1. University to offer 88 'Opportunity' scholarships
2. Countdown to top tier means continuing climb
3. Engineering faculty receive top recognitions
4. Taft awards Third Frontier grant to OARDC
5. Sadee awarded AAPS presidential citation
6. Chemists' work leads to Science breakthrough
7. Committee named to search for athletics director
8. Glass could lead to self-cleaning windows
9. OSU, Wilberforce to create engineering program
10. Sociologists analyze how city built sports venue
11. OSU awarded partnership to strengthen faculties
12. ACCAD teams up with DreamWorks for new class
13. OSU Med Center, staff honored by tech community
14. Morishita honored as veterinarian of the year
15. Three OSU physicians named 'local legends'
16. Valerie Lee tapped as YWCA Woman of Achievement

Winter Wonderland The absence of students and the arrival of a major snow storm during our quarter break in December resulted in this serene scene in Mirror Lake Hollow on December 26. The white lights on the trees throughout the hollow are courtesy of Ohio Staters and will grace the area through February.

University to offer 88 'Opportunity' scholarships

One student in each of Ohio's 88 counties could receive a full scholarship to Ohio State, worth up to $17,000 per year, under a new program designed to offer more low-income, high-ability students a chance to go to college. The university has committed to spend nearly $1.5 million this year on the Land Grant Opportunity Scholarships, so named because of Ohio State's status as a land-grant university and its mission to remain accessible to Ohio citizens. President Holbrook said the scholarships are directed at high-ability students throughout the state who, because of their financial need or lack of a family history of college attendance, may not know such opportunities exist. READ MORE >

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Countdown to top tier means continuing climb

Who would have thought in 2001, asks Fred Sanfilippo, that by 2004 the OSU Medical Center would employ 80 percent of the designated "Best Doctors" in Columbus and double biomedical research funding? Or open a state-of-the-art heart hospital and new centers in knowledge management and clinical skills training that are models for medical education across the country? Or break ground on the largest research building on campus without state or university capital funds? Or significantly move the organizational culture from a passive-avoidant norm to one that is more competitive and achievement oriented? Sanfilippo outlined the year's accomplishments and hinted at what lies ahead during his recent State of the Medical Center address. READ MORE >

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Engineering faculty receive top recognitions

Faculty in the College of Engineering have garnered top recognition in recent weeks. Robert Burkholder, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Jin-Fa Lee, professor of electrical and computer engineering, have been named Fellows of the prestigious Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. In addition, Fernando Teixeira, professor of electrical and computer engineering, received the 2004 URSI Booker Fellowship, the highest award given by the USNC, International Union of Radio Science, to a scientist under the age of 35.

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Taft awards Third Frontier grant to OARDC

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft has awarded a $1.5 million Third Frontier Wright Project grant to the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center for the creation of an innovative bio-energy research facility to turn various agricultural and food-processing wastes into energy. Taft made the announcement during a recent visit to OARDC's Wooster campus, where he learned about the center's contributions to the economic development of Ohio.

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Sadee awarded AAPS presidential citation

Wolfgang Sadee, chair of pharmacology and program director in pharmacogenomics at the College of Medicine and Public Health, has been awarded a presidential citation from the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS). Sadee received the award from the AAPS's president in recognition of his creative vision and vast contribution in establishing The AAPS Journal, the association's peer-reviewed online publication. He has served as editor-in-chief of the AAPS Journal since its inception in 1998. He received the award at the AAPS annual meeting and exposition in Baltimore.

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Chemists' work leads to Science breakthrough

According to the journal Science, research from Ohio State's chemistry department helped define one of the top 10 scientific breakthroughs of 2004. Assistant chemistry professor Heather Allen and her research group looked at the interaction of water with ions at the boundary where ocean water and air meet -- work that changes the way scientists think about the behavior of water. Allen's was one of several studies cited in this breakthrough, which calls into question age-old ideas about the structure and chemical behavior of water. READ MORE >

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Committee named to search for athletics director

President Holbrook has announced the appointment of 15 members of the university community to the committee that will conduct the search to replace Athletics Director Andy Geiger, whose retirement is effective June 30. Holbrook said she plans to charge the committee with conducting a search that is thorough yet expeditious. Joe Alutto, dean of the Fisher College of Business, is chair of the committee. READ MORE >

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Glass could lead to self-cleaning windows

Ohio State engineers are designing super-slick, water-repellent surfaces that mimic the texture of lotus leaves. The patent-pending technology could lead to self-cleaning glass, and could also reduce friction between the tiny moving parts inside microdevices. Scientists have long known that the lotus, or water lily, makes a good model for a water-repellent surface, explained Bharat Bhushan, Ohio Eminent Scholar and the Howard D. Winbigler Professor of mechanical engineering. The leaf is waxy and covered with tiny bumps, so water rolls off. READ MORE >

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OSU, Wilberforce to create engineering program

The Department of Energy has awarded a $375,000 grant to Wilberforce University and Ohio State to establish a collaborative nuclear engineering program to provide new educational opportunities for undergraduate engineering and science students at Wilberforce. The DOE grant, awarded over three years, will allow Wilberforce to establish an undergraduate minor in nuclear engineering and several outstanding Wilberforce students will enroll in the master's and doctoral program in nuclear engineering at Ohio State. Under this program, students will learn about the technical and scientific issues associated with nuclear science and engineering.

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Sociologists analyze how city built sports venue

The recent battle in Washington, D.C. about spending public money on a new baseball stadium sounds familiar to residents in Columbus. Columbus voters were among the first to ever reject pleas to spend public money on a new stadium for a professional sports team. In contrast, the latest deal in Washington will mean construction of a stadium that will cost up to $600 million -- all or part of which will come from public funds. Despite the rejection of public funds in Columbus, the controversy resulted in a "win-win" situation for all parties involved, according to sociologists who wrote the recent book High Stakes: Big Time Sports and Downtown Redevelopment. The researchers, all with ties to Ohio State, believe the experience of Columbus could provide lessons to other cities grappling with how to pay for sports stadiums. READ MORE >

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OSU awarded partnership to strengthen faculties

The Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development, in cooperation with the U.S. Agency for International Development, has awarded a grant to Ohio State to strengthen the human capacity of East African faculties of agriculture to improve smallholder agricultural productivity and to address food security concerns within the region through research, training, and outreach activities. Training will consist of one year of coursework followed by supervised in-country thesis research. In addition to long-term degree training, the partnership program will provide short-term training programs for agriculture faculty members to develop and update skills in areas of critical need and to strengthen links with agribusinesses. READ MORE >

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ACCAD teams up with DreamWorks for new class

Seven professional artists and technology experts who create computer-generated animated feature films at California-based DreamWorks Animation SKG -- the studio that brought Shrek, Shrek 2 and Shark Tale to the big screen -- is visiting Ohio State's Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design (ACCAD) this quarter to teach a unique class on computer-animated filmmaking. According to Maria Palazzi, director of ACCAD, "The class is an excellent example of industry and academia working together to offer this unique opportunity to students." ACCAD is an international leader in sophisticated computing and visualization technology, including groundbreaking computer animation and graphics. READ MORE >

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OSU Med Center, staff honored by tech community

A dozen members of the central Ohio technology community were honored by the Columbus Technology Council with its annual Top Cat awards for contributions to the advancement of technology. Among the honorees was the Ohio State University Medical Center, which was recognized as the Enterprise of the Year. Led by Fred Sanfilippo, the Medical Center is a $1.5 billion enterprise with research funding that tops $160 million. Kay Nelson was named the Outstanding Woman in Technology. As director of Ohio State's Center for Information Technology in Management, Nelson provides executives and students with a forum for interaction. Ohio State's Center for Knowledge Management was named the Outstanding Technology Team. The center's goal is to acquire, organize, store and distribute biomedical information while leveraging existing resources of the Medical Center, the health-sciences colleges, the university and the community.

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Morishita honored as veterinarian of the year

Teresa Morishita, professor of veterinary preventive medicine, was selected by the American Association of Extension Veterinarians as their Veterinarian of the Year for 2004-05. The award is given to an outstanding extension veterinarian based on career accomplishments in outreach education. Morishita was also recently honored as the recipient of the 2004 James D. Utzinger Extension Teaching Award, given to an OSU Extension professional for outstanding teaching.

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Three OSU physicians named 'local legends'

Charis Eng		Mary Fontana		Carole Miller

Three women from Ohio State who have demonstrated outstanding commitment, originality or innovation in their practice of medicine will be honored this weekend by the American Medical Women's Association as "Local Legends." The AMWA created the Local Legends award to celebrate the accomplishments of America's women physicians. Each year, the organization solicits nominations from congressional representatives around the country. This year, Rep. Deborah Pryce of Columbus, nominated Charis Eng, director of the Division of Human Genetics in the department of internal medicine; Mary Fontana, an associate professor in the Division of Cardiovascular Medicine; and Carole Miller, professor emeritus of neurosurgery. READ MORE >

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Valerie Lee tapped as YWCA Woman of Achievement

YWCA Columbus has chosen seven Central Ohio woman as its 2005 Women of Achievement honorees, including one from Ohio State. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the awards. This year's honorees include Valerie Lee, chair of Ohio State's English department and former chair of women’s studies. The award recognizes women who furthered the YWCA's mission of empowering women and eliminating racism. The YWCA will present the awards April 13 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.

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