Professional leave requests approved

Fifty-one requests for professional leave in 2006-2007 have been approved by Provost Robert C. Bates. He noted there will be no additional costs to WSU for this program. Recipients and topics, according to college, are:

Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences
• Sue Butkus, extension nutrition specialist, Food Science and Human Nutrition, April-Sept. 2007, to develop model for mobilizing the land-grant university to address health issues, especially prevention of diabetes.
• Matthew Carroll, professor, Natural Resource Sciences, Aug.-Dec. 2006, to study how forestry can be conducted in Ireland in a way that is positively received and contributes to development.
• Annabel Kirschner, professor/interim chair, Community and Rural Sociology, Aug. 2006-Aug. 2007, to extend research on rural areas, update software skills and pursue joint extension programming.
• Christian Koehler, extension educator E-3, WSU Extension Spokane County, April-Sept. 2006, to develop skills needed to provide effective personal-finance distance-education programs for state residents.
• Lisa Shipley, associate professor, Natural Resource Sciences, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to examine how wild herbivores select plants in relation to chemistry and structure of eucalyptus forests in Australia.

Business
• Timothy Baker, associate professor, Management and Operations, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to start price management research based on game and optimal control theories and begin reverse logistics research at the University of Oregon.
• Robert Greenberg, professor/chair, Accounting, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to study internal control systems documentation, design and risk assessment following passage of the federal Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
• Chris Paxson, associate dean/associate professor, Hospitality Business Management, Aug.-Dec. 2006, to study retirement leisure related to travel expenditures and hospitality industry services demand.

Education
• Tariq Akmal, associate professor, Teaching and Learning, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to write a book on grade-level retention practices and alternatives to retention in the middle grades.
• Dawn Shinew, associate professor, Teaching and Learning, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to explore impact of international experiences on WSU student teachers placed in Europe.
• Michael Trevisan, professor, Educational Leadership and Counseling Psychology, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to write a paper and two books on aspects of a current funded evaluation project.

Engineering and Architecture
• Robert Barnstone, associate professor, Architecture, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to work with architects and engineers in the Netherlands to develop new facade systems and components.
• Mohamed Osman, professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Aug.-Dec. 2006, to work at Old Dominion University on research related to molecular dynamics.
• David Pollock, associate professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Aug.-Dec. 2006, to make comprehensive revisions to textbook, “Design of Wood Structures.”
• Ayad Rahmani, associate professor, Architecture and Construction Management, Jan.-May 2007, to complete a book on Kafka and architecture toward development of interdisciplinary course between English and architecture.
• Lloyd Smith, associate professor, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to expand work in the area of sports science from bat-ball impacts to other impact sports.

Honors
• Mary Wack, dean, approximately six weeks, to conduct research in Dublin and Belfast for a book on the fates of three generations of Northern Irish families in the 19th century.

Liberal Arts
• Jose Alamillo, assistant professor, Comparative Ethnic Studies, Jan.-May 2007, to complete book in Mexico City and Los Angeles on the role of sports and athletics in lives of Mexican Americans.
• Leonard Burns, professor, Psychology, Jan.-May 2007, to determine the cross-cultural validity of conduct problems across Thai, Brazilian and American children.
• Frederick Busselle, associate professor, Murrow School of Communication, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to study influence of filmic narratives on attitudes and beliefs about social issues in Germany, Belgium, WSU.
• Joseph Keim Campbell, associate professor, Philosophy, Jan.-May 2007, to complete book, “Knowledge, Responsibility and Freedom,” at Rutgers University.
• Rebecca Craft, professor, Psychology, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to work in Texas and California labs on estrogen effects on brain serotonin and on sex differences in the effects of cannabis on appetite.
• Kevin Haas, assistant professor, Fine Arts, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to develop skills in printmaking, complete new portfolio and begin research on changing architecture of St Louis, Mo.
• Linda Heidenreich, assistant professor, Women’s Studies, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to write a draft of book, “Transphobic Racial Subordination at the Turn of the Century: A Case Study.”
• Carol Ivory, professor/chair, Fine Arts, Aug.-Dec. 2006, to complete project on contemporary tapa (bark cloth), its history, processes and artists within Marquesas Islands and French Polynesia.
• Jeanne Johnson, associate professor, Speech and Hearing Sciences, Jan.-May 2007, to study decreasing the rate of abandonment of augmentative/alternative communication systems.
• Christopher Lupke, assistant professor, Foreign Languages and Cultures, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to finish monograph on film director Hou Hsiao-hsien.
• Jeannette Mageo, professor, Anthropology, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to write a book about a new theory of dream analysis based on data collected from WSU undergrads during 2004 and 2005.
• Michael Morgan, professor, Psychology, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to expand research at Oregon Health Sciences University on the neural mechanisms underlying morphine tolerance.
• Michael Myers, professor, Philosophy, Aug.-Dec. 2006, to write “Buddha and Christ in Comparative Perspective.”
• Yolanda Flores Niemann, chair, Comparative Ethnic Studies, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to research intergroup stereotypes and expand emphasis on global issues in Texas, Italy, France and Spain.
• Patricia Sias, professor, Murrow School of Communication, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to write book monograph on workplace relationships and develop research agenda for the future.
• Steven Stehr, associate professor/chair, Political Science and Criminal Justice, Jan.-May 2007, to work on book analyzing the complex dynamics of victim assistance following natural and human-caused disasters.
• Heather Streets, associate professor, History, Jan.-May 2007, to write “Connections of Empire: Imperial Violence, Nationalism and Ideology in British India, French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies, 1890-1940.”
• Paul Thiers, associate professor, Political Science, WSU Vancouver, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to travel to Beijing to research China’s choices for integration into global climate-change communities.

Libraries
• Robert Matuozzi, Librarian 3, July-Dec. 2006, to publish monograph “Literary Research and American Modernism, 1915-1949.”

Nursing
• Merry Armstrong, associate professor, Intercollegiate College of Nursing, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to develop two grant proposals relating to women and addiction.

Pharmacy
• Joseph Coyne, professor, Health Policy and Administration, Aug.-Dec. 2006, to study the most effective interventions for patients at risk of diabetes in Helsinki, Finland.
• Ray Quock, professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences, July-Dec. 2006, to master new techniques to better study effects of anesthetic and analgesic drugs in the brain.

Sciences
• Doerte Blume, assistant professor, Physics and Astronomy, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to work in Italy and Colorade on the theoretical description of atomic many-body systems.
• Thomas Dickinson, Regents Professor/Paul A. Anderson Professor of Physics, Physics and Astronomy, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to study intense pulsed laser interactions with insulating materials at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
• Frederick Ford, professor, Environmental Science and Regional Planning, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to work on simulation of carbon markets and electric power industry at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Alan Genz, professor/chair, Mathematics, Jan.-May 2007, to work in Belgium on theoretical, algorithmic and software aspects of numerical multiple integration.
• Herbert Hill, professor, Chemistry, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to work in Switzerland and U.S. on instrument for measuring the human metabolome and determining structure of human oligosaccharides.
• Kent Keller, professor, Geology, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to learn microscopic techniques at the University of Copenhagen to understand role of soil solution in mineral-to-root transport of nutrients.
• Richard Mack, professor, Biological Sciences, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to do research in Toronto on plant invasions, particularly prediction of future plant invaders.
• Kirk Peterson, professor, Chemistry and Materials Science, Aug. 2006-May 2007, to research quantum chemistry method development at the University of Stuttgart and PNNL.
• Michael Pope, assistant professor, Geology, Jan.-May 2007, to gather and analyze preliminary data from sandstones of the western United States for proposals to be submitted to NSF.
• Mechthild Tegeder, associate professor, Biological Sciences, Aug.-Dec. 2006, to work on amino acid transporter function in legumes and structural analysis of membrane transport proteins in Switzerland and Arizona.
• Michael Webster, associate professor, Biological Sciences, Aug.-Dec. 2006, to examine geographic variation of red-backed wrens throughout Australia to gain insight into evolutionary history.

Veterinary Medicine
•Henk Granzier, professor, VCAPP, Sept. 2006-March 2007, to study in Berlin the genetic transfer of muscle protein in knock-out mice in which some muscle control appears to be lost.