CSET News. JSU Welcomes New CSET Dean. Dr. Richard Alo` Dean of the College of Science, Engineering and Technology

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1 ews pring 2013 Vol: 6 o. 1 JU elcomes ew Dean Dr. Richard Alo` Dean of the ollege of cience, ngineering and echnology F Grants JU $3 Million for Materials Research and ducation hemistry hair Recognized for Advancing Diversity eathervision Launches At JU JU Grad Receives Awards For ork In echnology

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3 JU elcomes ew Dean Dr. Richard Aló, Dean ollege of cience, ngineering & echnology Dr. Richard Aló comes to JU from the ational cience Foundation where he served as a Program Director in the Directorate for ducation and Human Resources and Division of Undergraduate ducation. He was serving concurrently as the xecutive Director of the enter for omputational ciences and Advanced Distributed imulation at the University of Houston-Downtown. At JU he also holds the rank of Professor of omputer cience. Aló brings a deep level of teaching, research and leadership experience to Jackson tate that will help our ollege of cience, ngineering and echnology soar to even greater heights, Meyers said. He is not only a scholar and innovator, but is a strategic and collaborative leader who has been highly effective at cultivating the next generation of science, engineering, technology and mathematics professionals. Dr. Aló joined the faculty of the University of Houston-Downtown in 1982 as a professor and chair of the Department of omputer and Mathematical ciences and served as department chair until From 1995 to 2010, he was executive director for Grants and ontracts for the university s ollege of cience and echnology. He has previous teaching experience at the Pennsylvania tate University, arnegie- Mellon University, Lamar University, the Indian Institute of echnology in Kanpur, India, and the Universita degli tudi di iena, the Universita degli tudi di Parma and cuola ormale in Italy. He earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in mathematics with a minor in computer science from the Pennsylvania tate University and a B.A. in mathematics from Gannon ollege. Aló s current research interests include artificial intelligence, biomedical and generalized information systems, synthetic environments and distributed simulations, computer science education, computational science, grid computing, cyber infrastructure, text processing, medical applications, and visual analytics. He has published more than 150 professional papers, co-authored a graduate text for ambridge University Press and has delivered more than 200 research presentations. He is the recipient of the Hispanic ngineers ational Awards and Achievement onference 2002 ducator of the Year. Dr. Aló has served on numerous advisory and executive boards including the Mathematical Association of America s ommittee on xchange of Information for Mathematics and ommittee for the Undergraduate Program in Mathematical ciences; the Association of Departments of omputer and Information cience and ngineering at Minority Institutions (ADMI- founding member); oalition to Diversify omputing (founding member and co hair); hair- he Richard apia 2001 ymposium to Diversify omputing Houston, exas; o hair- ducation ommittee for upercomputing 2002 International onference; he Multi-ector risis Management enter- ashington, D; the American Mathematical ociety tudent Advisory Panel; the enter for ducation in International ommunity (founding member); the Houston Independent chool District s F Urban ystemic Initiative for reform of K through 12 science and mathematics education; the F omputer and Information cience and ngineering Policy Board for Minority ducation Funding; the ational cience Board s U Government Performance and Results Act Oversight ommittee for the ational cience Foundation; the American Indian Higher ducation onsortium, ducation and Outreach ommittee; Director of the F Minority erving Institutions yberinfrastructure mpowerment oalition; omputing Alliance for Hispanic erving Institutions (founding member); co Director of F BP Advancing Females to the Professoriate in omputing; the Hispanic Association of olleges and Universities M Advisory Board; ngineering for the Americas; Vice President for Finance for Latin American and aribbean onsortium of ngineering Institutions (founding member), and President of the Houston International Dance oalition. 3

4 F Grants JU $3 Million for Materials Research and ducation 4 Jackson tate University has been awarded one of six Partners for Research and ducation in Materials (PRM) awards from the ational cience Foundation as a result of the 2012 PRM competition. he PRM award, which amounts to $3 million over five years, will help fund JU s research in the area of multifunctional nanomaterial. JU chemistry and biochemistry professor Paresh Ray e are aiming to make nanosensors, which can be used in the purification of water and cleaning contaminants from food samples, said chemistry and biochemistry professor Paresh Ray, who is the project s principal investigator. he funds also will help JU researchers develop new materials including multifunctional hybrid nanomaterials made from gold and carbon nanotubes. his helps Jackson tate continue materials research, said Ray, who leads JU s enter for anoscience and anotechnology. Before PRM, we really didn t have any materials research. he Jackson tate University PRM also will fund educational and outreach activities including anoday events at local high schools, the Mississippi Museum of atural cience and the Memphis Zoo, and the development of a cooperative materials science Ph.D. program in partnership with the University of alifornia at anta Barbara MR. he PRM award is the second received by JU. In 2006, the university received a $2.75 million PRM award, which Rays said helped bolster the success of the enter for anoscience and anotechnology. Over the last five years, center researchers have published 78 papers in top-quality journals, Ray said, and high school and college students trained at the center have gone on to study at leading universities including Rice, Purdue and the University of alifornia, Berkeley. he other 2012 PRM award recipients include the alifornia tate University, Howard University, orfolk tate University, exas tate University an Marcos and the University of exas at l Paso. he new partnerships will impact a wide range of materials research and education, including nanomaterials and nanotechnology, biomaterials and biotechnology, electronics, spintronics, soft materials, polymers and materials for renewable energy. he objective of the PRM program is to broaden participation of underrepresented minorities and enhance diversity in materials research and education. his is accomplished by stimulating the development of formal, long-term, multi-investigator, collaborative research and education partnerships between minorityserving colleges and universities and F s Division of Materials Research (DMR)-supported centers, institutes and facilities. hese awards were made possible through partnership with DMR; the PoR program in F s Office of Integrated Activities; and the Historically Black olleges and Universities Undergraduate Program and Research in Disabilities ducation program in F s ducation and Human Resources directorate.

5 Female Faculty ork to Understand Gender Bias in the Academy Female faculty members from Jackson tate University s cience, echnology, ngineering and Mathematics (M) and ocial and Behavioral ciences (B) disciplines gathered at the Mississippi JU on Dec. 10 to offer insight into the perceptions and realities of gender bias toward single and married/ partnered academic women in the M and B areas. Many of the partnered women were joined by their spouses/partners, who also participated in the workshop. JU President arolyn. Meyers (left) participated in the JUAdvance workshop, "he Academic oman: Balancing Responsibilities, xpectations and Biases." Also pictured are JUAdvance principal investigator Loretta Moore (standing), psychology professor Debra Pate (next to Meyers), biology professor Jacqueline tevens, Mississippi ollege law professor Angela Kupenda, psychology professor Kaye ly and political science professor Lenice Davis. wo of the things we wanted to look at was the impact of marital status on advancement in the academy and the impact of a woman s degree or the professoriate on her marital status, said Loretta Moore, who is the interim associate dean of JU s ollege of cience, ngineering and echnology and principal investigator of the JUAdvance program, which organized the workshop. Funded by a $3.5 million grant from the ational cience Foundation, JUAdvance is a five-year project designed to advance the careers of M and B women faculty and transform the institutional climate of Jackson tate University. University of Alabama at Huntsville communication arts professor letra. Gilcrist facilitated a session during the Dec. 10 JUAdvance workshop. Gilcrist is the editor of "xperiences of ingle African- American omen Professors: ith this Ph.D., I hee ed." lose to 40 people participated in the Dec. 10 seminar including JU President arolyn. Meyers, the majority of JU s M and B female faculty members, most of their spouses/partners and national experts on issues that face women in the academy. It was great that Dr. Meyers came out and supported the event, Moore said. It means a lot to the women faculty who where there. Although women faculty serve in leadership positions at JU and other universities, those in the M and B disciplines are notably less visible in administration levels. he JUAdvance project is expected to add an understanding of the issues that impact women faculty in the M and B disciplines and promote strategies that JU and other Historically Black olleges and Universities can adopt. It is also expected to foster a culture that seeks the inclusion of faculty regardless of gender, race and other target characteristics. pouses and partners of JU female faculty took part in a focus group to help understand the unique challenges facing academic women in the M and B disciplines, particularly women of color. Pictured are chemistry professor John atts (left), Reginald Buckley, Mississippi executive director illiam McHenry and facilitator Anthony L. DePass, assistance vice president for research development at Long Island University. he majority of married female faculty in M and B at Jackson tate have spouses who work outside of the university, Moore said. e had some great suggestions coming out of the event that will help support the women in their advancement. For example, the men at the workshop said they would like to continue to meet to build a community of spouses of M and B faculty. 5

6 hemistry hair Recognized for Advancing Diversity 6 he ommittee on Minority Affairs at the American hemical ociety (A) has selected Jackson tate University Department of hemistry and Biochemistry chair Hongtao Yu as the recipient of the tanley. Israel Regional Award for advancing diversity in the chemical sciences. he award was be presented at the outheast Regional Meeting of A in Richmond, Va. Yu s award recognizes his vision and dedication in initiating major recruiting efforts, developing relationships with high schools and colleges, developing mentorship programs for junior faculty and students, and working with students to encourage them to pursue advanced degrees. his A award is truly for the department and for JU, Yu said. here are many great programs at JU s ollege of cience, ngineering and echnology initiated by the deans for student recruitment, development and graduation. Yu credited his department s faculty, staff and students for tripling both undergraduate and graduate enrollment and doubling the number of faculty and student publications. My job is easy since I have worldclass researchers and student mentors such as professors Jerzy Leszczynski and Paresh Ray, Yu said. It is also easy to do my job to have faculty members such as professor Glake Hill, who has the same vision for recruiting and nurturing students. Yu joined the Jackson tate University faculty in 1996 and in 2003 was appointed chair of the chemistry department, which is now called the Department of hemistry and Biochemistry. Under Yu s leadership, the department has become one of the most published chemistry departments in the southern United tates with more than six peer-reviewed articles per faculty per year. As one of the three Ph.D. degreegranting chemistry departments among the nation s 115 Historically Black olleges and Universities, JU fosters a culture and environment conducive for underrepresented monitories, especially African Americans, to become leading scientists in chemical sciences and related fields. According to the 2011 rankings by Diverse Issues in Higher ducation, JU ranks second in the nation for awarding African Americans with master s degrees in physical sciences, third for bachelor s degrees and fourth for doctoral degrees in physical sciences. he rankings are largely due to the number of students earning chemistry degrees. Yu earned a bachelor s degree in chemistry from the University of cience and echnology of hina, a master s in chemistry from the hinese Academy of ciences and a Ph.D. in organic and biochemistry from echnical University of Munich, Germany. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the Mississippi tate Legislature HADA Outstanding Faculty Honoree Award, the ational hemluminary Award for Best Activity with Underrepresented Minority tudents and/or Organizations from the American hemical ociety and the Leadership in Doctoral ducation Award from Jackson tate University. Dr. Hongtao Yu, hair Department of hemistry and Biochemistry

7 Interim Assoc. Dean Appointed Assoc. Vice President for Research and cholarly ngagement Dr. Loretta A. Moore, who since 2011 has served as interim associate dean for the ollege of cience, ngineering and echnology at Jackson tate University, has been appointed Associate Vice President for Research and cholarly ngagement. In this new role, Moore will lead JU s new Academy for Research and cholarly ngagement, which will work to enhance the scholarly careers of JU faculty members. As a part of the academy, she will also lead the Jackson tate s enter for University cholars. he academy will be targeted toward junior faculty members who have yet to establish a strong grantmanship record and people at the associate or full professor level who are trying to reemerge with a new or different research focus, Moore said. Having the opportunity to work campus wide with all five colleges is very exciting. It will allow me to use some of my strengths to help our faculty identify funding for research and scholarly endeavors. Moore s new role parallels nicely with the ongoing efforts of the ational cience Foundation funded JUAdvance project, for which she serves as principal investigator. hat project focuses on advancing the careers of female faculty members in the cience, echnology, ngineering, and Mathematics (M) and ocial and Behavioral cience (B) disciplines. he new academy and the enter for University cholars will be housed in the Division of Research and Federal Relations. e expect this new academy to help foster even more research and innovation among our faculty, said Dr. Felix Okojie, vice president for Research and Federal Relations. e look forward to having Dr. Moore on our team. Moore joined JU s faculty 14 years ago as professor and chair of the Department of omputer cience. he has held positions at Auburn University, A& Bell Laboratories, Lawrence Livermore ational Laboratory, Army Research Laboratory, AA Kennedy pace enter and AA Marshall pace Flight enter. Moore s current research is in the area of computational thinking and in the application of intelligent techniques to cyber security, visual analytics and visualization. he has received funding from agencies including the ational cience Foundation, Department of Homeland ecurity, Department of Justice, Department of nergy Lawrence Livermore ational Laboratory, Army Research Laboratory, AA Kennedy pace enter, AA Marshall pace Flight enter, AA Headquarters, and Jacobs echnology. Moore serves as a commissioner for the omputing Accreditation ommission of AB. Dr. Moore is a member of the Board of the Association of Departments of omputing at Minority Institutions (ADMI); she also holds membership in AM, I, and AAU organizations. he previously served as a member of the U.. Army cience Board. he is active in the recruitment, retention, and promotion of African-American computer scientists. Moore received her B.. degree in omputer cience from Jackson tate University and her M.. and Ph.D. degrees in omputer cience from the Illinois Institute of echnology. 7

8 eathervision Launches At JU practical experience by doing live broadcasts for some of those stations as well as JU V. 8 Jackson tate University has launched a partnership with eathervision which provides weathercasts to more than 100 stations nationwide that will expand JU s broadcasting network and help train the next generation of meteorologists. A grand opening event was held hursday, ept. 13, at the JU Digital Media enter at the Mississippi Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. and JU meteorology student Jessica Foxworth, a senior from Belzoni, Miss., spoke at the event. his is a fabulous idea, Foxworth said of the partnership. ot only can students relay their messages to a national audience, but they can make their own forecasts. he custom weathercast company and its low-power radio station LZ-FM moved over the summer into the Mississippi which houses the JU Digital Media enter. he center includes JU 88.5 FM, JU V, V 22, the JU iger ports etwork and JU Video treaming. eathervision is a natural fit for Jackson tate University because it will give our students real-world experience while expanding our broadcast capabilities, said JU President arolyn. Meyers. ow JU can be seen and heard around the world. hat s innovation. eathervision O and meteorologist dward aint Pé said he had long envisioned forming a broadcast meteorology program at Jackson tate. tudents will be able to take classes that are directly involved with V broadcast of on-air meteorology as part of their coursework, like a laboratory, he said. he wide scope of eathervision more than 100 stations in markets from Miami to Memphis to Rochester,.Y. will enable students to gain eathervision, planning to partner on sales and advertising projects with JU s mass communications and athletic departments, is further expected to increase exposure for the university by allowing professors to be interviewed by other institutions and, perhaps, include distant learning applications, aint Pé said. he importance of exposure is a business tenet for aint Pé. hen changing technology made eathervision s use of satellite uplink obsolete, he continued to make it available to major networks and cable outlets such as and MB when locals were booked for guest appearances or interviews. It gives Jackson a valuable link to the national media, aint Pé said. In yet another avenue, eathervision s trove of nearly 500 movies will help JU V broaden its programming. he movie segment of the company is tied to one of aint Pé s personal passions acting. aint Pé is the founder and director of the Mississippi Film Institute, which produces the Mississippi International Film Festival each fall at the Russell. Davis Planetarium.

9 JU o erve As Academic Partner In Radiance echnologies ontract 9 Radiance echnologies Inc., announced that it has been awarded a $300 million ID/IQ contract for Agile yber echnology through the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL). Jackson tate University will be the academic partner in this important effort, which will develop cutting-edge cyber hardware and software tools, supporting the Air Force in the cyber domain. Jackson tate University s intellectual capital and research capabilities played an important role in the award of this ID/IQ contract, said Felix Okojie, JU Vice President for Research and Federal Relations. his is a demonstration of our value-added proposition to the economic development of our state. Radiance and JU have worked together for more than five years supporting AA, the Department of Marine Resources, the Department of Homeland ecurity, the U.. Army pace and Missile Defense ommand and the U.. Army orps of ngineers. he expert blending of university research expertise and real world industry engineering has provided the necessary capability to transition application research into operational use. Jackson tate University has outstanding faculty and staff who are on the cutting edge of robotics, cyber security, cyber forensics, high performance computing and data mining. Research divisions managed under the ollege of cience, ngineering and echnology will support this cyber contract. his is a major win for our Mississippi team and highlights our ability to provide innovative cyber solutions for our customers, said om trange, Radiance Vice President. yberspace is the unknown battleground of the 21 st century, and the ability of our war fighters to dominate this environment is dependent on cutting edge technologies being developed by industry leaders and academia. Headquartered in Huntsville, Ala., Radiance echnologies is a systems engineering, technology development and prototyping company that for eight years has maintained a growing office in Jackson, Miss. ore competencies of the Jackson office include software development, geospatial applications development, software engineering, numerical analysis and intelligence analysis. Radiance and Jackson tate are very excited about their continued partnership on this cyber contract and the opportunities it will bring.

10 Union Pacific Railroad Presents JU ith $40K Gift 10 Representatives from Union Pacific Railroad visited Jackson tate University on Oct. 4 to present a $40,000 contribution as part of the company s long-standing relationship with the university. ducation is an investment in our future, said JU President arolyn. Meyers. e believe this is the right kind of partnership. hen we do the business of education well, the whole society benefits. Over the last decade, Union Pacific has contributed more than $440,000 to JU for scholarships and curriculum development and has recruited dozens of JU students and graduates to work as interns and in full-time positions. urrently, 38 JU graduates work in various capacities throughout the company. Union Pacific college recruiter and JU grad John McPherson Jr. (left), ollege of cience, ngineering and echnology dean Dr. Richard Aló, ollege of Business dean Dr. Glenda Glover and JU President arolyn. Meyers join Union Pacific recruitment team members Kate Betsworth, Kay ard and Lovell ox, also a JU alum. Jackson tate 2001 graduate Lovell ox joined Union Pacific after graduation and today works as Director of ales-industrial Products for the company s Marketing & ales division. He returned to campus Oct. 4 to help deliver the contribution and meet with JU students interested in working for the company. e re very proud of the pipeline of students we ve recruited, he said of JU students. Union Pacific and Jackson tate began formulating a strategy in 2001 to increase student interest in career opportunities with the railroad company. orking in close coordination, qualified students were identified, interviewed and hired by Union Pacific. Additionally, the ollege of Business areer Management and Placement enter is named after Union Pacific Railroad. Due to the strength of the relationship between JU and Union Pacific, the company has named the university a ier 1 school for recruiting. he ier 1 status provides scholarships, supports curriculum development and enables funding for recruitment at JU. Union Pacific offers employment opportunities to JU graduates in a variety of disciplines including finance, information technology, marketing and sales, operations supply and distribution services. hen JU graduates come into our company, it really is another family they re joining, said Kate Betsworth, Union Pacific xecutive ponsor.

11 tate Farm Presents $50K Grant to Fund JU Mobile Application Lab 11 tate Farm presented a $50,000 check to the Jackson tate University Department of omputer cience. he tate Farm grant stems from JU s longstanding partnership with the insurance company. For more than a decade, JU s omputer cience Department has supplied tate Farm with qualified recruits, and the insurance company has supported the department with numerous grants. his year s grant will be used to set up a mobile application development lab equipped with Apple equipment. e will also be able to hire students as researchers in that lab, said Dr. Jacqueline Jackson, assistant professor in the Department of omputer cience. e re tying our research to the university s ipad initiative. assist in their learning. he program integrates the device into the curriculum and is tracking students learning through an intensive two-year study. tate Farm s support of JU is part of the company s effort to help lure more students into high-tech careers. Despite the growing demand for computer programmers and software engineers, the number of people graduating with computer science or computer engineering degrees has declined nearly 40 percent over the past decade. And while the number of students enrolling in programs is starting to pick up, the need for programmers keeps outpacing the supply. According to the U.. Bureau of Labor tatistics, jobs for computer programmers and software engineers are projected to increase by 21 percent through 2018, which is much faster than the average for all occupations. hrough a Mississippi e-enter Foundation program called the ipad echnology Advantage cholarship Initiative, JU freshmen this year received ipads to

12 Dr. Richard Alo`, Dean Phone: (601) (601) Dr. Paul B. chounwou Assoc. Dean chool of cience & echnology Phone: (601) ollege of cience, ngineering and echnology 1400 John R. Lynch t. Jackson, M cholarships/financial Assistance Dedicated Faculty urturing nvironment chool of ngineering Degrees B.. ivil ngineering nvironmental rack General ivil ngineering rack B.. omputer ngineering B.. omputer cience B.. lectrical ngineering Biomedical ngineering General lectrical ngineering rack Power ystems B.. elecommunications ngineering M.. omputer cience M.. ngineering ivil ngineering omputer ngineering omputational ngineering lectrical ngineering nvironmental ngineering Geological ngineering elecommunications ngineering chool of cience & echnology Degrees B.. Biology Biomedical cience nvironmental cience Forensic cience Marine Biology Pre-hemical ngineering Pre-Health areers (Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry) B.. hemistry Biomedical cience nvironmental cience Forensic cience Pre-hemical ngineering Faculty Mentored Research Peer utoring/mentoring Research Apprenticeships/Internships Modern Facilities (chool of cience & echnology Degrees -continued) Pre-Health areers (Medicine, Pharmacy, Dentistry) eacher ertification B.. arth ystems cience B.. Industrial echnology omputer echnology lectronics mergency Management Manufacturing & Design echnology echnology Management B.. Mathematics B.. Meteorology B.. Physics B.. cience ducation B.. echnology ducation B.. d. Mathematics ducation M.. Biology M.. hemistry M.. nvironmental cience M.. Hazardous Materials Management M.. Industrial echnology M.. Mathematics M.. echnology ducation M... Mathematics & cience eaching Biology hemistry Mathematics cience Ph. D. hemistry (Analytical, Biochemistry, Inorganic, Organic and Physical hemistry) Materials cience Ph. D. nvironmental cience