October 23, 2009

Appointments, honors and activities

-- An Information Technology Summit will be held Nov. 10 at Purdue to showcase the university's IT students and disciplines. The summit, from 8:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Stewart Center's Room 206, is being presented in cooperation with the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and TechPoint, which promotes technology-based enterprise and economic development. The summit’s purpose is to allow Indiana companies to become familiar with the broad range of IT resources at Purdue and to learn how to access Purdue students. The program will start with a presentation by Stephen Hourigan, director of  21st Century Fund and Entrepreneurship. An industry panel moderated by Jim Jay of TechPoint will discuss the IT industry needs, and a poster session featuring graduate and undergraduate students will be held during the lunch hour. There is no charge to attend, however, all attendees should register by Nov. 2 at https://www.purdue.edu/research/2009ITSummit. More information is available from Lisa Muncy, lamuncy@purdue.edu, 765-494-0743.

• Faculty and staff honors:

-- The Nuclear Engineering and Health  
Sciences Scholarship Support Program recently received an additional two years’ award totaled $194,400 from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The program, which trains undergraduate students for nuclear power industry, was originally developed by Dr. George Sandison of the School of Health Sciences and Dr. Tatjana Jevremovic of nuclear engineering, and is currently led by Dr. Robert Stewart.

• Notables:

-- JoAnn Miller, associate dean for the College of Liberal Arts and professor of sociology, is co-author of a new book "Problem Solving Courts: New Approaches to Criminal Justice" that was published this month by Rowman & Littlefield. Her co-author is Donald C. Johnson who was elected three times as a superior court judge in Indiana following a 15-year legal practice.

• Alumni honors:

-- The Purdue School of Chemical Engineering has named two alumni as its 2009 Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award Winners.

They are:

*  Henry Sampson, co-inventor of the gamma-electric cell that made it possible to send and receive audio signals via radio waves without wires. He also is a writer, film historian and documentary film producer focusing on the African-American presence in the film and entertainment industries. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Purdue in 1956.

* Mary Ellen Weber, vice president for governmental affairs and policy at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. She also is a former NASA astronaut. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Purdue in 1984.

More information on the honorees is available at https://engineering.purdue.edu/Engr/AboutUs/News/Announcements/
DrMaryEllenWeberBSChE821784andDrHenrySampsonBSChE82.

• Student honors:

— The Department of Communication's student-produced TV newsmagazine "Fast Track" has been nominated for an Emmy Award by the Chicago/Midwest Chapter National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. "Fast Track" covers Purdue and local news each semester. Clinical assistant professor Patricia Saul Rochon is the "Fast Track" producer.

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

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