’s Science Education and Research Center, with many guests sporting Temple’s signature colors—Cherry and White.
CST graduates and their families came out for several Alumni Weekend events: a STEM Carnival, film screening and discussion and Díner en Cherry.
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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Kelly & Massa
SUPPORTING UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH
A $50,000 pledge from Paul G. Curcillo, MD, (BA ’84, Bio) and Stephanie A. King, MD, will establish the Joseph and Patricia Curcillo Inaugural Endowed Undergraduate Research Program (URP) Scholars Fund. Named for Curcillo’s parents, the fund will provide financial support to academically qualified students participating in URP with a preference for scholars conducting research in biology. Curcillo is president of the Temple University Alumni Association, a member of the Temple Board of Trustees, a member of the CST Board of Visitors, and past president of the CST Alumni Board. Curcillo and King have also established the Paul G. Curcillo II, MD Biology Award.
TOASTING TEMPLE AND CST
For Temple Toast, the university’s 24-hour giving challenge, more than 75 donors made a gift to support CST students, the college’s highest total since the yearly event began in 2013. CST faculty, staff, alumni and friends donated more than $4,300 to support scholarships, undergraduate research and academic programs. The goal of Temple Toast is to celebrate the impact Temple Owls have on the university and throughout the community. In total, Temple University raised more than $240,000 from more than 1,700 donors during this year’s Temple Toast.
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OWLCROWDING MATH FOR GIRLS
Through OwlCrowd, Temple University’s online giving platform, more than 60 CST graduates, friends, faculty and staff supported Sonia Kovalevsky Mathematics Day for Middle School Girls. The fundraising effort topped its $5,000 goal, continuing a remarkable run of successful OwlCrowd fundraising efforts at CST. Organized by the Department of Mathematics and now in its seventh year, Sonia Kovalevsky Day brings 75 local middle school girls to Main Campus to learn about the field of mathematics and possible career paths. The day provides middle school participants with engaging mathematical instruction intertwined with strong mentorship by CST undergraduate and graduate women students in STEM disciplines. The long-term goal of the program is to impact the way young women view mathematics as a discipline while strengthening their mathematical skills.
Temple University
INVEST IN THE
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UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH PROGRAM RP provides students U with world-class research experience—what many people from top employers and graduate schools call ‘lab hands.’ Even more than that, students develop problem-solving skills and the ability to ask the right questions, stay organized and work toward an attainable goal.” Rose McGinnis, Director, Undergraduate Research Program
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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MESSAGE FROM THE ASSISTANT DEAN OF DEVELOPMENT I’m new to Temple University and the College of Science and Technology, but like many in the Temple community I’ve witnessed how this university and this college can transform people’s lives. As a Philadelphian born and bred, I know how Temple has shaped this city and surrounding region. Growing up, I knew many people who graduated from Temple and went on to successful careers. Both of my sons are Temple graduates. And as the proud aunt to a 2003 doctoral graduate in organic chemistry, I’ve seen the remarkable opportunities CST offers to graduate students. Yet, stepping onto Main Campus for the first time in my new role as CST’s Assistant Dean of Development opened my eyes to a whole new world of achievement and impact. For example, CST’s scientific reach extends beyond the Philadelphia region to groundbreaking research projects around the world. CST graduates, more than 14,000 strong, have achieved success in all aspects of science but also in business, education, public service and entrepreneurship. Over the past few months, I’ve learned about CST’s commitment to offering real-world research experience to undergraduates. Out in the field or in a lab, students in the Undergraduate Research Program (URP) work alongside world-class faculty researchers from CST and across Temple. For students, that experience is essential to being accepted into a top graduate or professional school or to landing a high-paying job in geology, biotechnology, information science and other STEM fields. You can read about several URP students in the pages of this year’s Honor Roll of Donors. Other universities might offer some hands-on research experiences, but no other Carnegie R1 institution offers what CST provides: breadth of research options with nearly 300 research opportunities each year across CST and Temple’s other schools and colleges; access to CST’s world-class researchers; and academic and professional supports that connect students with faculty and keep students on track to graduate and move on to highly selective graduate programs or highly coveted jobs. I want to thank the many alumni and friends who support URP and the college’s other important initiatives. To continue to provide these opportunities to all qualified students who want it, CST needs additional financial support from alumni, friends of the college and corporations and foundations. I look forward to learning more about CST and its graduates and supporters in the years ahead. If you want to discuss how you can be a part of the college’s ongoing success, please contact me at 215.204.4704 or kathleen.mcgady@temple.edu.
Kathy McGady Assistant Dean of Development
Temple University
HONOR ROLL OF DONORS THANK YOU!
The College of Science and Technology extends its deep appreciation to the alumni, friends, faculty, staff, parents, students corporations and foundations that made generous contributions to the college between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2018. Their generosity means CST can continue to set new standards in research, teaching and community engagement. TRUSTEE’S CIRCLE (GIFTS OF $100,000 OR MORE)
American Chemical Society Estate of Anne R. Donnell Mario and Annuziatina Sbarro Sbarro Health Research Organization William Penn Foundation W. M. Keck Foundation FOUNDER’S CLUB (GIFTS OF $50,000 TO $99,999)
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Albert B. Brown, CST ’64, and Marie B. Koals, EDU ’63, ’68 Wei Fei Robert, CST ’66, and Bonnie Fineman Panaphil Foundation Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi Simons Foundation Ras Al Khaimah Centre for Advanced Materials PRESIDENT’S COUNCIL (GIFTS OF $25,000 TO $49,999)
Joseph C., CST ’70, and Marilyn D. Allegra Italia-Eire Foundation Stanley A., CST ’65, and Debbie Lefkowitz A. Marjatta Lyyra and Benedict Stavis Merck and Company, Inc. National Fish and Wildlife Foundation Rongjia Tao FELLOWS (GIFTS OF $10,000 TO $24,999)
Barry Arkles, CST ’70, ’76, and Janine Black, FOX ’13 John, CST ’92, and Gladys, CST ’92, Campolongo
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Paul G. Curcillo, II, CST ’84, and Stephanie A. King George D., CST ’50, and Marion, CST ’50, Evans Robert A. Figlin, CST ’70 James, CST ’77, ’83, and Debbie Guare Madeleine Joullie Michael and Brenda Klein Lorraine Heller Kligman, CST ’66, ’74 Sudhir Kumar Solomon and Wendy Luo Joel, CLA ’69, EDU ’72, and Patricia Marx Rosemary A. Poole Society for Molecular Biology & Evolution Seda K. Tarzian, CST ’48 BENEFACTORS (GIFTS OF $5,000 TO $9,999)
Burroughs Wellcome Fund Franklin and Lynne Davis Terrence, CST ’74, FOX ’86, and Lydia, CST ’74, Dougherty Dougherty Family Fund ExxonMobil Foundation Mathematical Association of America John P. Perdew and Adrienn Ruzsinszky Estate of Alexander Tulinsky, CST ’52 Marjorie J. Tulinsky FRIENDS (GIFTS OF $2,500 TO $4,999)
Sina, CST ’84, FOX ’86, and Bernadette Adibi Angelo Armenti, Jr., CST ’65, ’70 Ralph Hillman Practical CTO, LLC James, EDU ’09, ’10, and Susan A. Varnum MEMBERS (GIFTS OF $1,000 TO $2,499)
AbbVie Inc. Employee Giving Magid Abou-Gharbia and Lamaat Shalaby Zachary R. Barrall, CST ’09, and Laura Saurman, EDU ’08, ’09 William R. Blanchard, CST ’73 Kenneth R. Brennen, CST ’62, ’66 John H. Cozzens, CST ’66 Hai-Lung Dai Arthur Donovan Dawson, CLA ’67, CST ’68, ’76
Make your gift at cst.temple.edu/giving Jessica Dinizio, CST ’01 Edward G. Howard, Jr. Trust Tiffany ElBardissi, CST ’05, EDU ’09 The Eleanor K. Kuhl Trust Calvin W. Ervin, CST ’58 Mindie S. Factor, CST ’70 Chandrakant R. Gupta, CST ’58 Edward G. Howard, Jr., CST ’43, ’45 Gerald A. Kean, CST ’65, and Marlene T. Chachkin The Kenneth Brennen Fund Pei Ann Kong, CST ’91, MED ’98 Rositsa Kotseva David, CST ’51, and Eleanor, CLA ’50, Kuhl Walden S. Lester, CST ’88, ’00, ’08 David U. Longenecker, CST ’73, ’76 Medtronic, Inc. Douglas M. Midyette, CST ’91 Edward Murphy, CST ’90 Nicholas C. Papacostas, CST ’05, MED ’11 Pfizer Foundation Paul F. Pilch, CST ’72 Claudia Pine-Simon John M. Rivers, CST ’95, ’02 Aileen, CST ’64, EDU ’69, and Melvyn Rothbard Robert M. Sacco, CST ’67 Donald A. Shaw, Jr., CST ’79, ’86 Steven W. Szczepanski, CST ’79, ’87 George Bruce Taggart, CLA ’67, CST ’71 Carolyn A. Varga Barton, CST ’56, ’60, and Lyanne Wassermann The Wassermann-Lindo Foundation Harry W. Woodcock, CST ’72 LAURA H. CARNELL ASSOCIATES (GIFTS OF $500 TO $999)
Joseph D. Andose, CST ’66 Henry Benz, CST ’67 The Burkhardt Family Fund James F. Callahan, CST ’81 Richard J. Costine, Jr., CST ’83 Michael Criss Patricia Ebsworth Davies, PHR ’81 Jaclyn Rhee Dering, CST ’73, FOX ’82 Graham Dobereiner Mark N. Gallagher, CST ’83 James J. Glick, CST ’93 W. Henry Harrison, CST ’63
Robert W. Hartley, CST ’69 Wayne Hey, CST ’71 David, CLA ’70, and Irene Hill Kanyeba Ilunga, CST ’08 Elizabeth Moore Ingraham, CST ’84 Aeyoung P. Jang, CST ’95 Henry Price Kagey, CST ’70 Kenneth B. Krauter, EDU ’89 Christopher, FOX ’08, and Kristen Kulp Lewis L. Leonard, CST ’72 Harris, CST ’82, DEN ’86, and Maxine Mann James E. McDonough, CST ’82, ’84, ’87 Vassil M. Mihaylov Lisa C. Murcko Jayne Gould Nathanson, CLA ’69, CST ’74 Novartis US Foundation Susan Punnett George A. Reichard, Jr., CST ’54, ’58 William A. Shergalis, CST ’69 David E. Tepper, CST ’64, CLA ’66, ’69 Irene N. Uzinskas, CST ’58 Christine M. Whalley, CST ’90 Melvyn A. Wolf, CST ’63 DIAMOND ASSOCIATES (GIFTS OF $250 TO $499)
Margherita C. Abe, CST ’66 Michael R. Berman, CST ’66 Eric U. Borguet Randy Brister, CST ’74, MED ’79 Paul Louis Coppola, CST ’69 Dorothy S. and Jay S. Federman Matthew, CST ’07, FOX ’12, and Kristin, KLN ’07, Fenty Marshall L. Fishman, CST ’59 Steven Fleming Denise M. Froehlich, CST ’85 Charles J. Fuller, CST ’90, ’94 Michael Alan Gealt, CST ’70 David G. Goldstein, CST ’86 JoAnne Growney, CST ’64 Leslie S. Grunes, CST ’68 Anne M. Harvey, CST ’95, ’98 Grace Hershman Arthur, CST ’69, and Alice, CLA ’68, Hewitt Anita I. Horn, CST ’79 IBM International Foundation Giorgio P. Ingargiola Bruce A. Kaiser, CST ’68, MED ’72
David K. Kalwinsky, CST ’69 Norman P. Katz, CST ’85 Harvey I. Kesselman, CST ’66 Craig A. and Paula S. Mackrides Fumio and Shigeko Matsumura Margaret M. McGowen, CST ’89 John E. Monahan, CST ’73 Vincent, CST ’59, and Marie Musco Neela and Ashok Ranade Fund Mary O. Pinkett, CST ’73 Neela K. Ranade, CST ’74 Nicholas Rodriguez Daniel Scotti, CST ’69 Scotti Family Giving Fund Randy M. Shochet, CST ’81 Robert C. Smith, Jr., CST ’74, ’77 Michael J. Sperduto, CST ’88 Franklin D. Strong, CST ’70 Richard W. Taylor, CST ’68 Evelyn Vleck Dairong Wang, CST ’11 Joseph A. Ward, CST ’78, ’82 Gaoyong Zhang, CST ’95 SECOND CENTURY ASSOCIATES (GIFTS OF $100 TO $249)
Francois G. Amar, CST ’75 ARAMARK Corporation George A. Articolo, CST ’63, ’67 Alexander Zemtsov Artsi, CST ’81 Bruce E. Beans Marshall L. Beeber, CST ’82 Lee C. Bennett, Jr., CST ’58 Michelle, CST ’92, and Steven Bessett Robert E. Beyer, CST ’65 Joseph L. Bingham, CST ’77 Edward M. Bleeden, CST ’68, and Nancy F. Lovitch Arnold I. Brenner, CST ’68 William W. Bristowe, CST ’61 Thomas J. Caggiano, CST ’83 Salvatore P. Carfagno, CST ’63 Kathy J. Carmichael, CST ’94 Clive L. Carney, FOX ’78 Emma C. Chappell, CST ’65 Jessica Clark, CST ’13 Joan, CST ’84, and Thomas P. Cleary, CST ’84 Comcast Corporation Mark Dash, CST ’84, and Jeannette Spevak-Dash Carlie W. Davis Ramona, CST ’63, and Santo, EDU ’60, Diano Lynn J. Dickerson, EDU ’01
Robin Benson Dold, CST ’01 Doris Sell Emerson, CST ’48 Richard G. Epstein, CST ’88 Samuel F. Etris, CST ’47 Maier, CST ’63, ’67, and Sonya, EDU ’65, Fein Maryann T. Fitzpatrick, CST ’83 Barbara Drobins Fles Robert Fomalont, CST ’56 Dwight C. Fulton, CST ’75, MED ’80 Nikolay Georgiev Sherry J. Gillespie, CST ’75 Carrie E. Goldkamp, CST ’99 David E. Grandstaff Richardson, CST ’71, and Lee Greenwood Jonathan R. Greifer, CST ’91 Edward R. Gruberg William G. Hagar, III, CLA ’72 Lynne Hagelin, CLA ’72 Sally P. Hartman, CST ’73 James L., CST ’73, and Hilary, CLA ’68, EDU ’70, Heckman, Xiali Hei, CST ’14 Harold L. Heller, CST ’71 Brian B. Hennigan, CST ’92 Thomas E. Henning, CST ’80 Samuel T. Henshey, CST ’75 Frank E. Hetzel, CST ’70 Jody Hey John C. Hoffmann, CST ’80 Jon C. Holland, CST ’99 Pamela L. and Kenneth E. Horvath, Jr. Wei Xin Huang, CST ’94 Michael V. Intenzo, CST ’67, ’76 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Jane R. Kornilow John R. Jaskowiak, CST ’88 Brian Jay, CST ’98 David A. Jenne, CST ’72, EDU ’74 Robert C. Johnson, CST ’72 Joann Hagis Johnson, CST ’82 Sherry A. Kaplan, CST ’88 Michael David Karaim, CST ’68 Francis L. Kelly Robert J. Kelm, Jr., CST ’86 Sheldon Philip Kerner, CST ’64 Robert Stephen Kerner, CST ’59 Marilyn Pruss Kershner, CST ’66 Lauren R. Ketterer, CST ’12 Kenneth E. King, Jr., CST ’97 William, CST ’10, and Lindsey, EDU ’11, ’12, Kleinberg Beth Karen Kocher-Ferraro, CLA ’68
Jan R. Kornilow, CST ’89 Andrew S. Kostival, Jr., CST ’74 Gerald Krantweiss, CST ’63 John A. Krawiec, CST ’80 G. William Kuhfuss, CST ’65 Svitlana Kulyk, CST ’11, ’14, and Oleksandr Isaienko, CST ’09, ’11 Arthur Larson, CST ’78 Michael Lawlor and Ann Valentine Mindy Lemoine Bernard Levy, CST ’64 Changqing Li, CST ’99 Baoguo Li, CST ’03, and Xia Zhao, CST ’04 Glenn D. Littledale, CST ’96, EDU ’98 Deborah A. Long, CST ’79 Thomas S. Lubiski Peter Mark Daniel R. Marx, CST ’73 Spiridoula Matsika Charles T. McCullough, CST ’53 Rose Marie, FOX ’82, ’91, and William, FOX ’82, McGinnis Leon N. McLin, Jr., CST ’72 George, EDU ’80, ’02, ’08, and Kimberly Ann Mehler Karen and Terry Merkle Valerie M. Monastra, CST ’98 George A. Namey, CST ’82, and Donna Woodworth-Namey Barbara Toth Newman, CST ’63 Clifford R. Nolt, CST ’08 Alvin H. Novack, CST ’54, MED ’58 Sandra Perski O’Neil, CST ’67 Palaniappan Palaiappan and Lakshmi Meenakshisundaram Chuck Pang, CST ’53 Ursula T. Parker, CST ’90 Robert M. Paschall, CST ’74 Maryrose K. Pelszynski, CLA ’87 Francis R. Pfeiffer, CST ’65 George A. Piotrowski, Jr., CST ’88 Diana M. Post, CST ’67 Andrew Price Joseph Ragucci, CST ’94 Shirley Kaskin Raines, CST ’46, ’48 Lysa L. Rieger, CST ’95 Tammi Robinson, CST ’93 Frederick W. Rogers, CST ’54 Arthur Rosenthal, CST ’64 Raymond L. Ruberg, CST ’69 William G. Rumble, CST ’59 Evelyn Rosario Runer, CST ’91 Evelyn R. Runer Sandra Volowitz Rush, CST ’64 John, CST ’86, and Elena N. Russell
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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Thatyana Morales
Using a smart watch for smoking cessation
Thatyana Morales, a CST Science Scholar, joined the machine learning lab of Associate Professor Jamie Payton on a project designed to help people stop smoking. “Right now, to stop smoking you might be prescribed a medication or, more commonly, you might try to determine what triggers your habit by tracking when and how much you smoke,” explains Morales. “But keeping a journal isn’t a very effective method for tracking and eventually changing smoking habits. People tend to overestimate or underestimate how much they smoke, or simply forget.” What if a smartwatch could track someone’s smoking behavior for them? “One challenge is having the smartwatch recognize the difference between smoking behavior and motions that denote eating, drinking, shaking hands or giving someone a high five,” Morales says. She and her colleagues handed out smartwatches to volunteers, and then instructed them to do certain activities. These activities were then turned into data points, labeled ‘fist bump’ or other motions. Once the algorithm is armed with this baseline data, the program will then predict what new motions represent—whether it’s a smoking break or a lunch break—based on what it has previously learned. “I wrote a Python script that categorized all the possible motions which helped to dramatically improve the overall accuracy of the smartwatch,” says Morales. “I’m really excited about this research because it is a way to help people directly.” Morales’ work in the Payton lab earned her poster presentation an honorable mention at the annual URP Symposium. She’s now working on using the same technology to track the motions of EMTs, which can improve training protocols and emergency care. Next up for Morales is an internship with Protiviti doing cyber security work, an area she is considering focusing on for her master’s.
Mark Russell, CST ’05 Harry W. Saffren, CST ’69, ’73 Cheryl D. Sandas, CST ’01 Robert and Elizabeth Sanders Joan W. Sarney Jeffrey, CST ’95, and Mimi S. Satterthwaite Stiliana, CST ’94, and Sergei Savin William K. Schryba, CST ’82 Robert J. Senese, CST ’54 Allison Lee Shackelton, CST ’16 Stephen and Suzanne Shackelton Nagabhusan Shashidhar, CST ’88 Terrence E. Sheridan, CST ’65 Rajinder Singh, CST ’15 Barry E. Slemmer, EDU ’67 Roy A. Snyder,CST ’63 Harriet Swern Solomon Tatiana, CST ’93, and Jay, KLN ’95, Sotingco Daniel D. Spaeth, KLN ’79, CST ’91, ’98, EDU ’00 Richard Allen Sparks, CST ’58 Robert J. Stanley Taylor Sterritt Phillip J. Stone, CLA ’72 Daniel R. Strongin Joni D. Stutman, CST ’82 G. Stephen Tint, CST ’57, ’59, ’70 Jane F. Turk, CST ’88, ’91 Frederick Robert Turoff, CST ’69, CHPSW ’91, and Diane R. Eigner, FOX ’15 Christopher W. Velasquez, CST ’13 Paul and Stephanie Walinsky Yue, CST ’07, and Bin Wang, ENG ’07 David Wikler, CST ’74 Katherine A. Willets Stephanie Wunder Tianyou Xue, CST ’87, ’92 Brian Yongqian, CST ’90, ’95, and Jean Yan Michele and Samuel S. Young, III Samuel S. Young, Jr. Tan Yuen, CST ’86, ’90 Melkamu Zeleke, CST ’98 Nanyi Zeng, CST ’09 Chong Zhang, CST ’88 Sanqi Zhang, CST ’93 CONTRIBUTORS ($1 TO $99)
Magdy M. Abdraboh, CST ’04 Salsabil A. Abou-Hatab, CST ’16 Aparanji Addanki, CST ’14 Aetna, Inc. Tanjila Afroz, CST ’17
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Mukesh P. Agarwal, CST ’92 Elorm J. Agra, CST ’15 Stevens A. Alfred Jacques G. Amar, CST ’75, ’86 Ahmed S. Amer, CST ’16 Jeffrey F. Apple, CST ’87 Barry J. Arnow, CST ’65 Ayo J. Arum, CST ’15 Donna S. August, CST ’86 Mariette Austin, CST ’75, ’78, ’83 Jay Justin Basch, CST ’68 Mercedes Nicole Bauman, CST ’18 Zandria D. Beardslee, CST ’60 Yanis Belkadi, CST ’16 Francis Michael Bellocchio Therese L. Bennett, CST ’89, and Martin Hartog Ruth Roma Berg, CHPSW ’60 David M. Berger, CST ’06 Evelyn N. Berger, EDU ’61 H. Ilene Blain, EDU ’77, ’83 Benjamin, CST ’53, ’58, and Libby, EDU ’58, Blank Alexey Alexeyvitch Bocharnikov, CST ’17 Joseph C. Bonafiglia, CST ’79 Stephen A. Borish, CST ’14 Timothy R. Bovitt James Bowen, CST ’81 Stephen K. Boyer, CST ’71, and Jane Frommer Sean P. Boyle, FOX ’98 Ian J. Braun, CST ’16 Morton E. Braunstein, CST ’66 Tiana Britton-Davison, CST ’11, FOX ’12 Ronald Brody, CST ’65 Alexandra N. Bruefach, CST ’18 Leon C. Bryan, ENG ’65 Jacquelynn Susanne Bubier, CST ’16 Jim Bun, CST ’18 Jose Francisco Calva Moreno, CST ’17 Antoinette Campbell-Thwaites, CST ’00 Ryan A. Cane, CST ’12 Philip S. Caplan, CST ’54 Mary Jane Carter Aaron M. Castro, CST ’92 Elizabeth Cerkez, CST ’16, EDU ’16 Paul, CST ’03, and Linda Chase Carrie, EDU ’89, and Orin N. Chein Eugene Cheipesh, CST ’12 Liya Chen, CST ’84, ’87
Ricky Chen, CST ’18 Nandita Chowdhury, CST ’13 Aaron Chuplis Deneen and Leonard R. Ciancaglini, Jr. Christopher Cianci, CST ’85 Lisa B. Clark, CST ’15 Stacey N. Clark Christopher T. Conwell, CST ’16 Carl David Cooper, FOX ’91 Richard W. Corvaglia, CST ’02 Joshua Crean, CST ’05 Audrey J. and Michael L. Cregger Zhi Q. Cui, CST ’13 Dorothy and Roger W. Cutitta Allison Rose Cutri, CST ’18 Andrew Paul Daigneau, CST ’16 Elizabeth A. Daugharty and James Parisi Stephanie David, CST ’18 Anthony J. Dennison, Jr., CST ’59 Amadeusz Deutry, CST ’17 Saritha Devathala, CST ’89 Kelvin Doo, CST ’18 Jasmine V. Dsouza Rabia Farhat DuBose, CST ’13 Christopher Egyed, CST ’16 Sherrie R. Ehrlich, CHPSW ’89 Jeff E. Eilenberg Mei Eisenbach, CST ’95 Burton Eisenberg, CST ’62 Frances F. Eisenberg, CST ’44 William Crawford Elliott, CST ’81 Patricia Ann Ellis, CST ’86 Marlowe Tan Estioko, CST ’15 James John Fagan, III, CST ’16 Ellen Hetland Fenwick, CST ’76 Mark D. Fields, CST ’77 Richard Michael Finelli, EDU ’04 Rachel Ann Ford, CST ’96 Gregory A. Fornia, KLN ’92 Barbara A. Fox Jenna L. Fox, CST ’11 Nicole A. Frager, CST ’10 Martin Nelson Frank, CST ’47 Benjamin K. Fraser, CST ’14 Kelley, CHPSW ’98, and Timothy C. Funk Eli Galapo, CST ’18 Kathleen T., CST ’89, and Stephen D. Gallagher Fiona G. Galzarano, CST ’17 Wendy Suzanne Gayle, CST ’89 Samuel D. Gennace, CST ’13 Kathryn E. Gensemer, CST ’14
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Katherine C. Marchildon, CST ’85 Nicolas A. Margot, CST ’95, ’97 Mary Jo Massaro, CST ’05, DEN ’09 Thomas A. Masterson, III, CST ’10 Evan J. McGinley, CLA ’88 Kathleen E. McKinley Isabel M. and Matthew McCormick Daniel R. McDevitt, CST ’15 Daniel G. McFadden, CST ’65, ’70 Jessica A. McLaughlin, CST ’16 Sandra C. McLean, CST ’70, EDU ’75 Rorthdara Mean, CST ’13 Justin Mehler Muhammad A. Memon, CST ’17 Xiangwei Meng, CST ’15 Hugh V. and Lynn C. Merkle, CHPSW ’81 Craig Banks Merow, CST ’73, EDU ’75 John L. Mikitsh, CST ’12 Eric J., CST ’80, ’81, and Lori E. Miller Todd M. Miller, CST ’86 Ariana Miranda, CST ’16 Aanal C. Modi, CST ’14 Charles D. Moore, CST ’78 David John Moore, CST ’75 Leon H. Morris, CST ’65 Msema B. Msackyi, CST ’16 Mary Catherine, CST ’83, and Thomas M. Murphy Syeda Y. Nahri, CST ’17, EDU ’17 Jae D. Nam, CST ’15 Kinnari Ramesh, CST ’99, FOX ’03, PHR ’11, and Rutesh R., ENG ’01, Narielwala Emily Melissa Naugler, CST ’17 Alan M. Neifeld, CST ’65 Deborah A. Neiman, CST ’89 Hoa T. Nguyen, CST ’07 Hoang V. Nguyen, CST ’14 Chau T. Nguyen, CST ’11 Kara T. Nguyen, CST ’17 Vinh Nguyen, CST ’12 Allen and Rhonda H. Nicholson Mollie Kohler O’Brien, CST ’16 Kyle P. O’Neill, CST ’16 Dewey Odhner, CST ’81 Clifton A. Ogburn, CST ’51 Kathleen Older, CST ’75 Jason Henry Oliver
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Angella M. Johnson, CST ’94 Constance A. Johnson, CST ’78 Johnson & Johnson Jason G. Jones, CST ’06 Betty J. Juliana-Taylor, CHPSW ’52, EDU ’60 Jonathan Kaganovich, CST ’18 Rafal Kalinowski, CST ’18 Santi S. Karnam, CST ’13 Bernard H. Katz, CST ’58 Matthew T. Keener, CST ’98 Linda M. Kent, CST ’78 Christopher Kim, CST ’08, ’14, ’16 Jaeseon Ellen Kim, CST ’15 Sharon M. Kirk, CST ’10 Kathi Kirschner S. Kalman Kolansky, CST ’59 Sandeep Kondaveeti, CST ’08 Paul L. Kornblith, CST ’58 Jessica L. Kovach, CST ’17 David J. Kovalsky, CST ’07 and Meaghan Green, KLN ’06 Amani Fawaz Kraishan Nancy E. Krody Stephanie C. Shettel Krohn, CST ’01, EDU ’03 Robert J., CST ’74, EDU ’76, and Sandra C., EDU ’72, ’79, Kruvczuk Khrystyna Kvas, CST ’16 Tyler L. Landis, CST ’14 Colleen E. Larmour, CST ’10 Emily L. Laughlin, CST ’17 Christopher L. Lawton, CST ’17 Darren M. Lee, ENG ’90 Qingyu Lei, CST ’16 Maria J. Leskiw, CST ’67 Debra Levey, CST ’92 Ronald B. Levine, CST ’68 Philip P., CST ’91, and Victoria P., FOX ’90, ’91, Lewandowski Shuang Liang, CST ’16 Nancy Fidler, CST ’86, and Peter C., CST ’86, Lim Arnold D. Litt, CST ’64 Gabriella Rose Lobitz, CST ’17 Marc and Stephanie R. Lobitz Gregory J. Long, CST ’81 Morgan Lukievics, CST ’17 Donald MacKenzie, Jr., CST ’71 Melissa Amy Magliocco, CST ’95, MED ’99 Sidney P. Maletzky, CST ’57 Justin T. Malone, CST ’05 Noopur Mandrekar, CST ’16 Aprile M. and Donald J. Mangold
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Getnet Gidelew, CST ’11, ’14 Sol Glassman, CST ’53 Yosef Yitzhak Glick, CST ’16 Heather, CST ’06, PHR ’18, and Geoffrey, ENG ’02, Go Naisha Angelica Gonzalez, CLA ’16 Meyer H. Gordon, CST ’58 Kathryn B. Gorman, CST ’71 Stan Gotskalo, CST ’17 Barbara Brody, EDU ’73, ’96, and Herbert, EDU ’69, ’87, Green Celia A. Greenman, CST ’73 Aasim D. Grinnage, CST ’03 Dorothy J. Grocott, EDU ’68, ’73 Christopher Grosso, CST ’07, FOX ’11 Daniel J. Hall, CST ’10 Ella Haluza, CST ’16 Francine Rimkus Hanley, CST ’78 Dylan Andrew Harrison, CST ’18 Lorrie and Richard Haskell, Jr. Griffin Parker Healy Shawn P. Hebb, CST ’10 Jeff K. Heckman, Jr., CST ’16 Ricky Heggan, CST ’86 Bryan Heist, CST ’16 Eileen C. Helzner, CST ’68, MED ’72 Horace Herbsman, CST ’49 Diahmon Hester, CST ’17 Taylor K. Heverly, CST ’17 Steven D. Heyen, CST ’14, FOX ’14 Brian T. Hoang, CST ’14 Giabao M. Hoang, CST ’16 Matthew Thompson Holthausen, FOX ’17 Adrian A. Hopkins Katherine L. Horn, CST ’16 Christopher Bennett Hornung, CST ’16 Ben S. Hovne, EDU ’12, CST ’12 Jie Huang, CST ’16 Dustin T. Huinh, CST ’16 Kareem Hutchinson, CST ’17 Farah Huynh, CST ’17 Anthony Infante, CST ’59 Darin M. Ipe, CST ’15 Srotoshshini Z. Isna Adedamola C. Isola, CST ’11 Nigel Concepcion Itchon, CST ’17 Brian C. Jackson, CST ’14 Shannon M. Jarrett, CST ’10 Lezlie M. Jiles
Brooke Quinn
Studying terrestrial locomotion Brooke Quinn got involved in research early—the second semester of her freshman year—working alongside Associate Professor S. Tonia Hsieh. In Hsieh’s “Lizard Lab” Quinn studies the movements of animals in order to, one day, apply this knowledge to robotics. She worked on two different projects including her “Bending Rules for Terrestrial Locomotion” which won the 2017 URP poster presentation and that she presented at the annual Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology conference. She is currently working on a project to determine the difference between tarantulas learned and adaptive locomotion behavior following limb loss and regeneration.
Conducting research with someone like Hsieh is important for Quinn because, “there are so many faculty members at Temple who are the smartest people I have ever met, and I feel so lucky that they trust me to help with projects. I am trying to absorb as much as I can from them while I am here. “Biomechanics is something I never heard of before coming to Temple,” says Quinn, who plans on pursuing a PhD in the field. “URP puts students into labs early in their college career, giving them real experiences. This helps students figure out what is research and helps you discover what you are passionate about studying.”
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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Make your gift at cst.temple.edu/giving
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Adam D. Rudman, CST ’16 Swati P. Rushi, CST ’09 Edward E., CLA ’54, ’62, and Ruth R., KLN ’55, Russell Peter M. Ryan, ENG ’61 Vaishnavi Sambandam, CST ’14 Mariya Samoylova, CST ’16 Gopikishan and Indira Samudrala Aydin Sanli, CST ’16, ’17 Cheryl B. Santos, CHPSW ’13 Elizabeth Sarkessian-Barone, CST ’68 Conrad J. Sarnecki, Jr., CST ’85 James C. Satterthwaite, CST ’89, ’92, ’96 Amanda Schantz, CST ’17, EDU ’17 Eden Samantha Schiller Charles Joseph Schneider Stephen A. Schneller, CST ’64 Lynn Schwartz Clarence P. Scoboria, III, CST ’81 Alfred G. Scottolini, CST ’50 Cecilia Desilva Selbrede, CST ’87 Laure M. Seraphin, CST ’17, EDU ’17 Aida A. Seropian, CLA ’93 Bhavin Shah, CST ’04 Ronald S. Sheinson, CST ’64 Stuart J. Shepherd, CST ’84 Milen Shishkov, CST ’92, ’99 William A. Sickel Ryan M. Sikorski, CST ’08 Anita J. Sinese, CST ’94 Nicholas W. Skari, CST ’08 Harold Slotnick, CST ’65 Suzanne Smith, CST ’95, CHPSW ’03 Jonathan Smith London Smith, CST ’17 Marybeth S. Smuts, CST ’75 Javier L. Soiza, CST ’03 Josef G. Solomon, CST ’63 Eric J. Son, CST ’17 Davy Chan Sreng, CST ’18 Ian D. Storch, CST ’10 Asher E. Stutman, CST ’65 Jamey A. Stynchula, CST ’94, ’05 Aminah A. Taylor, CST ’17 Joann Taylor Ayuka A. Tchourumoff Jennifer S. Thomas, CST ’02
College of Science and Technology
John, CST ’81, and Ann Tierney Karl A. Timbers, CST ’06 Ravindra S., CST ’73, and Ulka R. Tipnis Andrei Tishuk, CST ’13 Russell L. Tobias, CST ’70 Loretta Fitzgerald Tokoly, CST ’92, ’99 Bruce L. Tolbert, CST ’85 Diana L. Tozour, CST ’88 Gaelan Baird Tracy, CST ’17 Quinn Tran, CST ’13 Carole S. Treston, CST ’93 Aashish Tuladhar, CST ’16 Rita O. Ugorji, CST ’17 Kunthear Van, CST ’07 Mary Jane Vrooman, CST ’73 Gregory Wacker, FOX ’89 James D. Walker, CST ’66 Dylan C. Wallis, CST ’17 Matthew R. Walsh, CST ’17 Kevin W. Walton, CST ’96 Ying Wang, CST ’99 Thomas M. Weiss, CST ’80 Wucheng Wen, CST ’14 Brittany M. Wicks, CLA ’13, CST ’13, ’16, Vladimira V. Wilent Thomas E. Willey, CST ’54 Gisela S. Withers, CST ’65 Khea Che Wolff, CST ’16 Guy L. Woznicki, CST ’91 Kristal Wright, CST ’84 Xifan Wu Sheng Xiong, CST ’07, ’11 Xinghan Xiong, FOX ’17 Haotian Xu, CST ’13 Shuo Yang, CST ’03, ’07 Linda M. Yarrish David M., CST ’06, and Natasha A., EDU ’06, ’07, Yearsley David T. Yoon, CST ’15 Mitchell James Young Samuel S. Young, IV Huang Yu Michael J. Zacharkow, ENG ’67, CST ’72 Linda Zaoudeh, CST ’02 Alfred F. Zappala, Sr., CST ’53 Xiaoyi Zheng, CST ’13 Maksim Zorich, CST ’15
University Temple
Morris L. Orocofsky, CST ’64 Pedro A. Ortiz Amanze P. Orusakwe, CST ’11 Busola O. Oyesanmi, CST ’02 Vasisht Reddy Pabathi, CST ’16 Pyoung Hwa Park, CST ’13 Sheldon D. Parnes, CST ’93 Bharat Patel Chandrika P. Patel, CST ’13 Mohit Patel, CST ’16 Pinal B. Patel, CST ’12 Priyanka Patel, CST ’15, CLA ’15 Yagni Urvishbhai Patel, CST ’17 Robert L. Patrick, CST ’67 Matthew J. Pello, CST ’79 Wayne M. Perel, CST ’61 Jana P. Pezanowski, CST ’16 Neil Philips, CST ’15 Mallory Pinkowski, CST ’16 Alexandros Pitsakis, CST ’14 Jillian A. Ploof, CST ’09 Anthony Michael Poidomani, CST ’17 Joseph D. Poidomani, TYL ’14 Susan C. Poole, CLA ’92, CHPSW ’10, ’15 Theodore B. Porter, CST ’66 Steven E. Pottash, CST ’85 Aakash Pradeep, CST ’13 Sowjanya N. Prayaga, CST ’18 Rizwan M. Qazi, CST ’03 Amilkar Quintero Laura Raimondo-Coffey, CLA ’09 Daniele Ramella Marlene Rosenzweig Ratner, CST ’63 Thomas A. Reeves, CST ’52 Aziz Ur Rehaman, CST ’03 Danae Richardson, CST ’14 Ilene B. Richmond, CST ’64 Florence E., CST ’65, ’68, and Anthony L., DEN ’63, Riesner Per Arne Rikvold, CST ’84 Kosta Ristovski, CST ’13 Ernest Rivera, CST ’18 Ammy A. Rodriguez Martin M. Roffman, CST ’68 Eric Paul Rosen, CST ’66 Robert Rosenfeld, CST ’60 Ruth B. Rothman, CST ’52 Frederick Rothwarf, CST ’51, ’53, ’60
Daniel Turner
A passion for conservation Environmental science graduate Daniel Turner (BS ’18, EES) has a passion for conservation, ecology and evolution. Working in the lab of Laura H. Carnell Professor S. Blair Hedges, Turner began assembling phylogenetic trees—branching diagrams to show the evolutionary relationships between different species—of Haitian toads by extracting, amplifying and sequencing toad DNA. On a separate project in the Hedges lab, Turner identified new Dominican and Haitian frog species by comparing physical body characteristics between closely related species. “Without recognizing these new species, we do not know which species are going extinct,” Turner says. “Some of these frogs are extinct already, so this project helps us recognize biodiversity loss and focus conservation initiatives.” While working with Caribbean amphibians, Turner also studied beneficial insects and spiders on farms in and around Philadelphia under the mentorship of Assistant Professor Jocelyn Behm. In Behm’s Integrative Ecology Lab, Turner identified these animals and used geographic information systems to make connections between urbanization and these biological communities from novel agricultural environments. “I would not be going into a PhD program and a top lab at Michigan State University if it weren’t for my experiences in URP,” says Turner, who, while at Temple, earned a presentation award at the Mid-Atlantic Ecological Society of America Conference and co-authored a research article. “It set the initial foundation of funding and support to pursue the research questions that I care about deeply.”
CLASS NOTES James Guare (BA ’77, MA ’83, Chem) has joined the CST Alumni Board, starting his second stint as a member of the organization that seeks to build a stronger connection between the college and its graduates. Steven Szczepanski (BA ’80, PhD ’85, Chem) has been elected president of the CST Alumni Board and is chair of the Board’s Owl to Owl Mentor Committee. Antoinette Campbell (BS ’00, Chem), a chemist with the Philadelphia Police Department Office of Forensic Science, founded and runs the nonprofit Association of Women in Forensic Science and Club Philly Forensics, a series of hands-on workshops for kids. Predrag Radivojac (PhD ’04, CIS), a professor in the department of computer science at Indiana University, is leading a team of researchers working on cures for multiple myeloma, a form of cancer, and several other diseases. Sarah DeVaul Princiotta (BS ’10, PhD ’16, Bio) is a postdoctoral research associate with Murray State University’s Hancock Biological Station in Kentucky. Jae Hwang (BS ’15, Bio) is a production supervisor at Rockland Immunochemicals, Inc., a Pennsylvania-based company specializing in antibodies and antibody-based tools for basic research and assay development. Luca Pallucchini (MS ’15, Math) participated in an actuarial internship at Swiss Re, the world’s largest reinsurer, in its New York State office. Kim Reuter (PhD ’15, Bio) is senior technical director of Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa at Conservation International, one of the world’s foremost environmental organizations. Danielle M. (Young) DeLeo (PhD ’16, Bio) is a postdoctoral fellow at Florida International University researching the evolution of bioluminescence in deep-sea crustaceans.
Craig Stanley, Jr. (PhD ’17, Bio) is a data scientist for Elsevier, a global health-care solutions, information and analytics company. Alexander Cagle (BS ’18, EES), who conducted undergraduate research investigating the potential impacts of large-scale solar energy development on soil and hydrological processes through field experiments at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s solar test site and data analysis, has begun a master’s program at the University of California-Davis. Allison Cutri (BS ’18, Chem) is now at the University of Notre Dame’s analytical chemistry PhD program. Alexandra Jones (BA ’18, Math) will continue research on coastal phytoplankton response to rising sea temperatures with Rob Kulathinal, assistant professor of biology at Temple, before pursuing a graduate degree in oceanography or planetary science. Marquis Maynard (BS ’18, Bio) is attending medical school at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. As a participant in CST’s Undergraduate Research Program, Maynard worked on cold-adapted photolyase, an enzyme that is very cold sensitive, where he learned “pressing on after…failures” is what leads to great discoveries. Aaron McLeod (BS ’18, Chem) is enrolled in the physical chemistry PhD program at the University of California-San Diego. Victoria Rivera-Banuchi (MS ’18, EES), who presented at the 2018 Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, and won an LPI Career Development Award to support her conference travel, will begin her PhD studies at Stony Brook University this fall. Ian Schwartz (BS ’18, Phys) attended a prestigious summer-long, NSF-funded optics-based research experience in Singapore at Nanyang Technological University. Taylor Spoon (BS ’18, Bio) was recently elected to the board of the Temple University Young Alumni Association, which aims to enrich the lives of alumni by fostering a lifelong relationship with Temple.
Janne Pfeiffenberger (PhD ’17, Bio) is a postdoctoral fellow at Tufts University researching fish propulsion and movement.
Keep CST up to date! Email CSTalum@temple.edu to share your recent news and accomplishments. 2018–2019 CST ALUMNI BOARD MEMBERS Margherita Abe (BA ’66, Chem) Sina Adibi (BA ’84, CIS; FOX ’86) Olivia Calabro, Class of 2017 Terry Dougherty (BA ’74, Chem; FOX ’86) Jennifer Gresh (BS ’98, EES) James Guare (BA ’77, MA ’83, Chem) Eileen Helzner (BS ’68, Bio; MED ’72) Sandra Ilunga (BA ’08, Bio) Christine Kane (BA ’09, Bio)
Pallavi Kotturu (BS ’17, CIS) Justin Malone (BS ’05, Bio) Christian Obasi (MS ’08, EES) Shirley Shpungin (BS ’13, PSM ’14, Bio) Franklin Strong (BA ’70, Bio) Joni Stutman (BA ’82, CIS) Steven Szczepanski (BA ’80, PhD ’85 Chem) John Tierney (PhD ’81, Chem)
IN MEMORIAM Matthew E. Johnson (BA ’41, Chem) Virginia L Yonan (BA ’46, Bio; EDU ’61) Peter Hagis Jr. (EDU ’50; MA ’52, Math) Harold Yaffa (BA ’57, MA ’59, Bio) Donald J. Frost (BA ’61, Chem) Marilyn Weiss Gordon (BA ’63, Sci; EDU ’64) Fred S. Paul (BA ’64, Math)
Jacqueline Waldman Patterson (BA ’65, Phys) Thomas C. Tweedie Jr. (PhD ’65, Phys) Ying l Yao (MA ’66, Phys) Robert J. Porte (BA ’73, Sci; MED ’78) Kevin F. Kline (MA ’02, Bio; POD ’06) Sarah E. Lyter (BA ’14, EES)
OUTLOOK / Fall 2018
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2018 graduates headed for future success Alex Bruefach, (BS ’18, Bio/Chem)
didn’t realize how beneficial Philadelphia and Temple would be for me to follow a pre-med track,” he says.
Temple has been transformative for Alex Bruefach. She didn’t have a declared major when she arrived, but she found her way. After conducting undergraduate research for three years at Temple and two summers at Stanford University, she is now in a materials science and engineering PhD program at the University of California, Berkeley.
While at CST, he took medical mission trips to Togo, where he helped care for underserved patients, and to Ghana, where he assisted doctors with surgical patients. He then worked as a Temple University Emergency Medical Services provider.
MATERIALS SCIENCE AT BERKELEY
Alex Bruefach
“Materials science is a broad, interdisciplinary field. I’m excited to pursue new opportunities at Berkeley,” says Bruefach, who will be utilizing electron microscopy to characterize materials. Bruefach earned two fellowships from Berkeley, including one to participate in an inaugural research internship at a Department of Energy Office of Science lab. Bruefach began her Temple career working as an undergraduate research assistant with Bettina Buttaro, an associate professor of microbiology and immunology with the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. “It changed my trajectory,” says Bruefach. “I realized that I loved being involved in research and discovery.”
Ralph Casey St. Luce
During her last year at Temple, she studied the ability of ferritin, a mammalian protein, to reduce chromate, an environmental toxin. She also volunteered extensively, tutoring chemistry students and leading community service programs. “It’s been rewarding,” she says. “That’s why, ultimately, I want to become a professor. It’s really become important to me to continue to conduct research and mentor.”
Ralph Casey St. Luce (BS ’18, Biochem) PENN’S PERELMAN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Saabira Markar
It has been quite a journey for Ralph Casey St. Luce. Born and raised in Florida, he attended a private high school in Togo, Africa and now attends the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. He’s also considering taking advantage of Penn’s joint MD/MBA program, offered in conjunction with Penn’s Wharton School. “I want to work with patients, but I also want a career that allows me to be engaged in more than just a clinical role,” St Luce says. St. Luce developed a global perspective while in Togo. Instead of returning to Florida, he chose Temple. “I
To better understand the research medicine is based upon, he worked in the genetics laboratory of Darius Balciunas, associate professor of biology. “Seeing the healthcare disparities in West Africa motivated me to pursue a healthcare career,” concludes St. Luce. “Eventually, I want to become a doctor who can do something about the severe lack of healthcare infrastructure there.”
Saabira Markar (BS ’18, Math)
AMERICA’S BEST ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL
Torn between math and art, Saabira Markar covered her bets by majoring in applied mathematics and minoring in art. It paid off. Markar is pursuing a master’s in industrial design at the Parsons School of Design at the New School in New York City, considered the country’s best art and design school. Markar believes math was a major factor in her Parsons’ acceptance. One sample in her admissions portfolio was a complex analysis proof involving circles in a Möbius transformation. “When I decided I was interested in design, I didn’t realize that math would feel so relevant,” she says. Markar initially attended another university, but struggles with alcohol use forced her to drop out. While recovering, she worked at a bank in Philadelphia and took night courses at Temple University Center City to prove to herself she could complete her degree. Sober since 2014, Markar says, “Today, my past doesn’t seem like the barrier that it once was for me to be successful.” Her experience working at Venmo, the mobile payment app, inspired her to dream. “I want to start my own design business, my own brand,” she says. “I want to expose the world to the beauty of mathematics through the design of everyday objects.”
—Bruce E. Beans 32
College of Science and Technology
REAL-WORD RESEARCH WITH WORLD-CLASS RESEARCHERS MEANS CST STUDENTS HAVE AN EDGE IN GRADUATE SCHOOL AND THE JOB MARKET. The Undergraduate Research Program offers top students the opportunity to work alongside experienced researchers, from CST and across Temple University. Your gift means more students get that experience. Out in the field, in the lab or at a powerful computer, students in URP learn what it takes to do advanced research: theoretical knowledge, technical skill, critical thinking and how to persevere through failure and build on success. The experience is essential to being accepted into a top graduate and professional school or to landing a high-paying
job in geology, biotechnology, information science and other growing sectors. Most universities simply don’t offer such an extraordinary opportunity for their undergraduates. CST does. But we need your support to offer URP to more students. To learn more about supporting URP, contact Stephen Bergonzi, CST Major Gift Officer, at 215.204.8192 or stephen.bergonzi@temple.edu. Or make a gift at giving.temple.edu/URP
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MENTORS MAKE A DIFFERENCE As a CST graduate, you’ve earned your success. Why not share your experience with a Temple student? Mentors help students think about what they want to achieve in life, set goals and map out strategies for achieving their dreams. In just a few meetings a year, you can share your knowledge with a student who is looking to enter your field, whether its research, business, academia or as an entrepreneur.
Learn more about the Owl to Owl Mentor Program and how you can make a difference in a CST student’s education at cst.temple.edu/mentor
