Dear CASE students, faculty, and staff,
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The fall semester is fully underway, and campus events have started! I want to thank all of you who attended the New Student Convocation on Sept. 22. I loved being a part of it, meeting all the new first-year students and their families, and then celebrating with them at the fall Equinox event.
After connecting at such events in-person, I encourage everyone to connect online on CASE’s new LinkedIn account. Please follow our new page so that we can build an online community of students and scholars who support each other.
Speaking of events, the library is hosting Americans and the Holocaust, a traveling exhibition from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, now until Saturday, Oct. 22. S&T is one of only 50 libraries in the United States that gets to host this exhibit, and faculty from our college have been invited to share their expertise on topics related to the exhibit. There are also opportunities to volunteer as the Library hosts junior high and high school students during the exhibition.
Finally, I want to wrap up my letter by bragging about the new environmental science program for undergraduates. The launch of this new program has been very successful, and the degree exemplifies our interdisciplinary nature in CASE. Dr. Robin Verble, program director, describes it as an opportunity for students to examine the ways humans are rapidly changing our planet and find sustainable solutions for a growing job market. Students will tackle some of the most pressing environmental problems of our time: energy and climate change, food and agriculture, urbanization, biodiversity and conservation, human health, sustainable natural resources management, environmental justice, green politics, and energy economics. The degree provides opportunities to study abroad, work with faculty on scientific research, and get involved with the Ozark Research Field Station.
As always, if you would like to share any news for future editions, email my executive assistant, Megan Fowler, and we will include it in our monthly newsletters.
See you all at the homecoming events Oct. 21-23!
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Welcome to Joely Hall (psychological science) and Eli Witt (mathematics and statistics), our new Evans Dean’s Scholars!
Chemistry doctoral students Raheemat Rafiu and Puspa Aryal presented their research at the American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago.
Student John Simmons, advised by Audra Merfeld-Langston, Irina Ivliyeva, and Yu-Hsien Chiu completed his ALP capstone project Creation of a Neural Network for the American Sign Language to Russian Translation App. It is published in Scholars Mine.
Abigail Wilson published research she began in the First Year Research Experiences (FYRE) program in Science Direct. “How do people judge the immorality of artificial intelligence versus humans committing moral wrongs in real-world situations” is co-authored with Dr. Daniel Shank (associate professor, psychological science) and former graduate student Courtney Stefanik.
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Emilia Barbosa (assistant professor, arts, languages, and philosophy) published “Performing Violence: Regina José Galindo and Guatemala” in MLA’s Teaching Central American Literature in a Global Context (Eds. Gloria Elizabeth Chacón and Mónica Albizúrez Gil). She was also elected co-chair of Latin American Studies Association’s Gender and Feminisms Section.
Amy Belfi (assistant professor, psychological sciences) was recently appointed as a member of the Board of Directors for the International Association of Empirical Aesthetics.
Mehrzad Boroujerdi (dean, CASE) presented a paper at the biannual conference of the Association for Iranian Studies held in Salamanca, Spain (Aug. 31).
Amitava Choudhury (associate professor, chemistry) received a $110,000 grant from the American Chemical Society’s Petroleum Research Fund for a project titled “Developing sustainable catalyst for propane dehydrogenation: A fundamental case study on iron substituted zeolitic frameworks.” The period of performance is from Sept. 1, 2022, through Aug. 31, 2024.
Gerald Cohen (professor, arts, languages, and philosophy) was interviewed for a local Youngstown, Ohio TV news program about the origin of the hot dog. His work on the origin of the term “jazz” was also mentioned in the magazine Syncopated Times.
Kate Drowne (professor, English and technical communication) appeared in a “History by the Numbers” episode on the Smithsonian Channel. Her contribution focused on the “The Roaring Twenties.”
David Duvernell (professor and chair, biological sciences) received a $26,808 grant from the Missouri Department of Conservation for a project titled “Development and validation of eDNA biomonitoring resources.” With this addition, the award totals $128,345.00 and expires on June 30, 2023.
Shane Epting (assistant professor, arts, languages and philosophy) published “The Ethics of Agribusiness: Justice and Global Food in Focus (Routledge, 2022).
Michel Gueldry (professor, arts, languages, and philosophy) published an article titled "Developing Linguistic and Intercultural Competence through an International Engineering Program: Rationale, Procedures, Lessons Learned" in the journal Global Advances in Business Communication.
Yue-Wern Huang (professor, biological sciences) has been named the interim director of the Center for Biomedical Research, CBR, effective Sept. 1, 2022.
Irina Ivliyeva (professor, arts, languages, and philosophy) published an article in Interactive Science titled “Development of the terminology of word-formation synthesis. Peculiarities of the terminological system (on the basis of the verbs of the sound of the Russian language).”
Alanna Krolikowski (assistant professor, history and political science) was quoted in a Popular Science article about China’s Tiangong space station.
Vadym Mochalin (associate professor, chemistry) presentation at the 2022 conference of the Materials Research Society was featured in the organization’s newsletter. Vadym is developing a "superlubricant" for Mars rovers that would help extend their service life when exposed to the Martian surface's extreme temperature and other climatic phenomena. Read more here.
Manashi Nath (associate professor, chemistry) received a $548,308 NSF grant for a project titled “CAS: Understanding Structural Metamorphosis of Transition Metal Chalcogenide Electrocatalyst Interfaces” to study surface structure of highly efficient water splitting electrocatalysts.
Prakash Reddy (professor, chemistry) received a $500,000 grant from the United States Army for a project titled “Designing Self-Decontaminating Fibers and Fabrics: Toxicity Mitigation of Organophosphate-Based Pesticides and Nerve Agents.” The period of performance is from Sept. 30, 2022 through Sept. 29, 2025.
David Samson (assistant professor, arts, languages, and philosophy) published an article titled “The Establishment of the Swinney Conservatory of Music at Central Methodist University” in the Journal of Historical Research in Music Education.
Kyle Wernke’s (assistant professor, arts, languages and philosophy and S&T’s orchestra director) original composition, “BURST,” has been selected as the winner of the 2022 American Prize in Orchestral Composition, professional division.
Congratulations to Dave Westenberg (professor, biological sciences) for being named a University of Missouri Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor.
John McManus (Curators’ Distinguished Professor, History and Political Science) was the featured speaker for the 7th Infantry Division's Senior Leader Seminar (Sep 9-10, Fort Lewis, WA), which is part of the Army's Pacific Command. John kicked off the 36th season of the World War II History Round Table (September 12-13, Minneapolis, MN) by giving a presentation on his book Island Infernos. He also gave a presentation about his other book Fire and Fortitude, and participated in a panel as part of the National Pacific War Museum's Annual Symposium (September 16-17, Fredericksburg, TX).
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CASE is proud to announce the establishment of the “Marilyn Y. Vitek Philanthropic Fund”. This fund will provide financial support for undergraduate students majoring in a degree within the Department of Chemistry and participating in summer research opportunities. The award will be given to at least one undergraduate student annually, and each student selected will receive a minimum of $3,000 stipend. Preference will be given to undergraduate students who have already been active in undergraduate research as participants in the First-Year Research Experience (FYRE), and/or Opportunities for Undergraduate Research Experiences (OURE) programs, and/or have been conducting research as part of experiential learning, and/or have been enrolled in Chemistry 4099 or similar, and/or have been working with faculty on grant-supported research.
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- History of our College. See here.
- List of Awards, Honors and Recognition Received by our college faculty since 2017. See here
- List of books published by our college faculty since 2019. See here.
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Jackie Sansone is CASE’s new fiscal manager. Jackie grew up in Cuba, Missouri, and has been employed by the university since January 2017. Jackie and her husband have raised two daughters. This year has been a big one for their family, with the oldest daughter getting married and the youngest daughter due with her first child
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in November. Jackie’s career at S&T started in graduate studies where she was the receptionist for three years. She then moved into GGPE before becoming a finance and accounting specialist in the CEC fiscal service center. Jackie is also very involved in on-campus activities and is the current vice-president of staff council. She has many hobbies, but her favorites are to refinish antique furniture and painting.
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Dr. Ryan Cheek, assistant professor in English and technical communication, grew up enjoying everything the foothills of the Wasatch mountains and the sprawling metropolis of Salt Lake City had to offer. After winning back-to-back state high school forensics championships in extemporaneous speaking and policy debate,
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Ryan accepted a scholarship to join the debate team at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah. He ended his undergraduate policy debate career in 2008 with tournament accolades, a Bachelor of Science in Sociology, and a graduate assistantship to coach debate at the University of Wyoming atop the famously high (elevation: 7,165’) Laramie Plains. Upon graduating in 2011 with a Master of Arts in Communication, Ryan accepted a non-tenure track faculty position as the Assistant Director of Forensics and Instructor of Communication at his alma mater Weber State University.
In 2017, Dr. Cheek decided to pursue a PhD in Technical Communication & Rhetoric at Utah State University, where he recently graduated from in May 2022. He brings extensive experience teaching courses in civic advocacy and his research addresses how technical rhetoric(s) and technological phenomena iterate social relations, political ideologies, and ethical commitments in apocalyptic times. Ryan is currently focused on the impact that emerging political communication technologies have on democratic politics and electoral contests across the country. His work has been published by leading disciplinary journals such as Technical Communication Quarterly, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, Communication Design Quarterly, and the Journal of Technical Writing & Communication.
Ryan met his spouse Jamie while competing against her at debate tournaments over many years. As in-district rivals, the pair had many opportunities to hone their argumentation skills against one another before marrying in 2008. Jamie Cheek previously worked as a district director for the Utah State Office of Rehabilitation, and she currently works as a clinic practice manager at Phelps Health here in Rolla. Ryan and Jamie have two daughters: Audrey, who recently started kindergarten; and Alice, who attends daycare at the S&T Child Development Center. The Cheek family is excited to grow with the Missouri S&T and Rolla communities over many wonderful years to come.
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Teacher education and certification faculty have run two successful, three-day workshops for substitute teachers and paraprofessionals. The interactive workshops are approved by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education as an alternative to the online, asynchronous training. Teacher education is currently the only college approved to offer this training in workshop format rather than as a class. During the workshops, participants worked in small groups, designed and taught a lesson, and learned techniques for managing a class. On the final day of the workshop, local school districts met with participants in a mini job fair. Over 50 people have completed the workshops, and the next offering is in January. For more information, click here.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) awarded a $20,000 Teacher Recruitment and Retention grant to teacher education and certification. This grant will fund high school students taking education dual credit courses synchronously online. The course, taught by a TEC professor who visits each school once a month, is the first course in the education curriculum. Five rural school districts have juniors and seniors participating in the course. These 19 students will all visit campus in October for a full day field trip. Dual credit is part of the “Grow Your Own Teacher” initiative promoted by DESE to combat the teacher shortage.
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Army ROTC recently conducted its first collective training event of the year. The cadets are back in session from a year of laudable accomplishments. These accomplishments include three cadets’ graduation from advanced military development schools (Airborne/Air Assault), the military and physical skills team (Ranger Challenge) finishing in the top 1% of Army ROTC programs in the nation at the United States Military Academy (West Point) last May and succeeding in 80% of our cadets receiving a rating of “Excellent” or above at Cadet Summer Training. Bigger things coming this year!
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Consider making a gift, in any amount, to the College of Arts, Science, and Education to support the dedicated teaching and impactful research that is done by our faculty and students daily. Click here to contribute.
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College of Arts, Sciences, and Education
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118 Fulton Hall, 301 W. 14th Street, Rolla, MO 65409
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Copyright 2022, Curators of the University of Missouri
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