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April 17, 2014

In the Spotlight

Murphy Award profile: Suzanne Nielsen

Five exceptional teachers have been selected as recipients of the 2014 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards in Memory of Charles B. Murphy. Today, we focus on Suzanne Nielsen, professor of food science.

SUZANNE NIELSEN

Suzanne Nielsen always knew she wanted to teach, but it wasn't until her freshman year of college that she knew teaching food science would be her calling. Nielsen has been teaching food science at Purdue for over 30 years, including a course on food analysis for which she edited the internationally used textbook.

Exceptional Early Career Award profiles

Two exceptional pre-tenure teachers have been selected as recipients of the new 2014 Exceptional Early Career Award: Jennifer Freeman, assistant professor of health sciences, and Cary Troy, assistant professor of civil engineering.

JENNIFER FREEMAN

For Jennifer Freeman, assistant professor of health sciences and a recipient of the Exceptional Early Career Award, interacting with students is the most enjoyable part of her job. "I get my energy from the bright ideas and enthusiasm from the students," Freeman says.

CARY TROY

The moment his classes begin, Cary Troy's enthusiasm for teaching and engaging with his students is palpable. Troy consistently receives this sort of feedback from his students, who say his warmth and ability to explain difficult concepts make him a standout teacher. For his part, Troy also constantly looks for ways to enhance his teaching by creating a student-centered, active-learning environment.

Faculty and staff news

Events to celebrate faculty, teaching excellence by grad students

Faculty and graduate teaching assistants will be recognized at two celebratory events in April.

General news

Churchill scholar, center director
visit campus for lecture

An Indiana State University professor and Winston Churchill scholar gave a lecture to Honors College students Wednesday during a campus visit that included the executive director of the Churchill Centre. The visit by Michael Shelden (left) and Lee Pollock (right) was part of an overall Honors College effort to bring national experts on a variety of academic topics to Purdue's campus for the benefit of students. Also pictured are President Mitch Daniels and Rhonda Phillips, dean of the Honors College.

Purdue autism app adopted by leading clinical institutions in Florida, California

SPEAKall!!, an iPad application developed at Purdue that facilitates communication and language development for children and families affected by severe, nonverbal autism, has been adopted for use at speech and language clinics at San Jose State University in California and the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Purdue campuses to host spring commencement ceremonies

Purdue will award degrees during spring commencement ceremonies at its campuses May 10-19.

Leadership nominees sought from among rising sophomores

Nominations are being accepted through April 25 for the 24th Emily Mauzy Vogel Sophomore Leadership Development Retreat. Nominees must be outstanding students who will be sophomores in the fall and possess strong leadership potential.

Purdue student supercomputing team heads to China for international competition

Computer science major Matt Molo is considering a career in computer security, supercomputing or distributed computing over a large array of machines, the way the giant data centers of companies like Amazon and Google function.

Purdue Libraries extends hours to help students prepare for finals

Purdue University Libraries will extend hours and offer special services at four facilities to help students prepare for final exams, which run from May 5-10.

People

Daniels elected to Commission on Presidential Debates board

President Mitch Daniels is one of six new members named to the Commission on Presidential Debates' board of directors, the commission announced Wednesday (April 16).

College of Liberal Arts honors alumni, celebrates 50th anniversary

Purdue's College of Liberal Arts honored five distinguished alumni April 11 during its 2014 annual awards banquet and celebration of the 50th anniversary of the School of Humanities, Social Science, and Education.

Research news

Researchers in various studies looking for participants

Here is a list of research studies that currently are looking for participants.

Purdue sports

Women's basketball unveils 2014-15 nonconference schedule

The Purdue women's basketball team released its 2014-15 nonconference schedule on Wednesday (April 16), unveiling opponents and dates for most of its early season matchups.

For more information on Purdue sports, go to www.purduesports.com.

"I give to Health and
Kinesiology because ..."

Denton Sederquist
Assistant director of residential life,
West Lafayette campus