BIOLOGY AND AGRICULTURE
During fall 2000 agronomy and horticulture professor Richard E. Terry, ’72, assigned students to monitor methane levels at a housing development built on an old landfill in Spanish Fork, Utah. Using a method Terry has developed to collect gas samples from the soil, students gathered data that helped the Utah County Health Department assess the landfill’s effect on residents.
MORE: www.byu.edu/news/releases/archive00/Dec/landfill.htm
Two BYU researchers have been working to improve the health of turkeys at Utah poultry farms. Marcus M. Jensen, ’71, emeritus professor of microbiology, created three vaccines that prevent turkeys from contracting a whooping cough–like disease, fowl cholera, and staph infections. Ronald W. Leavitt, ’77, a microbiology professor, is building on Jensen’s work.
MORE: www.byu.edu/news/releases/archive00/Nov/turkeys.htm
John D. Lee, ’72, director of laboratory support services for the College of Biology and Agriculture, has been named an assistant dean of the college.
EDUCATION
The first floor of the David O. McKay Building has been newly renovated. Improvements include a new computer lab, new technology classrooms, a student lounge, and a new office for the Center for Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling.
Martin Fujiki, a professor of audiology and speech-language pathology, has been named a Fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) in Washington, D.C.
ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY
Engineering professor Wayne Downs has invented a device that combats groundwater contamination by pumping noxious vapors from the soil.
Wayne C. Downs, ’75, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, has discovered how to use nature’s own forces to “vacuum” contaminated vapors out of the soil. Downs’ pumps have been used at the Boise Airport, Tooele Army Depot, Hill Air Force Base, and McClellan Air Force Base near Sacramento.
MORE: www.byu.edu/news/releases/archive00/Oct/downs1.htm
A. Woodruff Miller, ’69, is the new chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
FAMILY, HOME, AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Vaughn R. A. Call, ’74, has been named chair of the Sociology Department. James B. McDonald is the new chair of the Economics Department. J. Matthew Shumway, ’84, is the new chair of the Geography Department. Elaine Walton, ’86, is the new director of the School of Social Work.
FINE ARTS AND COMMUNICATIONS
The Communications Department is launching the first quarterly scholarly journal exclusively devoted to the study of religion and mass communication. The Journal of Media and Religion will bring a social science perspective and methodological rigor to such topics as whether new information technologies are influencing religious worship and how religion is depicted in the media. The journal will begin circulation in January 2002 and is coedited by Daniel A. Stout, ’79, a BYU associate professor of communications, and Judith M. Buddenbaum, a professor of technical writing at Colorado State University.
Theatre and media arts professor Harold R. Oaks, ’60, has been named an associate dean of the college.
HEALTH AND HUMAN PERFORMANCE
Ruel M. Barker, ’64, is the new chair of the Department of Physical Education. Recreation management professor Thomas S. Catherall, ’65, has been named an associate dean of the college. Brian J. Hill, ’86, is the new chair of the Department of Recreation Management and Youth Leadership.
HUMANITIES
J. Halvor Clegg, ’64, is the new chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. Roger T. Macfarlane has been named chair of the Department of Humanities, Classics, and Comparative Literature. Dennis F. Rasmussen, ’70, is the new chair of the Philosophy Department.
LAW SCHOOL
The Schooley Mediation Program, sponsored by the J. Reuben Clark Law School, is now in its third year. Through this program, law students are trained in out-of-court methods of conflict resolution and provide mediation as a service to community members.
MARRIOTT SCHOOL
South Korea’s third-largest company, LG, has honored Ned C. Hill, dean, and Christopher B. Meek, ’73, associate professor of organizational behavior, for their support in educating LG managers. Since 1987 nine LGmanagers have studied in the school’s MOB program, and more than 150 BYU students have had internships with the company.
MORE: www.byu.edu/news/releases/archive00/Nov/korean.htm
On Nov. 17, 2000, the Kevin and Debra Rollins Center for eBusiness hosted its first e-business conference and launched a virtual e-business center (ebusiness.byu.edu).
MORE: www.byu.edu/news/releases/archive00/Nov/Rollins.htm
Marshall B. Romney, ’71, is the new director of the Master of Information Systems Management program. Boyd C. Randall has been named director of the School of Accountancy and Information Systems. Kate L. Kirkham is the new director of the Master of Organizational Behavior program.
NURSING
Barbara Mandleco, ’91, was inducted as a fellow in the Western Academy of Nursing in April 2000. Lynn C. Callister, ’64, has been selected to receive the 2001 Region One Mentor Award from the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.
PHYSICAL AND MATHEMATICAL SCIENCES
A recent report by the American Institute of Physics says that BYU‘s physics program awarded the second largest number of physics bachelor’s degrees (44) of any school in the United States during the 1998–99 academic year. BYU was second only to Harvard/Radcliffe.
MORE: www.byu.edu/news/releases/archive00/Nov/physicsreport.htm
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) have named chemistry professor John D. Lamb, ’71, the 2000 Utah CASE Professor of the Year.
Andrew C. Skinner
Howard B. Christensen, ’64, is the new chair of the Statistics Department. R. Steven Turley, ’78, is the new chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
The Department of Church History and Doctrine has introduced a new LDS church history class, which covers the 20th century.
Andrew C. Skinner, an associate professor of ancient scripture, has been appointed dean of religious education. He replaces Robert L. Millet. Paul H. Peterson, ’66, is the new chair of the Department of Church History and Doctrine. Daniel K Judd, ’85, is the new chair of the Department of Ancient Scripture.