August 2010 Faculty Focus

Biology

Susan Fahrbach presented the invited keynote talk, “Plastic Bee Brains”, at the 14th Annual Meeting of the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology in Toronto, Canada, in July.

Business

Andrea Seaton Kelton and Ya-wen Yang have received funding from PricewaterhouseCoopers for her proposal “The Effects of IT Capacity and IT Governance on Audit Quality.”

Michael Lord provided his insight in a July 22 Winston-Salem Journal article into what factors he felt had caused Hanesbrands Inc. profits to triple. He attributes recent product introductions to the growth.

Chemistry

Christa Colyer has received funding for her proposal “Affinity-based CE Studies to Facilitate Bioprobe Design and Microbe Detection” from the National Science Foundation.

Lindsay Comstock has been awarded funding from the N.C. Biotechnology Center for her proposal “Probing Biological Methylation Through Cofactor Mimicry.”

Bradley Jones has been named Associate Dean for Recruiting and Program Publicity in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Stephen Bruce King has received funding for his proposals, “The NitroxylNitric Oxide Producing Reactions of Hydroxyurea and Related Compounds” (from the National Institutes of Health) and “Proteomic Profiling of Cancer-Related Redox Signaling Pathways CA 126659-A1” (from the National Institutes of Health and WFU Health Sciences).

Classical Languages

Mary Pendergraft was the banquet speaker for the 50th anniversary meeting of the Classical Association of Western New York in Buffalo. She also presented two sessions at the annual Institute of the American Classical League at Wake Forest this summer. In July she was a presenter at the Advanced Placement Annual Conference in Washington, DC, where she gave a report on the 2010 AP Latin Reading, a preview of the new AP Latin course, and a presentation, “Vergil and Caesar on What Means a Roman Leader.”

Communication

Mary Dalton was quoted in the June 29 Winston-Salem Journal article, “mooning away: Twilight saga enchants more than tweens, teens”, about the spell-binding effect the Twilight books and movies are having on tweens, teens, and adults. The second revised edition of her book, “The Hollywood Curriculum: Teachers in the Movies,” has been published by Peter Lang Publishing.

Allan Louden has been awarded funds from the U.S. Department of State for the “Benjamin Franklin Transatlantic Fellow Summer Institute.”

Randall Rogan has been named to a three-year term as Associate Dean for Academic Planning in Wake Forest College.

Computer Science

William Turkett has received funding from the National Science Foundation for his proposal “NeTS:Small:RUI:Motif-Driven Function and Association Discovery in Computer Networks To Support Management and Security of IT Infrastructures.”

Counseling

Samuel T. Gladding is the first Wake Forest faculty member to be named a Fulbright Specialist. He shared his expertise in family counseling with educators and students in Turkey during a month-long stay there this summer. Additionally, he was featured in the July 12 Winston-Salem Journal story, “…And they lived happily ever after … well, not quite,” about what happens when the honeymoon ends, dealing with issues such as finances, sex, communication and family, that affect marriages.

Education

Scott Baker shared his views on the No Child Left Behind law and the Adequate Yearly Progress measures in the Winston-Salem Forsyth County Schools, in the August 12 issue of the Winston-Salem Journal.

Health and Exercise Science

Michael J. Berry has received funding from the National Institutes of Health for his proposal “Standardized Rehabilitation for ICU patients with Acute Respiratory Failure.”

Jeffrey A. Katula presented a paper about the feasibility of combining cognitive and physical activity training for the prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease, in a featured symposium at the International Conference for Alzheimer’s Disease in Honolulu, HI, in July. Janine Jennings and Dale Dagenbach (psychology) and W. Jack Rejeski (health and exercise science) were also involved with this study.

Anthony Marsh and Jack Rejeski have been awarded funding from the National Institutes of Health and WFU Health Sciences for their proposal “Co-Core leader for Clinical Research in Pepper Center.”

Jack Rejeski, Tony Marsh, Shannon Mihalko, and Jeff Williamson (WFUBMC) have been involved in a recent study which suggests that a significant number of residents living in retirement communities have deficits in lower body strength, a key indicator in estimating how independent seniors may remain in the future. The study was developed in conjunction with Homestead Hills, a Winston-Salem retirement community, and the Center on Aging at WFUBMC, and supported by Senior Living Communities, pilot grants from the WFUBMC Translational Science Institute, and the WFUBMC Claude D. Pepper Older Americans’ Independence Center.

History

Charles Wilkins has written a new book, “Forging Urban Solidarities: Ottoman Aleppo 1640-1700” (Brill Publishing, 2010), part of a series on the Ottoman Empire.

German and Russian

Rebecca Thomas has been named to a three-year term as Associate Dean for Faculty Development in Wake Forest College.

Law

Jennifer Collins has been appointed to a three-year term as associate provost for academic initiatives. She will also retain her title as professor of law. 

John Korzen was quoted in an August 12 Winston-Salem Journal article about the American Civil Liberties Union fight against sectarian prayer at government meetings.

Steve Nickles was the keynote speaker for graduation at the Concord Law School of Kaplan University in July. He is also the program developer for Concord’s new Small Business Practice LL.M. program, the first-of-its-kind focused on the challenges of start-up enterprises and small businesses.

Suzanne Reynolds has been named executive associate dean for academic affairs. She also teaches family law.

Ronald Wright has been named institutional researcher for the law school.

Music

Richard Heard performed the role of the governor in Leonard Bernstein’s Candide with Fayetteville State University Summer Opera in July.

Dan Locklair was commissioned in June by the American Guild of Organists Greater Greensboro for a Concerto for Organ and Orchestra. This work will be premiered at the June 2011 Region IV AGO Convention in Greensboro, NC. He also received a favorable review of his work “PHOENIX for orchestra” in the Winston-Salem Journal in July. During the 2010 summer term, he taught composition at Yale University’s Institute of Sacred Music. His work “The Peace May Be Exchanged” from Rubrics appears on a newly released aca digital CD by organist Alan Morrison, head of the organ department of the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, as recorded on the new pipe organ in Philadelphia’s Verizon Hall of the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. In May his Sonata da Chiesa (1998) for flute and organ was performed at the 2010 Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC.

Philosophy

Christian Miller along with William F. Fleeson and Michael R. Furr of the psychology department, has received a $3.67 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for The Character Project, an exploration of the nature of character. This grant is the largest ever received for humanities research at Wake Forest.

Physics

David Carroll has been awarded funding from PureLux Inc. for his proposal to use nanotechnology to produce visible light directly rather than by heating a filament or gas. He was also featured in a Winston-Salem Journal story, “Nanotechnology holds hope for targeting of cancer cells,” on July 27.

Jacquelyn Fetrow has received funding from the National Institutes of Health and WFU Health Sciences for her proposal “Computational modeling of dendritic cell maturation.”

Martin Guthold is the co-inventor of Lab-on-Bead, a revolutionary technology that will speed up drug discovery. He serves as chief science officer for NanoMedica Inc., a biotechnology startup in Winston-Salem.

Daniel Kim-Shapiro and a collaborator at the University of Pittsburgh have received a four-year grant from National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to study why the quality of stored blood degrades over time and to investigate ways to make transfusions using older blood safer.

Jed C. Macosko is the primary inventor of the Lab-on-Bead technology which uses tiny beads studded with “pins” that match a drug to a disease marker, slashing years off the time it takes to develop drugs. An article on his research was featured in TechJournal South in July. He will work with the biotechnology startup NanoMedica Inc. to test how drug companies will use the new tool and will serve as its chief innovation officer.

Psychology

William Fleeson along with Christian Miller (philosophy) and Michael R. Furr (psychology), has received a $3.67 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for The Character Project, an exploration of the nature of character. This grant is the largest ever received for humanities research at Wake Forest.

Michael R. Furr along with Christian Miller (philosophy) and William Fleeson (psychology), has received a $3.67 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation for The Character Project, an exploration of the nature of character. This grant is the largest ever received for humanities research at Wake Forest.

Sociology

Saylor Breckenridge was an extra in the music video for Sugar High Gang’s “Team Spandex” music video shot recently in Winston-Salem. He played the part of an inventor of a magical pair of spandex pants.

Robin Simon’s research on relationships was published in an article, “North Carolina Divorce Attorneys Report: Men suffer from relationship woes too.” The study findings were also published in a June 2010 article in Science Daily.

Ian Taplin published an article entitled “From cooperation to competition: Market transformation among elite Napa Valley wine producers” in the International Journal of Wine Business Research. His research shows how informal knowledge sharing is a crucial component in the growth of a regional cluster and how such sharing improves product quality and eventually the status of the region.

Theatre and Dance

Lynn Book is the featured artist in Art Stays, an international contemporary arts festival in Ptuj, Slovenia. She was in residence from July 20-30 to develop a new site-specific performance installation work, lecture and give a concert. She will also exhibit in Berlin, Germany, at ConcertArt; perform a concern of original compositions for voice and electronics at Tanzfabrik; and conduct a one-week workshop for international graduate students in new media at Transart Institute in August.

WFUBMC

Peter Antinozzi (biochemistry) has been named as part of a new translational research team with Barry Freedman (nephrology). Their project, Lipotoxicity in the Pathogenesis of Diabetic Nephropathy, was presented with a $50,000 award by the WFU Translational Science Institute.

Louis Argenta and Michael Morykwas (plastic and reconstructive surgery) were featured in an August 12 Winston-Salem Journal article which shared how their Vacuum-Assisted Closure device, which treats difficult-to-heal wounds, such as diabetic and trauma wounds, had been used to treat Yoko, a Komodo dragon which suffered from extremely delicate, prone-to-infection skin.

Anthony Atala (regenerative medicine) and the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine will be partnering with the Armed Forces Institute of Regenerative Medicine, which has received $10 million from state legislators, to create new tissue and organs for wounded soldiers.

Gopal Badlani (urology) has been named the 2010-2011 secretary-elect of the American Urological Association. He also serves as the Department of Urology’s vice chair for clinical affairs.

Debra Diz (hypertension and vascular research center) has been appointed to the External Historically Black Colleges and Universities Undergraduate Program Advisory Committee at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte.

Barry Freedman (nephrology) has been named as part of a new translational research team with Peter Antinozzi (biochemistry). Their project, Lipotoxicity in the Pathogenesis of Diabetic Nephropathy, was presented with a $50,000 award by the WFU Translational Science Institute.

Dwayne Godwin professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy, has been named Associate Dean for Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Professional Development in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Brenda Latham-Sadler (student services) is serving as immediate past president on the executive committee for the Forsyth-Stokes-Davie County Medical Society. She has also been appointed to the State Health Coordinating Council by N.C. Gov. Beverly Perdue, as well as the National Board of Medical Examiners Medical Schools Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Student Affairs, representing the southern region.

Michael Lischke (AHEC) has been appointed to the North Carolina Association of Free Clinics’ (NCAFC) board of directors.Robert Lott
(internal medicine) has been awarded a medical dermatology fellowship grant from the National Psoriasis Foundation to study new strategies to encourage better adherence to psoriasis treatments.

Lucas P. Neff (health sciences) has been awarded the American Vascular Association Resident Research Award for his research in vascular disease and tissue engineering.

Christopher Ohl (epidemiology/infectious diseases) was quoted in a July 12 Winston-Salem Journal article about the strong likelihood of a recurrence of the swine flu in the Triad this fall, and encouraged all readers to get the vaccination.

Alexandru Papoiu (dermatology) has received the “Handwerker Award” for outstanding oral presentation at the fifth biannual meeting of the International Forum for the Study of Itch held in Tokyo.

Thoomas Nakagawa (pediatric ICU) has been awarded the 2010 DonorCare Award by the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation. This award recognizes those who have demonstrated a commitment to donor families above and beyond what is currently recognized as the industry standard of care.

Z. Smith Reynolds Library

Susan Smith has received funding from the State Library of North Carolina for her proposal “Biblical Recorder Digitization Outsourcing Project.”

Milestones

Faculty members who are observing anniversaries of their employment.
(Recognition is for one year and for five through 50 years at five-year intervals.)

August 2010 Recognition

35 Years

Willie Hinze, Chemistry: Professor
Ellen Kirkman, Mathematics: Professor

25 Years

Sarah Barbour, Romance Languages: Professor
Michael Berry, Health & Exercise Science: Chair and Professor
Stephen Boyd, Religion: Chair and Professor
Jule Connolly, Mathematics: Senior Lecturer
Katy Harriger, Political Science: Chair and Professor
Hank Kennedy, Political Science: Professor
Wayne Silver, Biology: Professor
Ian Taplin, Sociology: Professor
John Wood, Economics: Reynolds Professor of Economics

15 Years

Eric Carlson, Physics: Associate Professor
Yomi Durotoye, Political Science: Senior Lecturer
David Finn, Art: Professor
David Hagy, Music: Director of Orchestra
Bruce King, Chemistry: Professor
Angela King, Chemistry: Senior Lecturer
Jack Meredith, Schools of Business: Professor
Steve Nickles, School of Law: Professor
Bruce Resnick, Schools of Business: Joseph M. Bryan Jr. Professor
Brian Tague, Biology: Associate Professor
Johnnie Talley, Health & Exercise Science: Lecturer
Page West, Schools of Business: Professor

10 Years

Rebecca Alexander, Chemistry: Associate Professor
Margaret Bender, Anthropology: Chair and Associate Professor
Kenneth Berenhaut, Mathematics: Associate Professor
Michaelle Browers, Political Science: Associate Professor
Errin Fulp, Computer Science: Associate Professor
Mike Green, School of Law: Distinguished Chair in Law
Paul Jones, Chemistry: Associate Professor
Lee Knight, Schools of Business: Hylton Professor
Barbara Lentz, School of Law: Associate Professor, Legal Writing
Roberta Morosini, Romance Languages: Associate Professor
Ron Thompson, Schools of Business: Associate Professor

5 Years

Irma Alarcon, Romance Languages: Assistant Professor
Elizabeth Barron, Romance Languages: Lecturer
Karina Bautista, Romance Languages: Lecturer
Kristin Bennett, Education: Assistant Professor
Lynn Book, Theatre: Senior Lecturer and Associate Director
Thomas Brister, Political Science: Lecturer
Holly Brower, Schools of Business: Associate Professor
Robert Hellyer, History: Assistant Professor
Miriam Jacobson, English: Assistant Professor
Sarah Lischer, Political Science: Assistant Professor
Veronique McNelly, Romance Languages: Lecturer
Benjamin Paz, Schools of Business: Lecturer
Bryan Shelly, Political Science: Assistant Professor
Patricia Swier, Romance Languages: Lecturer
Jarrod Whitaker, Religion: Assistant Professor
Heiko Wiggers, German and Russian: Senior Lecturer

1 Year

Jean-Paul Bessou Kpeglo, Z. Smith Reynolds Library: Librarian, Systems
Jeremy Cooper, Chemistry: Visiting Assistant Professor
Len Preslar, Schools of Business: Distinguished Professor of Practice

Categories: Faculty