Dr. Yoonho Ahn, visiting professor in physics, published a paper in the Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids in collaboration with Dr. Hyunsoo Kim, assistant professor of physics. This work advances the potential application of ferroelectric thin films in next-generation memory devices utilizing non-volatile ferroelectric domain walls.
Dr. Mehrzad Boroujerdi, CASE dean and professor of history and political science, published “Nepotism in the Islamic Republic of Iran,” on Clingendael (Netherlands Institute of International Relations) Blog (Dec. 19, 2024).
Dr. Jeffrey Chalfant, assistant teaching professor of education and 4-H State Specialist in STEM, received a $64,042 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation for a project titled “CBL Community Planning Grant: Aerospace Day Camp Initiative.”
Dr. Gerald Cohen, professor of German, recently contributed three entries to the Comments on Etymology series, which he edits. In these works, Cohen continues to explore his hypothesis that the most ancient form of Greek writing, Linear B, contains elements influenced by Egyptian hieroglyphs. Linear B, discovered in 1900 and deciphered in 1952, predates the familiar Greek alphabet and bears no resemblance to it, adding a layer of complexity to its study. For further details, see here, here and here.
Dr. Dave Duvernell, chair and professor of biological sciences, has been awarded a $6,966 grant from the Missouri Department of Conservation for his project titled “A Genomic Evaluation of Hatchery Adaptation in Topeka Shiner (Notropis topeka).”
Dr. Irina Ivliyeva, chair of arts, languages, and philosophy, and Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor of Russian, delivered a keynote lecture titled “Digital Feedback as a Factor in Optimizing Communication Skills Development in Learning Russian as a Second Language Across Face-to-Face, Blended, and Distance Formats” during the European Science and Technology Week celebration at the University of St. Cyril and St. Methodius, College of Philosophy and Arts, in Trnava, Slovakia, on Nov. 13. Ivliyeva also contributed a book chapter titled “Maximizing Student Learning Outcomes in ‘Scientific Russian:’ A Case Study” to the edited collection Teaching Russian Through STEM: Contexts, Tools, and Approaches (December 2025). Drawing on her signature courses, “Scientific Russian” 3790 and 5790, she emphasizes the increasing demand for language courses tailored to students pursuing degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). In the chapter, Ivliyeva addresses the unique challenges of teaching Russian as a morphologically complex language, with a particular focus on vocabulary and syntax specific to STEM contexts.
Dr. Shelley Minteer, director of the Kummer Institute Center for Resource Sustainability and professor of chemistry, published a new software package for optimization of His-tag placement in enzyme expression systems in ACS Bio & Med Chem Au.
Dr. Simeon Mistakidis, assistant professor of physics, published two articles in APS Physical Review A Letters in collaboration with researchers from Harvard University, the University of California Merced, the Institute of Physics in São Carlos, Brazil, and the Naval Academy, Maryland. The first article explores the breaking and localization of Cooper pairs in an atomic Fermi superfluid interacting with a Rydberg impurity. In his second article, Mistakidis and his collaborators demonstrated the potential to create fractional photon emission using microwave cavity Rydberg spectroscopy.
Dr. Kathryn Northcut, professor of English and technical communication, has been selected as a Fulbright Specialist and will travel to North South University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in February 2025. During her visit, Northcut will collaborate with grant writers and researchers, leveraging her expertise in proposal development to help expand their research capacity and enhance their success in securing funding.
Dr. Michael Peterson, assistant professor of philosophy, presented his paper titled “Not Universal Enough: Gramsci, Derrida, and a Hermeneutics of Transformative Inheritance” at the international conference “Hermeneutical Rationality and the Future of the Humanities” in Coimbra, Portugal. This event was held in celebration of the 75th anniversary of UNESCO's International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies and World Philosophy Day.
Dr. Ross Channing Reed, lecturer of philosophy, has published an article in the International Journal of Philosophical Practice titled "The Double Valence of Trauma in the Age of Techno-Surveillance." A seasoned philosophical counselor in private practice, Reed is recognized for his work on philosophical counseling and trauma. His forthcoming book, Precarity, Trauma, Addiction, Love, is set to be published by Bloomsbury-Lexington Books in 2025, further cementing his contributions to the field.
Dr. Michelle Schwartze and Julia Alexander, assistant teaching professors in education, presented their work at the Hawaii International Conference on Education in Honolulu, Hawaii. Dr. Schwartze shared insights on integrating STEAM activities into elementary classrooms and fostering collaboration with local schools to enhance educational outcomes. Professor Alexander discussed strategies for implementing the science of reading in early childhood classrooms, emphasizing evidence-based approaches to literacy development.
Dr. Kathleen Sheppard, professor of history and political science, participated in two notable events this January. On Jan. 12, she joined New York Times best-selling author Fiona Davis in conversation at the Kansas City launch of Davis’s latest book, The Stolen Queen, held at the Unity Temple on the Plaza. On Jan. 25, she co-hosted a workshop on cylinder seal making for the Missouri Chapter of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE), where she serves as a board member.
Dr. Pablo Sobrado, the Richard K. Vitek/FCR Endowed Chair of Biochemistry, received a $984,000 collaborative research grant from NSF to study flavin-dependent monooxygenases (FMOs), which are enzymes from plants that synthesize special molecules used for their defense. He also published a research paper in Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics. The study uncovers the unique mechanism of regulation for the flavoenzyme 2-haloacrylate. It reports a light-dependent regulation of the reaction with NADH. Specifically, the research demonstrates that blue light activates the enzyme, enabling it to react with NADH.
Dr. Greg Tschumper, Castleman Professor of Discovery in the Department of Chemistry, received a $301,463 grant from NSF for a project using computational quantum chemistry to probe non-covalent interactions between and within molecules. He also published an article titled “On the nature of hydrogen bonding in the H2S dimer” in Nature Communications, and presented a plenary lecture on the “Vibrational Signatures of Hydrogen Bonding and Halogen Bonding” at the 10th Symposium on Electronic Structure and Molecular Dynamics (SeedMol) held Nov. 4-8 in Pirenópolis, Brazil.
