Appointments, honors and activities
• Faculty and staff honors:
- Leon Thacker, interim head of comparative pathology and a professor of veterinary pathology in Purdue Veterinary Medicine, received the 2011 Golden Egg Award from the Indiana State Poultry Association at the association's annual banquet in February. The association's board of directors presents the award annually to an individual who has made a significant impact on the state's poultry industry. Thacker's work at Purdue includes research into avian diseases. He served as director of Purdue's Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory for 23 years, where research led to the eradication of pseudorabies from Indiana swine herds. Thacker has received numerous other awards, including the 2010 Frederick L. Hovde Award of Excellence in Educational Service to Rural People of Indiana.
- "Joe Louis: Hard Times Man," by Randy Roberts, distinguished professor of history, was named the runner-up in the Biography/Autobiography category at the 2010 Los Angeles Book Festival. More information about the book is available at https://yalepress.yale.edu/book.asp?isbn=9780300122220
Eugene H. Spafford, executive director of Purdue's Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security, accepts a Lifetime Achievement Award from Lance Spitzner of the SANS Institute. (Photo courtesy of Marlene Walls, CERIAS)
- Lance Spitzner, a representative of the SANS Institute, on Tuesday (March 1) presented professor Eugene H. Spafford of Purdue University with their Lifetime Achievement Award at a CERIAS faculty reception at Purdue. The faculty and staff of SANS voted to award Spafford only the second such award SANS has given. Spitzner, himself a security researcher well-known for his work in honeynets and intrusion detection, noted that Spafford's work in research and education over his career to date has profoundly shaped the field of information security. He also said that some of Spafford's earliest work at Purdue provided the only public information on information security for many years, and was a guide and inspiration to many newcomers to the field - including himself. Spafford has been a member of the computer science faculty at Purdue for 24 years. During that time he has been recognized by several external organizations for his research achievements, professional and public service, and teaching; he has also received the three most significant recognitions for educational excellence offered by Purdue. He has been named a fellow of the AAAS, ACM, IEEE, (ICS)^2, and a distinguished fellow of the ISSA.
• Notables:
- Indiana high school students from Columbus, Madison and Evansville are the winners of this year's essay competition sponsored by Purdue University's NEXTRANS Center. Matthew Prall of Columbus North High School won the $500 top prize, Sarah Torline of Shawe Memorial High School in Madison received the $250 second prize and Jacob Rogerso of North High School in Evansville finished third and received $100. Honorable mention awards went to Diamond Hubbard of the Hammond Academy of Science and Technology and Zack Vanness of Benton Central Jr.-Sr. High School in Oxford. Winning entries will be published in the NEXTRANS newsletter and featured on the center's website at https://www.purdue.edu/dp/nextrans. NEXTRANS received more than 60 submissions from students across Indiana. A panel of transportation scholars, Discovery Park officials and NEXTRANS staff judges the entries. The competition is designed to encourage high school students to consider how integral transportation is to the future of Indiana and the nation, and interest them in pursuing careers and/or higher education in the field.
• Student honors:
- Purdue College of Science students in the Women in Science Programs participated in the Day of Exploration, a service-learning event for 56 sixth- and seventh-graders from the Gary 21st Century Charter School on Feb. 25. Experiments conducted included a biological experiment on the ecosystem, a chemistry experiment on the phase changes of liquids and a physics experiment on forces, masses and weights. The WISP members also authored a grant for $950 awarded by the Vice Provost of Engagement's Office for the Day of Exploration event.
- Fourteen Purdue Army ROTC cadets earned the highest honor, a gold badge, in a German Armed Forces Proficiency Badge event Feb. 26-27 at Camp Atterbury, Indiana. The competition was similar to a track and field meet, with a few twists. Events included a 500-meter swim, 9mm pistol shoot, 7.5 mile road march, high jump, long jump, shot put, stone throw, 5,000 meters run, 100 meters sprint and a first aid test. More than 200 cadets from Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan competed along with the 15 from Purdue. Purdue won first place in the team competition.