August 23, 2005
Hermodson joins Wodicka to lead Bindley Bioscience Center
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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Mark A. Hermodson, a professor of biochemistry at Purdue University, has been promoted to interim co-director of the Bindley Bioscience Center at Discovery Park.
Hermodson has been the center's deputy director since 2003 and is interim associate dean for research in the College of Agriculture. He shares the directorship with George R. Wodicka, head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering.
In his new position, Hermodson will oversee the work that is under way, advancing the center's programs and transferring the research facilities to the new Discovery Park building, located on State Street on the west edge of campus. Although the building, under construction since 2003, is just now being completed, interdisciplinary work associated with the center has been ongoing since the center's planning stages.
Purdue Provost Sally Mason said the center will benefit greatly from Hermodson's leadership while the university completes its search for a director.
"The Bindley Bioscience Center is an ambitious project that has tremendous potential for innovative research in the life sciences," Mason said. "Mark Hermodson, with his long association with Purdue and strong background, will help the center reach its full potential. As a researcher and a leader, Mark brings a mix of skills that helps ensure this center starts off in the right direction. We are extremely pleased to have someone so talented and qualified lead this mission."
Hermodson said he will continue to encourage faculty to submit grants for research projects that cut across many fields of study.
"I'm a strong supporter of everything that Discovery Park stands for, particularly its focus on tearing down barriers to encourage interdisciplinary research, both on campus and with other campuses," he said. "I'm excited about seeing these relationships develop better and further in the future.
"I'm also pleased that President Martin Jischke has given the kind of support he has to this mission. I am confident that the bioscience center and Discovery Park as a whole will be a success."
Hermodson was born in Crookston, Minn., in 1942. He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and math from St. Olaf College in 1964 and a doctorate in biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin in 1968.
Hermodson has held research positions at the University of Wisconsin and the University of Washington. He joined Purdue in 1977.
From 1979 to 1984, he was an adjunct associate professor of biochemistry at Indiana University School of Medicine and since 1984 has been an adjunct professor of biochemistry there.
From 1981 to 2001, he was the head of the Department of Biochemistry.
He is a member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Protein Society, where he was president from 1991 to 1993 and a member of the executive council from 1990 to 1996. Since 1998 he has been editor in chief of Protein Science, the society's journal.
The Bindley Bioscience Center is a $15 million facility for research in the life sciences. The building forms part of Discovery Park, which will facilitate interdisciplinary work in the sciences and engineering.
Discovery Park is a $100 million interdisciplinary research hub that brings the university's scientists, researchers, engineers and management experts together on a project-based basis to make basic discoveries available to advance the Indiana economy and solve societal problems by inventing new products and processes. The park has been a critical factor in forming eight startup companies and in at least 40 patent filings.
In addition to Bindley Bioscience Center, the park includes Birck Nanotechnology Center, Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship, Center for Advanced Manufacturing and the e-Enterprise Center, which houses the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering and the Purdue Homeland Security Institute. Four new centers announced this summer are centers for energy, oncological sciences, the environment and cyberinfrastructure. Also under construction at Discovery Park is a biomedical engineering building.
Writer: Kim Medaris, (765) 494-6998, kmedaris@purdue.edu
Sources: Sally Mason, (765) 494-9709, sfmason@purdue.edu
Mark A. Hermodson, (765) 494-1637, hermodson@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu
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