Trustees approve academic appointments

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue University Board of Trustees on Saturday (Dec. 16) ratified appointments to two named chairs and three distinguished professorships.

Trustees approved Douglass Jacobs as the Fred M. van Eck Chair in Forest Biology, Alberto J. Rodriguez as the Mary Endres Chair in Elementary Education, James C. Fleet as a distinguished professor of nutrition science, Robert L. Geahlen as distinguished professor of medicinal chemistry, and Christopher Greene as distinguished professor of physics.

Douglass Jacobs Download Photo

Jacobs is a professor of forest regeneration and a University Faculty Scholar at Purdue. He came here in 2001 as an assistant professor and became an associate professor in 2006. During 2008-09, he was a visiting professor at the Technological University of Madrid in Spain. Before coming to Purdue he was a graduate research assistant and instructor at Oregon State University.

His research explores eco-physiological development of young forest trees to facilitate reforestation and ecological restoration. He serves as editor-in-chief of New Forests and associate editor of Annals of Forest Science. He has written more than 100 peer-reviewed research publications and has been awarded more than $5 million in grant support.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Emory University, his master's degree from the University of Georgia and his doctorate from Oregon State University.

Alberto J. Rodriguez Download Photo

Rodriguez came to Purdue this fall from San Diego State University, where since 2007 he was professor of cross-cultural and bilingual science education and co-director of the Center for Equity and Biliteracy Education Research. From 2002-07, he was an associate professor at San Diego State. Before that he was an associate professor of cross-cultural science education and a coordinator of courses in the elementary teacher education program at New Mexico State University from 1998-2002. He also was an assistant professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

His areas of research include English language learners and science teaching and learning. He has been awarded grants totaling more than $3.5 million, has written 24 articles in refereed journals and has authored 10 chapters in scholarly books. He also has four published books, including one that received the Choice Outstanding Title Award.

Rodriguez earned a bachelor's degree from the University of New Brunswick and a bachelor of education degree from the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, Alberta. He received his doctorate from the University of British Columbia.

James C. Fleet Download Photo

Fleet has been in the Department of Nutrition Science at Purdue since 2000, first as an associate professor and, beginning in 2006, as a professor. Since 2006 he also has been director of the Interdepartmental Nutrition Program at Purdue and a member of Bindley Bioscience Center, Purdue Center for Cancer Research and the Oncological Sciences Center.

Before coming to Purdue he was an assistant professor from 1997-2000 at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and he was a staff scientist from 1991-97 at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

He studies how vitamin D controls calcium metabolism as well as its role in colon and prostate cancer prevention. He was a University Faculty Scholar at Purdue from 2004-09 and also in 2004 and 2009 received the Acorn Award, which honors faculty who have attracted large research awards. In 2001 the American Society for Nutrition Science awarded him the Mead Johnson Award, which honors achievement in the first 10 years of an independent career. He has published 112 journal articles and has been awarded grants totaling more than $8.9 million (more than $7.5 million since arriving at Purdue).

Fleet earned his bachelor's degree and doctorate from Cornell University, and his master's degree at the University of Delaware.

Robert Geahlen Download Photo

Geahlen is a professor of medicinal chemistry and associate dean for graduate programs in Purdue's College of Pharmacy. He came to Purdue in 1982 as an assistant professor. He became an associate professor in 1987 and was promoted to professor in 1992. He received the Jeananne D. and James B. Chaney Research and Scholarship Achievement Award in 2011, the Provost's Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentor in 2012 and five Purdue University Seed for Success (Acorn) awards.

His National Institutes of Health-funded research is focused on understanding the regulation and impact of tyrosine phosphorylation on cell signaling, with a particular emphasis on immune competent cells. He has published 135 peer-reviewed journal papers.

He earned his bachelor's degree from Colorado State University-Pueblo and his doctorate from the University of Wyoming.

Christopher Greene Download Photo

Greene came to Purdue in August from the University of Colorado, where he was a professor of physics since 1989. Prior to that, he was an assistant, associate and then full professor from 1981-88 at Louisiana State University.

A theorist whose research is in atomic, molecular and optical physics, his work has included Bose-Einstein condensation of ultra-cold atoms and the dissociative recombination of the H₃ ⁺ molecule. He has written more than 250 articles for refereed journals. He received the Davisson-Germer Prize of the American Physical Society in 2010 and the Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for Senior U.S. Scientists in 2007.

He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska and his master's and doctorate from the University of Chicago.

The board also approved a resolution of congratulations for Purdue student David Boudia for winning bronze and gold medals in diving at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Boudia is a senior from Noblesville, Ind., studying communication.

Writer: Greg McClure, 765-496-9711, gmcclure@purdue.edu

Sources: Victor Lechtenberg, acting provost and chief academic officer, vll@purdue.edu

Douglass Jacobs, 765-494-3608, djacobs@purdue.edu

Alberto J. Rodriguez, 765-494-2353, alberto-rodriguez12@purdue.edu

James C. Fleet, 765-494-0302, fleet@purdue.edu

Robert Geahlen, 765-494-1457, geahlen@purdue.edu