Category Archives: Faculty

Professor Honored for Frequently Cited Article

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University Associate Professor of Chemistry Ram Mohan will be honored during the American Chemical Society (ACS) national conference in August for an article he co-authored.

The article, “Bismuth compounds in organic synthesis. Bismuth nitrate catalyzed chemoselective synthesis of acylals from aromatic aldehydes,” originally published in a 2004 issue of the international journal Tetrahedron, has been named one of the “Top-50 most cited articles” for the journal from 2004-2007. Authors of the 50 papers will be honored at a dinner during the ACS conference in Boston.

Tetrahedron publishes five monthly journals covering different aspects of science, which are among the most accessed journals worldwide. According to James Milne publisher of the “Organic & Inorganic Chemistry” version of Tetrahedron, more than one million articles are downloaded each month.

First Director of Mellon Center Retires

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Adlai H. Rust Professor of Insurance and Finance and Director of Institutional Research and Planning Mona Gardner will retire at the end of July after a distinguished 19-year career as a faculty member and administrator at Illinois Wesleyan University. For her outstanding contributions and achievements over the years, Gardner has been given the title of Professor Emerita by the IWU Board of Trustees.

“She has touched the lives of students, faculty, staff and four presidents,” said Illinois Wesleyan President Richard F. Wilson. “Mona is an exemplary teacher, researcher, scholar and colleague. She has been an indispensable member of the campus administration. She is a mentor to many people, and alumni cite her as an outstanding instructor.”

Gardner has been a pioneer on campus since she became the first May Term Director in 1994. She was appointed the first Director of the Mellon Center for Faculty and Curriculum Development when it was established in 1995, and was named the first associate dean of faculty the following year. In 2002, Gardner became the first to hold her current title as the Director of Institutional Research and Planning. She was named the Adlai H. Rust Professor of Insurance and Finance in 1989. In 1993, Gardner received IWU’s DuPont Award for Teaching Excellence based on her contributions to teaching, scholarship and service.

Throughout her tenure at Illinois Wesleyan, Gardner has been a leader on campus. She has served as the chair of the Business Administration Department and the director of the Division of Business and Economics. Gardner oversaw the self-study for the University’s accreditation. As a chair member of the personnel council, she spearheaded changes for promotion and tenure at the University. As an administrative liaison and ad hoc member of the Curriculum Council and Faculty Development Committee, Gardner helped implement the General Education Program and Post-Tenure Review Program, as well as a host of other development programs at the University.

Biology Students Join Professor Studying Deep-Sea Creatures in the Bahamas

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – In a snapshot from the Bahamas, Will Jaeckle stands in the traditional proud fisherman’s pose, arm held high to display his prized catch.

However, hanging from his raised hand is not a magnificent adult sport fish, but a tiny pipette containing three swordfish in their larval stage. For the associate professor of biology from Illinois Wesleyan University, the swordfish weren’t a fisherman’s triumph, but a byproduct of the nets and collection bottles that were cast deep into the ocean from the deck of the R/V F.G. Walton Smith during a recent research voyage. The intended targets included larvae of bottom-dwelling invertebrates, which spend their lives in the water column, and cyanobacteria (microscopic photosynthetic bacteria) upon which the larvae may feed.

Jaeckle, along with Illinois Wesleyan biology majors Oluwakemi Onajin ’09 and newly graduated Sarah Lewis ’07, were joined by counterparts from the University of Oregon on the first leg of a four-year project funded by the National Science Foundation. The opportunity proved illuminating for both students.

Jaeckle’s group is studying the invertebrate larvae from deep-sea species to learn how these developmental stages get the necessary sustenance to complete their developmental cycle. The cyanobacteria that are hypothesized as a potential food source are the research interest of grant collaborator Michelle Wood, a biologist from the University of Oregon. Specimens were captured at controlled depths starting 1,000 meters below the surface and then sorted and identified while being viewed through microscopes during 16-hour work days.

Knowledge about the development of deep-sea creatures is limited, Jaeckle said. “We’re just trying to understand how these developmental stages of deep-water organisms make their living. We are somewhat ignorant of what processes occur at depths that we can only see by towing cameras or using submarines. Even then we’re only getting a narrow snapshot.”

Travel Courses More Than Visiting Landmarks

The idea of spending a month abroad may bring to mind images of bus tours and cameras snapping away at majestic castles. But for students who travel with May Term courses at Illinois Wesleyan, there is more to discover than famous sites and guidebooks. They find themselves immersed in the differing cultures, peoples and ideas.

May Term is a month-long opportunity for IWU students to study a single subject intensively. The concept is designed for total immersion in order to erase the barrier between in-class and out-of-class learning. Illinois Wesleyan professors take students on a wide range of locales across the globe, such as sociology professor Teodora Amoloza, who journeyed to Hawaii with students to explore the cultural impact of immigration on a state has no majority group. Students of Scott Sheridan, associate professor of French, traveled to Italy to take in not only the art and artistry of Renaissance Italy, but the present-day lives of residents of the country.

This May Term, Professor of English Jim Plath took students to Ireland to study Irish poetry and art, which meant meeting with Irish artists. After visiting the tourist-friendly areas of Galway and Killarney, students stayed with Irish families in the remote village of Allihies. Near the village is the Allihies Language and Arts Center, where some of the country’s most noted Irish artists and poets came to speak to the students. “There are two things to do in Allihies—talk to the locals or commune with nature,” said Plath. “It’s kind of a hippie area where you find farmers and artists, a rugged and beautiful part of the country.”

Some of the students stayed with families who had no heat in their bedrooms or had to walk for 30 minutes to get to town, and cross a small river. “They all had their stories and adventures, and that’s what writers seek out,” said Plath, who believes the rural nature of the village drew students to the local culture and people. “When you rub shoulders with the locals and combine that with the dramatic beauty of the landscape—the wind, the rain, the mist—the students received an inspiration and an education that goes well beyond books,” he said.

Brian Hatcher Named McFee Professor

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.—Illinois Wesleyan University President Richard F. Wilson announced that Professor Brian A. Hatcher of the Religion Department has been named the McFee Professor of Religion. This is the second endowed appointment announced at Illinois Wesleyan in the past week.

“The purpose of endowed professorships is to honor outstanding faculty who elevate the University with their teaching and scholarship,” said Wilson. “Receiving the McFee Professorship is a reflection of Dr. Hatcher’s excellent dedication and commitment to teaching and his ongoing scholarly work and to Illinois Wesleyan.”

The McFee Endowed Professorship of Religion was established in 1984 from the estate of Daisy McFee in order to honor her mother and father, Emma and Pulaski, and her brother, Alvin. It is one of 11 active named chairs and professorships at the University. The land, now known as the Illinois Wesleyan University McFee Farm, is located in McLean County, northwest of Bloomington.

A professor with Illinois Wesleyan since 1992, Hatcher graduated from Carleton College in Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1980. Earning his master’s degrees in divinity from Yale University in 1984 and in religion from Harvard University in 1986, Hatcher received his doctorate in the comparative study of religion from Harvard in 1992.

“I am honored and keenly aware I could not have risen to this appointment alone,” said Hatcher, a native of Minnetonka, Minn. “There are colleagues, teachers, family members and, of course, the institution of Illinois Wesleyan who must be considered as well.” Hatcher teaches various courses on religion at Illinois Wesleyan, and his scholarship focuses on the transformation of Hindu thought and culture in colonial and post-colonial India. An author of three books and more than a dozen articles and book chapters, his works are discussed worldwide.

Illinois Wesleyan Professor Receives National Grant

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.— Illinois Wesleyan University Professor of Russian Studies and recent appointee of the Isaac Funk Professorship Marina Balina has received a research fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to continue her pioneering work with Soviet and post-Soviet children’s literature.

The $20,000 fellowship is jointly sponsored by the NEH, the American Councils for International Education and the National Council for Eurasian and East European Research. The NEH, an independent grant-making agency of the United States government, is dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation and public programs in the humanities.

Balina has earned an international reputation for her work with Soviet literature, yet she is one of the first to study children’s literature. “Soviet children’s literature has been dismissed as propaganda by Western scholars,” said Balina. “It is a new field to speak about Soviet and post-Soviet children’s works, and that is very exciting.”

Model Created to Help Envision Fourth Dimension

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The concept of the fourth dimension can be a difficult one to comprehend. Although experimental physicists are now looking for ways to prove the existence of 4-D, often instructors do not approach the subject in class because they are not sure how to teach it.

Narendra Jaggi, Illinois Wesleyan University professor and chair of the physics department, and his student Andy Nelson are looking for ways to help bring the fourth spatial dimension into the classroom.

Jaggi draws two squares on a dry erase board in a classroom at the University’s Center for Natural Science. “You can’t really build a cube on a blackboard because the board is two dimensional and the cube is three dimensional,” said Jaggi, connecting the corners of the squares with lines. “But, you can draw a representation of a cube, so you have the perception of three dimensions.” Drawing on that idea, Jaggi and Nelson, an Illinois Wesleyan senior physics and religion double major from Mahomet, Ill., began to conquer the questions: Could there be a fourth spatial dimension and how can you display that in a three-dimensional world?

Jaggi and Nelson took the idea of creating a cube, and built upon it. “We wanted to create a model to replicate the fourth dimension in a spatial way. The goal was to create a teaching tool to help visualize 4D,” said Nelson.

Marina Balina

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University President Richard F. Wilson announced that Professor of Russian Studies Marina Balina has been appointed to the Isaac Funk Professorship, a title that has not been given since 1921.

Named in honor of one of the University’s founders, the Isaac Funk Professorship was originally established in 1865—the first endowed professorship for the University. Instructors were named until funds were deemed no longer sufficient to maintain the professorship. In the fall of 2004, the Paul A. Funk Foundation made a major gift to re-establish the fund, with plans that the professorship would be awarded this spring.

“It is a priority of this University to build endowments to support faculty members and students, with generous support from donors such as the Paul A. Funk Foundation,” said Wilson. “Dr. Balina’s imaginative, innovative, and creative approach to teaching exemplifies an enduring commitment to education, which pays tribute to one of the founders of this University.” The Isaac Funk Professorship is one of 11 endowed professorships at Illinois Wesleyan.

“This is a wonderful honor,” said Balina, who will continue her pioneering work with Soviet and post-Soviet children’s literature. “This will give me the opportunity to stimulate research for my students by taking them to various conferences and workshops, strengthen my international contacts, and invite more renowned speakers to campus to offer our students diverse educational experiences.”

A native of Russia who earned her doctorate at Leningrad State University (now St. Petersburg), Balina joined IWU’s faculty in 1989 and is a member of the University’s Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures.

School of Nursing Faculty to Participate in Development Workshop

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – A faculty team from the Illinois Wesleyan University School of Nursing has been selected through a national competition to participate in a series of education events to enhance the teaching of undergraduate public health education. The events are part of the first joint education collaboration of the Association of American Colleges & Universities (AAC&U) and the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR).

The IWU faculty team is composed of Cindy Kerber, professor of nursing, and Laurine Brown, professor of environmental studies and health. Kerber will attend the Public Health and Liberal Education Faculty Development Workshop to be convened in Washington, D.C. on July 9-10. The workshop participants will tailor the experience to their own needs and interests by focusing on one of three breakout sessions: Public Health 101, Epidemiology 101, and Global Health 101. Each content area will provide curricular frameworks and syllabi illustrating the types of materials that can be used as well as successful teaching techniques. The workshop will offer hands-on participatory exercises designed to provide practice using and critiquing a range of approaches to teaching and curriculum design.

A member of the faculty team will also have the opportunity to participate in a one-day skills building institute held in conjunction with the APTR Annual Meeting in February 2008. The entire team will participate in an expanded faculty development institute schedule for July 2008 in Washington, D.C.

Professor Wins Templeton Grant For New Approach on ‘Reduction-Emergence’ Debates

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University Associate Professor of Philosophy Carl Gillett has been awarded a John Templeton Foundation Grant to write about his new approach to debates over ‘reduction’ and ‘emergence’ within the sciences and philosophy.

The mission of the John Templeton Foundation is to serve as a philanthropic catalyst for discovery in areas engaging life’s biggest questions. These questions range from explorations into the laws of nature and the structure of the universe, to questions on the nature of love, gratitude, forgiveness and creativity.

“My work seeks to widen our understanding of these views and their implications about the world we live in and our own natures,” said Gillett.

Over the last 80 years, science has developed what Gillett calls a “reductionist” point of view, contending that all objects composed can be reduced down to their components, such as atoms. However, at the turn of the 21st century, scientists in a range of disciplines are once again embracing an “emergentist” view that opposes scientific reductionism, accepting that all things, including humans, are thoroughly composed.

“Professor Gillett’s work is unusual in the debate over reduction and emergence in that he begins by taking both “sides” seriously,” said the John Templeton Foundation Director of Life Science Programs Paul Wason. “It is also unusual in its ambition and promise–to produce a serious philosophical work that will also be valued by scientists for their own work.”

IWU News Blog

Headlines From Illinois Wesleyan University