Faculty and staff news
President Edward Ayers will teach a summer seminar on “The South in American History” to more than 30 elementary and secondary history teachers. The course is part of The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History’s teacher education program that seeks to bring together scholars with elementary and secondary history teachers to enrich American history education. The institute’s Web site includes a video of Ayers discussing the Civil War at www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/seminars_videos.html.
A grant to Dr. John Gupton, professor of chemistry, from the National Institutes of Health—National Cancer Institute has been renewed. Awarded under the Academic Research Enhancement Awards program, the project is “The Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Pyrrole Containing Marine Natural Products.” Gupton will receive $202,555 for three years to support summer research for him and four undergraduate students. Gupton has received NIH funding for this project since 1996.
Gupton also has been selected as a CUR Fellow by the Council on Undergraduate Research. He is one of two Fellows selected for developing nationally respected research programs involving undergraduates. Gupton also will receive a Brian Andreen-CUR Student Research Fellowship to present to a deserving Richmond undergraduate student. CUR Fellows “have established outstanding records of obtaining funding for their work and for their students and have published research findings with undergraduate co-authors.”
A book written by Dr. Woody Holton, associate professor of history, is a finalist for the Washington Prize, the most prestigious prize for books about early America. Unruly Americans and the Origins of the Constitution also was a finalist for the nonfiction National Book Award.
Richmond Alumni Magazine, Richmond-Now and Marketing Communications have won five awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). The magazine received a Special Merit Award for overall quality, and the magazine’s editor, Karl Rhodes, won an Award of Excellence for feature writing for “Saving the Mummy,” a story in the magazine’s spring 2007 issue about Richmond’s mummy, Tchai-Ameni-Niwet.
RichmondNow received an Award of Excellence in the internal tabloids and newsletters category. Linda Evans is the publication’s editor.
Members of the Marketing Communications staff won an Award of Excellence in the fundraising category for the annual fund solicitations and a Special Merit Award in the design for print category for the International Education brochure.
The awards are from CASE District III, which covers colleges and universities in the Southeastern United States.
Sue Robinson Sain, director of community programs and alumni relations for the Jepson School of Leadership Studies, is the new chair of the Virginia Leadership Association. The VLA is a consortium of approximately 50 leadership organizations in the commonwealth. The programs, such as the 1,400-member Leadership Metro Richmond, provide educational programming to develop leadership capacities at the community level.
Women in the Know, an annual conference sponsored by Westhampton College, won a silver award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators in its 2008 Excellence Awards program.
Staff and alumni were involved in the winning program. Staff members included Juliette Landphair, Angie Harris, Kerry Fankhauser and Holly Blake of Westhampton College; Heather Krajewski of Advancement; Kristin Woods of Alumni Relations; Lori Schuyler of the President’s Office; and Susan Johnson of the Arts and Sciences Dean’s Office.
Alumni involved included Ellen Bradley, Ann Carol Marchant, Jackie Brooks, Susan Quisenbury and Becky Clarke.
Dr. John Warrick, assistant professor of biology, has been awarded a three-year, $228,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health—National Institute of Neurologi-cal Disorders and Stroke. Presented under the Academic Research Enhancement Award program, the grant will enable Warrick to fund his research on “Finding Polyglutamine Disease and Rescue Mechanisms Using Proteomic Analysis.” Funds will provide summer support for Warrick and up to two undergraduate students each year, as well as equipment and supplies.