Frontiers Summer 1999

CBS News

Kudos

Bridgette Barry, professor of biochemistry, molecular biology, and biophysics (BMBB), received the National Honorary Member award from Iota Sigma Pi. Given every three years, the award recognizes "exceptional and significant achievement in chemistry." It is the highest honor that Iota Sigma Pi, the national honor society for women chemists, bestows.

BMBB professor David Bernlohr received the CBS Stanley Dagley Distinguished Teacher Award at commencement June 12. The award--named for the late Dagley, a Regents Professor of Biochemistry who was known for his excellence as a teacher--honors outstanding contributions to undergraduate education.

Elmer Birney, professor of ecology, evolution, and behavior (EEB), received the Hartley H.T. Jackson Award from the American Society of Mammalogists in recognition of his long and outstanding service to the society.

Anne Caton, Plant Biology administrative director, received a 1999 President's Award for Outstanding Service. The award recognizes faculty and staff throughout the University whose service goes well beyond their regular duties and who demonstrate unusual commitment to the University community.

The University of Minnesota is one of two universities in the nation to receive the first Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Technology Development Grant, which will provide up to $2.5 million over the next five years for the development of "Sleeping Beauty," a novel system for transferring genes into vertebrate cells. The university was selected from more than 90 applicant institutions, each of which was permitted to submit only one project proposal. Assistant professor Stephen Ekker is the principal investigator; professor Perry Hackett, assistant professor David Largespaeda, and professor Scott McIvor are co-investigators. All are in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology, and Development.

An honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Minnesota was conferred upon Eville Gorham, Regents Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Botany, by University President Mark Yudof and Regent David Metzen at the CBS commencement June 12.

Transitions

Bridgette Barry has been promoted to professor of biochemistry, molecular biology, and biophysics.

Jane Phillips, Instructional Labs coordinator, has been promoted to education specialist.

Robert Sterner has been promoted to professor of ecology, evolution, and behavior.

The following faculty and staff retired during the 1998-99 academic year: Eville Gorham, EEB professor; Robert McKinnell, Genetics and Cell Biology professor; Frank McKinney, EEB professor; Richard Phillips, EEB professor; Irwin Rubenstein, Plant Biology professor; Sandy Stai, BMBB executive secretary; John Tester, EEB professor; and Larry Theis, BMBB lead stores clerk.

LaVell Henderson, professor emeritus of biochemistry, died Saturday, May 29, of a heart attack at his home in Sandy, Utah. He was 81. A national leader in nutritional science, he had served as president of the American Institute of Nutrition, chair of the Nutrition Study Section of the National Institutes of Health, and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Nutrition.

Henderson joined the University in 1963 as professor and head of the biochemistry department; he was department head for 11 years. He became associate dean of CBS in 1978, a position he held until his retirement in 1984. He received an honorary Doctor of Science degree in 1974 and the Centennial Recognition Award in 1988 from his alma mater, Utah State University.

He is survived by his wife, Maurine Criddle Henderson; daughters Janet Landerman, Jeanne Dickey, and Linda Buchman; nine grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. The family suggests that memorials be sent to CBS' L.M. Henderson Scholarship Fund.

Outreach

The Life Sciences Summer Undergraduate Research Programs, coordinated through CBS, are hosting 85 students this year--55 women and 30 men. Eighty of the participants went to the Lake Itasca Forestry and Biological Station June 11­14 for an orientation retreat. Participants come from about 61 colleges and universities across the United States and Puerto Rico and include 12 African American, 11 Asian American, 5 Chicano/Latino/Hispanic, 1 Native Pacific Islander, and 2 Puerto Rican students.

News

Schematic plans for the new Molecular and Cellular Biology Building in Minneapolis were presented at the June regents meeting. Demolition of the Owre-Millard-Lyon complex started August 2; groundbreaking for the new building is slated for early fall 1999.

The first-ever Biology Week, sponsored by CBS, was held April 12­16 and included a biology fair featuring student biology clubs, panel discussions, the annual CBS Career and Internship Fair, a freshman information fair, and International Day.

Students

Sixteen CBS students and three CLA biology majors presented their research at the 13th Annual National Conference on Undergraduate Research, held April 8­10 at the University of Rochester in New York.

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