Purdue Notebook

November 11, 2005

Appointments and promotions

– Barbara Fossum has been named managing director of the Cyber Center at Purdue's Discovery Park. Fossum will oversee day-to-day activities and implement the vision for research and development at the center. She previously was manager of research and development at the Texas Advanced Computing Center and worked with the TeraGrid, the nation's largest cyberinfrastructure effort for scientific research, which is supported by the National Science Foundation. She also served for three years as a program manager for the National Science Foundation's Computing and Information Science and Engineering Division.

Campus activities

– Hip Hop in the African Diaspora, the 21st annual symposium on African American Culture and Philosophy, is Nov. 17-19. The keynote speaker is Jeffrey Ogbar, associate professor of history and director of the Institute for African American Studies at the University of Connecticut. Ogbar will present "Beyond Stereotypes: Culture, Politics and the Hip Hop Generation" at 7 p.m. on Nov. 17 in Stewart Center, Room 218. The keynote address is free and open to the public. To register for the symposium, contact the African American Studies and Research Center at (765) 494-5680. The general registration fee is $75, and the fee is waived for Purdue faculty, staff and students.

Faculty and staff honors

– Purdue plant biologist Nick Carpita has been named the American Society of Plant Biologists secretary and head of its program committee, which plans and arranges the annual meeting. The society, which promotes and educates the public about the latest plant research, includes about 6,000 members on six continents. Carpita, who earned his bachelor's degree in biological sciences at Purdue and his doctorate at Colorado State University, studies biology of the plant cell wall and the function of its genes. The long-term research goal is to improve plants so they are more useable for things as diverse as livestock feed, paper and biofuel. A Purdue faculty member since 1979, Capita is a professor in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology.

– Purdue plant geneticist Gebisa Ejeta has been named a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science in recognition of developing new grain varieties able to withstand parasitic weeds and drought, improving the livelihood of people in developing countries. Ejeta, an Ethiopian native, and his Purdue collaborators developed 11 types of resistant sorghum. The improved grain varieties now have been successfully used in five African countries. Ejeta is a professor of plant breeding and genetics in Purdue's Department of Agronomy. He earned his bachelor's degree at Alemaya University in Ethiopia and his master's degree and doctorate at Purdue. He joined the Purdue faculty in 1984.

Alumni honors

– Two Purdue alumni, Mark Bissinger and Richard Killworth, both attorneys at Dinsmore & Shohl LLP in Cincinnati, were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2006. Bissinger received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1979. Killworth received a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1965 and a master's degree in history and political science in 1966. The Best Lawyers in America designation is based on a peer-review survey of 16,000 leading attorneys throughout the country. Dinsmore & Shohl has more than 250 attorneys in Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton, Ohio; Lexington and Louisville, Ky., Pittsburgh; and Charleston, W.Va.

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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