CORVALLIS - Outstanding achievement by faculty and staff in the Oregon State University College of Science was recognized this week during the college's annual faculty meeting.

James D. White, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, received the Gilfillan Memorial Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Science. His internationally recognized work in the synthesis of natural products has been of value to pharmaceutical and medicinal science. White came to OSU in 1971 and is past recipient of the college's other highest honor, the Harris Award.

A. Jon Kimerling, a professor of geosciences, received the Milton Harris Award in Basic Research, honoring his work in analytical cartography and spatial data analysis. Kimerling's innovations in mapping led to a now widely used global sampling grid for environmental monitoring and related applications. He joined OSU in 1976.

The T.T. Sugihara Young Faculty Award went to Robert Mason, associate professor of zoology. He has been instrumental in the study of the brown tree snake, which has devastated bird populations on Guam and is considered a major threat to native wildlife in Hawaii and around the Pacific Rim. In 1993 Mason was named a National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator.

Three Carter Awards for Inspirational Teaching were presented. The award for the teaching in graduate courses went to William A. Bogley, associate professor of mathematics, who joined OSU in 1990. A topologist, was cited for his popularity with students as an enthusiastic, well-organized lecturer who makes difficult material understandable.

One of the awards for teaching undergraduates went to Steven Albrecht, a chemistry lecturer at OSU since 1993. He was cited for helping first-year students adjust successfully to the demands of a university education. Students in freshmen orientation courses, which include science and non-science majors, named him as a favorite teacher.

Pui Shing Ho, an associate professor, also received the undergraduate Carter Award. He joined the OSU Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics in 1987. His efforts helped establish a "stereographics classroom," a special learning facility equipped to present three-dimensional images of molecular structures to large numbers of students. Philip Jackson and Stacy Gaylord were each presented the Boedtker Award for Excellence in Advising.

Jackson, a climatologist, is an associate professor in geosciences. In addition to his other activities, he is a senior adviser for the Native Americans in Marine Science program. For several years, he has coordinated his department's student internship program.

Gaylord is an advising specialist in the undergraduate Environmental Science Program. At OSU since 1995, she helped students to found the Environmental Science Club, one of the college's most active undergraduate clubs.

Ronald Guenther, OSU mathematics professor, presented the 1996 Gilfillan Memorial Lecture during the meeting, speaking on the application of mathematics in the study of risks associated with disposal of high-level nuclear wastes on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

Source: 

Fred Horne, 541-737-4811

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