Appointments, honors and activities
November 2, 2012
• Faculty and staff honors:
- The College of Health and Human Sciences awarded the 2012 Research Award to Wayne Campbell, professor of nutrition science, and the 2012 Early Career Research Award to Shawn D. Whiteman, associate professor of human development and family studies. Campbell presented a seminar entitled "Protein Nutrition and Exercise Promote Healthy Aging," and Whiteman presented "Sibling Effects: The Direct and Indirect Pathways of Sibling Socialization" at the college's Fall Research Day on Oct. 18.
- The Center for Food and Agricultural Business at Purdue has honored Dave Downey and Tom Funk, faculty members and agricultural marketing innovators who developed the center’s Strategic AgriMarketing program and have taught it for the past 27 years. Jay Akridge, Glenn W. Sample Dean of the College of Agriculture, and Allan Gray, center director and Agriculture Chair of Excellence in Engagement, spoke about the pair’s achievements and presented them with plaques honoring their years of service during a recent presentation. This year, Downey’s son, Purdue faculty member Scott Downey, and Funk’s son, Justin Funk, managing partner of Agri Studies Inc., have stepped up to take teaching positions in the Strategic AgriMarketing program, continuing the legacy of their fathers.
• Student honors:
- A team of Purdue University student engineers are being represented in an international genetic and biological engineering competition Friday through Sunday (Nov. 2-4) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. The team advanced to the international event after winning a gold medal in the America’s East Regional Jamboree. The International Genetically Engineered Machine competition challenges undergraduate students to use a kit of biological and other parts that they use in designing and building biological systems and operate them in living cells. The Purdue team, the Biomakers, was invited to compete in iGEM's championship round, the International Jamboree, for their work on improving wastewater treatment processes and promoting public awareness of synthetic biology and genetic engineering. Students representing the team from the College of Agriculture at the competition are Sean Kearney of Carmel, Ind., president; Peter Mercado-Reyes of Indianapolis, treasurer; and Max Showalter of St. Louis, secretary. Also attending will be August Clevenger of Albany, Ind., from the College of Science. Other team members include Namita Balchander, West Lafayette, Ind. (engineering); James Nolan, Munster, Ind. (agriculture); Haefa Mansour, Mentor, Ohio (engineering); Chris Thompson, Greenfield, Ind. (agriculture); and Amanda Shanley, Denver, Ind. (agriculture).