October 30, 2009

Appointments, honors and activities

- Professor Alex Pothen was selected as a 2009 Distinguished Alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Pothen is a professor of computer science, director of the Computing Science Institute, and director of the Combinatorial Scientific Computing and Petascale Simulations Institute. His research interests are in computational science and engineering, high-performance computing, and bioinformatics.

- A group led by Matthew Ohland, an associate professor in Purdue's School of Engineering Education, has received a Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Courseware. The honor, announced Oct. 20, is through The Engineering Pathway, a wing of the National Science Digital Library created and funded by the National Science Foundation. The Purdue team was recognized for developing a system that helps manage student teams in engineering courses.

- Clarian Arnett Health recently recognized Purdue's Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences for collaborating on the Medical Speech-Language Pathology Program. A plaque was presented to the department on Oct. 26. The Medical Speech-Language Pathology program serves the Clarian Arnett Health Hospital and the Greenbush Avenue Clinic. Purdue master's degree students in speech-language pathology participate in clinical rotations at both sites.  

• Student honors:

- The Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute has awarded seven Purdue students its 2009-2010 Predoctoral Training Award. Students who receive this award are given funding for their research. The goal of CTSI is to help accelerate the application of laboratory findings to improve understanding and care of human disease.

The Purdue award winners are:

* Stephanie Colvin, IUPUI Biology, Purdue School of Science

* Marie Fialkowski, Department of Foods and Nutrition

* Michael Logan, Department of Biological Sciences

* Paul Niziolek, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering

* David Przybyla, Department of Chemistry

* Todd Ricket, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering

* Andrea Snyder, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering 

• Alumni honors:

- The Department of Computer Science named David S. Dodson and Roberto Kohler the 2009 Outstanding Computer Science Alumni on Sept. 25. Dodson earned master's and doctoral degrees from Purdue in 1968 and 1972, respectively. He is currently an adjunct instructor in mathematics at Tarrant County College. Kohler earned a bachelor's degree in computer science from Purdue in 1980 and a master's degree in 1986. He founded IntraNets Inc. in 1996, and currently serves as the company's CEO.

- The School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences has named the recipients of its 2009 Outstanding Alumni Awards as well as the Friend of Pharmacy. The honorees for the Outstanding Alumni Award are:

* Holly M. Bonsignore of Brooklyn, N.Y., director of the new products group for Pfizer Inc. She has a master's degree in industrial and physical pharmacy from Purdue.

* Satish Reddy of Banjara Hills in Hyderabad, India, managing director and CEO for Dr. Reddy's Laboratories. He has a master's degree in medicinal chemistry from Purdue.

* Dolores C. Shockley of Nashville, Tenn., professor emerita at Meharry Medical College. She has a master's degree in pharmacology and a doctoral degree in pharmacology from Purdue. 

* Gregory D. Wasson of Long Grove, Ill., president and CEO for Walgreen Co. He has a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Purdue.

Purdue's 2009 Friend of Pharmacy is:

* William L. Sonner of Carmel, Ind., a market pharmacy director for the Walgreen Co. He has a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Butler University.

More information on the honorees is available at https://www.pharmacy.purdue.edu/advancement/honors/distinguished/

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

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