Biology and Agriculture
In April, 42 students graduated from BYU’s undergraduate neuroscience program, the largest program of its kind in the nation. Eighty percent of the program’s graduates continue to medical or dental schools, and 15 percent go on to neuroscience graduate programs.
A team of scientists, including Edwin D. Lephart, ’79, a professor of physiology and developmental biology and director of BYU’s Neuroscience Center, has documented in a series of lab experiments that equol, a molecule formed when soy is consumed, inhibits the actions of a male hormone, altering physiological responses of rats’ reproductive organs. The findings were published in Biology of Reproduction.
Education
David L. McPherson, ’67, professor and department chair of audiology and speech-language pathology, was recently awarded the 2004 Humanitarian Award from the American Academy of Audiology. McPherson was honored for his efforts to assist and promote hearing healthcare around the world.
Melissa C. Sevy, ’04, a special-education major, received the Jeanette Misaka Student of the Year Award at the annual conference for the Utah chapter of the Council for Exceptional Children. Breanne E. Bell, ’04, also a special-education major, received the Most Professionally Developed Award. BYU students were judged against students at other Utah universities.
Engineering and Technology
The Micron Technology Foundation recently donated $100,000, which will be used over a four-year period to enhance the education of BYU students in microelectronics. Micron also funds several multi-year full-tuition undergraduate scholarships in chemical engineering and electrical and computer engineering.
Tracy W. Nelson, associate professor of mechanical engineering, was selected by his peers to be a corecipient of the Adams Memorial Membership Award from the American Welding Society (AWS). This award, which he received in Chicago in April, recognizes educators for outstanding teaching activities. Nelson is a recognized leader in the area of friction stir welding and the past recipient of the AWS Professor Kiochi Massubuchi Award, the Warren F. Savage Memorial Award, and the International Henry Granjon Award.
Family, Home, and Social Sciences
Marie Cornwall, ’77, a BYU sociology professor, recently received the inaugural Distinguished Research Award from the university’s Women’s Research Institute for her contributions to the scholarly study of women.
Fine Arts and Communications
Rory R. Scanlon, ’80, a professor of theatre and media arts, has been appointed an associate dean in the College of Fine Arts and Communications. His assignments involve student and curricular issues, and he will also continue to oversee the Division of Design and Production.
Health and Human Performance
Charles F. Stiggins, ’77, an athletic professional in the Physical Education Department, was selected by the Professional Football Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society to receive the prestigious 2003 President’s Award. The award, which was presented to him at the society’s annual banquet in Indiana, recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to the profession of sports strength and conditioning.
Raymond D. Robinson, ’96, associate professor of dance, along with philosophy professor Dennis J. Packard, ’02, and media specialist Charles D. Cranney, ’81, is working with students in philosophy, film, and dance to create short films for a BYUTV series, Lifesong Stories. Lifesong is an interdisciplinary organization involving business, humanities, philosophy, film, and dance.
Humanities
Ryan S. Keller, ’04, who received a degree in philosophy in April, is the university’s first winner of the prestigious Gates Cambridge Scholarship, an honor established by Microsoft’s Bill Gates in 2000 to reward winners’ “intellectual ability, leadership capacity, and desire to use their knowledge to contribute to society throughout the world.” The award will cover all expenses associated with Keller’s master’s program in international relations at Cambridge—a total of about $38,000.
Nicholas A. Mason, ’93, assistant professor of English, was awarded the Pforzheimer Grant from the national Keats-Shelley Organization. He received the $2,500 award for his book manuscript Advertising, Print, and the Shaping of British Romanticism, which explores the connections between the advertising system in Britain and book trade in the late-18th and early-19th centuries.
Thomas Lee | Photo by Jaren Wilkey
Law School
Thomas R. Lee, ’88, son of law school founder Rex E. Lee, ’60, was recently appointed deputy assistant attorney general in the U.S. Department of Justice. Lee will oversee more than 100 attorneys in the Federal Programs Branch in the department’s Civil Division.
Marriott School
A five-member team for the Marriott School took home $10,000 as one of five national winners in PricewaterhouseCoopers’ xTax competition. The competition, designed to create student interest in the world of tax, required teams to work on a case study developing tax policies to stimulate economic growth.
Nursing
After serving a five-year term, Elaine S. Marshall has accepted the invitation to continue to serve as dean. Marshall has been at BYU for 17 years and has received the Nurse of the Year for Excellence in Nursing Research Award from the Utah Nurses Association and a New Professional Book Award from the National Council on Family Relations.
Physical and Mathematical Sciences
A computer-generated spaceship navigates using newly developed animation techniques that employ artificial intelligence. Photo courtesy J. Dinerstein/ P. Egbert.
Robert Beck Clark, a physics and astronomy professor, received the Melba Newell Phillips Award from the American Association of Physics Teachers. The award is given only periodically to those who display creative leadership, dedicated service, and exceptional contributions in the area of physics teaching. Since the award’s inception in 1981, Clark is just the ninth recipient.
BYU computer scientists have developed artificial-intelligence animation techniques that allow video-game and motion-picture producers to create entertainment quicker and cheaper than ever. Parris K. Egbert, a BYU associate professor of computer science, has led the team, whose research was published in the April 27 issue of the Journal of Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds.
Religious Education
David R. Seely, ’81, professor of ancient scripture, recently teamed with law professor John W. Welch, ’70, and JoAnn Horton Seely, ’78, to edit Glimpses of Lehi’s Jerusalem. The book’s 22 essays examine the political, religious, social, cultural, and economic climate of Jerusalem, and surrounding areas in the decades before the city’s destruction in 587/586 b.c.
