WSU College of Sciences Recognizes Achievement by Faculty, Staff, Students and Alumni

PULLMAN, Wash. — The Washington State University College of Sciences announced the winners of their annual achievement awards at the college Recognition Event last Friday, March 30. Michael Griswold, dean of sciences presented the awards.

The Distinguished Alumni Award went to sciences alumnus Orrin Pilkey Jr. Pilkey, who received his bachelor’s degree in geology from WSU in 1957, is the James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of Geology at Duke University in Durham, N.C. He is an acknowledged authority on coastal geology, particularly barrier islands.

Two outstanding undergraduate students were honored with the Distinguished Undergraduate Student Award: Bracken Armstrong, a senior molecular biosciences major, and Brian Shuhler, a senior chemistry major.

Armstrong has a strong academic record and has won the Cougar Academic award for four years. He is a recipient of the McFadden/Yount and Eastlick scholarships. He has served as a teaching assistant for the chemistry department for five semesters. He will graduate as a second lieutenant in the Air Force, through ROTC this spring, and has been admitted to the School of Medicine at Georgetown University for next fall.

Shuhler is outstanding academically and is completing research on synthetic method development and natural product synthesis with chemistry professor Ming Xian. He is co-author of a published article on the research, with another under review. He will graduate in 2008 and expects to go on for a doctorate.

The Outstanding Graduate Student Award was given to Juefei Zhou, a doctoral candidate in physics and astronomy. Using a computer, Zhou modeled a new class of molecules that he predicted will have a large nonlinear-optical response. His work received wide international attention and recently a set of molecules has been identified that meet his design criteria and confirms his predictions. His work has many applications such as speeding up the Internet, testing chips, and photodynamic cancer therapies.

Professor Herbert Hill of the Department of Chemistry received the Distinguished Faculty Award. Hill joined the chemistry faculty more than 30 years ago. His work developing ion mobility chromatography (IMC) is at the forefront of the area of metabolomics and in homeland defense. He chairs the American Society for Mass Spectrometry’s workshops on IMC, holds visiting professorships in Japan, Germany and Switzerland, and is supported with over $4.7 million in extramural grants.

Hill has graduated more than 27 doctoral students and has also served as associate dean of the Graduate School and director of the Office of Grants and Research Development as well as a member of numerous university committees.

The Outstanding Civil Service Staff Member award went to Terry Wagoner, information technologist in the Department of Mathematics. Wagoner plays a key role in the development of the department’s online database and maintenance of computers.

The award for administrative/professional staff went to Glenn Miller, long-time manager of the Eastlick Stores. He was commended for his knowledge of sources for materials and for the purchasing system he devised along with his strong people skills.
Jeannette Martin, an instructor in the Department of Mathematics, won the Faculty Advising Excellence Award. Martin is the Math placement coordinator and serves as liaison to advisors across campus on math placement issues. She is committed to ensuring that WSU students enroll in math classes they have the background to complete successfully.

The Thomas E. Lutz Teaching Excellence Award, which memorializes a former longtime mathematics faculty member, was given to Andrew Storfer, associate professor in the School of Biological Sciences. He has implemented many innovative teaching methods in courses with large enrollments designed for non-science majors. He was commended for his success in building interest in biology in students who plan to major elsewhere. His real-time feedback system that facilitates learning was noted.

Peter Engels, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, received the Young Faculty Performance Award. Engels constructed a successful new Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) experiment after only 18 months on campus. He became the first in the Northwest to produce a BEC, a novel form of matter that exists only at extremely cold temperatures. BEC’s have potential applications in gravitational sensors and quantum computers. Engels was also recognized for his commitment to his students and teaching skills.

An award that was first bestowed last year, the College of Sciences Legacy of Excellence, honors a retired faculty who has contributed as researcher, teacher, mentor and sometimes as an administrator. This year the recipient is Robert Nilan, former Dean of Sciences and professor emeritus.

Nilan is a leading international authority on barley genetics who came to WSU in 1951 as an agronomist and geneticist. He served as chair of genetics, and, as dean, oversaw the development of programs in statistics, environmental science and plant physiology as well as essential laboratories in bio-analysis and biotechnology, and centers of electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance. His world-wide recognition as a plant geneticist earned him an appointment to the Danish Academy of Science. He became the first Nilan Distinguished Professor in Barley Research and Education, a position created in his honor by the Washington Barley Commission. He also was the coordinator of the North American barley genome mapping project.

Special recognition was given to Elaine O’Fallon, administrative assistant
in the School of Earth and Environmental Science, for her work as chief organizer of the Lane Family Lecture in Environmental Science that brought primatologist and peace advocate Jane Goodall to campus in March.

The event concluded with two surprise announcements. Tim Pavish, director of WSU alumni relations, revealed that retired professor of chemistry Donald Matteson has been named an honorary Cougar, the highest award given by the WSU Alumni Association to non-alumni.  Finally, John Nilson, director of the School of Molecular Biosciences, announced the creation and funding of the Michael D. Griswold Fellowship in Reproductive Biology, in honor of Dean Griswold.