Category Archives: Faculty

Henderson ’12 Affirms Career Dreams in Unexpected Places

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – How many Lenscrafter, Sunglass Hut, or Pearl Vision locations have you driven past during your lifetime? Now pretend none of these places exist, what would you do if you needed a pair of eyeglasses? For many of us such a scenario is hard to imagine.

However, Erick Henderson, a senior biology and pre-optometry major at Illinois Wesleyan University, has not only imagined such a place but traveled to one. This past summer, Henderson traded in baseball games and family cookouts for – one could say – an eye-opening experience. In June 2011, he traveled to Lamu, Kenya, where he served as the optometric technician at the Lamu Center for Preventative Health (LCPH).

Founded by IWU alum Munib Abdulrehman ’02 and Rebecca Gearhart, associate professor of anthropology, LCPH is a non-governmental organization, which provides healing services and preventative health education to residents of Lamu and the surrounding islands. Although located abroad, LCPH is also represented on Illinois Wesleyan’s campus through a student-run organization by the same name. While LCPH offers many educational programs, an eye care-related program had not been developed – this is where Henderson and Gearhart would find a common goal.

According to Gearhart, LCPH was established to stand apart from other health organizations by focusing on educating the local community versus simply treating illnesses. LCPH initiatives have included: nutrition programs geared towards young children, CPR classes, and diabetes prevention and awareness. “Our goal is to disseminate information so that Lamu residents can rely on their gained knowledge to take care of themselves and their families,” said Gearhart. “We are constantly working with volunteers, the Red Cross, and sailing doctors to provide this community with tools to live healthy lives. The goal of LCPH is not to cure, but to heal.”

NSF Grant Awarded to Project Headed by Spalding

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – A team led by Illinois Wesleyan University Professor of Physics Gabe Spalding has been awarded a grant of more than $451,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering.

Spalding is the principal investigator on a project aimed toward improving laboratory instruction in physics for undergraduate college students in the United States. The NSF grant begins by funding a conference on laboratory instruction slated for 2012, and, separately, an immersive training program for faculty and staff to develop contemporary instructional laboratories. Spalding said these efforts will provide instructors with a focused, hand-on approach to guiding students through the laboratory. “We’re really talking about a revolution in the way physics is taught,” he said, noting the program will “promote significant updates in the experiments and techniques taught, as well as inclusion of contemporary concepts.”

The initiatives in the grant, titled “Improving ‘Beyond First Year’ Physics Laboratory Instruction,” are in response to a recent national survey of laboratory instructors spearheaded by Spalding’s team and working with The Ames Library. The study indicated curricular development is vital for success in the instructional laboratory. “We found many needs,” said Spalding. “This award really recognizes the value of our initial efforts at addressing some of those needs over the past few years, and gives us the means to make a significant difference at the national level.”

Tiede Appointed to AAUP Committees

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Joerg Tiede, Illinois Wesleyan professor of computer science and president of the University’ American Association of University Professors (AAUP) chapter, has been named to three AAUP national committees.

According to AAUP, the organization’s mission is to advance academic freedom and share governance, to define fundamental professional values and standards for higher education and to ensure higher education’s contribution to the common good.

Cary Nelson, president of the national chapter of AAUP, has appointed Tiede to two committees: the committee on membership and the committee on college and university governance, each for the term of three years.

Tiede said the committee on governance “promotes meaningful faculty participation in institutional governance through the development of policy statements and reports related to shared governance and application of those principles to particular situations that are brought to its attention. The staff is authorized to receive, on behalf of the committee, complaints of departures from these standards and, where appropriate, to undertake formal investigations. Such cases may lead to a recommendation from the committee to the association’s national council and annual meeting that an institution be sanctioned for ‘substantial noncompliance with standards of academic governance.’”

Campus Mourns Lawrence Campbell

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan University campus mourns the death of Dr. C. Lawrence Campbell, the Fern Rosetta Sherff Professor of Piano at Illinois Wesleyan University, who died July 25.

“We are deeply saddened to lose a long-time member of our Illinois Wesleyan community,” said President Richard F. Wilson. “Dr. Campbell was an outstanding pianist and performer, who made many contributions to the University. We mourn his passing.”

A professor of music, piano, piano pedagogy and literature, Dr. Campbell was a member of the Illinois Wesleyan faculty since 1978. He was named to the Fern Rosetta Sherff Professorship in 1998, honoring his distinguished teaching, research and service to the University.

“All of the faculty, staff, and students in the School of Music have lost a dear friend, colleague and teacher,” said Director of the Illinois Wesleyan School of Music Mario Pelusi. “Larry Campbell was a remarkably gifted pianist and a superb teacher of piano, whom we – and the music profession in general – will miss deeply.” Friends and colleagues of Dr. Campbell at the IWU School of Music are planning a memorial concert in his honor to be scheduled later in fall semester.

Supreme Court Case Highlights Challenges of Copyright

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. — Understanding the ins and outs of copyright laws can be as confusing as navigating a continually shifting maze. With the U.S. Supreme Court debating legislation on copyright issues this summer, Illinois Wesleyan librarians shed light on the challenges of upholding copyright in a digital world.

“We live in a copy-and-paste society,” said University Librarian Karen Schmidt, who oversees copyright compliance at the University. “The inclination in the public is to say, ‘I found it on the Internet, so it must be okay.’ There are an incredible number of resources on the web, but that amazing access also makes it foggy to understand what the obligations are for the ethical use of information.”

Copyrights can cover anything from the text of the novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo to a painting by Kandinsky or a song from a Broadway musical. Use or reproduction of a copyrighted item without permission of the owner is illegal. Copyrights generally lapse 70 years after death of the creator, according to the U.S. Copyright Office. Once the copyright expires, the work enters what is called “public domain,” meaning anyone can reproduce the work without seeking permission.

Mohan Secures ACS Grant for Summer Student Research

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Several Illinois Wesleyan University students will have the chance to conduct advanced summer research through a grant secured by IWU’s Professor of Chemistry Ram Mohan.

Mohan, who holds the Earl H. and Marian A. Beling Professorship in the Natural Sciences at Illinois Wesleyan, has been awarded a grant from the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Petroleum Research Fund for his efforts to study applications of iron(III) compounds as catalysts in organic synthesis. The fund, which supports fundamental research directly related to petroleum or fossil fuels at nonprofit institutions, rewards innovative research and advanced scientific education with the hopes of aiding in significantly increasing the world’s energy options.

The ACS grant will support two student researchers working under Mohan for the summers of 2012, 2013 and 2014. The funds will also help with his group’s travel to national meetings. The students will be applying iron(III) p-toluenesulfonate hexahydrate as a catalyst in five classes of organic transformations.

Munro’s Book on ‘Frankenfood’ Fight Wins Prize

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – A book by Illinois Wesleyan University Professor of Political Science William Munro has been awarded the Lynton Keith Caldwell Prize by the American Political Science Association. The prize is given for the best book in environmental politics published in the past three years.

Munro co-authored the book, titled Fighting for the Future of Food: Activists versus Agribusiness in the Struggle over Biotechnology (University of Minnesota Press, 2010), with Rachel Schurman of the University of Minnesota. The work is a scholarly analysis exploring the worldwide debate over genetically modified seeds (GM).

Mohan Named to Editorial Board of Green Chemistry Journal

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University’s Earl H. and Marian A. Beling Professor of Chemistry Ram Mohan has been appointed as an associate editor of the Green and Sustainable Chemistry (GSC).

The GSC covers subjects relating to reducing the environmental impact of chemicals and fuels by developing alternative and sustainable technologies that are non-toxic to living things and the environment. The editorial board, which will now include Mohan, draws from professors across the globe, from countries such as China, Spain, India, Morocco, Italy, Poland, Hungary and the United States.

Mohan’s research at Illinois Wesleyan focuses on developing environmentally friendly organic synthesis using bismuth compounds. Bismuth and its compounds are remarkably non-toxic and attractive from a green chemistry perspective. As an associate editor, Mohan will recommend papers for publication in the journal and review submitted manuscripts.

Balina Co-edits Book Providing New Insights into Russian Literature

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The 20th century provided an unprecedented backdrop for social, political and economic upheaval in Russia. The literature born from this sweeping change is the subject of a new book co-edited by Illinois Wesleyan University’s Isaac Funk Professor of Russian Studies Marina Balina.

The book, The Cambridge Companion to Twentieth-Century Russian Literature (Cambridge University Press, 2011), is part of the Cambridge Companions to Literature collection, and brings together an impressive assembly of scholars from such universities as Yale, Columbia, Oxford, Harvard and Princeton. “These are some of the most prolific Russian scholars of our time,” said Balina, who also contributed an introduction and a chapter on Soviet prose after Stalin. “We all came together with one idea – let us create a tool that will help us teach, and help students to learn.” The contributors present the most up-to-date scholarship on the historical and cultural context of the 20th century literary development, and place Russian authors within the changing framework.

“With the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the publication of previously unknown sources in Russia – among them works by dissident and émigré writers – readers and scholars were able to see a unified body of Russian literature in its fullness,” said Balina, who co-edited the book with University of Sheffield’s Professor of Russian Studies Evgeny Dobrenko.

Bray Awarded for Book on What Lincoln Read

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Illinois Wesleyan University faculty member and R. Forrest Colwell Professor of American Literature Bob Bray recently received the 2010-11 Russell P. Strange Memorial Book Award for his book Reading with Lincoln.

The award, which was for the best book on a subject related to Illinois history and culture, was presented by Lieutenant Governor Sheila Simon on behalf of the Illinois State Historical Society (ISHS) at the ISHS annual Symposium in Carbondale, Ill.

Reading with Lincoln examines the books Lincoln read, and how those books reflect his thoughts and influences. Bray spent over a year compiling and reviewing materials for the book, which was intended for both the general public and Lincoln scholars. He reviewed everything from letters Lincoln composed for illiterate friends, to books, pamphlets, poetry, plays and essays to which Lincoln was exposed.

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